"Now, today is a first for data malarkey… This is the very first time that we've had two guests on the same episode. Not only two guests, but also a dynamic feminist wife and husband duo…"

In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks with Karen and Charlie Dobres from Lewes Community Football Club about how Lewes became "the first and still the only club in the world" to equalise men's and women's playing budgets, and what it takes to shift culture, attention, sponsorship and long-term equity in football.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

External resources

• Karen's LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-dobres-07a54b176/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karendobres/?hl=en: "I'm best found on Instagram or LinkedIn."

• Charlie's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliedobres/

• Karen's book - B/Pitch Invasion - https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/karen-dobres/pitch-invasion/9781788405881/

• : "I'm definitely best found on LinkedIn."

• Charlie's "If you look on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, look up "Not Small Mean."podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/4UsJkXfQQz2Og0IXBQAgYn?si=da6dd926f74e48c9

• Own a share in Lewes FC - https://lewesfc.com/become-an-owner/

• Equality FC in practice - https://lewesfc.com/football-for-good/equality-fc/

What if the biggest growth lever for brands in 2026 isn't media spend, targeting tweaks, or yet another funnel experiment … but inclusive marketing?

In this episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, is joined by Ali Hanan, Founder & CEO of Creative Equals, to unpack the data-driven business case for meaningful representation in advertising — what Ali calls the "Return on Inclusion."

This is a conversation about marketing effectiveness, advertising effectiveness, brand growth strategy, representation vs positive portrayal, and how brands can do marketing for good and for growth without falling into performative box-ticking.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

• What "Return On Inclusion" means, and how to think about it as a measurable commercial strategy

• Why representation alone isn't enough — and how positive portrayal changes outcomes

• How underrepresented audiences translate into real market opportunity (and why brands miss it)

• How to handle the "woke" backlash by reframing inclusion through human rights and equal treatment

• What AI changes in creative development — and how to avoid a "sea of sameness"

• Why marketing effectiveness awards and case studies increasingly link inclusion to profit and growth

00:00 Cold open + the growth provocation
00:39 Intro + Ali Hannon / Creative Equals
05:41 The core data case for inclusion
10:15 "the UK ad sector… holding the growth… back"
14:40 Positive portrayal explained
20:04 The "£800 billion" underrepresented communities point
21:13 Scorecard CTA
29:02 Human rights framing
33:06 AI, bias, and inclusive prompting
41:47 "saving 312 lives" (community impact example)
48:09 Where to find Ali / Creative Equals

Website — https://creativeequals.org
Ali's LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-hanan-19b3a2

UN Stereotype Alliance
Effie Awards + Cannes Lions (effectiveness / inclusion lens)
PepsiCo / Walkers case study
Nurofen "gender pain gap" case study
Book: Sex Matters

What happens when the business model of the internet rewards attention at any cost - and AI makes it even easier to centralise power, traffic, and revenue?

In this episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, is joined by Harriet Kingaby, Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN). Harriet explores how advertising incentives shape the information ecosystem, why "information integrity" matters for democracy and business, and what conscious advertisers should be asking before they partner with platforms.

This is a conversation about digital trust, algorithmic discrimination, recommendation algorithms, AI search summaries, the "no-click internet", data privacy, and why transparency in advertising is foundational if we want healthier online systems.

Key topics

• Conscious advertising and advertising ethics

• Information integrity and transparent advertising

• AI in advertising and AI-driven search summaries

• Recommendation algorithms and algorithmic discrimination

• Online harms, self-harm content, and monetisation incentives

• The "no-click internet" and the death of the open web

• UN Global Principles on Information Integrity

• Facial recognition and surveillance risks in advertising and the home

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

What you'll learn

• Why Harriet thinks the incentives behind online platforms can produce unhealthy outcomes

• How CAN works as a "broad church" bringing together industry and civil society

• What "information integrity" means in practice - and why advertising transparency is central

• How discrimination can show up through recommendation systems and reach

• Why the "no-click internet" could reshape publishing, revenue, and independent content

• The kinds of questions advertisers should ask when partnering with platforms and AI tools

• A striking example of data misuse: facial recognition embedded in TV sets for ad targeting

External resources

• LinkedIn: Harriet Kingaby - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hkingaby/

• Conscious Advertising Network - https://www.consciousadnetwork.com

• CAN's Guiding Principles - https://www.consciousadnetwork.com/the-guidingprincipleslandingpage/

• UN Global Principles on Information Integrity https://www.un.org/en/information-integrity/global-principles

• The EU Digital Services Act - https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act

• The Molly Rose Foundation report - https://mollyrosefoundation.org/

• Cambridge Analytica scandal - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c81zyn0888lt

Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles hosts a best-of-Season-Nine greatest hits episode, featuring: Kelly Beaver, Ipsos UK & Ireland; Angela Balakrishnan, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO); AI pathfinder and TED Talker, Susan Etlinger; senior comms advisor at Wadds Inc., Stephen Waddington; founder of Social for Good, Kerry Watkins; and, the Ohio State University's Professor of Story Science, Angus Fletcher.

