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PODCAST

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations

Stories and Strategies

Stories and Strategies is the podcast for public relations and communications professionals who want substance, not slogans.Hosted by Doug Downs and Farzana Baduel, the show is released every Tuesday and breaks down what’s actually shaping modern PR: the changing media landscape, measurement that goes beyond dashboards, leadership realities, behavioral science, and the ethical principles that keep persuasion honest.We also keep it transparent. Our download numbers are public on OpenSource3, showing

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All Episodes

22:30

The 7 Reputation Drivers Every Leader Should Know

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/03/03

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 than ever. Reputation is no longer a soft metric but an economic multiplier and an insurance policy. From the difference between brand and reputation to the growing tension between character and competence, this episode explains what actually moves corporate standing up or down in today’s environment. We also share why owned media now plays a d...

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21:53

Public Relations in the Age of Insularity

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/24

Trust used to flow upward. To experts, institutions, and authority. Then it shifted to “people like me.” Now even that circle is tightening. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a growing insularity: smaller tribes, hardened perspectives, and a widening mass-class divide driven by whether people believe the system works for them. Persuasion is shifting to trust brokerage, and what communicators, leaders, and businesses can do when trust itself has become the battle...

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21:16

Why Brands are Too Serious… and Paying the Price

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/17

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 faces, purpose-heavy messages that all blur together. And yet one of the most successful creative agencies in North America has built its reputation by doing the opposite. Zulu Alpha Kilo lives by a simple motto… Fight Sameness… and they do it with humor, sarcasm, and a willingness to say the quiet part out loud. Why does that work? Why do...

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20:19

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

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/10

You can be the same person across every channel. Your social media accounts. Your YouTube. Your newsletter. Your blog. The same principles. The same voice. Often even the same message. And many of the people following you on LinkedIn are the same people who see you on Instagram, hear you on a podcast, or read your newsletter. Yet those same people can understand you, trust you, and remember you very differently simply because they encounter you in a different place. Not because yo...

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31:42

The Evolution of Communication in the Age of...

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/05

In an age where opinions form faster than facts and headlines spark outrage before understanding, how do brands, leaders, and storytellers stay credible? Is your opinion truly yours? Or just an echo of your tribe? In this episode, Suhel Seth unpacks the transformation of communication in the era of attention deficit — from the collapse of nuance to the rise of instant outrage, and why the art of thoughtful messaging might just be the most urgent skill of our time. Listen For 3:07 The Cu...

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31:22

The Week Unspun: Friday September 25, 2025

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/05

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 first live edition explains the format, brings the chat into the room, and sets a simple goal: turn a firehose of posts into practical takeaways for communicators. We start with breaking UK politics and what a resignation and reshuffle signal about timing, narrative control, and public affairs workload. Then we track a viral rumor about a...

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23:59

The New LinkedIn: How Reach Actually Works now

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/02/03

You’re using LinkedIn wrong Not because you’re not smart… you are. It’s because you’re using yesterday’s LinkedIn. The platform is changing fast. The feed has changed, and the rules for reach have changed with it. This episode shows you what’s different now, and how to adapt without turning into a “content person.” Listen For 3:29 What happens when you hit publish on LinkedIn? 7:21 What makes a post perform well—and why does so much content flop? 10:23 Should leaders ...

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14:28

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

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/30

When the streets erupt, the headlines explode, and public pressure hits boiling point… can business leaders still afford to say nothing? In this episode tackle the growing tension between corporate responsibility and political risk. From a CEO letter in Minnesota addressing immigration-fueled violence to Keir Starmer’s high-stakes diplomacy in China, we ask: when the world demands clarity, is strategic ambiguity still a safe PR move? Listen For 2:08 What is safety in numbers for ...

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17:21

How Personal Branding is Changing… and What You Need...

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/27

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 someone else shared, a comment you left, or a quote that gets passed around without context. What actually builds trust across today’s platforms? It’s the different channels and how they shape different versions of you. Consistency matters more than polish. Algorithms and AI search now “interpret” your reputation. Today you need to build a ...

