Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations

People Don’t Resist Change, They Resist Being Changed

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episodeMost communicators assume that if people reject a message, they mu...

The New Role of Public Relations | Ipsos

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Public relations used to be seen as the function that shaped the message after the decisions were made. That is not enough anymore. In a world shaped ...

Why Public Relations Still Has a Leadership Problem

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Communications is often described as a female-led profession, but that label can hide a harder truth. Women may make up much of the industry, yet the ...

Visual Drift: Why Brands Stop Looking Like Themselves

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You know that feeling when you look at your own brand and it somehow doesn’t feel like you anymore? The logo is the same, the words are mostly right...

Synthetic Populations & Their Impacts on Public Relations

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What if the best market research started by IGNORING what people say?What if, instead, you started modeling them based on proven behaviour?Right down ...

The 7 Reputation Drivers Every Leader Should Know

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s world, PR leaders need to build and protect their brand’s reputation in an AI-shaped, polarized world, where owned media matters more t...

Public Relations in the Age of Insularity

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Trust used to flow upward. To experts, institutions, and authority. Then it shifted to “people like me.” Now even that circle is tightening. Th...

Why Brands are Too Serious… and Paying the Price

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Can a joke really sell a brand? Or save it from sameness?Most campaigns sound the same because they’re afraid to sound wrong. Safe language, serious...

When Your Message is Consistent, But Your Audience Isn’t

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You can be the same person across every channel. Your social media accounts. Your YouTube. Your newsletter. Your blog. The same principles. The same ...

The Evolution of Communication in the Age of Attention Deficit

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In an age where opinions form faster than facts and headlines spark outrage before understanding, how do brands, leaders, and storytellers stay credib...

The PR Community Asks: Can We Fix Ageism, DEI Retreats, and Reputation Laundering?

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Farzana Baduel and David Gallagher take on everything from Justin Trudeau’s headline-grabbing kiss with Katy Perry to how PR pros can unwittingly be...

Is PR still powerful when public opinion no longer matters?

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Farzana Baduel, David Gallagher, and Doug Downs tackle everything from President Trump’s militarized immigration crackdown to what brands can (and s...

Keir Starmer’s Image Crisis: Can Labour Win Over Its Own Members?

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week on The Week UnSpun, the trio of Farzana Baduel, Doug Downs, and David Gallagher dive headfirst into a whirlwind of global news through a com...

Tylenol Trouble: When Misinformation Goes Viral

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What do Tylenol, Jimmy Kimmel, and Disney all have in common? They’re all caught in the crosshairs of public opinion this week. On this episode ho...

Is Free Speech Really Free Anymore? The PR Truth Behind Protests, Kimmel, and AI

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Every Friday at 3pm UK and 10 am Eastern we scan the PR Mega Chat and pick the stories that actually shaped the week.  This week’s episode is a fie...

Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Arrested

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Every Friday we scan the PR Mega Chat and pick the stories that actually shaped the week. What happens when narrative control collides with tragedy, ...

The Week Unspun: Friday September 25, 2025

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Every Friday at 5 pm UK and noon Eastern we scan the globe and pick the stories that actually shaped the week then apply a public relations lens. This...

The New LinkedIn: How Reach Actually Works now

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You’re using LinkedIn wrongNot because you’re not smart… you are. It’s because you’re using yesterday’s LinkedIn. The platform is changi...

Is Silence Still Strategic When the World’s on Fire?

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When the streets erupt, the headlines explode, and public pressure hits boiling point… can business leaders still afford to say nothing?  In this e...

How Personal Branding is Changing… and What You Need to Do Now

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Personal branding is changing in real time. The first impression is no longer a handshake or a conversation. It is a clip you did not choose, a post s...

The Mark Carney Mic Drop in Davos

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stood up in Davos and didn’t waste words. He gave a speech that cut through the noise. The room stood. The worl...

How to Compete for Attention in a Distracted World

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

PR teams are being asked to win attention in a world that barely gives it. The problem is not reach. The problem is what happens after the click, afte...

Is Davos Still a Forum? Or Just a Stage?

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s The Week UnSpun, the panel takes on three high-stakes stories where influence, identity, and global perception collide.  First, the ...

