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  • Stop Waiting to Feel Ready | Elliot Kay | Watch Me Go!

    Stop Waiting to Feel Ready | Elliot Kay | Watch Me Go!
    2026/11/04
    What if confidence isn't something you need before you act?What if confidence is something you build because you acted?Elliot Kay has spent almost two decades helping people communicate, speak and step onto stages.He's an international keynote speaker, author, speaker coach and the Co-Founder and CEO of The Speaker Awards & Summit.But his own journey into professional speaking started with a wonderfully simple thought.He was sitting in an audience of around 5,000 people, watching somebody speak on stage, when something in his head said:"I can do that."So he decided to find out.In this episode of Northern Quarter Voices, Elliot joins Andy Coley for a conversation about speaking, confidence, authenticity, community, ambition - and why sometimes the only way to discover what you're capable of is to start moving.They explore the difference between being a great speaker and simply performing the role of one.Elliot believes speaking can absolutely be entertaining. Humour, storytelling, energy, body language and the way we use our voice all help hold an audience.But problems begin when somebody steps onto a stage and suddenly becomes a completely different version of themselves.The best style, Elliot argues, is the one that is authentically yours.The conversation also traces Elliot's own evolution.Before speaking there was dancing. At 21, he decided he wanted to become a professional dancer and pursued it until injury changed the direction of his life.Eventually he found speaking - and something clicked.Years later, after thousands of hours on stages, Elliot found himself facing a very different challenge.Not simply delivering another polished keynote.But stripping an idea back to what actually mattered.For years, "Watch Me" had been an act of defiance.Tell Elliot he couldn't do something and the response was:Watch me.But eventually he noticed something uncomfortable.If your motivation is proving somebody else wrong, they're still influencing what you do.So "Watch Me" changed.It became less about:"Let me prove you wrong."And more about:"Let me find out."That shift sits at the heart of this conversation.Elliot argues that we often get confidence backwards.We wait until we feel ready.We wait for certainty.We wait until we believe we're the sort of person who can do the thing.But action creates evidence.Evidence builds confidence.And confidence begins changing the story we tell ourselves about who we are.Sometimes you don't need permission.You don't need a guarantee of success.You just need to go.Andy and Elliot also explore what it takes to build something bigger than yourself through The Speaker Awards & Summit.What began as an idea to recognise and support the professional speaking industry has grown into an increasingly international platform.Elliot talks about purpose-driven growth, collaboration, knowing when something needs to become bigger than its founder and why he is prepared to step aside from a title if bringing somebody else in would help the organisation reach its potential.And underneath that growth is something Elliot believes every real community depends on:Trust.Not overpromising.Not misleading people.Doing what you said you would do.And creating things because they genuinely serve the people around you.The conversation also gives us an unusual perspective on speaker coaching.Elliot describes the moment he loves most: when somebody who doesn't consider themselves a professional speaker suddenly has the breakthrough where everything clicks.The story makes sense.The message becomes clear.And they realise:"I've got this."Elliot also reflects on Manchester, the community surrounding the event that brought him to the city, his ambitions for the future and why he increasingly wants the things he builds to matter beyond his own involvement in them.And, as ever, the Red Journal ends the conversation with an unexpected question:If Elliot could borrow one quality from somebody else, what would it be?His answer?The ability to disrupt and innovate at enormous scale.But perhaps the more important revelation is contained in the postscript to the question:What if the quality you admire is already somewhere inside you?Elliot later explored the central idea behind this conversation in his talk, Action Before Identity, asking what becomes possible when we stop waiting to feel confident and start creating the evidence that confidence can grow from.Watch Elliot's talk: youtu.be/Eo16cTRgBCgNorthern Quarter Voices is a Manchester-born podcast about people, stories, ideas and the conversations that stay with us long after the microphones are switched off.Hosted by Andy Coley.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.Connect with Elliot:Website: elliotkay.com/ and elliotkay.me LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elliot-kay/Instagram: @iamelliotkayFind out more about The Speaker Awards & Summit: thespeakersawards.com/Send us Fan Mail
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    41 分
  • Find Your Way Back to Yourself | Aimie Skillen

