Natural Genius: Deep Conversations. Meaningful Lives.
Natural Genius is a podcast of thoughtful conversations with people shaping meaningful lives, useful work and uncommon paths.
Hosted by Sam Bell, the show listens for the hidden clever in each guest: the instinct, inner knowing, craft, courage and lived wisdom that shape how they build, lead, create, care and contribute.
Guests include founders, operators, makers, artists, elders, wisdom holders and people whose lives carry practical insight.
The conversations trace what becomes possible through close listening, trusted instinct, and a life organised around what matters.
Listen for the thread. Notice what feels true. Take what’s useful into your own life and work.
More at naturalgenius.com.au
Episodes
50 episodes
#50 - Matt Hart: Humanware and Becoming Yourself in the Age of AI
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Matt Hart about Humanware, creativity, fandom, AI, sleep, belonging and becoming more fully yourself.Matt has spent 25+ years building systems that develop human capability across brand strategy, en...
#49 - Sarah Lewis: Following the Signals in a Creative Life
Creative ideas can arrive as whispers through life experience.Sarah Lewis is a London-based filmmaker, artist and designer whose work moves across documentary, moving image, installation, craft, handbags, curation, teaching and embodied...
#48 - Sarah Hayes: Follow the Breath to Steadiness
Sarah Hayes follows what lights her up. From a childhood on a South Australian farm to animal behaviour research, expedition guiding, yoga, breathwork, freediving and her organisation, "Breathe Her", her path has been shaped by curiosity, place...
#47 - Annie Parker: What Are You Waiting For?
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Annie Parker about instinct, founders, community and moments when life asks for immediate action.Annie has spent more than 20 years across international startups, technology and consulting, building...
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#46 - Elvira Albaeva: Brave Dreams and Free Knowledge
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Elvira Albaeva, a technologist from Kyrgyzstan, about free knowledge, finding what drives you, and the quiet courage of a new chapter.Elvira brings professional depth across software development, CR...
#45 - Sophie Vo: Building Bridges Between Business and Consciousness
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Sophie Vo about bringing more of the whole human into business: heart, healing, responsibility, joy, intuition and higher consciousness.Sophie has spent more than 20 years in technology, entrepreneu...
#44 - Tina Köstler: Tantra as a Practice of Presence
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Tina Köstler about tantra as a practice of presence, coming back into the body, and restoring access to pleasure, intuition, connection and aliveness.Tina shares her shift from high-performing start...
#43 - Maanasa Gopal: Living Like It Matters
Maanasa Gopal lives life as a brilliant art project.In this Natural Genius conversation, Maanasa talks about curiosity, discipline, dreams, planning, Antarctica, creative work, and the people who help us become brave enough to live full...
#42 - Alistair Leaper: Calm Practical Intelligence at Sea
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with long-time friend Alistair Leaper about sailing, seamanship, trust, calm judgement, and the practical intelligence needed to keep boats and crews moving through changing conditions.Alistair has spent...
#41 - Christopher Treble: Gather with People Who Notice the Richness of Life
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Christopher Treble about the richness of long conversations, the generosity of curious communities, and what it means to keep reinventing throughout life.Chris reflects on Network School breakfasts,...
#40 - Allie Armitage: Body Wisdom, Trust and Embodied Leadership
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with coach, facilitator and somatics practitioner Allie Armitage about body wisdom, creative practice, ancestry and embodied leadership.Allie shares how learning to listen to the body changed the way she...
#39 - Adriana Basile: Returning to Yourself with Lived Wisdom
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Adriana Basile about healing, relationships, self-trust and coming back into the body.Adriana’s gift is lived wisdom. She has done the work she now helps others do: returning to herself, building st...
#38 - Joanne Merrick: Impact Is Everything
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Joanne Merrick about management, leadership, music, friendship, grief, and the impact we have on people.Joanne is an architect of leadership transformation, author, neuroscience-informed talent stra...
#37 - Ben Rennie: Technology, Adventure, and Designing for Connection
What happens when technology makes life easier, and also starts to take something from us?In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with designer, author and creativity activist Ben Rennie about technology, agency, adventure, family, systemic des...
#36 - Aprill Enright: Art, Creative Reinvention, and Personal Rebranding
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Aprill Enright about moving through a sometimes murky transition from co-founder and operator to artist, creative partner, and a clearer new chapter.Drawing on work across technology, customer operat...
#35 - Peppie Simpson: The Ocean as Medicine, Whale Song, and Remembering Who We Are
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Peppie Simpson about the ocean as medicine, whale song, and what nature helps us remember.A pioneer of women’s surfing in Australia, Peppie brings decades across surfing, swimming, teaching, ocean gu...
#34 - Adam Tomas Pangelinan: Network School, Coding Mischief, and Choosing Action Before Certainty
Adam Tomas Pangelinan is a technologist and builder from Guam, currently at Network School (ns.com). In this conversation, he shares how curiosity, mischief, and courage opened a path from island life to a fast-moving global coding community, a...
#33 - Stephane Laurent Villedieu: Sweet Origins, Hard Lessons, and Human Choice in the Age of AI
Raised in a small town in the south of France, Stephane Laurent Villedieu grew up with deep trust in people and a strong pull towards the wider world. That openness took him into conflict resolution work in the Middle East, through an MBA, into...
#32 - Jack Growden: Action Over Words, Digital Inequality, and Building the Basics First
In this conversation, Jack Growden shares why digital inequality and other community challenges are being overthought and under-solved, and simple actions that work: get the laptop into a child’s hands, build the classroom, add the toilet, and ...
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#31 - Chris Hocking: Saying Yes, Solving Problems, and Building Tools That Ship
Say yes, solve the real problem, and ship the work. In this conversation, Chris Hocking shares how a childhood around backyard films, touring, live production, and generous mentors led to nearly two decades building LateNite across film, post-p...
#30 - Serana Hunt-Hughes (Whitefeather): Practical Intelligence, Intuitive Intelligence, and Listening to Land
Practical intelligence and intuitive intelligence belong together. In this conversation, Serana Hunt-Hughes, also known as Whitefeather, shares the thread running through a life that has included camels, horses, photography, emergency towing, c...
#29 - Michel Kelleher: Building Integrity, Family, and Peace Through Business
Michel Kelleher has built a life and business around peace, values, and practical care. In this conversation, she shares how she left a high-stress chapter, built a business in Bali, and learned to navigate grief, menopause, remote work, and ch...
#28 - Corinne Proske: Building for Forever in Nature, Leadership, and Impact
Corinne Proske is CEO of Trust for Nature and brings a rare combination of environmental science, commerce, social impact finance, and executive leadership to her work. In this conversation with Sam, she reflects on returning to her first love,...
#27 - Christian Duell: Creativity, Collective Wisdom, and Designing Better Systems for Complex Challenges
How do you access the intelligence already present within a group?In this episode of the Natural Genius podcast, Sam Bell speaks with Christian Duell, educator, facilitator, and founder of White Light Education, about creativity, co-desi...
#26 - Karlie Cummins: Saying Yes, Building Trust, and Growing a Fun Business
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Karlie Cummins about saying yes before you have every answer, building trust through action, and growing a business that feels both effective and fun.Karlie is the founder of Bali Buddies and Indo Bu...
