In this conversation, Dr. Michael Vlerick discusses the mismatch between our modern environment and our Stone Age brains, which can impact our happiness. He highlights examples such as our predilection for sugary and fatty foods, our stress response, our sedentary lifestyle, and the artificial ways we seek dopamine boosts. Dr. Vlerick explains how …

In this conversation, Aldo de Pape and Dr. Michael Vlerick discuss the simple recipe for happiness. They explore the three major elements of a happy life: equanimity, contentment, and the quality of social connections. They emphasize the importance of working on oneself and cultivating a new relationship with negative emotions. They also discuss th…

In this conversation, Aldo and Dr. Michael Vlerick discuss the topic of happiness and how to train the brain for happiness. They explore the importance of remaining equanimous, developing contentment, and connecting with others in order to live a happy and meaningful life. They also delve into the practice of meditation and its benefits, including …

Dr. Michael Vlerick presents a concrete 10 step plan on how to become a happier person! He emphasizes the need to develop good habits and discard bad habits, starting with small changes and being kind to ourselves. Living a healthy lifestyle, including getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising, is crucial for both physical and mental well-b…

In this conversation, Aldo and Michael discuss the importance of happiness in life and how it becomes more apparent when reflecting back on one's life. They explore the idea that everything we do is ultimately in pursuit of happiness, whether consciously or unconsciously. They also discuss the need to be more conscious of our actions and behaviors …

In this conversation, Aldo interviews Kian Katanforoosh, CEO of Workera; a platform that measures competencies and provides insights in how people can acquire the right job skills for the future. The two discuss the impact of AI on jobs and the future of work, and dive into how important it is to prepare our world for all the changes that are to co…

Aldo talks to Pelonomi Moiloa, CEO and co-founder of Lelapa AI and discusses the importance of building language models for African languages and the challenges faced in using models built in other places. Pelonomi emphasizes the need to make AI accessible for everyone and explains how Lelapa AI is working towards that goal. Pelonomi shares her bac…

In this first episode of a series of 5, Aldo interviews Dr. Michael Vlerick about his new book, 'Why We Are Not Happier.' They discuss the book launch and the reception it received. They explore the concept of happiness versus our genes, highlighting the hyperactive threat detection and negativity bias that can hinder our happiness. They also discu…

Join us in this round table conversation with education giants: Wendy Kopp, Cindy Mi, and Dr. Shannon May as we explore the potential impact of AI on teaching and learning globally. Aldo's guests discuss the importance of embracing AI with care and highlight the need for governments and education systems to take a proactive approach in adopting it.…

In this episode, Aldo interviews Cath Bishop, an Olympian and former war diplomat. Cath shares her journey from being a non-sporty child to becoming an Olympic rower, training rigorously and competing in three Olympic Games. She discusses the challenges she faced and the pressure to perform, as well as the importance of defining success beyond meda…

By Aldo de Pape

Isabelle Hau, Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, discusses with Aldo the difference between ‘Education' and ‘Learning’. Isabelle emphasises the importance of lifelong learning and why we should expand its definition beyond traditional schooling. She explains to Aldo the goals of the Accelerator to put vital research more q…

A remarkable interview about resilience, passion and trying to make an impact on this world. Aldo speaks to Jo Besford and Mark Swartz, founders of GreenShoots an organisation focused on improving numeracy and Maths skills of all students in South Africa. You can find out more about GreenShoots here: https://www.greenshootsedu.co.za/ This interview…

Our very last episode of the year analyses what makes us human beings happy. Aldo speaks to Dr. Michael Vlerick, our most listened to guest of 2023, about his new book ‘Why We Are Not Happier’ and what makes us tick in an era of negative news clickbait and social media depression. We explore terms like ‘hedonic adaptation’ and ’negativity bias’ all…

Aldo shares his reflections on attending WISE11 in Doha on November 28th and 29th, 2023. You can help out those who have been deprived of an education because of war by making a small donation to one of the following organisations: UNICEF for Gaza: https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/children-in-gaza-crisis-appeal/ Education Above All: https://donate.…

Aldo takes you through the 12 books he read this year. Listen in and be inspired by this list of books, some of them recommended by previous guests on Messy and Masterful. 'A House for Mr. Biswas' by V.S. Naipaul: https://amzn.eu/d/davSL9e 'The Practice of Groundedness' by Brad Stuhlberg: https://amzn.eu/d/1ZLbTxx 'The Years' by Annie Ernaux: https…

A great conversation with Dr. Charles Wiles about entrepreneurship, education, software and AI. Charles shares with Aldo his experience and insights on working for and building technology companies and explains what drives him to ensure his current endeavour will be a big success. Find out more about Dr. Wiles company Zzish here: https://www.zzish.…

