In this Between the Seasons episode, host Pinaki Kathiari and producer Bree Bartos welcome Nazmul Islam — communications consultant and creator of History Meets Finance — for a grounded conversation about what it really takes to make thoughtful, well-researched content.

Nazmul walks through how his research process has evolved over the years: from solo Googling, to hiring freelancers on Fiverr, to bringing on journalists for deep-dive research. He shares where AI tools like Claude and NotebookLM fit into his workflow now — and importantly, where they don’t replace human judgment.

The conversation also covers the challenge of staying consistent on a passion project when no one’s making you do it, what it’s like to look at history and finance side by side, and why media literacy and source transparency matter more than ever in a world saturated with AI-generated content.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How Nazmul built History Meets Finance from a weekend side project to 129K+ subscribers
• The role of external accountability in staying consistent on passion projects
• How the research process evolved from solo Googling to working with journalists
• Where AI (Claude, NotebookLM, ChatGPT) fits — and where it doesn’t
• Why entertainment is not the same as information
• The importance of source transparency and building trust with an audience
• Media literacy as a skill we all need to sharpen right now
• What “follow the money” reveals about how society actually works

It’s a practical, curious conversation for anyone who creates content, does research-heavy work, or is trying to figure out how to use AI without losing what makes their work worth trusting.

Check out History Meets Finance here.

Follow Nazmul on LinkedIn.

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Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

We also bring these important conversations to conferences and private workshops, creating space for real, meaningful change. Take the first step at www.whydoesitfeelsowrong.com.

In this Between the Seasons episode, Pinaki Kathiari, Chris Lee, and producer Bree Bartos welcome back Chuck Gose and Kristin Hancock — co-founders of ICology — for part two of a conversation that had too much in it to fit into one episode.

They pick up right where they left off, exploring what it really takes to build and maintain community — and why it’s often inconvenient by design. The group digs into why some people say they want community but don’t actually follow through, the difference between self-care and isolation, and whether society is quietly retreating from the discomfort that connection requires.

Chuck makes a pointed case that saying no has been glamorized as a form of self-care and boundary-setting, while Kristin argues that confidence issues people carry into the workplace are personal development problems — not workplace problems. The conversation builds toward a deeper question: what happens to the next generation of workers who have never had to sit with rejection long enough to grow from it?

In this episode, they discuss:

• Why not everyone truly wants community — even when they say they do
• The price of community is inconvenience: what that means in practice
• How we’ve confused self-care with isolation
• Why saying no has been glamorized — and what we lose when yes disappears
• Confidence as a personal development issue, not a workplace fix
• Rejection as a career skill — and why avoiding it stunts growth
• What the next generation of workers might be missing by opting out of discomfort

It’s a candid, thought-provoking continuation that goes well beyond internal communications — into the messier, more human questions about connection, growth, and what it costs to show up.

If you’re attending Transform 2026 in Vegas, the EX Factor Summit is happening this month.
EX Factor Summit at Transform 2026: Register Here

Chuck Gose: LinkedIn

Kristin Hancock: LinkedIn

ICology: joinicology.com — use code ICLOVE for $50 off your first year

Frequency Podcast (Chuck Gose & Jenni Field): Listen Here

Friends of Indy Animals (Indianapolis): Learn More

Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

We also bring these important conversations to conferences and private workshops, creating space for real, meaningful change. Take the first step at www.whydoesitfeelsowrong.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Five years ago, Kristin Hancock sat in a hotel room in Chicago the night before the very first Camp

ICology convinced it was a failure. Twelve people had signed up. She’d wanted thirty.

That event turned out to be magic.

In this Between the Seasons episode, hosts Pinaki Kathiari and Chris Lee are joined by Chuck Gose

and Kristin Hancock, the co-founders of ICology, to mark five years of building what’s become one

of internal communications’ most genuinely human communities. Chuck started ICology as a podcast

back in 2015 looking for new voices in internal comms. Kristin built the community that surrounds it.

Together, they’ve created something that doesn’t look or feel like anything else in the profession.

The conversation covers the real story of building ICology — the individual outreach, the events

that nearly didn’t happen, the moment success looked exactly like failure, and why Chuck says you

should take it personally when people don’t show up (and why that’s actually good advice).

They also talk about what’s next: the EX Factor Summit, a new pre-conference mini-summit at

Transform 2026 in Las Vegas designed to bring internal communicators into the employee experience

conversation in a more hands-on, problem-solving way. And yes, Busta Rhymes is involved.

In this episode, they discuss:

• What Kristin and Chuck each brought to ICology — and why both were necessary

• Why building community is harder than it looks (and lonelier than you’d expect)

• The lesson from 12 people in a room that felt like failure until it didn’t

• Why Chuck says to take it personally when people don’t engage

• How individualism gets in the way of community — inside and outside of work

• Why internal comms needs to stop asking for a seat at the table and start building one

• What the EX Factor Summit is, and what attendees will walk away with

If you’re attending Transform 2026 in Vegas, the EX Factor Summit is happening this month.

Chuck Gose: LinkedIn

Kristin Hancock: LinkedIn

ICology: joinicology.com — use code ICLOVE for $50 off your first year

EX Factor Summit at Transform 2026: Register Here

Frequency Podcast (Chuck Gose & Jenni Field): Listen Here

Friends of Indy Animals (Indianapolis): Learn More

Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

We also bring these important conversations to conferences and private workshops, creating space for real, meaningful change. Take the first step at www.whydoesitfeelsowrong.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.