Meeting People – Details, episodes & analysis

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Meeting People

Amul Pandya

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/29d. Total Eps: 32

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.

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🇬🇧 Great Britain - entrepreneurship
27/07/2026
#98

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https://www.thisismattcooper.com/
9 shares
https://www.markevisonfoundation.org/
2 shares
https://raisingdaisy.substack.com/
2 shares

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Score global : 58%

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#31 Fred Harrison - Cheating and the Persistent Collapse of Civilisations

Friday, July 10, 2026 • Duration 01:41:33

I'm delighted to welcome back Fred Harrison for a second appearance on Meeting People following the release of his new book Cheating: The Human Project and its Betrayal.

In it he argues that "the withdrawal of Rent from its social function is the root cause of the persistent collapse of civilisations".

We unpack this bold claim over the course of our conversation.

Across history, the benefits of progress (technological, economic or otherwise) have routinely become captured by Rent seekers. Working to earn a living or grow a business thereafter feels like running through treacle.

Optimists of the past would never have predicted that owning a home, starting a family and earning enough to cover a moderate living standard would be this hard in 2026.

250 years on from the publishing of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Fred is optimistic that his ideas can show us the way out of this quagmire. The tiresome debate between Socialism versus Capitalism is a distraction. Cutting taxes, reducing debt levels, simplifying the planning system, deregulating, and promoting trade are necessary for treating the symptoms of this malaise but don't address the root problem. This is the seizure of what Smith termed Economic Rent.

Fortunately, economic collapse, modern poverty, and drudgery are not a foregone conclusion. Unless Rent is socialised, the free market can never flourish and we will be plagued by boom and bust cycles. Fred Harrison has committed his life to educating people on this this reality.

You can find out more about the book here: https://shepheardwalwyn.com/product/cheating-the-human-project-and-its-betrayal/

This podcast was produced by Matt Cooper with music composed by Loverman.

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#30 Fixing Britain's economy with Ewen Stewart

Thursday, June 11, 2026 • Duration 01:50:00

Could Scotland have become Singapore-on-the-Clyde in 2014 had it voted for independence?
Is Boris Johnson possibly Britain's worst ever Prime Minister?
Does structural reform only happen in times of crisis and how deep is the economic rot that has set in?

The British economy is far more centralised and state-run than most people realise. I recently sat down with Ewen Stewart who is the Director of the Institute of International Monetary Research at the University of Buckingham. He sits on the UK Growth Commission and is also a director of the think tank, Global Britain. He believes we have one shot to turn around Britain's malaise and revive areas such as healthcare, defence, and manufacturing.

As recently as the Falklands War, Britain was able to deploy 23 frigates and destroyers - roughly one third of its surface fleet. Today it is defenceless in the North Atlantic. Most European countries offer healthcare which is free at the point of need. Whereas Britain tops the quartile rankings in terms of health spending, it sits at the bottom in terms of service.

With an immigration policy that Charles Ponzi would be proud of, well over 50% of GDP government spending and a brain drain is underway with more tax rises on the horizon.

We discuss what needs to be done to turn things around from a policy perspective to revive a sense of dynamism and energy.

You can find out more about the IIMR and the Growth Commission here:
https://mv-pt.org/
https://www.growth-commission.com/

This podcast was produced by @Mattjcooper with music composed by @lovermanxoxoxo .

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

Thursday, July 17, 2025 • Duration 53:30

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.

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#20 Revd Prebendary Dr Isabelle Hamley - Spirituality, meaning, justice, and the Church of England

Monday, June 16, 2025 • Duration 01:18:30

Isabelle was previously chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury and now serves as Principal at Ridley Hall a theological college in Cambridge.

We discuss the meaning of justice and mercy, the pursuit of purpose for mental health, and what can be learned from old stories such as the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth.

We also touch on some of the potential failings of the Anglican church but also a tentative Gen-Z revival in Sunday attendance.

Isabelle has worked as a probation officer and is an ambassador for Sanctuary Mental Health UK. You can find more about her publications, journals and community work here: https://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/team/the-revd-prebendary-dr-isabelle-hamley.

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#19 Kristian Niemitz: Free markets, NIMBYs, British stagnation, colonialism and the NHS

Friday, May 9, 2025 • Duration 02:00:31

Dr Kristian Niemitz is Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Our conversation covered his many works including "Socialism: the failed idea that never dies", "Imperial Measurement: a cost-benefit analysis of western colonialism" and "Universal Healthcare without the NHS".

We discussed his journey from "teenage Commie" to classical liberal, why Britain is stagnating and what to do about it, the battle of ideas more broadly, religious influences on economics, socialism's cultural dominance, the failure of politicians to implement good policy, and whether Javier Milei is an exception to this.

Like many good Germans he's a beer connoisseur (he even has a Substack on it!). He describes Twitter as containing "the daftest opinions expressed with extreme confidence" (good thing he doesn't spend too much time on LinkedIn) and enjoys the traction he gets from gently mocking those opinions.

You can find Kristian here: https://x.com/K_Niemietz, read his longer form writing at the IEA website: https://iea.org.uk/publications, and his Substack on Beer here https://kristianniemietz.substack.com/.

