At the Coalface

Episodes

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  Kim Wilson: Beyond Vulnerability: The Ingenuity We Overlook 21.10.2026 45m

  In this episode, I sit down with Kim Wilson, a financial inclusion scholar and practitioner whose work has taken her from the world of business and finance to the everyday financial lives of migrants and communities often overlooked by formal institutions. Kim reflects on how her early career in finance led her towards international development, and how her experiences with microfinance challenged some of her assumptions about what helps people escape poverty. She explains why access to credi...
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  David Browne - Home Beyond Borders 07.10.2026 56m

  In this episode, I sit down with David Browne, a former USAID Foreign Service Officer whose career has taken him from Bolivia and Bangladesh to the West Bank, Uganda, and now back home to local government in North Carolina. David reflects on growing up between India and the United States, never quite fitting neatly into a single cultural identity, and how those early experiences shaped his lifelong curiosity about people, cultures, and the wider world. He shares how music, poetry, and an unex...
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  Robert (Mark) Nelson - You Can't Be Fully Loved Until You're Fully Known 23.09.2026 46m

  In this episode, I sit down with Rob (Mark) Nelson, a pharmacist and lifelong student of languages, culture, and global affairs. Mark reflects on growing up in New Mexico, where a rich blend of cultures, languages, and family influences first sparked his curiosity about the wider world. He shares how formative experiences in Mexico deepened his appreciation for cultural understanding and reinforced the importance of meeting people where they are. We explore his journey into pharmacy, the less...
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  Perry Boyle - The Three Wars in Ukraine 09.09.2026 54m

  In this episode, I sit down with Perry Boyle for the second time, two years after our first conversation about his efforts to build Ukraine's domestic defence industry. Much has changed since then, with Ukraine emerging as one of the world's most innovative defence ecosystems and developing technologies that other countries are increasingly looking to learn from. Perry reflects on how this transformation has changed his own perspective, and how MITS Capital has evolved alongside it. We explor...
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  Carolina L. - Between Stimulus and Response There Is a Space 26.08.2026 1h 19m

  In this episode, Siri and I sit down with Carolina L., an Argentinian economist and humanitarian whose career with the United Nations took her from New York to East Timor and Iraq. Carolina reflects on the experiences that first drew her to international affairs, her fascination with diplomacy, and the sense of purpose she found working in some of the world's most challenging environments. Carolina shares her memories of helping rebuild East Timor following its independence, the relationship...
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  Tyson Johnson - From Being Dead Right to Leading Well 12.08.2026 50m

  In this episode, I sit down with Tyson Johnson, a leader whose career has spanned intelligence, enterprise risk, cybersecurity, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence. Tyson reflects on the conversations around his family's dinner table, the influence of his World War II veteran grandfather, and the curiosity that first led him to explore how the world works. He shares how a career that began in intelligence gradually evolved into a broader quest to understand risk, organisations...
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  Mildred Pantouw - Learning Before Helping: Lessons from a Life in Development 29.07.2026 45m

  In this episode, I sit down with Mildred Pantouw, a public health and international development leader whose career has taken her from Indonesia to the United States, Guinea, and back to Indonesia. Mildred reflects on growing up between two cultures and how navigating life between Indonesia and the United States shaped her understanding of identity, community, and service. She shares how her faith, childhood experiences, and early curiosity about the wider world led her into public health and...
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  Chris Salinas – To Lead, First Learn to Follow 15.07.2026 1h

  In this episode, I sit down with Chris Salinas, a former U.S. Coast Guard officer whose career has spanned international security, maritime cooperation, and technology. Chris reflects on the experiences during his teenage years that first drew him toward a life of service, and how those early influences led him to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He shares how working alongside partners across cultures shaped his approach to leadership, trust, and international cooperation. We talk about his yea...
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  Laura B. - Insuring the uninsurable: helping the private sector navigate political risk 01.07.2026 48m

  In this episode, I explore Laura’s journey into the fascinating world of political risk insurance, a space that is exploding in relevance as business leaders grapples with an ever more complex geopolitical landscape. Laura shares her insights into the way businesses navigate political risk and the leadership and organisational blindspots she’s noticed. She then distils a few principles that the most geopolitically savvy firms follow. Recorded on 27 June 2024. Instagram: @at.the.coalface C...
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  Tjark Egenhoff - Revolutions, Democracy, and the Courage to Be Yourself 17.06.2026 51m

  In this episode, I sit down with Tjark Marten Egenhoff, a development and foreign policy leader whose life has been shaped by movement, service, and the search for belonging. Tjark reflects on growing up across countries and cultures, from revolutionary Iran to Argentina during periods of political upheaval. He shares how those early experiences, together with a strong sense of justice instilled by his family, shaped the way he sees the world. We talk about his path into politics, development...
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  Mariana Deluera - Between Roots and Reinvention: Making Sense of a Changing World 03.06.2026 47m

