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
57 episodes
#57 - Daniel Epstein: Developing Faith Through Portraits, Stories and Sacred Listening
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Daniel Epstein about Portraits in Faith, developing faith through listening, sacred stories, photography, Uncle Bob and Aunty Barbara Randall, Mutitjulu, behaviour change, gratitude, love and becoming more ...
#56 - Kelly Wendorf: Horses, Belonging, Leadership as a Living System and Corporate Shamanism
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Kelly Wendorf about horses, belonging, corporate shamanism, and what leadership can become when we start recognising organisations as living systems.Kelly is the founder and CEO of EQUUS, an ICF Mast...
#55 - Lucas Maddy: Practical Wisdom, Bitcoin, and Life Beyond the Screen
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Lucas Maddy about practical wisdom, Bitcoin, AI, music, self-reliance, focus, friendship, and designing a life that stays connected to the real world.Lucas brings a rare mix of farm practicality, tec...
#54 - Jake Randall: Poetry, Optimism, and the Most Ambitious Good Life
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Jake Randall about philosophy, poetry, entrepreneurship, investing, community, travel, Network School, AI, and the question that keeps shaping his life: what makes a good life?Jake is a wanderer, ent...
#53 - Rodolfo Carone & Francesca Tuzzi: Water, Unity, and the Responsibility to Grow
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Rodolfo Carone and Francesca Tuzzi about water, unity, Uncle Bob Randall, the Kanyini philosophy, responsibility, poetry, and the small seeds of connection that can help humanity grow.Thank you to Ba...
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#52 - John Paul Fischbach (EagleHeart): Art, Shamanism and Putting Love Into the World
In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with John Paul Fischbach, also known as EagleHeart, about art, shamanism, business, sacred sites, and the practical wisdom that helps people find their way.John Paul is a theatre and film director, author...
#51 - Jelena Blajer: The Nervous System of the Family Starts with You
Jelena Blajer has spent 25 years working with bodies (babies, children, pregnant women, whole families) and what she has learned is this: when the parent's nervous system is dysregulated, the child's is too. Presence is not a nice-to-have. It i...
#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...