    Find Your Way Back to Yourself | Aimie Skillen
    2026/10/29
    What happens when your life looks good from the outside… but something inside still feels wrong?Aimie Skillen built a brand around helping other people feel good.Then she reached a point where she didn’t.Aimie is the founder of Feel Good Club, the Manchester-born community and lifestyle brand built around a beautifully simple mission: make one person feel good.What began with Instagram posts and T-shirts grew into events, podcasts, books, billboards, brand activations and a much-loved Manchester coffee shop.But behind the community, Aimie was going through one of the hardest periods of her own life.In this episode of Northern Quarter Talks, Aimie joins Andy Coley and Simran Whitham for an open conversation about identity, community, loneliness and finding your way back to yourself.Aimie talks about navigating divorce, closing the Feel Good Club coffee shop and trying to lead a team while simultaneously realising she had lost sight of who she was.Eventually, she stepped away.For around eight months, Aimie paused the events and the parts of Feel Good Club that required her to physically show up.She needed to fill her own cup before she could keep pouring into everybody else's.And then, during a particularly difficult period, she realised something was still missing.Community.Aimie posted online that she was going for a walk in Monton and asked if anybody wanted to join her.Two people came.Initially, she wondered whether it had failed.Instead, those two people reminded her what Feel Good Club had always really been about.Connection.Months later, when Aimie brought Feel Good Club events back, the first event sold out within 24 hours.For her, it demonstrated the difference between building an audience and building a community.An audience can watch, like and disappear.A community shows up for you too.The conversation explores the loneliness Aimie sees repeatedly through her work and why, despite being more connected digitally than ever before, many people are struggling to find genuine friendship and places where they can simply turn up as themselves.Aimie's answer isn't relentless positivity.Quite the opposite.Feel Good Club is also permission not to feel good.Some days you have 100% to give.Some days you have 10%.Give the 10%.Aimie also reflects on the pressure of becoming "Miss Feelgood" while her own life was changing, why social media rarely shows the whole story and the freedom she found in realising that most people aren't scrutinising us nearly as closely as we imagine.Her message is simple:Turn up as you are.Because when you do, the right people have the chance to connect with the real you.Aimie also talks about confronting a lifelong fear of public speaking and the belief that her Salford accent might hold her back.Instead of trying to become somebody else, she learned that the most powerful thing she could do was simply turn up as herself.Her central message is one that reaches far beyond the stage:Follow what makes you feel good through your people, your places and your things.It's okay to lose yourself.Just remember that you can always find your way back.Aimie also takes us behind the scenes of preparing for her recent TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 talk, confronting a lifelong fear of public speaking and the belief that her Salford accent might hold her back.Instead, that very voice became one of the reasons why she ended up on the red dot.And as the final speaker of TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026, Aimie's talk brought her journey full circle.Its title: Find your way back to you through people, places & thingsIts message: Follow what makes you feel good through your people, your places and your things. Watch it now on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KzeOYKYKoIt's okay to lose yourself.Just remember that you can always find your way back.And of course her Feel Good Club journey and life continues to evolve, this episode was recorded at the end of August 2026 and things have continued to move on since then in life, her relationships and the challenges that living in the era of social media bring.Northern Quarter Talks is a podcast about people, stories, ideas and the conversations that stay with us long after the microphones are switched off.This episode is hosted by Andy Coley and Simran Whitham.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Podcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterFollow Aimie:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feelgoodaimie/TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KzeOYKYKoContent note: This episode includes discussion of divorce, loneliness and periods of poor mental ...
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    29 分
  • Food Makes Us Human Again | Daniel Bui