  In this episode, I sit down with Mariana Deluera, a geopolitical risk analyst whose life has been shaped by movement, adaptation, and the search for belonging. Mariana reflects on growing up across five countries as the daughter of a Mexican diplomat. She shares what it was like to become repeatedly uprooted and re-rooted, and how returning to Mexico as a teenager left her feeling both at home and like a foreigner. We talk about the influence of her mother and grandmother, two women whose ver...
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  Stephen Hunnewell - Service, Narratives, and a Changing World Order 20.05.2026 1h

  In this episode, I sit down with Stephen Hunnewell, a former national security and irregular warfare practitioner whose career has spanned Special Operations, geopolitics, technology, and strategic competition. Steve reflects on growing up in a single-parent household, the values that shaped him early on, and the impact 9/11 had on his generation. We talk about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the limits of overwhelming military force, and the mismatch between Western assumptions and local r...
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  Gian Jones - You Can’t Serve If You’re Bought 06.05.2026 38m

  In this episode, I sit down with Gian Jones, a real estate investor, community builder, and congressional candidate. Gian reflects on growing up in the Rockaways in a single-parent household, taking on responsibility early as the oldest of three, and a childhood that was modest but grounded in strong family and community. He shares how he found his way into real estate, first as a way to make money, and then as a career. He also speaks about early financial success, losing much of it, and wha...
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  Daniel Freeman - The Search for Belonging, Reinvention, and Second Chances 22.04.2026 53m

  In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Freeman, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, entrepreneur, and community builder whose life has been shaped by movement, reinvention, and the search for belonging. Daniel reflects on growing up in a military family, constantly adapting to new places while carrying a quiet sense of not fully fitting in. Over time, that same tension would shape his path through service, marriage, fatherhood, and a deeper journey of self-understanding. We t...
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  Barker Keith - Between Idealism and Interests: Law, Risk, and the Real World 08.04.2026 44m

  In this episode, I sit down with Barker Keith, whose career spans military service, law, and sovereign risk management. Barker reflects on growing up in Venezuela, and how his early, idealised view of the United States was challenged by friends who saw the world less through ideology and more through national interests. He shares formative experiences from his time in the U.S. Army, his transition into law and political risk insurance, and the complexities of structuring protection for intern...
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  Siobhán MacDermott - Risk, Identity, and a Life Between Worlds 25.03.2026 54m

  In this episode, I speak with Siobhán MacDermott, a cybersecurity and public policy expert whose career spans Silicon Valley, global finance, and advisory. Siobhán reflects on an itinerant childhood and how constantly being the “new kid” shaped her relationship with risk, identity, and belonging. What began as an ambition to become an ER doctor took unexpected turns, from scouting mobile tower locations to eventually working at the intersection of cyber risk, geopolitics, and financial stabil...
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  Jay Truesdale - Purpose, Diplomacy, and the Craft of Understanding Risk 11.03.2026 56m

  In this episode, I sit down with Jay Truesdale, a geopolitical risk adviser and former U.S. diplomat and Navy Reserve officer whose career spans diplomacy, military service, and private sector leadership. Jay traces his sense of duty back to childhood, inspired by family stories of wartime service. That early call led him into diplomacy and the Navy Reserve, with formative experiences across Russia, Ukraine, and South Asia. We talk about the craft of diplomacy in the real world: building trus...
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  Andres Boaz Munoz Mosquera - History in the Blood, Service in the Present 25.02.2026 58m

  In this episode, I sit down with Andres Boaz Munoz Mosquera, a former Spanish military officer, NATO legal adviser, professor of international law, and spiritual caregiver, whose life has been shaped by war, democracy, and service. Andrés describes himself as “the product of three wars”: the Spanish Civil War, Spain’s colonial conflicts in North Africa, and the war in Bosnia in the 1990s. His family history carries the trauma of exile under Francisco Franco, a grandfather imprisoned in concen...
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  Iman Kamel - An Inquiry into Resisting, Transforming, Being 11.02.2026 1h 5m

  In this episode, I sit down with Iman Kamel, an Egyptian filmmaker, writer, artist and creator, whose work explores inner resistance, transformation, and living between worlds. Living between Germany and Egypt, Ima’s path spans dance, visual art, film, and international relations. Her films blur the line between documentary and fiction, using embodied storytelling to explore fear, rebellion, and belonging. We talk at length about her book, Quantum Leaps & Lost Socks, where she brings toge...
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  Guillermo de los Santos - Fundraising for Good: On Ethical Persuasion 28.01.2026 55m

  In this episode, I speak with Guillermo de los Santos, a humanitarian fundraiser whose career began as an unintended detour. After studying international relations with hopes of working in diplomacy, Guillermo found himself stuck in telemarketing. What felt like a dead end became an unexpected training ground in persuasion, listening, and human motivation. A chance opportunity led him to UNICEF, where fundraising clicked as a way to combine purpose, creativity, and data. From there, he built ...