Too Old for Public Relations? Why Age is Still the Industry’s Blind Spot

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It doesn’t matter whether you’re 25 or 55. If you speak and people listen politely but not seriously, it hurts. Too young to be trusted.Too old ...

The Capture of Maduro… Arrest or Act of War?

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A headline-grabbing raid, a revolution-in-the-making, and a “beige” prime minister walk into the attention economy… who wins the story?  Farzan...

Public Relations… Ten Years in the Future

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This is a special audio time-jump episode. It’s an immersive journey ten years into the future to explore how public relations has managed three of ...

Is Iran’s Regime Really Listening? Or Just Buying Time?

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when protests shake a regime built on control, not consent? We look at Iran’s largest wave of unrest since 2022. Fueled by economic co...

Should Public Relations be Regulated?

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Public relations shapes what people believe, how communities respond, and which ideas earn trust. It influences elections, corporate crises, governmen...

Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines… What the World Misses

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when war, resilience, and optimism collide on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean? In this special Boxing Day episode of The Week UnSpun, ...

The Stories and Strategies Podcast Trailer

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Grief is a Communications Challenge… Not an HR Process

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, an...

Susie Wiles and the Cost of Poor Media Strategy

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when a top political strategist forgets the rules of media engagement?  This episode of The Week UnSpun strikes a nerve for PR professio...

Why Your NGO Can’t Afford to be the “Best Kept Secret”

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nonprofits often describe themselves with a strange sense of pride: “We’re the best kept secret.” But in an era where funding is shrinking, dono...

Who Will Control Hollywood’s Future? Netflix vs. Warner Bros

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Param...

Winning Trust When the World is Skeptical

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In every corner of the world the public mood is shifting, sometimes quietly and sometimes all at once. Climate anxiety, pandemic fears, economic press...

The Agency Checkup: How Healthy Is Your PR Firm?

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

Are Leaks Strategic PR Tools or Signs of Corporate Decay?

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we look into the murky ethics of media leaks and their growing role in shaping political, corporate, and cultural narratives. From leaked p...

The Old Fashioned Deal: Trust and Influence in a Digital Age

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Releasing the Epstein Files and is LinkedIn Gender Biased?

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 D...

Is AI Quietly Rewriting Your Brand?

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 machin...

BBC’s Trump Edit – Mistake or Malice?

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 p...

How Cultural Intelligence Shapes Great Public Relations

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In public relations, success often depends on one quiet skill: knowing how to adapt. The best communicators read the room, sense the temperature, and ...

Is AI the Newest Entry on Your Public Relations Org Chart?

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this audience-driven “mailroom” episode of The Week Spun, the conversation opens with a provocative idea from the PRovoke Summit: AI is now bei...

The LinkedIn Confidence Gap for Public Relations Pros

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 communi...

Rebranding Climate: Alarmism vs. Optimism in PR

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 episod...

Flattered to Death: The AI Sycophant in the Room

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

The Mamdani Effect: Can TikTok Win a Mayoral Race?

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can a cyclist-turned (accused) communist New York mayoral candidate teach the PR world a thing or two about emotional storytelling?  This week we unp...

Is Attention the New Currency in Public Relations?

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is attention the new currency? Politicians, brands, influencers, even your neighbor’s viral TikTok are all competing for the same scarce resource: y...

What’s the Point of Public Relations if You Can’t Prove it Worked?

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The call for better measurement in public relations is not new. For decades, leaders in the field have warned that counting impressions, likes, and ad...

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is here… is Public Relations Ready?

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Search is changing faster than most PR professionals realize. For years, SEO was about keywords and backlinks. Now, with AI-driven tools like ChatGPT,...

Public Relations for Hispanic Audiences

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Getting Hispanic communications wrong is not just a slip. It can cost brands credibility, trust, and millions in wasted campaigns. Too often, companie...

The Dangerous Echo of Polarized Voices

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when your newsfeed becomes a battlefield?In the US and UK, political leaders trade accusations, social media thrives on outrage, and comm...

Beyond SEO: Understanding Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Hidden Reason Women are Leaving Public Relations

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

More women are now leaving the PR industry because of perimenopause and menopause than because of childbirth. That’s a staggering, often invisible,...

What Kind of Public Relations Industry Will Gen Z Inherit?