    Food Makes Us Human Again | Daniel Bui
    2026/10/20
    What if one of the simplest answers to loneliness was already sitting in our kitchens?A table. A meal. And an invitation.Daniel Bui is a chef, food creator and storyteller known online as Dumpedlingss. But underneath the recipes, food science and beautifully produced videos is something much more important to him.People.In this episode of TEDx and Talks, Daniel joins Andy Coley and Simran Whitham to explore why food has an extraordinary ability to bring us together.Daniel grew up around his family's Vietnamese restaurant before following a very different career path into mathematics and becoming an actuary.Food, however, never went away.While studying, he worked in restaurants and behind bars, learning to cook, serve and host. Eventually he realised that what fascinated him wasn't simply making good food.It was feeding people.Daniel describes the dinner table as a place where the pressure of everyday life begins to disappear.Job titles matter less.People soften.Conversations become more vulnerable.And, in Daniel's words, people can "become human again."That idea sits at the centre of his TEDxNorthernQuarter talk.In a society where loneliness and disconnection are increasingly familiar experiences, Daniel believes connection often has to begin with us.Reach out.Send the message.Invite somebody over.Cook something.What starts with a message can end with a meal.The conversation also explores why family recipes matter so much.Daniel talks about his mother's cooking and why sharing a treasured family recipe means more than simply passing on instructions. You're preserving a memory, a culture and part of the person who taught it to you.Andy shares the handwritten recipe cards he still has from his grandmother, while Simran talks about recipes passed through generations of his own family.For Daniel, food is a language.Travelling through countries including Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Indonesia has allowed him to experience cultures through what people cook, how they season it and - perhaps most importantly — the extraordinary generosity of strangers prepared to invite somebody into their home and feed them.They also explore the science behind Daniel's cooking.Rather than simply following instructions, Daniel wants to know why a recipe works: what temperature is doing to an ingredient, how gluten behaves, why a technique produces a particular texture and what chemical reactions are happening along the way.Faith is another important part of Daniel's life and creative work.He talks openly about Christianity, why Scripture has become a source of inspiration for his cooking and how food has always played an important role in faith, hospitality and bringing people together.For Daniel, food can represent every love language.Cooking can be an act of service.Giving someone food can be a gift.Eating together creates quality time.And sometimes the meal itself communicates something that words cannot.Daniel also reveals what he would choose for his final meal — although even then, his answer becomes less about what he would eat and more about who would be sitting beside him.Outside the kitchen, Daniel's appetite for challenge continues.A former powerlifter and bodybuilder, he has thrown himself into running, completing seven marathons in a year and setting himself deliberately ambitious goals.Finally, Daniel takes us behind the scenes of preparing to become the opening speaker at TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 — moving outside his comfort zone, learning a completely new style of public speaking and refining one big idea into 15 minutes on the red dot.Because ultimately, Daniel says, it isn't really about the food.It's about the people you get to have around the table.TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.This episode is hosted by Andy Coley and Simran Whitham.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.Watch Daniel's talk: https://youtu.be/NRkHdspgnI8Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarterWebsite: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Podcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterFollow Daniel BuiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dumpedlingss/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dumpedlingDaniel's writing and recipes: https://dumpedlingss.substack.com/TEDxNorthernQuarter is an independently organised event under license granted by TED.Send us Fan Mail
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    44 分
  • Leave People Better Than You Found Them | Jessica Southworth - Hotel Football

    Leave People Better Than You Found Them | Jessica Southworth - Hotel Football
    2026/10/13
    What if one of the best measures of success was simply this:Did you leave people better than you found them?That idea runs through the way Jessica Southworth approaches work, relationships, community and the city she calls home.Jess is a hospitality leader with more than two decades in the industry and is Cluster Sales and Marketing Director across Hotel Football and Stock Exchange Hotel Manchester.In this special episode of TEDx and Talks, Jess joins Simran Whitham for a conversation about Manchester, community, collaboration and why creating a great experience has far more to do with people than products.Hotel Football joined TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 as an Event Partner, but this isn't really a conversation about a hotel.It's about the person behind the partnership.Jess talks about what happened when Hotel Football stopped trying to make its social media polished and corporate and simply started behaving more like the people who actually worked there.She explains why she believes in collaboration over competition, why the strongest organisations become part of their communities and why some of the most important things a business does may never appear in its sales material.That includes a decision by the Hotel Football team to mark the hotel's tenth birthday not by spending a £10,000 celebration budget on themselves, but by giving it to a local charity.The conversation becomes much more personal when Jess talks about supporting NACOA, the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.After losing their father, who had lived with alcohol dependency, Jess and her sister became ambassadors for the charity and created a fundraising gala with support from Hotel Football.At one of those events, an anonymous guest donated £125,000.Jess reflects on the extraordinary chain reaction behind moments like that: an idea becomes an event, an event gets people into a room, a conversation happens — and something changes that nobody involved could have predicted.It's why she believes so strongly in putting people together and creating opportunities for connection.There is also a lot of Manchester in this episode.Jess and Simran explore what makes the city feel different, from its friendliness and resilience to the willingness of people and businesses to help one another even when they technically compete.Jess shares why she has never wanted to leave, why Manchester's people are its biggest strength and why confidence in the city doesn't have to become arrogance.There are some brilliant hospitality stories too - including the night rapper Dave appeared on Hotel Football's rooftop, casually posted where he was, and within an hour around a thousand people had turned up outside.But underneath the stories is a consistent philosophy.Create experiences people remember.Open doors for other people.Say someone's name in a room when an opportunity might help them.Tell people when you can see something in them that they haven't yet seen in themselves.And whenever you can, leave people a little better than you found them.TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.This episode is hosted by Simran Whitham.Hotel Football supported TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 as an Event Partner, helping us create the wider speaker experience around the event. This conversation was recorded as part of that partnership.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Podcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterConnect with Jessica Southworth on LinkedIn or @jess_southworth on IG and find Hotel Football at @hotelfootballuk.Content note: This episode includes discussion of bereavement and parental alcohol dependency.TEDxNorthernQuarter is an independently organised event under license granted by TED.Send us Fan Mail
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    39 分
  • Snoring: A Sign of a (Not So) Silent Killer? | Thomas A Gionis MD JD MPH

