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PODCAST

The Collators

Mark Lockwood, Howard Atkin

Dive into the philosophy and practice of analysis and information sharing, with insights from leaders in tech, academia, intelligence and beyond on how they make sense of the world. Hosts Mark and Howard draw on experience in intelligence, law enforcement and academia to unpack the ideas and methods that shape understanding. Thoughtful but accessible, it"s a podcast for anyone who wants to sharpen their thinking in a complex, fast-changing world.

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

54:37

Good Cop, Bad Cop

The Collators ·

2026/03/06

A simple but urgent question: what is policing actually for? Prompted by recent events and troubling examples of law enforcement in action, Mark and Howard step back from the headlines to explore the principles that are supposed to define good policing. The conversation traces the history of the Office of Constable, the Peelian principles, and the idea that police should operate with the consent of the public, not simply the power of the state.

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01:13:16

Russia: Inside and Out: Interview with Konstantin...

The Collators ·

2026/02/24

Konstantin Samoilov grew up in Russia, lived in the United States, then returned to build a successful life in Moscow, until 2022 changed everything. In this conversation with Mark and Howard, Konstantin explains how his YouTube channel began as a hobby to translate everyday Russia for a Western audience, and why the invasion of Ukraine pushed him from observer to daily documentarian, and ultimately forced him to leave. He recounts the moments when the risks became real and the wrenching

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01:13:22

Making Sense: Interview with Deborah Osborne

The Collators ·

2026/02/19

Mark and Howard are joined by Deborah Osborne. Retired intelligence analyst and educator whose career spans the Buffalo Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service. A wide-ranging conversation about what analysis actually is, why the profession so often struggles to define itself, and what "good" looks like in practice. Debbie's journey into the craft is anything but linear (she didn't become an analyst until her forties), and that outside perspective shapes a sharp critique of how the

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01:43:27

Standards Matter - With Jeremy Levin

The Collators ·

2026/02/17

There's an old joke in intel. Three analysts, six opinions. Well in this pod, three intelligence nerds walk into a podcast and end up debating about standards, ethics, and the limits of what humans can explain about their own thinking. Jeremy Levin (analyst, trainer, and long-time intelligence practitioner) sits down with Mark Lockwood and Howard Atkin to discuss how analytic standards evolved from "guild" practice into codified frameworks like ICD 203.

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01:11:11

Trust me, I'm a doctor - Dr James Wilson

The Collators ·

2026/02/05

Dr. James Wilson returns to the collators, and this time the topic is trust. Jim shares what it's like when families walk into the clinic sceptical, anxious, or armed with competing "expert" advice, and how he had to rethink his own approach: less authority-as-command, more humility, disclosure, and coaching. Mark and Howard connect the dots to policing, courts, and the wider attention economy where simple narratives spread faster than complex truths. Together, they ask a hard question: if trust is

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01:14:22

The madness of our times

The Collators ·

2026/01/25

What does a banking crash have to do with frontline services quietly collapsing a decade later? In this episode, Mark and Howard are joined by award-winning political scientist and economist Mark Blyth (Brown University) to trace the "breadcrumb trail" from 2008 to today's brittle institutions, hollowed-out state capacity, and a politics increasingly powered by distraction — mostly in the UK, but with familiar echoes across the West. Warning: This was recorded late on a Friday night and the

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01:00:47

Comedy, Clients and Leadership with Paul Chato

The Collators ·

2025/12/24

For our special Christmas episode, we're honoured to speak to Paul Chato, comedian, TV executive, and YouTuber. We talk about his journey, comedy in general, and more than a fair share of Star Trek nerdiness (spoiler: Paul and Mark are pre-Kelvin fans; Howard denies all knowledge…). Some laughs, banter and occasional hot takes. All the best for 2026, take it steady folks. https://thecollators.com

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01:09:02

Guilds vs Clubs - The pros and cons of...

The Collators ·

2025/12/18

In this episode, Mark and Howard unpack what "professionalisation" really means for intelligence and analysis, and why professional bodies can be both a career accelerator and a hidden constraint. They explore the "guild vs club" problem (who controls standards, entry, and accountability), why silos persist across sectors, and why this matters more than ever as AI-driven decision support becomes widespread.

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01:08:37

Information as experience - Interview with Professor...

The Collators ·

2025/12/09

Mark and Howard sit down with Prof. Andrew Dillon (UT Austin) to ask what information really is and why the answer starts with people, not machines. Andrew maps the triangle of data, people and technology and argues that information is an experience, not a spreadsheet. A discussion of the lure of AI, why judgement still matters, and how we might regulate misinformation the way we regulate food; to nourish and not poison the public. Shownotes, transcript and more available from

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57:17

Mystics and Statistics - Why is prediction hard?

