Meeting People

Amul Pandya

Amul Pandya converses with independent, adventurous and sometimes courteous free spirits. Creativity is an act of rebellion. Whether they are entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, investors, chefs, or corporate antagonists, Amul's guests all share a common disposition of not just pushing boundaries but re-drawing landscapes.

  1. 12/17/2025

    #25 David Cornell: The Greatest Survival Story Ever Told | Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Journey

    In May 1916 three men caked in blood, dirt, blisters, and sweat arrived at the Stromness Whaling Station on South Georgia Island in the Atlantic Ocean suffering from severe exhaustion.  They had endured a journey both by boat and on foot from Antarctica that was harrowing and miraculous in equal measure. In charge of the three men was Sir Ernest Shackleton, one of history’s most famous explorers and leaders.  In my latest conversation I discuss what is known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration with David Cornell. In 2009 David went to the South Pole a hundred years after his great grandfather embarked on the Nimrod expedition that was led by Shackleton.  He took me through Shackleton’s Boat Journey which has been described as the greatest story ever told. Our conversation covered what it takes to get to the South Pole as well as the leadership skills that Ernest Shackleton showed time and again through loyalty and care to his men right until his during his final attempt to reach the Pole. Since that Centenary Expedition, David helped launch the Shackleton Foundation which provides seed funding and support to early stage social ventures  with a primary focus on benefiting young people in the UK. A narrative of decline is permeating the developed world. Hopefully conversations like this one with David can revivify the spirit of adventure as an antidote to all the negativity and noise You can find out more about the Shackleton Foundation click here: https://shackletonfoundation.org/ This podcast was produced by MattCooper with music composed by Loverman.

    1h 6m
  2. 09/25/2025

    #24: Dr Eamonn Butler: Rescuing a rotten Britain, schools of economic thought, a case for optimism

    Dr Eamonn Butler is the co-founder of the Adam Smith Institute and has dedicated decades of service in spreading economic freedom. He is the author of several books including 'Foundations of a Free Society', 'The Condensed Wealth of Nations', and 'The Best Book on the Market'. Our conversation includes his latest book "An Introduction to Schools of Economic Thought". We also coverhis return to Britain to advise the Thatcher administration on market reforms having done so in 1970s for the US House of Representatives. If you've been unsure of how to distinguish between your Adam Smiths to your Friedrich Hayeks, then this conversation is a great place to start. We also use Eamonn's knowledge of economic theory to discuss the issues of our age - a broken Britain, the absence of risk taking, the flaws of direct democracy, and the law of Economic Rent holding back our youth. You can find Eamonn's latest book here: https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Schools-of-Thought-Interactive.pdf This podcast was produced by https://linktr.ee/thisismattcooper with music composed by https://open.spotify.com/artist/6mH930VvONxn76Kqpnixjy. 00:00:00 - The Rotten State of Britain 00:06:34 - Britain’s welfare state 00:10:28 - What got Eamonn into Economics 00:12:30 - Coming back to rescue Britain 00:19:10 - Why big companies hate competition 00:21:30 - Who was Adam Smith 00:24:45 - Schools of Economics Thought 00:33:15 - Hayek, Friedman and Keynes 00:40:15 - Did Marx get anything right? 00:42:17 - What is behavioural economics? 00:46:45 - Why no mention of Georgism in Schools of Economic Thought? 00:57:30 - Why don’t we take risk anymore? 01:10:05 - Is democracy inherently flawed? 01:15:10 - The long bet

    1h 20m
  3. 09/09/2025

    #23 Rosina Dorelli: Make Education Great Again through Leonardo da Vinci

    Rosina Dorelli is Making Education Great Again. Why? Because schools are failing our children by crushing their sense of wonder through standardised testing and mindless clerical work. “Teaching to the exam” won’t cut it in the 21st Century.  As a mother, artist, entrepreneur, and teacher Rosina describes Creativity as a human right. To champion this she is the founder of the Biophilic Education Alliance and creator of a new schools curriculum inspired by Leonardo da Vinci.  In my most important conversation to date, we discussed her take on what’s wrong with the education system, both state and private, as well as the current rollout of her curriculum in schools.  The people who have made the most positive impact on the world in history have been interdisciplinary thinkers not siloed experts (the poem from the 1997 Apple advert summarises this well*).  Whilst year on year exam grades have consistently improved education (with a small “e”) is demonstrably on the operating table. Rosina’s movement will equip the next generation to solve the big problems of our time. Thank you to Iain McGilchrist for making me aware of Rosina and her work. Here are more details on the Biophilic Education Alliance and the Da Vinci Life Skills curriculum: https://www.biophiliceducation.com/ https://davincilifeskills.com/ This podcast was produced by Matt Cooper with music composed by Loverman. *“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

    1h 47m
  4. 07/17/2025

    #21 Shoaib Akhtar: The Battle for Britain's Financial Soul

    It took the humiliation of enemy ships raiding the Medway River in Kent to shake the political establishment into urgency in June 1667.  During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, Britain* realised that in order stand a chance against its enemy it had to replicate the Dutch ability to source low cost financing. Ship building was expensive and time consuming after all. Thus the City of London was born. Do we need another Medway humiliation to shake us out of our stupor or can that be avoided?  For my latest episode, I sat down with Shoaib Akhtar to discuss his recently published book The Great British Disconnect: A Nation That Stood By as the City Sold Its Soul. He examines multiple causes ranging from the cultural - for instance the loss of civic duty and an entrenched fear of risk taking - to the institutional - a wholesale abandonment of the UK economy from our fiduciary overlords. I got a taste of some of the practical solutions that Shoaib thankfully has thought through and outlined in detail in his book. If followed, they could instigate a mindset shift to revive the City’s soul which was born out of necessity, urgency, and an embrace with risk. We also discussed his writing process and what drove him to not only put pen to paper but to see it through.His passion on this issue was the key driving force and it permeated our conversation.  You can buy a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-British-Disconnect-Nation-Stood/dp/B0FC5XNXWC This podcast was produced by https://www.thisismattcooper.com/ with music composed by Loverman.

    54 min

About

Amul Pandya converses with independent, adventurous and sometimes courteous free spirits. Creativity is an act of rebellion. Whether they are entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, investors, chefs, or corporate antagonists, Amul's guests all share a common disposition of not just pushing boundaries but re-drawing landscapes.