Be More Pirate

Towards the end of Be More Pirate there's a chapter in which Sam writes his own pirate code: article no.3 is 'Make the Citizen Shift' which is a challenge to us all to see ourselves as citizens rather than consumers. The inspiration for that article came from the New Citizenship Project which was co-founded by our guest this week, Jon Alexander. Jon spent the majority of his early career working in advertising - the pinnacle and pioneer of consumer culture but eventually turned his back on it when he realised very starkly the damage it was doing. The New Citizenship project was his rebellion - a challenge to the societal story that the only power we have is as consumers, and a challenge to organisations that the only thing they can do is sell. He's now captured all of this accumulated wisdom and learning with the NCP in his first book, aptly named, Citizens, which is out on March 17th. For anyone in our community who has connected with the idea of re-humanising transactional mechanistic work cultures - Jon's work will give you so much inspiration and ammunition.Citizens is available to pre-order via Canterbury Press: https://www.canburypress.com/products/citizens-by-jon-alexanderNew Citizenship Project: https://www.newcitizenship.org.uk/

Be More Pirate is all about applied wisdom, so in this short new year special we have sourced some reflections from the network in the form of three questions:What was your most pirate moment this year?What rebellion would you most like to see in 2022?What advice would you give to a new pirate?Many thanks to the wonderful folk who sent in their thoughts: Deana Wildgoose, James Berg, Lefteris Heratakis, Kristin Joy-Davis, Mark Walmsley, Miguel Fernandez, Paul Ginsberg and Graeme Cooke What matters is what we are able to act upon and every small stepping stone towards change is significant in its own way. Don't stop just because you don't think it's big enough, exciting enough or even 'pirate' enough. The journey is not linear, and everybody has a different starting point. Happy New Year.*Unbelievably, this is the first episode with no swearing*

Today's interview might be the most pirate one yet... but I'll leave you to be the judge of that. Steve Chapman is an artist, coach, writer, speaker and (sort of) podcaster. The more accurate way to describe Steve's work is that he does 'projects that are experiments in the opposite of what is normal'. His time is spent fully inhabiting the edges, and he works with a range of organisations and individuals to help them do the same. The results are very interesting: we cover 'provocative absence' 'quantum flirting' the elusive 'chair game' and the legacy of the Lost Cat poster. You can find all of Steve's work here:https://www.canscorpionssmoke.com/The blog post we mention is here - a must read for any pirate:https://www.canscorpionssmoke.com/2016/11/05/want-creativity-workplace-serious/

Carl Honoré, deemed the Godfather of the Slow Movement, has spent the last two decades writing, talking and supporting thousands of people to move against the tide of our fast paced consumerist world. An award winning writer, best selling author, TED speaker and broadcaster, Carl is now turning his disruptive thinking to a new topic: ageism. His latest book Bolder, unravels the unhelpful stereotypes we have about getting ageing and proves that it doesn't have to be that way. With humility and some brilliant storytelling, Carl is an expert dismantling norms and supporting people to change their behaviour.A pirate we are pleased to know.

Today's guest is the impressive Benash Nazmeen, a practising midwife based in the North West working hard to address health inequalities within the profession. Benash is in every respect, the embodiment of re-humanising healthcare; caring deeply for the individual and all their nuances and complexities, whilst speaking up on behalf of those who cannot. Benash is co-founder of the South Asian Midwife's Association, is on the editorial board for the Practicing Midwife, and co-chair for the Births Inquiry into Racial Injustice in UK Maternity systems. We collided through the the NHS Horizons School for Change Agents programme, and really wanted to bring her leadership to the podcast audience as part of our ongoing conversation about being a pirate in healthcare. (You'll also notice Sam is absent from the podcast today as he was away doing some last minute mission critical filming for his Uncertainty Experts programme).

This week's episode is a bit different, as we steer away from pirates and rebellion and into Sam's new project, The Uncertainty Experts: a three part interactive documentary that is scientifically proven to increase your tolerance to Uncertainty. And after the year we've had, what could possibly be more helpful? In the same vein as Be More Pirate, The Uncertainty Experts is full of stories. It's based on interviews with some remarkable people who have each found their way through deep uncertainty and developed strategies that can help you in turn. And, it's backed up with some robust research undertaken by scientists at University College London that helps you to understand the brain science behind the narrative. In a nutshell, it's an edgy, experimental reframe of uncertainty as something not to fear or avoid but to embrace. In this episode of the podcast I chat to Sam and lift the lid on the process of putting the documentary together and explore some of the concepts that really stood out to me. The Uncertainty Experts airs on 9th November, if you go to the website uncertaintyexperts.com you can get a taste of some of the people you'll meet on this unusual journey, take the uncertainty test and get a feel for what it's all about. You can also of course purchase tickets to the show, which are discounted until the end of October. And of course, there's an even bigger discount for you pirates, just drop me a line, alex@bemorepirate.com if you'd like to get the code.