    Snoring: A Sign of a (Not So) Silent Killer? | Thomas A Gionis MD JD MPH
    2026/10/06

    Snoring is easy to laugh about.

    But what if it is trying to tell you something?

    Thomas Gionis is a physician, surgeon, public health specialist and lawyer whose career has spanned cardiovascular surgery, emergency medicine, healthcare leadership, public health and telemedicine.

    His interest in sleep apnoea, however, became intensely personal.

    In this episode of TEDx and Talks, Thomas joins Andy Coley for a conversation recorded in Manchester shortly before stepping onto the TEDxNorthernQuarter stage.

    Thomas describes the frightening experience that eventually led to his own diagnosis.

    Despite decades of medical experience, he temporarily found himself unable to recall the name of his wife or the names of his daughters and granddaughters.

    What followed was a search for the cause.

    Eventually, that search led to sleep apnoea.

    Thomas explains what sleep apnoea is and what happens when breathing repeatedly stops or becomes restricted during sleep.

    The consequences, he argues, can go far beyond tiredness, poor sleep or keeping your partner awake.

    Andy and Thomas explore some of the warning signs people may overlook, including loud snoring, gasping during sleep, poor concentration and persistent fatigue.

    And there is one sign that is particularly difficult to ignore.

    Snoring.

    Sleep apnoea is sometimes described as a silent epidemic.

    Thomas has a simple response:

    It isn't really silent if it's snoring.

    The conversation also explores how sleep apnoea can be tested, how testing has changed over the years and why getting investigated does not necessarily mean spending a night wired up inside a hospital sleep laboratory.

    Thomas also challenges one of the assumptions that can prevent people seeking help: that a diagnosis automatically means living with a CPAP mask.

    Different people may need different approaches, and treatment can change over time.

    For Thomas, the most important first step is recognising that something may be wrong and doing something about it.

    The conversation also takes us through his extraordinary medical career.

    Thomas began medical school at 17 and completed his medical degree at 21 before moving into cardiovascular surgery and later emergency medicine.

    As healthcare changed, he continued studying, adding qualifications in business, healthcare administration, public health and law so he could better understand the systems surrounding medicine as well as the medicine itself.

    Thomas and Andy also go behind the scenes of his TEDx journey and the challenge of reducing decades of medical knowledge into one clear 15-minute message.

    His goal is straightforward.

    He wants more people to recognise the warning signs, feel comfortable getting tested and understand that there may be treatment options available to them.

    Because the so-called silent epidemic of sleep apnoea may not be silent at all.

    Sometimes, it snores.

    TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.

    This episode is hosted by Andy Coley.

    Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.

    TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.

    Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:

    Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/
    Podcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarter

    Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-a-gionis-md-jd-mph-a67a3b201/

    Health note: This episode discusses sleep apnoea, diagnosis and medical treatment for general information only. It is not a substitute for individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are concerned about your sleep, breathing or symptoms of sleep apnoea, speak to an appropriate healthcare professional.

    TEDxNorthernQuarter is an independently organised event under license granted by TED.

    Send us Fan Mail
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    31 分
  • I Lost My Own Voice | Jess Robinson

