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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This week Alberto sat down with Dr Rachel Gow, leading nutritional neuroscientist, researcher, author, and founder of Nutritious Minds Trust.

Dr Rachel explains why we have been taught to think about food only in terms of weight, calories, or appearance, while completely ignoring its impact on the brain, mood, focus, and emotional regulation.

Drawing from decades of clinical research and personal experience as a mother, she reveals how what we eat directly shapes neurotransmitters, brain structure, inflammation, and long term mental health.

They explore how ultra processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and nutrient deficiencies quietly impair attention, motivation, emotional stability, and resilience, and why many mental health conversations ignore the biological foundations of the brain.

This conversation bridges neuroscience, nutrition, psychology, and real life application, offering simple but powerful ways to support brain health at any stage of life.

You will learn

• How food directly affects dopamine, serotonin, and emotional regulation
• Why omega three fats are essential for memory, focus, and mood
• How sugar and alcohol hijack the brain’s reward system
• The connection between gut health and mental health
• Simple nutrition principles that support long term brain resilience

This episode is a practical guide to understanding your brain, feeding it properly, and protecting it for life.

Follow Dr. Gow:

https://www.instagram.com/nutritious_minds

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-v-gow-phd-09b68514

https://www.facebook.com/DrRachelVGow

Get Dr. Gow book, Smart Foods for ADHD and Brain Health: How Nutrition Influences Cognitive Function, Behaviour and Mood:

https://amzn.eu/d/41QW2GG

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Alberto sat down with Vinny Raval, one of the UKs leading speech coaches whose work blends acting, speech and language therapy, and over fifteen years in the field with deep experience coaching CEOs, founders, actors, politicians, and senior executives.

Vinny transforms the way people communicate by teaching them what to say, how to say it, and how to say it with confidence, clarity, and impact.

In this conversation Vinny breaks down the real reasons so many people struggle to express themselves at home and at work, why we speak too fast, why we do not finish sentences, why we listen to respond instead of listening to understand, and why our tone and body language matter more than the actual words we use.

We explore the science behind intonation, pace, pauses, and clarity, how to use storytelling and vocal range to influence others, how to manage nerves before speaking, how to improve your voice at any age, and how small daily exercises can radically transform the way you are perceived.

For the first time Vinny also shares the emotional story of his childhood, his complicated relationship with his father, how he used pain and adversity to become the leading coach he is today, and why communication cannot be mastered unless you understand the emotions driving your voice.

You will learn:

• How to slow down, speak clearly, and hold attention

• How to use intonation to influence emotion and meaning

• How to control nerves and fear when speaking

• How to practise speech daily in less than three minutes

• How to build confidence in any room, with any audience

This episode will change the way you communicate and the way others listen.

Follow Vinny:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/thespeechcoach

https://www.thespeech.coach

https://www.youtube.com/@UCPS8i-9VIziaK7p6Q54qQmQ

https://www.instagram.com/thespeech.coach

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This week, Alberto sat down with Caroline Dubois, world champion boxer, the younger sister of heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois, and one of the most extraordinary young athletes of her generation.

This is the story of a GOAT in the making.

Caroline’s story is unlike anything you have heard before. She started boxing at nine years old in a gym that did not allow girls, so she entered under a fake name, pretending to be a boy, driven by a desire to be seen by her father and to claim her place in a male dominated sport.

On top of that, she grew up carrying the weight of the Dubois name. Instead of letting the expectations and comparisons break her, she learned to turn them into fuel. In this conversation, she opens up about how she navigated the pressure of being Daniel’s sister, how she refused to live in his shadow, and how she converted that pressure into motivation, focus, and an even higher standard for herself.

Since those early days she has become a world champion, and carried the weight of expectation in a discipline where a single punch can change your life or end a career. Caroline shares what she had to sacrifice, how she rebuilt herself after painful losses, and why she is willing to push her mind and body to the edge in pursuit of greatness.

We explore her relationship with fear, her complicated relationship with her father, what it means to train for ten weeks knowing you could lose everything in ten minutes, what it takes for women to rise in a sport where the financial and cultural barriers remain enormous, and how she uses pain and pressure as fuel rather than an anchor.

You will learn

• How to develop unshakeable tunnel vision

• How to recover from devastating failure

• How to stay disciplined when your goals feel out of reach

• How to build confidence when nobody believes in you or you are living in someone else’s shadow

• How elite fighters manage fear, intensity, and pressure

This is the real story of what it takes to chase a dream when the world tells you it is impossible.

#ThrivingMinds #CarolineDubois #Boxing #WomensBoxing #WorldChampion #Olympics #Mindset #Discipline #Resilience #AthleteLife

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