Edgy Ideas

<div> <p><strong>Show Notes</strong><br>What happens when anthropology turns its gaze on psychology and coaching?<br>In this episode, <strong>Simon Western</strong> is joined by social anthropologist <strong>Dr Mikkel Kenni Bruun</strong> and social scientist <strong>Dr Rebecca Hutten</strong> to explore what sits beneath contemporary mental health, therapy, and coaching practices. Together, they discuss culture, power, and the often-invisible assumptions shaping therapeutic work.<br>Rather than treating psychology as universal or value-neutral, Mikkel and Rebecca show how it is culturally produced<strong>, </strong>shaped by specific histories, institutions, and ways of making meaning. From this perspective, therapy and coaching are never neutral; they are embedded in social, political, and moral worlds.<br>Ethnography is central to this conversation, not just as a research method, but as a way of listening and staying with complexity. Instead of forcing distress, healing, and care into predefined psychological categories, ethnography attends to how these experiences are actually lived across contexts.<br>The discussion also challenges dominant Western ideas of the self. While psychology and coaching often centre the autonomous individual, anthropological perspectives highlight relational and socially embedded selves. This raises urgent questions about what happens when Western therapeutic models travel globally - and what they may erase or misunderstand.<br>Cultural competence comes under scrutiny too. Often presented as a solution, it can risk flattening culture into tidy checklists rather than engaging with lived complexity and power. As psychological language increasingly shapes public policy, workplaces, and everyday life, anthropology helps reveal the cultural and political work happening beneath the surface.</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways</strong></p></div><ul> <li>Psychological and coaching practices are culturally produced, not universal</li> <li>Therapeutic cultures vary across histories, institutions, and contexts</li> <li>Ethnography reveals how mental health is actually lived</li> <li>The individual self is not a universal model</li> <li>Cultural competence can oversimplify difference</li> <li>Psychological practice is fundamentally relational</li> <li>Mental health discourse shapes ideas of the “good life”</li> <li>Anthropology makes the familiar strange - and visible again</li> </ul><div> <p><br><strong>Keywords</strong><br>Anthropology, psychology, coaching, mental health, therapeutic culture, ethnography, cultural competence, relationality, self, good life</p><p><strong>Brief Bios</strong><br><strong>Dr Mikkel Kenni Bruun</strong> is a social anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, Research Associate at the Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute, and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. His ethnographic research includes NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT) services and community mental health initiatives in the UK. He is co-editor of <em>Towards an Anthropology of Psychology</em> (2025) and <em>Rhythm and Vigilance</em> (2025).</p><p><strong>Dr Rebecca Hutten</strong> is an independent researcher, social scientist, and Associate Lecturer at The Open University. Trained as an anthropologist, she has worked in government policy research and Public Health at the University of Sheffield, and brings extensive fieldwork and clinical experience within NHS psychological services. She is co-editor of <em>Towards an Anthropology of Psychology</em> (2025).</p></div>

