Podcast Founder and Host
The Mansion Scandal: Exploring and learning from deeper daily questions
The Mansion Scandal is a self-initiated podcast project I began while travelling, inspired by conversations with people whose lives and perspectives were far removed from my own. These encounters made me realise how rarely we ask deeper questions in our day-to-day interactions — and how transformative it can be when we do.
This podcast was designed to create a space where curiosity is welcomed, assumptions are challenged, and dialogue is centred on connection rather than conclusion. It blends lightness with depth, offering both catharsis and insight through open-ended conversation.
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Each guest chooses from four thematic card decks — Silly, Innovation, Travel, and Deeper (Psychology) — selecting prompts at random to spark organic, unscripted dialogue. At the end of each episode, the guest leaves a question for the next, continuing a chain of curiosity and reflection across episodes.
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​​More than entertainment, The Mansion Scandal is an exploration of how we make sense of the world and each other. It invites listeners to slow down, lean in, and consider different ways of thinking, living, and understanding.
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Skills Gained & Applied
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Active Listening & Empathic Interviewing
Learned how to tune into emotion, tone, and subtext — essential for building trust in user research sessions. -
Question Design & Prompt Curation
Developed the ability to craft open-ended, non-leading questions that unlock rich stories and insights. -
Creating Safe, Inclusive Dialogue Spaces
Practiced techniques for helping participants feel heard, seen, and comfortable — valuable in co-design or stakeholder engagement contexts. -
Facilitating Spontaneous & Emergent Conversations
Adapted to moments of unpredictability and used them to deepen exploration — relevant to ethnographic and generative research. -
Perspective-Taking & Empathy Building
Engaged deeply with unfamiliar experiences and worldviews, reinforcing a human-centred mindset. -
Narrative Framing, Storytelling & Communication
Translated nuanced conversations into accessible narratives — a skill that supports insight storytelling and design synthesis.
​​Relevance to Research, Design & Innovation
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I see this podcast as an extension of my professional practice. It’s a space where I experiment with:
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Designing for meaningful interaction
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Facilitating dialogue across difference
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Crafting experiences that surface insight and empathy
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Building narrative and emotional resonance through conversation
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It has directly informed the way I approach user interviews, workshop facilitation, and problem framing — teaching me how to hold space for ambiguity, surprise, and vulnerability.
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This project isn’t just about conversation — it’s about learning how people think, feel, and make meaning. It also prompts reflection on how designers and researchers approach knowledge and insight.
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