Thriving Minds with Alberto Zandi

This week Alberto sat down with Gavin Stone, a former British intelligence officer with over two decades of experience working across government agencies and international intelligence operations.

Gavin shares what life inside the intelligence world actually looks like, how spies are recruited, trained, and deployed, and why the real work is nothing like the movies.

This episode you will learn:
• How intelligence officers detect lies and stress in real conversations
• Why body language should be read in clusters, not isolated gestures
• How persuasion and manipulation actually work
• Why people are easier to influence when emotions are activated
• How governments and organisations shape narratives
• How to think more critically and protect yourself from manipulation

This is a rare look inside the psychology of intelligence, trust, and influence, and how these skills apply to everyday life.

Follow Gavin:
https://www.instagram.com/gavin_stone1/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-stone-146ab1240
https://www.facebook.com/gavinstoneauthor/

Read Gavin's latest books:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B015HWIKGG

#GavinStone #AlbertoZandi #SpyPodcast #IntelligenceOfficer #BodyLanguage #Lying #MI6 #CIA #TruthOrLie #Polygraph #HumanPsychology #CovertOps
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This week Alberto sat down with Dr Tali Sharot, one of the world’s leading cognitive neuroscientists, Professor at MIT and UCL, and a global authority on optimism, decision making, memory, and influence.

Dr Sharot’s research challenges the idea that humans are rational decision makers. Instead, she explains how optimism bias, emotion, and anticipation shape the choices we make, the memories we form, and the way we respond to information.

This episode turns complex neuroscience into practical insight that applies to work, relationships, learning, and everyday life.

You will learn
Why optimism is hardwired into the brain and how it affects resilience and success
How emotion shapes memory more than accuracy or facts
Why telling people they are wrong rarely changes their behaviour
How to become more optimistic
Practical ways to make better decisions and communicate with greater impact

Get Tali's Book, Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always Therehttps://amzn.eu/d/ay0Q0I7

#OptimismBias #NeurosciencePodcast #ThrivingMinds #DrTaliSharot #MentalHealthScience
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This week Alberto sat down with Graham Davies, one of the UK’s leading communication experts, who has advised prime ministers, presidents, CEOs, senior executives, and public figures on how to speak in public and under extreme pressure.

Graham’s work is focused on one core idea, communication is not about talking, it is about taking responsibility for what the audience hears, feels, and remembers.

In this conversation, Graham breaks down why most people lose attention within seconds, why poor preparation destroys credibility, and why speaking is one of the most unnatural human activities we are expected to perform well without training.

This episode applies to boardrooms, interviews, pitches, meetings, dates, and everyday conversations.

You will learn
• Why people stop listening even when the message is strong
• How to structure communication so it lands and is remembered
• How to use pace pauses and eye contact to hold attention
• Why preparation creates confidence and spontaneity
• How to manage nerves and perform under pressure
• How to recover from mistakes without losing credibility

This is a masterclass in communication as a human skill, not a performance trick.

#ThrivingMinds #PublicSpeaking #CommunicationSkills #PresentationSkills #ExecutivePresence #Leadership #Networking #Storytelling #MediaTraining #Confidence #CareerGrowth #AlbertoZandi #GrahamDavies #cambridge
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Ronan Dunne is one of the most influential business leaders of the past two decades.

From banking to telecoms, from CEO of O2 to leading Verizon through periods of enormous transformation, and now Chairman of Six Nations Rugby, Ronan’s career is a masterclass in leadership, adaptability, and long term thinking.

In this conversation, we go far beyond titles and success headlines.
We explore how curiosity shaped his career from childhood, why he believes uncertainty is not something to fear but something to allocate, and how great leaders are not defined by having the answers but by knowing how to navigate risk.

Ronan shares rare insight into:
• What it really takes to lead at scale inside global corporations
• Why experience matters more than credentials or degrees
• How to earn trust in environments that resist change
• The difference between authority and influence
• Why vulnerability and clarity are not weaknesses in leadership
• How to build teams that outperform by embracing difference, not sameness

This episode is not about chasing status or titles.
It is about understanding how meaningful leadership is built over time, how decisions compound across decades, and why success is measured by the impact you leave behind, not the role you occupy.

If you are navigating career transitions, leading teams, or questioning what growth should look like in the long term, this conversation will fundamentally reframe how you think about leadership.

#ThrivingMinds #Leadership #BusinessLeadership #EntrepreneurMindset #ExecutiveLife #CultureMatters #DecisionMaking #ModernLeadership #sixnationsrugby #sixnations #rugby #stevejobs #6nations
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This week Alberto sat down with Dr Mark Jinks, a leading longevity and performance medicine doctor working at the intersection of modern science and preventative health.

With a background spanning the NHS, sports medicine, and functional medicine, Mark explains why traditional healthcare focuses too late on disease, and how longevity is really about extending healthspan, not just lifespan. They explore how energy, cognition, hormones, nutrition, sleep, movement, and recovery all interact, and why small daily choices compound into radically different outcomes over time.

Mark breaks down complex concepts like inflammation, insulin resistance, muscle loss, NAD, and biohacking into practical ideas anyone can understand and apply, without needing extreme protocols or expensive interventions. This conversation reframes health as a long term strategy, not a reaction to problems, and shows how to build a body and mind that stay strong, capable, and resilient for decades.

You will learn
Why longevity is about quality of life, not just living longer
The early signs your health is declining long before disease appears
How muscle, sleep, and insulin sensitivity predict long term outcomes
What high performers do differently to protect energy and focus
Which supplements matter, and which are mostly noise
How to approach biohacking safely and intelligently
Why prevention always beats treatment

Follow Dr. Mark Jinks:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-mark-jinks-28a97145
https://www.instagram.com/drmarkjinks

Visit Body Brilliant:
https://www.bodybrilliant.co.uk/
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