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#18 Health Beyond Medicine: Professor Paul Crawford's Interdisciplinary Revolution

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 • Duration 01:38:02

Paul Crawford is the pioneer and world's first professor of Health Humanities. Our conversation covered his years of work on how creative practices can enhance well-being in and out of the clinic.

Alongside his academic work, he's also an entertaining fiction writer. His second novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent is out this week. Without wishing to sound dramatic, I was inspired to learn about his writing practices and was moved by the impact this field has made in the health and wellbeing of patients in recent years.

The scope for further impact is great and this conversation gave me a thorough re-grounding in the importance of thinking outside the conventional mental silos we put our minds in.

You can find out more about Professor Crawford here: https://www.paulcrawfordauthor.com/ or on X: https://x.com/ProfessorPaulC1.

This podcast was produced by Matt Cooper (https://www.thisismattcooper.com/) with music composed by Loverman (Spotify).

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#17 Robert Tombs: Learning from history, greatness, academic inertia and more

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 • Duration 01:57:49

Professor Robert Tombs is one of the world’s most accomplished historians. Our conversation covered questions not just relevant to today but of concern to prior and future generations.

Winston Churchill’s advice is to “Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft” but can we truly learn from history?

What is the role of academia and professional historians in informing policy makers and voters? Does greatness play a role or are we all a product of our environment, geography, ideology and culture?

From Marxism to the French Revolution and the Physiocrat school he populated the discussion with episodes from the past that serve as stories to guide us in understanding the world.

As you will hear, our pilgrimage to Professor Tombs’ rooms in Cambridge included his generosity of insight from a life of study. I’m pleased to be able to share this conversation to a broader audience.

Alongside numerous scholarly articles he is author of:

That Sweet Enemy: The History of a Love-Hate relationship (co-written with his Wife Isabel), The English and Their History, and This Sovereign Isle: Britain in and Out of Europe. He is currently working on a history of the Union between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This podcast was produced by Matt Cooper (https://www.thisismattcooper.com/) with music composed by Loverman (Spotify).

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#16 Margaret Evison: Rising to challenges, coping with death, empowering adolescents

Wednesday, February 12, 2025 • Duration 01:17:50

In 2009 Mark Evison was shot whilst leading a patrol in Helmand Province. Having been flown back to England, his mother Margaret was faced with no choice but to turn off his life support machine.

She now runs the Mark Evison Foundation which enables adolescents from state schools to undertake challenges. In one of my most difficult conversations yet, we talk about Mark’s life, coping with the grief of losing a child, and the example he continues to set. The Foundation, named in his honour empowers hundreds of children to take on the spirit of adventure.

A clinical psychologist by training, Margaret is an inspiring character who had lots to say on the war in Afghanistan, military support, parenting, and the journey she has been on to lead a life of fulfilment that would make her son proud.

Her book Death of a Soldier, a Mother’s Story can be bought here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Soldier-Margaret-Evison/dp/1849544492

To learn more about the great work of the Mark Evison Foundation, please visit https://www.markevisonfoundation.org/

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#15 Ben Kumar: London walks, taking risks, financial freedom, human strengths and foibles

Tuesday, January 21, 2025 • Duration 01:49:38

Ben is a smart and thoughtful investor who frequently gives thousands of people valuable insights on financial markets through his social media channels and radio appearances. The conversation started with a walking tour of Ben’s favourite spots in London (to avoid sitting in meeting rooms) and then opened out to a range of topics. We discussed his take on the experience economy, VR headsets, corporate authenticity, Amazon’s decline and much more. I questioned him on multiple unconnected topics and he always had something interesting to say in response. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we did in making it. You can listen to Ben live on LBC Radio on Friday evenings.

Ben on X: https://x.com/BenKuMarkets

Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kumar-8238a0a7?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABa7_psB8M-VHi5iPtYAzS2X-L78FhzuE4k&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_all%3BCCBmWIRLTtyyV%2FAxXMafXQ%3D%3D

This podcast was produced by https://www.thisismattcooper.com/ with music made specially by Loverman.

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#14 Eugene Malthouse: Wellbeing, ham sandwiches and the Evolved Nest

Thursday, December 5, 2024 • Duration 01:37:45

My latest guest Eugene Malthouse has done cutting edge work in behavioural science for the likes of Nobel prize winner Richard Thaler.

MOUTHFUL ALERT: He is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics. Eugene also founded the Collective Decision-Making and Culture Lab (CDMCL) – an interdisciplinary group of 71 researchers based in 38 countries worldwide – which aims to bring global perspectives to the study of global collective action problems.

We discuss many things from the ham sandwich fallacy, to GDP vs happiness and his PHD thesis on the Tragedy of the Commons. As a parent, hearing his work on the Evolved Nest with Darcia Narvaez, Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame was eye-opening in today’s world of relentless work and outsourced childcare.

Naturally I manage to throw some Georgism into the mix too. Despite this, I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did..

This podcast was produced by https://www.thisismattcooper.com/ with music made specially by Loverman.

Eugene’s website: https://sites.google.com/view/eugene-malthouse

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Meeting People – Details, episodes & analysis

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Meeting People – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Apple Podcasts

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Other24

Spotify5

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Other24

Spotify5

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