The Collators ·

2025/11/26

In this episode, Mark and Howard explore why forecasting is so often wrong and what prediction really requires. From homicides to the stock market, prediction sounds simple until the future fights back. Statistics and logic can take you far, but judgement, context, and humility do the rest.

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44:49

Can everything that counts, be counted? Qualitative...

The Collators ·

2025/11/10

From crime scenes to classrooms, boardrooms to briefing papers, the tension between numbers and narratives runs through every profession that tries to make sense of the world. Mark and Howard ask whether everything that counts can, in fact, be counted. What happens when we mistake measurement for meaning? Why do humans crave certainty even when the evidence is uncertain? And how do analysts, scientists, and policymakers balance data with judgement? Shownotes, transcript and more available from

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01:37:51

Challenge Everything - AI, Raves and Nuclear Subs -...

The Collators ·

2025/11/02

From Tandy Radioshack to nuclear submarines, this episode traces an extraordinary journey through the intersections of technology, curiosity, and courage. Mark and Howard talk with Mike Hawkes, a technologist, inventor, and pioneer of secure digital systems whose career began in fixing computers in a local store and ended up influencing the security architecture behind global online transactions that we all use. This is a very human story, with ebbs and flows of good and bad. Innovation, hardwork

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01:31:25

The CIA, Rebel Alliance and pandas - An inteview with...

The Collators ·

2025/10/25

In this special episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard speak with Carmen Medina, former Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA and one of the most respected reformers in modern intelligence analysis. Carmen’s career spanned three decades at the heart of U.S. intelligence, leading analytic teams through the end of the Cold War, the information revolution, and the challenges of a world where secrets collide with the open internet. Together, they explore: - What it means to think critically

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59:49

Patterns and Trends - What is a Pattern?

The Collators ·

2025/10/25

Musical spreadsheets, a string of car thefts, and a chance observation spark a question at the heart of this episode: what exactly is a pattern, and how do we recognise one? Mark and Howard explore Florence Nightingale’s statistical diagrams to modern AI pattern recognition, exploring how humans find meaning in data and how sometimes, meaning finds us. They discuss the risks of seeing structure where none exists, the value of curiosity, and why luck and lateral thinking still matter in an age of

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01:19:37

One house; Many rooms - What is analysis?

The Collators ·

2025/10/09

Reflective, sometimes funny and occasionally heretical, this episode pulls together the threads of the series so far. Revealing how all analysis hinges on one thing: how we think, and sometimes, how it can sometimes drift into ritual rather than insight. What does it mean to analyse? Where did modern analytical thinking come from? And why do so many disciplines: intelligence, academia, business use the same word but mean entirely different things? Shownotes and more available from

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46:49

Virtually Real - What is real?

The Collators ·

2025/09/29

In this episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard explore the promises and pitfalls of virtual reality. Not as a gaming gimmick, but as a tool for intelligence, analysis, and decision-making. From Minority Report-style data walls to simple post-it notes, they ask whether VR and data visualisation actually help us see the world more clearly, or just distract us with prettier illusions. Transcript, shownotes and more are available from https://thecollators.com/s1e7

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01:14:34

Proof Positive - What is evidence?

The Collators ·

2025/09/21

From courtrooms to laboratories, from policing to public policy, “evidence” is a term loaded with assumptions. But what do we really mean when we say something is evidence? Who gets to decide? Not just in the courts, but in real life too? Mark and Howard ask: What is evidence? From courtrooms to science labs to public policy, they explore how this powerful word shapes truth, trust, and decision-making. Transcript, shownotes and more are available from https://thecollators.com/s1e6

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01:34:23

Trust is everything - Interview with Dr James Wilson

The Collators ·

2025/09/05

Dr Wilson takes us through his journey from medical school in the shadow of Ebola outbreaks, to rainforest fieldwork, to NASA satellite projects that caught the attention of the intelligence community, and later, front-line pandemic response. Mark and Howard welcome Dr. James Wilson, a practicing pediatrician and one of the world’s leading experts in operational health security and biosurveillance. Wilson has built systems used to anticipate and detect infectious disease crises, served as the first

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01:02:56

Intelligence Beyond Earth - Looking inside and out

The Collators ·

2025/08/21

In this special episode, Mark and Howard welcome their first guest: Dr. John Elliott, honorary research fellow in computer science and coordinator of the SETI Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews. Arthur C. Clarke once described John’s work as “of great importance,” and with good reason. His research spans human language, dolphin communication, computational linguistics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Visit https://thecollators.com for shownotes, transcript and more

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51:43

Intelligence; good, bad and indifferent

The Collators ·

2025/08/17

Mark and Howard wrestle with the deceptively simple question: What is intelligence? They explore why intelligence is so hard to define, how it differs from raw data and information, and why it sits somewhere between science and art. Along the way, they highlight the many uses (and misuses) of the word “intelligence,” from law enforcement practice to political spin. Visit us at https://thecollators.com

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