    I Lost My Own Voice | Jess Robinson
    2026/09/29
    "I lost my own voice."Jess Robinson has built a career using hundreds of other people's voices.A multi-award-winning impressionist, singer, comedian, broadcaster, actor, author and voice artist, Jess is known for BBC Radio 4's Dead Ringers, Spitting Image, live comedy and cabaret, voiceover work and a career that has taken her from television and radio studios to the Edinburgh Fringe and major corporate stages.But behind all those voices was a period when Jess realised she had stopped using her own.In this episode of TEDxNorthernQuarter: TEDx and Talks, Jess joins Andy Coley for a conversation recorded in Manchester the day before she stepped onto the TEDxNorthernQuarter stage.Jess shares how years of trying to be the 'good girl', avoiding tension and making herself smaller for other people's comfort gradually affected the way she communicated, challenged unfairness and stood up for herself.The surprising tool that helped her begin changing that was something she had been doing professionally for years: impressions.Rather than hiding behind somebody else's voice, Jess realised she could deliberately borrow a quality she admired in another person and use it to access something that was already available within herself.From that came a simple three-stage process:Borrow. Repeat. Become.BRB.Borrow a quality you need. Repeat it in everyday situations. Keep practising until it becomes something you can access as yourself.Jess and Andy explore why this isn't about pretending to be someone else, but about using the same instinct for modelling that human beings have used since childhood to unlock confidence, courage and behaviours we may not yet completely trust in ourselves.The conversation goes deeper into the difference between borrowing and hiding, the masks we learn to wear, people-pleasing and the physical and emotional cost of continually keeping the peace at the expense of our own.Jess shares one particularly revealing moment when a producer joked that he hoped she wasn't "a diva like most singers". Despite being classically trained and having been paid to sing professionally for years, Jess immediately played down her own ability simply to avoid creating tension.It became part of a pattern she knew had to change.Andy and Jess also explore what happens when we change and the people around us are still expecting the old version of us, from personal relationships to somebody being promoted into leadership and suddenly having to manage former peers.The conversation moves into creativity, discomfort and Jess's acclaimed Elton Reimagined show, including what she has learned about creating from joy rather than trying to second-guess what an audience or an industry wants her to be.Jess also takes us behind the scenes of Dead Ringers, revealing the extraordinarily fast process of creating a topical radio comedy show and how performers can sometimes have only hours to learn a completely new impression.And she explains how her own career as an impressionist began with a rather bold strategy: telling somebody she was brilliant at impressions before she actually knew whether she was.That willingness to say "yes" opened the door to Little Voice, Dead Ringers, Spitting Image and a career built around one of Britain's most distinctive collections of voices.The conversation then turns to Jess's memoir, Life Is Rosi: Grandma, Me and Our Diaries at 23, which places Jess's own diary at the age of 23 alongside the newly translated diaries of her German Jewish grandmother Rosi at the same age.Rosi's life was being transformed by Nazi persecution in 1938, eventually leading her to Britain through the Kindertransport. Eight decades later, Jess's diary tells a very different story of a young woman trying to establish a career and understand who she was.Through those parallel voices, Jess explores identity, family, inherited patterns, trauma and what gets passed between generations, intentionally or otherwise.Ultimately, this is a conversation about finding the confidence to stop shrinking yourself for other people.You don't need to become someone else.Sometimes you just need to borrow something for long enough to discover that it was already inside you.TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.This episode is hosted by Andy Coley.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Apply to Speak : https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/applyPodcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterConnect with Jess Robinson:Website: ...
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    41 分
  • The Cost of Being Seen | Jsky

    The Cost of Being Seen | Jsky
    2026/09/22
    "Ego craves attention. Human nature is to be understood."Jsky is a singer, songwriter, broadcaster and creative whose career has moved across music, fashion, television and Manchester's cultural scene.But after spending around 15 years being visible, both online and in the real world, he has started questioning what visibility is actually worth.In this episode of TEDx and Talks, recorded ahead of TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026, Jsky joins Simran Whitham for a candid conversation about social media, success, identity and the hidden cost of being seen.Jsky explains why his TEDx talk focuses on the way we increasingly use followers, views, likes and engagement as measurements of success, despite those numbers being easier than ever to manipulate and increasingly shaped by algorithms, bots and artificial intelligence.Having built much of his career alongside the rise of social media, Jsky has experienced both sides of online visibility. He talks about trolling, the pressure he has seen creators experience trying to maintain a successful-looking life, and why the version of somebody we see online can be very different from reality.The conversation also asks a more uncomfortable question: even if we never post anything ourselves, are we still responsible for the internet we are creating?Every video we watch, every piece of content we linger on and every interaction we make teaches an algorithm what to show us next. Jsky argues that anonymity does not remove us from that system. Simply consuming content means we are participating in shaping it.Jsky and Simran explore whether social media can still be a force for good, the dangers of mistaking access to information for genuine understanding, and why being permanently exposed to the world's problems can sometimes make us quicker to judge rather than better informed.The conversation then moves into Jsky's own unconventional career.After growing up believing he was supposed to choose one path, he decided instead to pursue everything that interested him. Music led into fashion, fashion created new opportunities, and what initially frustrated him about being labelled a "fashionista" eventually became part of the identity that helped him stand out.Jsky reflects on professionalism, treating people well and why today's most visible person can quickly become yesterday's news. He also explores the important difference between being seen and genuinely being understood, arguing that attention may satisfy the ego for a moment, while understanding can have a much deeper and longer-lasting effect.The pair discuss the boundaries between a public persona and private life, how much of ourselves we should give to social media, and why Jsky deliberately maintains a life that could continue even if his online platforms disappeared tomorrow.The conversation also goes behind the scenes of his TEDxNorthernQuarter journey, from receiving the call telling him he had been selected from more than 200 applications to working with his speaker coach, accepting difficult feedback and transforming his original idea into a deeply personal TEDx talk.Ultimately, Jsky's message comes back to accountability.It is easy to blame social media for what we dislike about the online world. But collectively, we are social media.If we want something better, Jsky believes we all have a part to play in creating it.TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.This episode is hosted by Simran Whitham.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter 2026 took place at Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading, applications for the 2027 event are open until the 30th November 2026.Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Apply for 2027 : https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/applyPodcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterConnect with Jsky:X: https://x.com/jskychat Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jskychat/TEDxNorthernQuarter is an independently organised event under license granted by TED.Send us Fan Mail
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    44 分
  • You Don't Have to Be Unbreakable | Asia Sharif

