Australian School of Business professor Peter Swan and colleague Marc-Oliver Fischer have stirred up the business community by refuting the popular view that independent board directors increase firm value. The researchers studied the performance of almost 1000 Australian companies since the ASX introduced voluntary governance guidelines in 2003. Those that followed the board independence recommendations increased CEO and director pay yet under-performed financially. “We estimate these losses conservatively at about A$69 billion over the period 2003-2011,” Swan says. “If the director has no substantial financial interest in the affairs of the company, the only thing they’re going to care about is their own wellbeing.” 

Read the full article on the Knowledge@ASB website - http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm;jsessionid=d030776f2e048f3a362068701b46760536a7?articleid=1828

Skin in the Game: Is Board Independence Destroying Firm Value? - Knowledge@ASB

Lauren Jackson is a religion columnist for the New York Times where she is the associate editor and writer for The Morning, the Times's flagship daily newsletter. Over the past year, she has been deeply involved in reporting on belief. Lauren developed 'Believing,' a project that explores how we experience religion and spirituality in contemporary times. Lauren's thought-provoking columns delve into the complexities of faith, spirituality, and society. In this episode of The Leader’s Way, Lauren discusses the powerful transformation that is possible when we turn our attention to the people around us, attending to hyper-local needs, longings, and joys within our own community.

Host: Brandon Nappi
Guest: Lauren Jackson

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders


69: Believing with Lauren Jackson

Oenophiles are known for their evocative writing about wine, but that’s also true for sophisticated bourbon lovers. Some sensuous tasting notes from bourbon expert Susan Reigler from American Whiskey magazine serve as a case in point. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Whiskey-Language

Someone bitten by a werewolf becomes a werewolf, but what does a werewolf bitten by a nurse practitioner become? In Quiz Guy John Chaneski's punny puzzle, the first syllable of each answer to a question like this rhymes with the were- in werewolf. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Word-Quiz-Rhymes-With-Were

One means of hazing newbies in the Army: send them to get a hundred feet of chow line. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Hundred-Feet-Of-Chow-Line

 Date of episode recording: 2025-10-02
 Duration: 00:47:48
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter: Steve Fleming, Selina Wray
 Guests: Caswell Barry, Lucy Unwin
 Producer: Patrick Robinson


Episode 23- Jenny Lange on the gothic history of neuroscience, a Halloween special

What do we do with our pain? It’s an important spiritual question, and one that Brandon Nappi explores with James Kimmel, Jr., JD, on this episode of Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast, that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. James Kimmel is a violence researcher, psychiatry professor, and author who explores the science of revenge, addiction, forgiveness, and violence. A breakthrough scholar, James first identified compulsive revenge-seeking as an addiction. He made the study of revenge and forgiveness his life's work after nearly committing a mass shooting as a teenager. 

 

Host: Brandon Nappi 

Guest: James Kimmel 

 

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast 

 

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders 

70: On Revenge with James Kimmel

In this episode, we discuss the powerful, magisterial closing pages of Annie Ernaux’s The Years (pp.182-225) alongside philosophical work in progress by Alice Harberd, one of our hosts. In this paper, Alice considers various ‘narrative’ theories of the self, and argues that, when it comes to the articulation of a sense of self, ‘narrativity is a choice’. We examine Ernaux’s intertwining of personal and sociological selves and ponder to what extent it embraces, or resists, narrative form. We are joined in the UCL Studio by Emmanuel Campion-Dye, a Philosophy PhD student and an ever spirited and probing member of our Philosophy and Literature Reading Group.
 
Hosts: 
Scarlett Baron, Associate Professor of English at University College London.
Alice Harberd, PhD student in the Philosophy Department at University College London.
 
Guest:
Emmanuel Campion-Dye, PhD student in the Philosophy Department at University College London.

Transcript Link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e82414f3/transcript.txt

S2, Ep 5 The Narrative Self: Alice Harberd, with special guest Emmanuel Campion-Dye

We practice meditation because the present moment is the only place where we can truly find ourselves, love others, and be loved by the divine. This is why we gather, why we sit, why we breathe together. We practice surrendering to what lies beyond our control and responding rather than reacting to life's challenges. We cultivate curiosity about what's arising within and around us, learning to do difficult things like changing and growing. Because we trust there's a limitless reservoir of strength, compassion, and resilience flowing through us at every moment. 


Host: Brandon Nappi 


Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast 


You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders 

71: "Why We Practice" - reflection and meditation with Brandon Nappi

Does neurodivergence shape the way that we sleep and dream? In this episode, Professor Dagmara Dimitriou, Professor of Sleep Education and Research, draws on two decades of research to explain why standard sleep advice often falls short for neurodiverse individuals. From infant dreams to nightmares – take a deep dive into the strange world of sleep and the brain. 

Date of episode recording: 2024-12-01
Duration: 24:45
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Professor Philip Schofield
Guests: Professor Dagmara Dimitriou
Commissioners: Professor David Docherty OBE & Dr Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost LCCOS: Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science, UCL) Director: Justin Hardy (IOE - Culture, Communication & Media, UCL) Producer: Stevie Doran


Transcript link: https://otter.ai/u/8KQYa3phFmb50i0glgZ3cyXsgSk

S2, Ep 3 - Why Sleep Hygiene Doesn’t Always Work, featuring Professor Dagmara Dimitriou

In this episode of Generation One, we’re exploring the importance of start-ups and the role of entrepreneurs in stepping up with ground breaking solutions to solve the climate crisis and what policy makers and organisations like UCL are doing to enable this.

Our hosts Professor Mark Maslin and Dr Simon Chin-Yee are joined by three inspiring guests who share their experiences and insights on how entrepreneurship is driving a greener future, building climate-focused businesses, overcoming start-up challenges, and the crucial role investors and incubators play in scaling climate impact:

Alexandra Ranft, Senior Project Manager from UN Global Compact Network UK.  The UN Global Compact’s aim is to mobilise a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world we want.

William Moore co-founder and CEO of Consus Energy and UCL alum (Geography 2025).  Consus Energy was selected to join UCL’s Hatchery incubator programme, which provides co-working space and business support to UCL startups.

Simon Chaudhuri was a Strategic Advisor for the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Obama Administration and founded CIV:LAB, a nonprofit developing and funding place-based innovation programs across the US.   Simon is also a Founding Fellow at the UCL Centre for Sustainable Business.  

Credits: 

Date of episode recording: 29th Oct 2025 and 5th of November 2025
Duration: 37:10
Language of episode: English 
 Presenter: Professor Mark Maslin and Dr Simon Chin-Yee 
 
Organisations:
 
UN Global Compact Network UK, https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk
Consus Energy https://www.consusenergy.com
UCL Hatchery https://www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise/students Alongside your studies at UCL, did you know you can access UCL’s specialist free extra-curricular entrepreneurship programme? 
CIV:LAB https://civ-lab.org
UCL School of Management https://www.mgmt.ucl.ac.uk/

Season 5, Episode 10 - Driving Climate Innovation Through Start-Ups

A leader of business education in the Asia Pacific region

The mission of the UNSW Business School is to create and disseminate business knowledge for the benefit of students, organisations and society. UNSW Business School develops leaders for business, academia, government and the not-for-profit sector with the capability to succeed globally.

UNSW Business School is recognised as one of the top business schools in Australia. We have many outstanding credentials to support our reputation and are distinguished by the high calibre of our academics, students and alumni. We lead the way in research performance and in the rankings of our education programs.

CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G