Calista’s Paradox coauthors Erik Åkesson and Elaine Stirling join Sami Miettinen for a bonus episode on two worlds that rarely meet, the craft of creative writing and life inside London’s investment banks. Elaine explains how she brought storytelling into corporate training back in 2002 when the word narrative still horrified business people, and why archetypes, journaling and still space beat endless scrolling. Erik remembers the 5am trains to Canary Wharf, the morning letter deadlines, the money scoreboard and the fear of failure that fuels young ambitious overachievers. He also reveals the trading desk moment at HSBC that convinced him to bet his career on communication and teamwork instead of raw intelligence. Improv legend Keith Johnstone, status games and a memorable Credit Suisse boss called Chris McHugh all make an appearance before the invitation to watch the main episode on Calista’s Paradox.
00:00 Erik Åkesson and Elaine Stirling
00:29 Elaine’s crash course into business writing
01:20 Storytelling becomes the corporate narrative
02:05 Journaling, nature walks and still space
02:49 Archetypes within us all
03:16 Improv lessons: never try to be funny
04:04 Keith Johnstone sees steps ahead
04:40 Status games on stage and in life
05:16 City boys and London’s macho banking culture
06:15 Rich on paper, poor in London
06:44 The 5am train and morning letters
07:58 Tube wisdom: money counts the goals
08:46 The chosen elite of the City
09:24 Fear of failure as career fuel
10:10 Business class trappings and derivative dreams
10:59 Chris McHugh: old enough to have opinions
11:50 Improv spirit writes an article in minutes
12:42 From technocrats to human beings
13:11 Erik realizes intelligence is not enough
14:15 Betting on communication and teamwork
14:47 AI as a partner for your weaknesses
15:17 Pinner, Canary Wharf and One Cabot Square
16:00 Hong Kong reunion 24 years later