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

PR really is at a crossroads… we’ve got old playbooks and new players coming in who want to change the rules. In its report Mind the Gap, USC’s...

Africa’s Missing Seat at the Global Public Relations Table

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ayeni Adekunle Samuel argues that Africa is often misunderstood or reduced to oversimplified stereotypes by global brands, agencies, and even tech pla...

It’s Groundhog Day in the Public Relations Industry

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the PR industry still having the same tired conversation? Year after year, event after event… while the world moves on without us? We talk a...

Rebranding a Country

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it take to rebrand an entire nation? Not just a logo or slogan—but the name itself. Gökhan Yücel helped lead the campaign to officially ...

AI that Maps the Mind

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if the most powerful tool in public relations isn’t a pitch deck or media list, but your own story? In this episode, we’re joined by technolo...

When the Media Quote isn’t Human: Fake Quotes – Real Damage

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if the expert quote you just read in a news article wasn’t written by a human — but by AI? That’s already happening.  A PR tool called Sy...

HARO Reloaded: How to Pitch Like It’s 2025

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s media landscape, journalists are drowning in pitches while PR professionals scramble for attention—often missing the mark entirely. But...

Selling our Value – Not our Time

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if everything you’ve been taught about pricing your work—tracking time, logging hours, justifying effort—was wrong? What if the real value ...

Authenticity Isn’t a Buzzword, It’s a Business Model

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if the smartest pitch you ever sent didn’t sound smart at all—but sounded real? In a world where inboxes are flooded with AI-polished messag...

Name, Blame, and Damage Control

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Your reputation is your most valuable asset — but also the most fragile. In today’s world, a single tweet, leaked email, or bad headline can trig...

Media Literacy in the Age of Misinformation

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is your media diet making you smarter? Or just more stubborn? In this episode, we sit down with senior communicator and former journalist Mark Burey ...

Public Relations: Independent Function or Marketing Tool?

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are public relations and marketing two distinct disciplines—or is PR simply one piece of the broader marketing puzzle? It’s a question that stirs ...

The Missing Channel in Your PR Strategy

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Most PR strategies still focus on the big three: social, legacy media, and search. But while everyone’s watching the headlines, the real conversatio...

Zambia’s Public Relations Revolution

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does public relations look like in a country where radio is still growing, social media still exploding, and communication reaches from rural vil...

Employee Engagement Inside PR: What the Research Reveals

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Employee engagement is evolving — and the old assumptions no longer hold. Today, workers want more than a paycheck. They want growth, flexibility, a...

British Voices, American Ears: A Shift in News Consumption

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

More Americans are turning down the volume on domestic news — and turning up British voices instead. From BBC to The Guardian, outlets across the At...

GROW Your Way Out of PR Workplace Stress

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Feeling stuck or stressed at work? You might just need to GROW your way out. Executive coach Sarah Waddington shares the power and practicality of th...

Crisis Insurance: The New Safety Net for Reputations

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reputation is often treated like an invisible asset—vital but fragile. And while we insure everything from homes to art collections, very few think ...

Culture Add – NOT Culture Fit

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What makes a workplace culture truly thrive—especially in the pressure-cooker world of creative agencies? Can you REALLY be tough on the work but k...

Why Modern Communication is Making Us LESS Connected | Suhel Seth

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In an age where opinions form faster than facts and headlines spark outrage before understanding, how do brands, leaders, and storytellers stay credib...

Cancelled. Convicted. Came Back: Andy Coulson’s Story

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when the man behind the headlines becomes the headline?  Former tabloid editor and Downing Street comms chief Andy Coulson opens up abou...

Who Do You Trust? Rethinking Media in a Fractured World

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The media landscape is changing – and fast. In this episode, Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, breaks dow...

Talked Over and Ignored: PR Occupational Hazards for Women

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The public relations industry has long been recognized as a female-dominated field, with women making up approximately two-thirds of the workforce. Ho...

Welcome CoHost Farzana Baduel - Season Four Trailer

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Curzon Public Relations CEO, Farzana Baduel, joins the world’s most-listened-to PR podcast, as Guest Resident Co-Host!Alongside host Doug Downs, SCM...