A deep conversation about career choices, family life and health with professional negotiator and Headhunter Laurence Dewaele. Aldo speaks with Laurence about her journey from being a lawyer at one of the top firms on the planet to becoming an expert in negotiation and Executive Search. Laurence speaks about the book she co-authored called ‘Eat Sle…

A frank conversation with Nandita Vij Tan who speaks about her journey coming from India to France, studying to become a journalist at one of the best schools in the country. Nandita shares her professional insights and experiences (good and bad) on telling stories, what makes them different when told online and sheds a light on how to deal with co…

Aldo speaks to serial entrepreneur Seb Francis about his turbulent journey starting a company in Education and creating his very own tequila. An open conversation about what does and doesn’t work when starting your own business. Find out more about Seb’s EdTech company Titus Learning here: https://www.tituslearning.com/meet-co-founder-seb-francis/ …

Aldo speaks with Dr. Marion Debruyne, Dean of the top-ranked Vlerick Business School about her remarkable career to date. Dr. Debruyne speaks about how she is finding her way through the hallways of business and academia, her ambitions to grow Vlerick and what we should look for when searching for optimal happiness in our careers. Find out more abo…

Aldo speaks to Anthony Ward Thomas, founder of one of the biggest removal companies in the United Kingdom. In this Episode this very grounded guest shares more about his life-long career building a huge company from nothing. Anthony speaks about what motivated him to start packing boxes, what brings him joy in running a company with hundreds of emp…

This is an Episode for those who love to write!! Aldo speaks to the wonderful Alison Jones, founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing about her journey as an author, coach and publishing entrepreneur. Alison shares the details of her adventurous journey through the world of books and reveals why it so important to read and write, every single day…

Amy Brand is an American Academic and the Executive Producer of the Emmy nominated Documentary 'Picture A Scientist'. She is the Director of MIT Press and a cognitive scientist by training. Aldo speaks to Amy about her life-long career in and for academia, why there is still a lot of work to be done to get more women in STEM and how sounds, syllabl…

Listen to an in-depth conversation with Mike France, CEO and co-founder of Christopher Ward. Mike takes us through his challenges in building a premium British watch brand, why it is a perfect piece of men’s jewelry and explains us why we should never be led by the price of a watch. Find out more about Christopher Ward here: https://www.christopher…

Yes, yes, yes! We are ready for a next Season of Messy & Masterful. And we are opening with an absolute smasher as we have an in-depth conversation with Annelies Verlinden, the Belgian Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reform and Democratic Renewal. We loved talking to Annelies about what it is like to become a Minister overnight. What life i…

We are going to talk about the power of our brain today with an expert neurologist who has extensive knowledge as a Chiropractic brain specialist about how our brain adapts, how it grows, how it responds throughout our entire life. Dr. Michael Trayford has founded APEX Brain Centres, a clinic that offers extensive brain rehabilitation programs for …

Happy Thursday all and welcome to our very first Audio Aficionado Episode. So different to our Messy & Masterful Interviews these conversations are all about the power of Audio and more particularly podcasting. We dive into other podcast programs together with people who are doing something great and also have been inspired by this mighty tool of t…

It is so good to be back with our Podcast Program. A new series of episodes brought to you every week with also (as you might have noticed) a brand new name. So we took a short break from podcasting taking some time to work with a professional audio consultant to listen to our previously published conversations. We did this because we absolutely lo…

We live in an era of absolute information overload. I am sure you are aware but there is so much content to find out there. Visually you have your pictures, videos, reels and images all over our social media. Audibly you have your audiobooks, Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse meetings and yes also Podcasts. Now when we started the TeachPitch Podcast litt…

“The world starts with educated children.” is the tagline of Room to Read, a globally active charitable organization that has made incredible strides to provide high quality access to millions of children in this world. Interviewing its co-founder and first generation CEO John J Wood to me was an absolute highlight as he has been a hero of mine for…

We are glamming it up today and we are taking you to Hollywood! In our continuous search for the world’s most unique jobs and careers we surely found a diamond today as we had the great honor and pleasure to interview Kristan Serafino. Now Kristan is a hairstylist and not just your regular one. Throughout her 20 year career she has been responsible…

Naza is a Philanthropist who with her organisation the SAGE Foundation, is doing some amazing work funding projects that focus on Education, Girl Empowerment and Environmental Preservation. She is an Iranian refugee who arrived in the United Kingdom at the age of 9 and has the highest belief in the power of education. What makes Naza stand out to m…

The next Episode is one for the deep thinkers among us. I really enjoyed this interview and definitely would like to have this guest come back to our show many more times as he has the talent, experience and words to make us all properly reflect. Dr. Michael Vlerick is a Philosopher. Currently affiliated with Tilburg University in the Netherlands a…