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25:56

The Mark Carney Mic Drop in Davos

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/23

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 world noticed. He said, “If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.” People replayed that line like it was a lifeline. This episode of The Week Unspun comes straight from the snowy peaks of Davos, but the questions are sharp and wide-reaching. Can speeches still move people to action? Can we trust the Edelman Tr...

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22:39

How to Compete for Attention in a Distracted World

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/20

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, after the view, after the impression. If your audience does not stay, nothing sticks. Not the message, not the trust, not the reputation you are trying to build. In this episode, we unpack why depth beats scale and why time spent is one of the most overlooked drivers of influence. You will hear a fresh way to think about loyalty, attention, and what...

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17:52

Is Davos Still a Forum? Or Just a Stage?

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/16

In this week’s The Week UnSpun, the panel takes on three high-stakes stories where influence, identity, and global perception collide. First, the team unpacks the latest flashpoint over Greenland, where the U.S. talks security, Denmark talks sovereignty, and Greenland quietly navigates the space in between. But is this really about narrative control, or something deeper, as David suggests, like the importance of alliances over authorship? Then, the conversation turns to Minnesot...

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21:24

Too Old for Public Relations? Why Age is Still the...

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/13

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 to be creative. The message lands the same way. You are not seen. You are not heard. You are not valued. Ageism cuts in both directions and it leaves a quiet bruise that people carry long after the moment passes. How does this happen in Public Relations, a profession built on understanding people? It does. And ageism is a majo...

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17:53

The Capture of Maduro… Arrest or Act of War?

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/09

A headline-grabbing raid, a revolution-in-the-making, and a “beige” prime minister walk into the attention economy… who wins the story? Farzana and Doug unpack three global flashpoints through a PR and narrative-control lens: the shock capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and the split-screen battle between “law enforcement” framing versus “illegal act of war” backlash; Iran’s surging unrest as the rial collapses alongside a fractured top-level message (empathy from President Pezeshki...

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22:36

Public Relations… Ten Years in the Future

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/06

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 the biggest challenges: the rapid rise of AI, the disappearing entry-level job, and the ongoing gender gap in leadership. Doug and Farzana volunteer for a guided “time crossing” to see how the next generation of PR leaders navigated a decade of disruption. What they find isn’t just smarter tech, it’s smarter systems, layered cities, holographic ho...

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17:00

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

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2026/01/02

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 collapse and skyrocketing inflation, the protests are no longer just about hardship, they’ve become openly anti-government, spreading even into rural areas. We break down Iran’s unprecedented tone shift in crisis comms, explore the influential role of the Iranian diaspora, and consider how narratives are being shaped despite media restrictions....

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23:56

Should Public Relations be Regulated?

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2025/12/30

Public relations shapes what people believe, how communities respond, and which ideas earn trust. It influences elections, corporate crises, government decisions, reputations, and public sentiment. Yet unlike medicine, law, or engineering, anyone can call themselves a PR professional. No license. No minimum standard. No consequences when things go wrong. What happens when a profession with this much power has almost no guardrails? Some say that freedom is essential for open societies. O...

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21:05

Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines… What the World Misses

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2025/12/26

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, David Gallagher is off so Doug Downs and Farzana Baduel trade headlines for heart as Farzana shares her recent three-week journey through Sri Lanka, a country shaped by civil war, natural disasters, and powerful recovery. From her work with the Halo Trust, the world’s largest demining organization, to meeting the Prime Minister and local he...

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1:16

The Stories and Strategies Podcast Trailer

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2025/12/24

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 public relations. The strategy behind the stories. The decisions behind the headlines. No fluff. No profiles. Just the issues shaping modern communications. Also in this feed is The Week UnSpun. A live, weekly look at global news through a public relations lens. Hosted by ...

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24:17

Grief is a Communications Challenge… Not an HR Process

Stories and Strategies with Curzon Public Relations ·

2025/12/23

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 policy. It walks back into the office with someone long before they’re prepared, reshaping their focus, their energy, their confidence and their sense of safety. And while HR manages the paperwork, it’s the hallway conversations, the team dynamics, the a...

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252 results

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