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Pano Anthos is based in New York, where he is founder and managing partner of XRC Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. Pano talks to Jessica about how technology has disrupted and changed human behaviour in the retail space, now we live in an 'online first, offline second' world. The future, says Pano, is in increasingly beautiful wearable technology. And, of course, AI.

'I'm concerned that AI is a fundamental shift because the consumer cannot see the difference for the most part. It's almost indetectable, which means counterfeit grows dramatically. And if counterfeit grows dramatically and there is no truth in a small t, not capital T, we're not talking existentially here, but if there's no small t, then what are we left with?'

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Our latest podcast is an interview with Shwan Ibrahim Taha, our member based in Istanbul. Shwan grew up in Iraq, worked in America (for Franklin Templeton, later co-managing a hedge fund sponsored by George Soros) and has returned to the region with Rabee Securities, a brokerage and investment firm. You can hear his fascinating insights into the risk and reward that is investing in a country that is at long last experiencing peace.

'It was a war-torn country for 50 years...We have arcane laws. We have very poor infrastructure for investments. The laws are murky still, not too clear. But if you can stomach that and navigate that, then it's a very promising country.'

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Jessica talks to Dan Sandhu (London), CEO of Education Development Trust (EDT), a vast not-for-profit organisation working to improve education outcomes around the world. Dan talks about how COVID changed education globally, how remote learning is enabling education to scale faster in countries without structural policy framework, his plans to expand EDT's footprint in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and identifying opportunities for the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. 'Education is a great export out of the UK,' says Dan.