So conversations like the one I had with Jessica Posner-Odede are actually the reason that we came up with the Episode format of ‘Notes to Nono’ brought to you every Monday. It really opened my eyes to how inequitable our world is today for young women and girls all over the world. Jessica is the CEO of Girl Effect, an organisation that uses the po…

Another Thursday, another Episode and today we are taking you to an almost parallel universe of Decentralized Finance, Digital Assets, Crypto currencies and a lot of other Web 3 matters that for many among us is still an unknown. Now my next guest is someone who is working on being a bridge for those people who feel that all of this unclear, too in…

So who among you has ever seen the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Patch Adams’? If you haven’t seen it yet, please go ahead and do so - it will be worth your while. Now the movie - starring Robin Williams as Dr. Patch Adams - has moved millions in this world and ignited a movement of ‘clini-clowns’ to bring more joy and laughter to the very serious world o…

A very warm welcome to yet another Episode of the TeachPitch Podcast. I hope you are doing well, that you are having a beautiful summer in which you can rest up a bit, re-energise and more. Did you notice our new intro music? I absolutely love it. ‘Very majestic’ is what our producer Natalie said and I tend to agree. Love that word - ‘majestic’ - I…

This interview means a lot to me. Not only because the guest I got to interview was extremely interesting, funny and engaging. But also because this conversation really intrinsically touched me. To me this interview with Dr. Marc Brackett was such an ‘aha’ moment, such an absolute confirmation that I was doing the right thing - it got me in such a …

For this interview we are going back to the Balkans and more specifically to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo where I had the great honour to speak to Uranik Begu, the Executive Director of Innovation Centre Kosovo. We again had the great honor of attending and speaking at ThinkTech - Kosovo and while being there I seized the opportunity to speak to…

The world is in good hands if we have people like Gitanjali Rao becoming the leaders of tomorrow. This inventor, aspiring scientist, UNICEF ambassador and the first ever TIME kid of the year is an example to all of us. I had the great pleasure of meeting her in Qatar at the World Innovation Summit for Education. I really enjoyed talking to her for …

A very big welcome to Season 3 of The TeachPitch Podcast. I am hyper excited to be opening our latest season and cannot wait to hear your thoughts on all the awesome things we have in store for you for this series of episodes. We are kicking off and we are kicking off big because I have the great, great fortune to open Season 3 with some of the ver…

This Episode is entirely devoted to reading and more specifically to how reading is changing for us humans in the year 2022 where some say we are dealing with a global ‘attention crisis’. Aldo speaks to Dr. Anne Mangen, a Professor at the Reading Centre of the University of Stavanger in Norway. Dr. Mangen’s research focuses on how reading shapes ou…

So our next featured guest in Notes to Nono is admired all over the world - and more particularly Latin America - as a hard working, honest and resilient example of leadership and success. Rosalia Arteaga is the former President and Vice-President of the Republic of Ecuador, a TV presenter, author of several books, an activist and founder of the ed…

As we are approaching the end of Season 2, Aldo shares 4 crucial (secret) takeaways about the Podcasting journey thus far. Great material if you are thinking of starting a Podcast yourself and/or are curious how such a show comes together. Get in touch if you have any questions! Send us an e-mail on info@teachpitch.com or connect with us on social …

I don’t think I ever had the pleasure of meeting anyone as impressive as Dr. Edith Eger. I consciously use the word ‘impressive’ here as I am very certain you will never forget her once you have met her. Nor will you ever forget the books she has written, ‘The Choice’ and ‘The Gift’. Dr. Eger is a 94 year old Psychologist who after surviving the ho…

Aldo talks to Dutch journalist Jojanneke van den Berge about her decade long journey as a TV presenter and Documentary maker, the many benefits of getting therapy and her latest series ‘Jojanneke en de Jeugdzorg Tapes’ (Jojanneke and the Childcare Tapes) You can watch Jojanneke’s latest documentary series here: https://www.npostart.nl/jojanneke-en-…

This Podcast journey is now almost 1 year old and never in a million years could I have dreamt that it would grow into what it has become today. We have tens of thousands of listeners from around the world, incredible guests who have indeed achieved amazing things in their own right and most importantly an enormous wealth of life experience wrapped…

We are living the music with this Episode as we get to talk to a member of the multi platinum selling band Soehne Mannheims (Sons of Mannheim). Aldo speaks to Metaphysics (aka: Herbert Schwamborn) about what is like to grow up in Zimbabwe being of mixed race, how music shaped his life and what his secret is to thrive in the music industry for close…

A huge moment for the TeachPitch Podcast as we get to speak to one of the very best Chefs in the world! Ana Roš is a globally awarded and celebrated Chef who with her restaurant Hiša Franko has managed to attract thousands and thousands of people to come to see and taste the beautiful country of Slovenia. Aldo speaks to Ana about her enormous succe…