In this episode, Arun Sudhaman speaks with Mary Njoki, founder and CEO of Glass House PR in Nairobi, about the findings of the State of PR in Africa report — a survey of 54 agencies representing over 6,500 professionals across the continent. The discussion covers AI adoption across the industry, the structural training gaps that are shaping how tools are being used, and the growing challenge of algorithm opacity for practitioners trying to reach targeted audiences.

The conversation also explores the broader trajectory of African PR: how the industry has evolved from being conflated with events and press releases into a recognised strategic discipline, and what Njoki is trying to achieve through Africa PR Week — both in terms of building a continental professional community and placing African communications on the global stage.

Margaret Key, Asia Pacific CEO at Allison Worldwide and executive director at Stagwell, on why she left one of the most successful holding groups in the business, what consolidation is really doing to PR's standing inside holding companies, and why she thinks the next decade will look nothing like the last.

She also talks about Korea's underrated role in the regional comms landscape, the unbundling of senior talent into independent and fractional practices, and what still needs to change for women at the top of the industry.

In this episode of the Earned First podcast, Gil Bashe, chair of health and purpose at Finn Partners, argues that healthcare’s most urgent crisis is no longer innovation or access, but institutional credibility. Speaking during a visit to India, Bashe draws on his new book, Healing the Sick Care System: Why People Matter, to explain how healthcare systems have become optimised for process, compliance, and risk management—often at the expense of patient belief and human connection.

The conversation explores increasing scepticism towards healthcare institutions is, how health influencers are filling a trust vacuum left by institutions, and why misinformation has become a symptom of credibility failure. Bashe also addresses the depth of public anger directed at insurers, the global legitimacy gap between institutions and community voices, and what healthcare communicators must unlearn in a low-trust environment.