Themes include the Market Research Society's "Campaign for Better Data", ultra-processed data in the age of AI, information rights and public trust, engineering-level rigour in PR and evidence-based measurement, authentic LinkedIn strategy for nonprofits and digital wellbeing (living life 24/six), and narrative cognition with anomalies, intuition, creativity, and leadership.

Chapters (mm:ss)
00:00 Intro and wrap-up setup
00:22 Kelly Beaver, Ipsos, on the Campaign for Better Data
01:08 Ultra-processed data
42:41 Tool and weapon framing
44:26 Data Commerce Conference guests
45:07 Shedding a trail of data
54:48 Thanks to guests
56:06 See you again soon

Data Malarkey

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

• Contact: hello@usingdatasmarter.com

• Suggest a guest: https://www.usingdatasmarter.com/guest

Professor of Story Science, Angus Fletcher, joins Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, to dig into narrative cognition, creativity, and innovation in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. Drawing on Project Narrative (based at Ohio State University) and his book Primal Intelligence, Angus explains why logic is not reality, why adults struggle with intuition, and why the most effective stories and breakthroughs start with an anomaly. We explore intuition, imagination, emotion, and common sense as core human capabilities that enable us to outperform computational optimisation and AI when the world is changing fast and low on (reliable) data.

Angus shares lessons from U.S. Army Special Operations training and a NASA case study on empowering young engineers, showing how leaders can detect anomalies early, design new plans for new environments, and build cultures that reward creativity over certainty. If you care about decision making, leadership, AI vs human judgment, innovation strategy, and story science, this episode is for you.

Resources and links

• Project Narrative (Ohio State University) - https://projectnarrative.osu.edu/

• Primal Intelligence (Angus' 2025 bestselling book) - https://www.angusfletcher.co/

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Social for Good founder, Kerry Watkins, joins Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, to talk charity communications, nonprofit social media strategy, and building authentic engagement on LinkedIn. They cover why relying solely on a company page limits reach ("LinkedIn particularly wants people to network with other people"), how to swap broadcast posting for proactive engagement and relationship metrics, and why "people want to see real people".

Kerry explains what AI is changing in social media - automatic targeting that often outperforms manual audiences, internal tools for accessibility alt-text and brand voice (GPT) - and where AI undermines trust when captions feel "too ChatGPT." We also dive into 24/six, Kerry's digital wellbeing project: digital detox experiences, learning to "sit with that uncomfortableness", and the "sparkly brain" that follows time off-grid.

If you work in non-profit marketing, charity comms, or purpose-driven social, this episode is packed with LinkedIn strategy, engagement measurement, AI in social media, and digital wellbeing insights you can use immediately.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Resources and links

• Social for Good - https://www.socialforgood.co.uk
  
  

• The Social for Good Accelerator for charities and purpose-led organisations – https://www.socialforgood.co.uk/accelerator
  
  

• Kerry's LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-watkins/
  
  

• 24/six, Kerry's "side hustle" – https://www.24six.co.uk
  
  

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, welcomes Wadds Inc.'s Stephen Waddington to explore engineering-style rigour in PR. They discuss: elevating the function during the pandemic, building multi-source datasets for the "Pints & Profits" case study, why "synthetic audiences" are "ultimately junk," McDonaldization and repeatability, balancing numbers and narrative, and the pitfalls of AVE and proxy metrics - plus a call for all PR practitioners to contribute to Stephen's PhD research.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Resources and social media

• Contribute to Stephen's PhD research: https://publicrelationsmanagement.phd
• "Pints & Profits" (Brew case study) http://bit.ly/3KC7qcE
• Market Research Society: "Campaign for Better Data" http://bit.ly/4pD2RyZ
• Stephen's blog: https://wadds.co.uk/blog
• Stephen's Substack: https://wadds.substack.com
• Stephen's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwaddington/

Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, welcomes AI Pathfinder and TED Talker, Susan Etlinger, for a conversation about AI, meaning-making, and agency. Topics include the influx of new data types, Orwell vs Huxley (after Neil Postman' Amusing Ourselves to Death), why we're "intentionally ceding control to machines", the burden of proof for automation, inclusion across languages and models, and why "facts can't defend themselves against being misconstrued". Susan also highlights core skills for a new curriculum for the AI era: History, Statistics, and Social Sciences.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Resources and social media links

• Susan's LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanetlinger/

• TED@IBM talk: "What do we do with all this big data?" http://bit.ly/3Ioh423

• Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death - http://bit.ly/3Iwrk8r

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com