The Story Lens

The Story Lens welcomes Sam Walton, long-time human rights campaigner, direct action leader, and civil society activist, to talk about the importance of narrative and storytelling when public opinion and global impact are on the line.Drawing on his experience managing charities, organising demonstrations and engaging with the media, Sam will guide us through the importance of balancing narrative around some of the most contentious human rights issues of the day.Sam Waltonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-walton-016b521a9/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Walton_(peace_activist)https://www.instagram.com/womblesam/Adam Fergusonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ferguson-marketing/The Story Lenshttps://thestorylens.co.uk/https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealStoryLenshttps://www.instagram.com/the_real_story_lens/

The Story Lens welcomes Ryan Browne, expert journalist, veteran reporter of the tech industry, and brand side advisor, to talk about how storytelling has evolved in one of the fastest moving fields on earth. Ryan walks us through his time at CNBC gathering stories from some of the great and the good of the tech world, uncovering scoops and weaving narrative together in an ever changing industry, through to his time helping businesses tell their stories in a unique way with his work at Archetype.Ryan Brownehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanbrownejourno/Adam Fergusonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ferguson-marketing/The Story Lenshttps://thestorylens.co.uk/GRAPHENTICAhttps://graphentica.com/

In mobile gaming, you can't necessarily throw pages of narrative at someone who might only play for five minutes.But that doesn't mean there isn't a story.There can be a character.A purpose.A reason to come back.A sense of progression.A thread connecting one experience to the next.The player might never consciously notice it.But they feel it.Candy Crush is a great example. The story isn't necessarily something you're sitting down to read. It's built into the progression, the seasons, the events and the anticipation of what comes next.For Rachael Grant, ex King, Ubisoft and Activision.Good storytelling isn't always about telling people a story.Sometimes it's about giving everything a story to belong to.Rachael Granthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-grant-8a8b4220/Adam Fergusonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ferguson-b614b924/The Story Lenshttps://thestorylens.co.uk/GRAPHENTICAhttps://graphentica.com/

According to Mike Reed, co-founder and Executive Creative Director of Reed Words.The best storytelling doesn’t tell you what to feel. It gives youenough detail to feel it yourself.For example.Don’t tell someone a house is spooky.Show them the creaking door. The strange light. The thing you noticein the corner of the room.Don’t tell someone a problem affects millions of people.Tell them about one person.Because once something becomes specific, it becomes real.Hear more about Mike's storytelling and his thoughts on AI as a storyteller...Mike Reedhttps://www.reedwords.com/Haydon Perriorhttps://www.haydonperrior.com/The Story Lenshttps://thestorylens.co.uk/Graphenticahttps://graphentica.com/

"Who owns that data? Who owns that relationship?"In this episode, Michael sits down with Adam Ferguson, ex-Global Head of Product Marketing at HMD and the leader of Better Phone Project, to talk about where AI is really taking us.From kids and smartphones to the rise of personal AI assistants, Adam unpacks why the next 18–24 months will decide who these technologies actually work for: you, or the companies building them.A conversation about trust, data, authenticity, and what it really means to let AI into our lives.Adam Fergusonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ferguson-b614b924/Michael Leckiehttps://www.michaelleckie.co.uk/The Story Lenshttps://www.youtube.com/@TheRealStoryLens

"... it's never been more important to be able to know if something's real or not, especially in that kind of world. And I'd be happy for everything to be labelled, everything to show the process of what's been done to it, or if anything's been done to it, to be able to give clarity."Joe Howard at Haydon's mic.Joe Howardhttps://www.instagram.com/jwhowardphoto/https://www.instagram.com/joewhoward/https://www.jwhowardphotography.com/Haydon Perriorhttps://www.haydonperrior.com/https://www.instagram.com/haydonperrior/The Story Lenshttps://www.instagram.com/the_real_story_lens/

AI can write.We've all seen it.It can draft emails, knock out blog posts, and even produce an entire book in a few minutes. Which sounds impressive...until you actually read it. That was one of the most interesting parts of our chat with ghostwriter Ginny Carter on The Story Lens Podcast.Ginny has written more than 25 books for entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders. So if anyone has a front row seat to how AI is changing creativity, it's her.She uses AI.Just not in the way most people expect.She'll use it to challenge an idea. Spot gaps in an argument. Help her think differently."As a ghostwriter, you're working from a person. With AI, you're working from words."A conversation gives you tone. Personality. Hesitation. Excitement. The little details that make someone sound like themselves.AI can't do that.Because it hasn't sat across the table from someone. It hasn't listened. It hasn't noticed what they care about.That's why this conversation isn't really about AI replacing writers.It's about AI and creativity. It's about creative thinking with AI instead of handing creativity over to AI.The best AI tools for creators aren't replacing human creativity. They're helping people spend more time on the parts only humans can do.Connection. Curiosity. Story.That's where creative authenticity still lives.And maybe that's what human-centred creativity looks like now. Not rejecting AI. Knowing where it belongs.Ginny Carterhttps://marketingtwentyone.co.uk/https://mybook.to/HTWASHBMichael Leckiehttps://www.michaelleckie.co.uk/The Story Lenshttps://www.instagram.com/the_real_story_lens/https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealStoryLens

The tricky part, commercially, with AI is all in licensing. I think, fortunately, at the moment, whilst it's difficult to license or litigate, it's important to get that bit right for clients; then we can still work with it rather than it doing our jobs. I think when we get to a point, if we get to a point where it can all be licensed, or clients don't care and they'll just use it anyway, that's probably the point where we all need to worry a little more about. Simon Thorpe and Haydon Perrior get into creativity, authorship, AI, rejection, collaboration, and why the work that matters most is often the work nobody sees.Simon Thorpehttps://www.instagram.com/simonbrannthorpe/https://www.simonbrannthorpe.com/filmHaydon Perriorhttps://www.instagram.com/haydonperrior/https://www.haydonperrior.com/The Story Lenshttps://www.instagram.com/the_real_story_lens/https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealStoryLens

"I've noticed many more people saying, "Tim, is that real?" I didn't get that when I photographed it, say 10 years earlier. Because it wasn't even a consideration. So we've got a situation where the real is being doubted. It's not just the synthetic. And that, as a consequence."Tim Flach talking about animals, authenticity, storytelling and empathy with Haydon Perrior.Tim Flachhttps://timflach.com/Haydon Perriorhttps://www.haydonperrior.com/The Story Lenshttps://www.instagram.com/the_real_story_lens/https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealStoryLens

"... Sunday Times or the Guardian.. I don't think they can go anywhere near AI because once they start to, if they ever get caught using an image that is fake, that's their whole business model is blown wide open… the trust will disappear, won't it?"David Vintiner's story at Michael Leckie, The Story Lens mic.David Vintinerhttps://davidvintiner.com/Michael Leckiehttps://www.michaelleckie.co.uk/The Story Lenshttps://thestorylens.co.uk/