    You Don't Have to Be Unbreakable | Asia Sharif
    2026/09/08
    "You do not have to be unbreakable to survive your life."Asia Sharif is a multi-award-winning software engineer, mentor, public speaker and DE&I advocate whose journey has taken her from foster care and a non-traditional route into technology to becoming an influential voice for diversity, resilience and representation.In this episode of TEDx and Talks, Asia joins hosts Andy Coley and Simran Whitham ahead of taking to the TEDxNorthernQuarter stage in Manchester.Asia shares how she originally studied law before dropping out of university, moving to London and eventually deciding during lockdown to challenge herself by learning something completely new. Starting with Python and committing time every day to teaching herself to code, she transformed her career and within a year had secured her first software engineering role and won her first award. The conversation explores representation in technology, challenging stereotypes and why Asia deliberately chose to become visible in an industry where women of colour remained significantly underrepresented. She talks about wanting other women and girls to see somebody who looked like them succeeding in engineering, and why breaking down society's expectations has become a recurring theme throughout her life. Asia then opens up about the experience that would completely reshape her understanding of strength.Three years ago, she was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. After multiple relapses, gruelling treatment and eventually a stem cell transplant, Asia found herself confronting vulnerability in a way that professional success had never required her to do. She talks about the difficulty of asking for help, the fear of being perceived as weak and why eventually allowing her community to support her became one of the most powerful lessons of her life. Asia speaks candidly about the physical and emotional reality of cancer treatment, losing her hair and much of her sense of identity, spending almost a year barely leaving her apartment and ultimately reaching a point during her stem cell transplant when she genuinely feared she might die.During those darkest moments, one thought kept returning. She prayed simply for the chance to see one more sunrise.Having made it through, Asia has spent the time since travelling, experiencing the world and appreciating the ordinary moments she once feared she might never experience again. The conversation also explores faith, foster care, community, goal setting and the small daily actions Asia believes can help us continue moving forward even when life feels overwhelming.Her TEDx talk challenges what she calls "the myth of strength", the idea that being strong means putting on a brave face, dealing with everything alone and never asking for help. Instead, Asia argues that vulnerability, community and knowing when to let other people in can be forms of strength in themselves. Ultimately, Asia's story is about refusing to allow circumstances, stereotypes or adversity to decide what comes next.You do not have to be unbreakable to survive your life.TEDx and Talks is the official podcast of TEDxNorthernQuarter, taking you beyond the red dot to discover more about the people, stories and ideas behind the talks.Hosted by Andy Coley and Simran Whitham.Recorded by THE CLUB MCR in Manchester.TEDxNorthernQuarter returns to Stoller Hall, Manchester on 11 September 2026, bringing together 16 speakers to share ideas worth spreading.Find out more about TEDxNorthernQuarter:Website: https://www.tedxnorthernquarter.com/ Podcast: https://podcast.tedxnorthernquarter.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedxnorthernquarter/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tedxnorthernquarter/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedxnorthernquarterConnect with Asia Sharif:Website: https://www.asiasharif.co.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-sharif-60616b150/Content note: This episode contains candid discussion of cancer, chemotherapy, serious illness, homelessness and difficult personal experiences.TEDxNorthernQuarter is an independently organised event under license granted by TED.Send us Fan Mail
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