<div> <p><strong>Show Notes<br></strong>In this episode Simon and Dr. Jack Black, Associate Professor at Sheffield Hallam University, think dangerously about AI through the unsettling lens of Lacanian psychoanalysis. This is a conversation about desire, discourse, power and the fantasies we project onto machines.<br>Drawing on Lacan, Jack reframes AI not as a neutral tool or intelligent object, but as a <em>relational</em> phenomenon - one that speaks into us, structures us, and increasingly stands in for authority itself. Together, Simon and Jack interrogate how AI comes to occupy the place of the Big Other: the supposed holder of knowledge, truth, and certainty in a fragmented world.<br>They explore Lacan’s four discourses, particularly the discourse of the hysteric, as a way of resisting AI’s creeping authority and the ideological narratives that present it as omniscient, objective, or inevitable. AI, they argue, does not <em>know</em> in any human sense - it recombines, repeats, and reflects back our own symbolic order, including its exclusions, biases and violences.<br>The conversation moves into education, where AI is rapidly being positioned as a new master signifier. What happens when learning is outsourced to algorithmic systems? What kinds of subjects are being produced? And whose knowledge is being legitimised - or erased - in the process?<br>Throughout the episode, AI is revealed as a site where cultural anxiety, political power, and unconscious desire collide. Rather than rejecting technology, Simon and Jack argue for a more critical, psycho-social engagement - one that keeps the human, the relational, and the ethical firmly in view.<br>This is a conversation about AI, but it is also about us: our longing for certainty, our fear of lack, and our temptation to hand over authority to machines. Lacan, unexpectedly, offers not despair but hope - a way to stay with complexity and resist the fantasy that technology can save us from being human.</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways</strong></p></div><ul> <li>Lacanian psychoanalysis offers a radical way to rethink AI beyond hype and fear.</li> <li>AI is relational - it emerges within human discourse, not outside it.</li> <li>The discourse of the hysteric provides a critical stance toward AI as authority.</li> <li>AI does not “know”; it mirrors and amplifies existing symbolic systems.</li> <li>Education must resist uncritical adoption of AI as a master solution.</li> <li>Algorithmic systems reproduce social bias, including racism and exclusion.</li> <li>Technology increasingly objectifies the Big Other.</li> <li>AI exposes deep tensions around desire, knowledge, and power.</li> <li>Ideology sits quietly behind the push to normalise AI everywhere.</li> <li>Lacan helps us stay critical, hopeful, and human in a technological age.</li> </ul><div> <p><strong>Keywords</strong><br>AI, Lacan, psychoanalysis, discourse, education, culture, technology, relationality, society, human experience</p><p><strong>Brief Bio</strong><br>Dr. Jack Black is Associate Professor of Culture, Media, and Sport at Sheffield Hallam University. An interdisciplinary researcher, working across the disciplines of psychoanalysis, media and communications, cultural studies, and sport, his research focuses on topics related to race/racism, digital media, and political ecology. He is the author of <em>The Psychosis of Race: A Lacanian Approach to Racism and Racialization</em> (Routledge, 2023) and co-editor of <em>Sport and Psychoanalysis: What Sport Reveals about Our Unconscious Desires, Fantasies, and Fears</em> (Lexington Books, 2024). He is also Senior Editor for the Journal, <em>Sport and Psychoanalysis (Cogent Social Sciences)</em>.</p></div>

<div> <p><strong>Show Notes</strong><br>In this episode of Edgy Ideas, Simon talks with Stewart Desson, founder of Lumina Learning, whose work has reshaped the field of psychometrics by bringing a deeply humanistic, culturally sensitive, and relational approach to understanding personality at work.<br>Stewart reflects on the evolution of psychometrics, from traditional trait-based systems to more nuanced, emergent models that honour human complexity rather than reduce it. Simon and Stewart explore how leadership, workplace culture, and collective performance are shaped by the ways we measure and make meaning from human behaviour. Drawing on large-scale data sets, Stewart shares insights into gendered leadership patterns, highlighting how women frequently bring more collaborative strengths to the fore and questions how organizations reward or neglect such capacities.<br>The conversation ranges widely: from the cultural biases embedded in psychological tools, to the rise of AI and its disruptive impact on assessment practices, to the philosophical question at the heart of both leadership and psychometrics: How do we live a good life and build a good society?<br>Stewart invites us to reconsider how organisations balance the drive for individual performance with the need for collective thriving, urging leaders to cultivate workplaces grounded in collaboration, kindness, and continuous self-development.</p><p><strong>Key Reflections</strong></p></div><ul> <li>Psychometrics is expanding as a discipline that bridges science and humanism, offering deeper insights into human behaviour.</li> <li>Many organisations continue to reward individualistic traits over relational or collective strengths.</li> <li>Psychometry should empower individual uniqueness and avoid the reductive labelling common in traditional models.</li> <li>Cultural sensitivity is essential when designing and applying psychometric assessments.</li> <li>AI is rapidly transforming the psychometry, raising both opportunities and concerns about quality and validity.</li> <li>Leadership models must be adaptable to diverse cultural contexts and organisational needs</li> <li>A good society is built on collaboration, shared purpose, and relational leadership.</li> </ul><div> <p><strong>Keywords</strong><br>psychometrics, leadership, AI, workplace culture, individual performance, collective performance, cultural sensitivity, organisational psychology, human behaviour, collaboration</p><p><strong>Brief Bio</strong><br>Dr Stewart Desson, Board Member of the Association for Business Psychology and Founder &amp; CEO of Lumina Learning, is a leading voice on how people’s behaviour drives organisational performance. Drawing on decades of experience and a PhD in Organisational Psychology, he revolutionised workplace psychometrics by empowering individuality through the Lumina Spark model. Over the past 15 years, he has built a global community dedicated to moving beyond traditional assessments toward a more nuanced, human-centred approach that helps organisations create adaptable, resilient, high-performing teams.</p></div>

