Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations
Welcome to Stories and Strategies, the world’s most listened to Public Relations podcast feed, according to Podchaser, Goodpods, and data from Rephonic.
This feed brings together two complementary podcasts exploring the role, responsibility, and future of public relations from a global perspective.
Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations is the flagship show, co hosted by Doug Downs and Farzana Baduel. Released every Tuesday, this 20 minute weekly podcast delivers bold ideas, sharp insights, and honest conversations about public relations, strategic communications, and marketing. From earned media and brand storytelling to AI and behavioural science, the show goes beyond surface commentary to focus on what truly shapes modern communications.
Also included in this feed is The Week UnSpun, a weekly live analysis of global news headlines through a public relations lens. Co hosted by Doug Downs, Farzana Baduel, and David Gallagher of Folgate Advisors, The Week UnSpun streams live every Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern / 3 p.m. UK time, with the audio edition released later the same day.
Follow now and join a worldwide community shaping the future of communications, one story and one headline at a time.
Episodes
228 episodes
The Stories and Strategies Podcast Trailer
This is not just one podcast. It’s a feed with two.First is Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations. A weekly show hosted by Doug Downs and Farzana Baduel. Every Tuesday, we tackle the real work of p...
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1:16
Grief is a Communications Challenge… Not an HR Process
What do you say when there’s nothing to say?Most workplaces think they handle grief through policy, a few days of bereavement leave, a checklist, and a quiet expectation that people will return “ready” to work. But grief doesn’t follow p...
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Episode 209
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24:17
Susie Wiles and the Cost of Poor Media Strategy
What happens when a top political strategist forgets the rules of media engagement? This episode of The Week UnSpun strikes a nerve for PR professionals as Doug unpacks Susie Wiles’ widely criticized Vanity Fair interviews...
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15:08
Why Your NGO Can’t Afford to be the “Best Kept Secret”
Nonprofits often describe themselves with a strange sense of pride: “We’re the best kept secret.” But in an era where funding is shrinking, donor expectations are shifting, and public trust must be earned every single day, staying a se...
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Season 4
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Episode 208
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26:09
Who Will Control Hollywood’s Future? Netflix vs. Warner Bros
Who’s Really Writing the Stories That Shape Our World?This week, we dive into the high-stakes power play unfolding in Hollywood as Netflix and Paramount battle to take over Warner Bros. What looks like a blockbuster business deal is, in ...
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19:58
Winning Trust When the World is Skeptical
In every corner of the world the public mood is shifting, sometimes quietly and sometimes all at once. Climate anxiety, pandemic fears, economic pressure, geopolitical tension and a surge in concern about data security have all reshaped what pe...
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Season 4
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Episode 207
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26:49
The Agency Checkup: How Healthy Is Your PR Firm?
Most agencies can tell you how their clients are doing but ask how they are doing and the room gets quiet. The truth is that even the best run firms skip their own checkups. Margins thin out, teams burn out, and culture drifts while the spotlig...
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Season 4
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Episode 206
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25:16
Are Leaks Strategic PR Tools or Signs of Corporate Decay?
This week, we look into the murky ethics of media leaks and their growing role in shaping political, corporate, and cultural narratives. From leaked peace plans that spark international diplomacy to budget details released minutes before parlia...
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23:54
The Old Fashioned Deal: Trust and Influence in a Digital Age
Trust isn’t built in boardrooms or over Zoom. It’s built in the quiet moments. A conversation that lingers, a promise kept, a drink shared between people who still believe words matter. In this episode, we explore how the foundation...
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Season 4
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Episode 205
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23:15
Releasing the Epstein Files and is LinkedIn Gender Biased?
What happens when PR meets scandal, tech chaos, and gender bias? This episode of The Week UnSpun is a whirlwind of explosive headlines. The trio of David Gallagher, Doug Downs, and guest host Miranda Mitchell look into the ...
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24:28
Is AI Quietly Rewriting Your Brand?
AI can imitate your voice, your words, even your face, but it can’t steal your story. What happens when companies hand their storytelling to machines that don’t understand who they are? As businesses race to automate, th...
