Phil Birchenall
I’m the founder of Diagonal Thinking, a smart consultancy for people in the creative, media and digital industries.
Appears in 64 Episodes
The Power of Honest Conversations
“How are you?”, “Good thanks, how are you?”, “Can’t complain!” Sounds familiar, right? We spend our lives avoiding opening up to share just exactly how we’re feelin...
Doom, Gloom, or Boom?
We’re back! After a brief sojourn, Dave, Andy and Phil return with a vengeance for series 3 of Talking Cod: A survivor’s guide to middle age. How do we react to the po...
Who Am I, Right Now?
Have you ever stopped to take stock of where you are in life, the person you are, and the person you’re not? We evolve as we ride the highs and lows of life, but do th...
Food, Glorious Food
We sometimes chow down on our grub in total autopilot, but how often do we sit back and think about our relationship with glorious food. And just what impact our ‘conv...
Big Dick Energy: the good, the bad and the ugly
Bo Stehmeier, good friend of the show and CEO of Academy-winning production house Off The Fence, is back, and boy, has he brought a mighty subject to talk about. How d...
Money, money, money
Is it the one thing you really can’t live without ? In this weeks episode we are joined by friend and listener Nick Thompson, a man who knows a thing or two about c...
Son of my father
After an incident with a pizza oven gets the better of the cod-meisters, the chaps have one of their most profound conversations yet: how have our relationships with o...
Keep on keeping on
We've all thought of giving up from time to time, whether that's on a task, a job, a relationship, or even worse, just plain giving up. But is that even an option, and...
Taking time for gratitude
While we're battling crazy schedules and impossible deadlines, we can soon lose focus on why we're doing what we do. And though we don't do it enough, building in time...
Are we too old to change our lives?
Do you ever feel like there’s no point in trying something new and just give up? Andy’s friend, Jason Boyle, joins the conversation in a special episode. Insightful...
Men behaving emotionally
Blokes. We're no good with our emotions, are we? From an early age, we're primed to keep stuff in, act strong and conform to type. But inevitably, all those emotions h...
What’s the worst that could happen?
Now there's a question. One that we've all asked ourselves many times. In this week's episode, we discuss the thought process. Do you rely on the mind or go with y...
The lies we tell ourselves
If you stopped brushing your teeth but told everyone you'd cleaned them three times a day, would anyone know you'd lied apart from yourself? That's the question our la...
Keeping imposter syndrome at bay
Imposter syndrome: it's something most of us feel at least once in a lifetime, but how do we recognise and get over this self-doubting voice in our heads? Dave and Phi...
Living with your inner chimp
The Codmasters lay bare their primitive minds in the latest episode. Can we control our inner chimps, as Professor Steve Peters explains in his seminal book The Chimp ...
Be busy. Or be present.
In our latest episode we’re joined by Alex Heywood, director at high-performance training provider 4and20Million, for some awesome insights on how to optimise your tim...
Talking Cod meet the Edufuturists
For our latest episode we joined with likeminds Dan Fitzpatrick and Ben Whitaker from the Edufuturists podcast, to talk about the future of education, creativity, tech...
You say you want a resolution?
With the end of the year fast approaching, the lads reflect on the highs and lows of 2021 and figure it's time to commit to some New Year's Resolutions. Or is it?
Living life in the moment
Does time really fly when you’re having fun? And why does a watched pot never boil? The Codmasters delve into the science that differentiates between time and moments....
Mike the headless chicken
The chaps return for series two of Talking Cod, promising more hard-earned, insightful meditations on dealing with the crap middle age throws at you. But this episode ...
Breaking and making habits
As we make our way through our lives we pick up habits - good and bad - while looking to improve ourselves so we can be the person we’ve always wanted to be. But what’...
The one about friendship
We often take our friends for granted, yet they become increasingly important in our lives as we grow older. We also tend to have fewer close friends as time goes by, ...
Enduring the Iron Man: a survivor’s tale
There’s not much we can say about this episode, other than if you’re interested in how far you can push your body, look no further than codmaster Andy Hall. After reac...
Fatherhood, vulnerability and masculinity: finding our place in the world right now
With Dave peddling his way across Scotland, the Cod party is gate-crashed by esteemed TV global exec and author of Wake Up! Rise and Shine, Bo Stehmeier. Reflecting on...
Challenges, communities and Captain Caveman: the art of good vibrations
After Andy smashes the EpicMan triathlon, Dave and Phil sit back in awe pondering cake sales, and the positive effect of connecting with your community.
Communication, connection and consumerism: Finding happiness within
Phil, Andy and Dave sip on mugwort tea while pondering non-verbal communication, lucid dreaming, astral projections and the perils of capitalism. Now there’s a sentenc...
Rediscovering the plot: lessons learnt from getting our emotions under control
After a ‘mixed bag’ Bank Holiday experience, Andy, Dave and Phil go deep on the worst and best ways to cope with the red mist.
Acid House, Abba and Showaddywaddy: pressing play on life's soundtrack
Dave, Phil and Andy discuss how the sounds around them have defined essential moments in their lives, whilst conjuring up a new format with an 'interesting' title.
Spirituality, Status and Supermarkets: Learning to love life in the moment.
After a near-death experience at the hands of an aggrieved nine-year-old, Andy, Dave, and Phil ponder mortality, the point in life where it's OK not to care what peopl...
Working 9 to 5: Is that a way to make a living?
Phil, Andy and Dave 'potter' around, discussing whether the five-day working week is relevant anymore and why it's good to talk, but it's even better to listen.