The Science of How to Talk Like Ted

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ideas shape the world, but only when they’re communicated effectively. Some individuals have a remarkable ability to present their ideas in a way th...

The Words We Need: Communicating with Someone in Times of Grief and Tragedy

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is in honour of Podcasthon and in support of the Canadian Cancer SocietyWhen facing a life-altering cancer diagnosis, how much does commu...

Case Study: Rethinking Community Engagement in the Global Southeast

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if the key to development isn’t learning more—but unlearning first? In this episode, we explore how rural communities in underdeveloped nati...

How AI is Learning to Understand Human Emotions (Polyvagel Theory)

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a world where technology is increasingly intertwined with human emotions, a new frontier is emerging—artificial intelligence that can understand ...

FLASHBACK SUNDAY - PRSA’s Strategy to Out-Communicate Misinformation

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode originally published in May 2024.At the end of 2023, PRSA assembled a group of 25 senior communicators from a wide range of industries, i...

How to Build a Personal Brand That Opens Doors

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Personal branding isn’t just for influencers or CEOs—it’s for anyone who wants to stand out, build trust, and create new opportunities. Whether...

Why Your PR Plan is Gathering Dust… and How to Fix it

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever created a PR or communications plan, only to stash it away and forget about it? You’re not alone.  Guest Michelle Garrett breaks down why so m...

Executive Storytelling: A New Era for Public Relations

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As brands seek to cut through the digital noise, a fascinating trend has emerged: recording conversations with CEOs and decision-makers to create auth...

The Rise of Fractional Leadership: Filling Gaps, Driving Growth

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fractional Leadership is a growing, and possibly permanent, trend of fractional leadership and why it’s becoming a permanent shift in the business w...

FLASHBACK SUNDAY - How a Ban on TikTok Might Impact PR and Marketing Pros

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok is a powerful social media tool in the United States. About 170 million Americans use the platform and for many marketing and PR agencies it’...

Why Communication is a Navy SEAL’s Greatest Asset

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Communication is the most important weapon a Navy SEAL can carry—more vital than physical strength, endurance, or even firepower. I was in Salt Lake...

Soft Power in Public Relations: Persuasion over Pressure

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Soft Power. It’s the concept of influence… not control – and it can shape global perceptions, drive brand loyalty, and create lasting impact.In ...

Hawk Tuah: Meme Queen – Crypto Scheme. Fame in the Age of Absurdity

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

She made the internet howl with one absurd phrase. Haliey Welch, the self-proclaimed “Hawk Tuah Girl,” turned a bizarre street interview viral fam...

Reimagining School Marketing: Partnering, Not Promoting

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rate this podcast with just one click In today’s crowded digital landscape and with marketing budgets tighter than ever, brands are looking for fres...

SUNDAY FLASHBACK - Harnessing the Influence of Wikipedia for Your Brand

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wikipedia is one of the top the most-visited websites in the world. Additionally, it has influence. The information on Wikipedia is also disseminated ...

Is AI a Hero or a Villain for Public Relations and Marketing in 2025?

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rate this podcast with just one click Time to explore predictions for the coming year in public relations, marketing, and the evolving role of AI. The...

AI Written Poetry is SHOCKINGLY Better Than Human Writers

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rate this podcast with just one click We think we can tell when bots take the pen, When AI spins words again and again. "Deep dives" and &qu...

Why is My CEO so BORING on Social Media?

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rate this podcast with just one click Executives are finally beginning to understand the power of participating in digital channels.“What if I mess ...

WOMEN Can Reach PR Executive Leadership Roles Faster Than You Think!

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rate this podcast with just one click There’s a striking imbalance in the PR industry: while women make up two-thirds of the workforce, they hold on...

Political Campaigns as PR Case Studies

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We want to hear from you https://podcast.storiesandstrategies.ca/surveyRate this podcast with just one clickWhat can political campaigns teach us abou...

Has JAGUAR Committed Brand Suicide?

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We want to hear from you https://podcast.storiesandstrategies.ca/surveyRate this podcast with just one clickJaguar is one of the most iconic luxury ca...

Adapt or Die: PR in the Age of AI

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We want to hear from you https://podcast.storiesandstrategies.ca/surveyRate this podcast with just one click In many ways, the ground is shifting bene...