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Episode 204
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23:04
BBC’s Trump Edit – Mistake or Malice?
Is the BBC losing its grip on journalistic credibility? Or is it being pushed? This episode of The Week Unspun unpacks a chaotic week in media and politics with sharp insight from PR veterans Farzana Baduel, David Gallaghe...
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23:56
How Cultural Intelligence Shapes Great Public Relations
In public relations, success often depends on one quiet skill: knowing how to adapt. The best communicators read the room, sense the temperature, and adjust their tone without losing their message. In this episode, we explore what i...
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Episode 203
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23:32
Is AI the Newest Entry on Your Public Relations Org Chart?
In this audience-driven “mailroom” episode of The Week Spun, the conversation opens with a provocative idea from the PRovoke Summit: AI is now being discussed in full-time equivalent (FTE) terms, signaling a shift in how agencies and o...
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23:09
The LinkedIn Confidence Gap for Public Relations Pros
Afraid of posting on LinkedIn? You’re not alone, and it’s not about time or talent, it’s about confidence.In this episode we look at why communicators, especially women, struggle to show up confidently on LinkedIn. Fear, not ...
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Season 4
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Episode 202
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22:14
Rebranding Climate: Alarmism vs. Optimism in PR
What do a billionaire climate pivot, AI-fueled layoffs, and a scandalous Italian election have in common? They all got the PR treatment in this episode. Farzana Baduel, David Gallagher, and Doug Downs peel back the media layers beh...
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21:28
Flattered to Death: The AI Sycophant in the Room
We live in a moment where artificial intelligence can write our emails, plan our meetings, even give us life advice. But here’s the problem: these systems are often too agreeable for our own good. They’re less like truth tellers and more like d...
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Episode 201
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24:43
The Mamdani Effect: Can TikTok Win a Mayoral Race?
Can a cyclist-turned (accused) communist New York mayoral candidate teach the PR world a thing or two about emotional storytelling? This week we unpack the “Mamdani effect” how Zohran Mamdani is rewriting the rules of political com...
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22:48
Is Attention the New Currency in Public Relations?
Is attention the new currency? Politicians, brands, influencers, even your neighbor’s viral TikTok are all competing for the same scarce resource: your focus. But attention is slippery. It can make you a household name overnight and...
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Season 4
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Episode 200
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24:46
What’s the Point of Public Relations if You Can’t Prove it Worked?
The call for better measurement in public relations is not new. For decades, leaders in the field have warned that counting impressions, likes, and advertising value equivalents is not enough. Yet here we are, still leaning on the same empty nu...
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Season 4
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Episode 199
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22:44
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is here… is Public Relations Ready?
Search is changing faster than most PR professionals realize. For years, SEO was about keywords and backlinks. Now, with AI-driven tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity shaping how people find information, the game is shifting to AEO (Answ...
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Season 4
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Episode 198
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24:40
Public Relations for Hispanic Audiences
Getting Hispanic communications wrong is not just a slip. It can cost brands credibility, trust, and millions in wasted campaigns. Too often, companies think a simple translation is enough, only to find their carefully crafted message falls fla...
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Season 4
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Episode 197
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24:19
The Dangerous Echo of Polarized Voices
What happens when your newsfeed becomes a battlefield?In the US and UK, political leaders trade accusations, social media thrives on outrage, and communities are left simmering in distrust. What used to be disagreements over policy now l...
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Season 4
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Episode 196
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23:47
Beyond SEO: Understanding Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Google Search still holds about 90% of global search volume as of mid‑2025, but change is underway as more users begin turning to AI. AI search is rewriting the rules of discovery, and PR needs to adapt. With ChatGPT, Gemini, and Pe...
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Season 3
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Episode 195
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23:44
The Hidden Reason Women are Leaving Public Relations
More women are now leaving the PR industry because of perimenopause and menopause than because of childbirth. That’s a staggering, often invisible, that’s shift happening right at the top. It’s not burnout or work-life balance pushi...
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Season 4
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Episode 194
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25:04