<div> <strong>Show Notes<br> </strong>In this episode Simon speaks with Tatiana Bachkirova, a leading scholar in coaching psychology. They explore how AI is impacting on the field of coaching and what it means to remain human in a world increasingly driven by algorithms. The discussion moves fluidly between neuroscience, pseudo-science, identity, belonging, and ethics, reflecting on the tensions between performance culture and authentic human development.<br> They discuss how coaching must expand beyond individual self-optimization toward supporting meaningful, value-based projects and understanding the broader social and organisational contexts in which people live and work. <br> AI underscores the need for ethical grounding in coaching. Ultimately, the episode reclaims coaching as a moral and relational practice, reminding listeners that the future of coaching depends not on technology, but on how we choose to stay human within it.<br> <br> <strong>Key Reflections</strong> </div> <ul> <li>AI is often a solution in search of a problem, revealing more about our anxieties than our needs.</li> <li>Coaching must evolve with the changing world, engaging complexity rather than retreating to technique.</li> <li>The focus should be on meaningful, value-driven projects that connect personal purpose with collective good.</li> <li>AI coaching risks eroding depth, ethics, and relational presence if not grounded in human awareness.</li> <li>Critical thinking anchors coaching in understanding rather than compliance, enabling ethical discernment.</li> <li>The relational quality defines coaching effectiveness - authentic dialogue remains its living core.</li> <li>Coaching should move from performance and self-optimization to reflection, purpose, and contribution.</li> <li>Human connection and ethical practice sustain trust, belonging, and relevance in the digital age.</li> <li>The future of coaching lies in integrating technology without losing our humanity.</li> </ul> <div> <strong>Keywords</strong><br> Coaching psychology, AI in coaching, organisational coaching, identity, belonging, neuroscience, critical thinking, human coaching, coaching ethics, coaching research<br> <br> <strong>Brief Bio</strong><br> <strong>Tatiana Bachkirova</strong> is Professor of Coaching Psychology in the <a href="http://www.brookes.ac.uk/iccams/">International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies</a> at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She supervises doctoral students as an academic, and human coaches as a practitioner. She is a leading scholar in Coaching Psychology and in recent years has been exploring themes such as the role of AI in coaching, the deeper purpose of organisational coaching, what leaders seek to learn at work, and critical perspectives on the neuroscience of coaching.  In her over 80 research articles in leading journals, book chapters and books and in her many speaking engagements she addresses most challenging issues of coaching as a service to individuals, organisations and wider societies.</div>

<div> <strong>Show Notes</strong><br> In this special 100th episode of Edgy Ideas, we mark a moment of reflection and celebration. Simon is joined by a panel of thoughtful voices; Chris Yates, Leslie Brissett, Eleanor Moore and Hetty Einzig, to explore a topic close to the heart,  the soul at work  and what it means to live a good life amidst the turbulence of our times. They reflect on the quiet yet powerful force of soul, not as something otherworldly, but that which connects us more deeply to ourselves, to each other, and to the work we do. The panel discusses: how do we re-enchant the workplace? How do we speak about 'soul' without falling into cliche or sentimentality? And how do we cultivate a spirituality that is lived, relational, and grounded in everyday acts?<br> Their conversation weaves personal stories with collective insights, inviting you into a space where the sacred and the secular meet.<br> Enjoy this rich and resonant conversation as we mark a century of episodes, and step forward soulfully into what comes next.<br> <br> <strong>Key Reflections</strong> </div> <ul> <li>Edgy Ideas has evolved to meet the moment - seeking pathways to live well in disruptive times.</li> <li>Soul at work is not a luxury, but a necessity - a call to engage the whole person: mind, body, and essence.</li> <li>Everyday spirituality matters. It's found not in lofty ideas, but in presence, care, and connection.</li> <li>Work can uplift or diminish the soul - context and culture matter.</li> <li>Relational dynamics are the hidden architecture of soulful work.</li> <li>Activism and soul are not opposites - activism can be a soulful practice.</li> <li>Grace appears in the ordinary fleeting moments that illuminate meaning.</li> <li>Sacred spaces can be created anywhere we choose to be present.</li> <li>Soul embraces the paradox - the light and the dark, joy and struggle, both shaping who we are.</li> <li>To witness another with kindness is perhaps the most radical act of all.</li> </ul> <div> <strong>Keywords</strong><br> Soul, Spirituality, Connection, Presence, Grace, Wholeness, Meaning, Authenticity, Relationships, Transformation, Soul at Work, Everyday Spirituality <br> <br> </div>