The Collators – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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The Collators

Mark Lockwood, Howard Atkin

Society & Culture

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 34

The collators explore how we make sense of the information around us. From the nature of reality to the meaning of evidence, intelligence, and analysis, hosts Mark and Howard draw on experience in intelligence, law enforcement and academia to unpack the ideas and methods that shape understanding. Thoughtful but accessible, it's a podcast for anyone who wants to sharpen their thinking in a complex, fast-changing world.

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Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
18/08/2026
#80
🇩🇪 Germany - philosophy
30/07/2026
#71
🇨🇦 Canada - philosophy
15/07/2026
#100
🇨🇦 Canada - philosophy
14/07/2026
#56

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://thecollators.com
15 shares
https://thecollators.com/s1e6
2 shares
https://thecollators.com/s1e7
2 shares

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmwilsonv/

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 73%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

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Intelligence Beyond Earth - Looking inside and out

Season 1 · Episode 4

Thursday, August 21, 2025 • Duration 01:02:56

In this special episode, Mark and Howard welcome their first guest: Dr. John Elliott, honorary research fellow in computer science and coordinator of the SETI Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews.

Arthur C. Clarke once described John's work as "of great importance," and with good reason. His research spans human language, dolphin communication, computational linguistics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Visit https://thecollators.com for shownotes, transcript and more episodes

Visit SETI / SETI Post-Detection Hub

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Intelligence; good, bad and indifferent

Season 1 · Episode 3

Sunday, August 17, 2025 • Duration 51:43

Mark and Howard wrestle with the deceptively simple question: What is intelligence?

They explore why intelligence is so hard to define, how it differs from raw data and information, and why it sits somewhere between science and art.

Along the way, they highlight the many uses (and misuses) of the word "intelligence," from law enforcement practice to political spin.

Visit us at https://thecollators.com

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OMG, TMI - How much information is too much?

Season 1 · Episode 2

Sunday, August 17, 2025 • Duration 47:02

In this episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard dig into the firehose of the digital age. From
the days of cereal-box reading and limited TV channels to today's infinite scroll of TikTok,
Twitter, and AI-generated content, how has the internet reshaped the way we process and
perhaps fail to really think about the information we recieve.

Visit us at https://thecollators.com

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An appeal for information

Season 1 · Episode 1

Sunday, August 17, 2025 • Duration 50:38

We use the word "information" every day, but what does it actually mean? In this first episode, drawing on experience from intelligence, law enforcement and academia Mark and Howard dig into the foundations of our information-saturated world, exploring how data becomes meaning, why context matters, and how our assumptions shape what we think we know.

Visit us at https://thecollators.com

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Who are The Collators?

Season 1

Sunday, August 17, 2025 • Duration 14:41

This is a trailer episode to introduce the pod - We've tried to make a show for people who want to sharpen their thinking. Whether you're a seasoned analyst or simply curious about how we make sense of the world. If you're interested in critical thinking, information theory of just how people form beliefs, then I think we might have something for you. On behalf of Mark, Howard and Jay, Hello world…

Visit us at https://thecollators.com

Shownotes, transcript and links here

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Proof Positive - What is evidence?

Season 1 · Episode 6

Sunday, September 21, 2025 • Duration 01:14:34

From courtrooms to laboratories, from policing to public policy, "evidence" is a term loaded with assumptions. But what do we really mean when we say something is evidence? Who gets to decide? Not just in the courts, but in real life too?

Mark and Howard ask: What is evidence? From courtrooms to science labs to public policy, they explore how this powerful word shapes truth, trust, and decision-making.

Transcript, shownotes and more are available from https://thecollators.com/s1e6

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Trust is everything - Interview with Dr James Wilson

Season 1 · Episode 5

Friday, September 5, 2025 • Duration 01:34:23

Dr Wilson takes us through his journey from medical school in the shadow of Ebola outbreaks, to rainforest fieldwork, to NASA satellite projects that caught the attention of the intelligence community, and later, front-line pandemic response.

Mark and Howard welcome Dr. James Wilson, a practicing pediatrician and one of the world's leading experts in operational health security and biosurveillance. Wilson has built systems used to anticipate and detect infectious disease crises, served as the first operations chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Biosurveillance Integration Center, and has decades of experience in epidemic forecasting and intelligence analysis.

This is not just a story about pandemics. It's a story about information, uncertainty, and the resilience of societies when confronted with the unknown.

Visit https://thecollators.com for shownotes, transcript and more episodes

To learn more about Dr Wilson visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmwilsonv/

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Virtually Real - What is real?

Season 1 · Episode 7

Monday, September 29, 2025 • Duration 46:49

In this episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard explore the promises and pitfalls of virtual reality. Not as a gaming gimmick, but as a tool for intelligence, analysis, and decision-making.

From Minority Report-style data walls to simple post-it notes, they ask whether VR and data visualisation actually help us see the world more clearly, or just distract us with prettier illusions.

Transcript, shownotes and more are available from https://thecollators.com/s1e7

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One house; Many rooms - What is analysis?

Season 1 · Episode 8

Thursday, October 9, 2025 • Duration 01:19:37

Reflective, sometimes funny and occasionally heretical, this episode pulls together the threads of the series so far. Revealing how all analysis hinges on one thing: how we think, and sometimes, how it can sometimes drift into ritual rather than insight. What does it mean to analyse? Where did modern analytical thinking come from? And why do so many disciplines: intelligence, academia, business use the same word but mean entirely different things? Shownotes and more available from https://thecollators.com/s1e8 Follow us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@thecollators

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The CIA, Rebel Alliance and pandas - An inteview with Carmen Medina

Season 1 · Episode 10

Saturday, October 25, 2025 • Duration 01:31:25

In this special episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard speak with Carmen Medina, former Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA and one of the most respected reformers in modern intelligence analysis.

Carmen's career spanned three decades at the heart of U.S. intelligence, leading analytic teams through the end of the Cold War, the information revolution, and the challenges of a world where secrets collide with the open internet.

Together, they explore:

- What it means to think critically inside large institutions.
- How bias and diversity of thought shape intelligence work.
- The tension between secrecy, sharing, and truth.
- Why categorisation, curiosity, and dissent are vital to good analysis.
- The impact of AI and automation on human judgement.

Reflective, candid, and often funny, Carmen's insights reveal the reality of analysis as both craft and calling, and a human attempt to make sense of the world.

Transcript and more at https://thecollators.com

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The Collators – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Spotify

The Collators – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other7

LinkedIn1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other7

LinkedIn1

Spotify

Youtube1