The Collators

Dive into the philosophy and practice of analysis and information sharing, with insights from leaders in tech, academia, intelligence and beyond on how they make sense of the world. Hosts Mark and Howard draw on experience in intelligence, law enforcement and academia to unpack the ideas and methods that shape understanding. Thoughtful but accessible, it’s a podcast for anyone who wants to sharpen their thinking in a complex, fast-changing world.

Information as experience - Interview with Professor Andrew Dillon 12/09/2025

Information as experience - Interview with Professor Andrew Dillon Mark and Howard sit down with Prof. Andrew Dillon (UT Austin) to ask what information really is and why the answer starts with people, not machines. Andrew maps the triangle of data, people and technology and argues that information is an experience, not a spreadsheet. A discussion of the lure of AI, why judgement still matters, and how we might regulate misinformation the way we regulate food; to nourish and not poison the public. Shownotes, transcript and more available from https://thecollators.com /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/39344035

Mystics and Statistics - Why is prediction hard? 11/26/2025

Mystics and Statistics - Why is prediction hard? In this episode, Mark and Howard explore why forecasting is so often wrong and what prediction really requires. From homicides to the stock market, prediction sounds simple until the future fights back. Statistics and logic can take you far, but judgement, context, and humility do the rest. /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/39159020

Virtually Real - What is real? 11/24/2025

Virtually Real - What is real? In this episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard explore the promises and pitfalls of virtual reality. Not as a gaming gimmick, but as a tool for intelligence, analysis, and decision-making. From Minority Report-style data walls to simple post-it notes, they ask whether VR and data visualisation actually help us see the world more clearly, or just distract us with prettier illusions. Transcript, shownotes and more are available from /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38394790

Challenge Everything - AI, Raves and Nuclear Subs - Interview with Mike Hawkes, digital inventor. 11/19/2025

Challenge Everything - AI, Raves and Nuclear Subs - Interview with Mike Hawkes, digital inventor. From Tandy Radioshack to nuclear submarines, this episode traces an extraordinary journey through the intersections of technology, curiosity, and courage. Mark and Howard talk with Mike Hawkes, a technologist, inventor, and pioneer of secure digital systems whose career began in fixing computers in a local store and ended up influencing the security architecture behind global online transactions that we all use. This is a very human story, with ebbs and flows of good and bad. Innovation, hard work and opportunity, but also cybercrime, litigation and loss. Shownotes, transcript and more at https://thecollators.com /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38877755

OMG, TMI - How much information is too much? 11/19/2025

OMG, TMI - How much information is too much? In this episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard dig into the firehose of the digital age. From the days of cereal-box reading and limited TV channels to today’s infinite scroll of TikTok, Twitter, and AI-generated content, how has the internet reshaped the way we process and perhaps fail to really think about the information we receive. Visit us at /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/37850315

Can everything that counts, be counted? Qualitative and quantitative analysis explored 11/10/2025

Can everything that counts, be counted? Qualitative and quantitative analysis explored From crime scenes to classrooms, boardrooms to briefing papers, the tension between numbers and narratives runs through every profession that tries to make sense of the world. Mark and Howard ask whether everything that counts can, in fact, be counted. What happens when we mistake measurement for meaning? Why do humans crave certainty even when the evidence is uncertain? And how do analysts, scientists, and policymakers balance data with judgement? Shownotes, transcript and more available from https://thecollators.com /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38983265

The CIA, Rebel Alliance and pandas - An inteview with Carmen Medina 10/25/2025

The CIA, Rebel Alliance and pandas - An inteview with Carmen Medina In this special episode of The Collators, Mark and Howard speak with Carmen Medina, former Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA and one of the most respected reformers in modern intelligence analysis. Carmen’s career spanned three decades at the heart of U.S. intelligence, leading analytic teams through the end of the Cold War, the information revolution, and the challenges of a world where secrets collide with the open internet. Together, they explore: - What it means to think critically inside large institutions. - How bias and diversity of thought shape intelligence work. - The tension between secrecy, sharing, and truth. - Why categorisation, curiosity, and dissent are vital to good analysis. - The impact of AI and automation on human judgement. Reflective, candid, and often funny, Carmen’s insights reveal the reality of analysis as both craft and calling, and a human attempt to make sense of the world. Transcript and more at https://thecollators.com /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38778065

Patterns and Trends - What is a Pattern? 10/25/2025

Patterns and Trends - What is a Pattern? Musical spreadsheets, a string of car thefts, and a chance observation spark a question at the heart of this episode: what exactly is a pattern, and how do we recognise one? Mark and Howard explore Florence Nightingale’s statistical diagrams to modern AI pattern recognition, exploring how humans find meaning in data and how sometimes, meaning finds us. They discuss the risks of seeing structure where none exists, the value of curiosity, and why luck and lateral thinking still matter in an age of algorithms. Shownotes and more available from /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38777320

One house; Many rooms - What is analysis? 10/09/2025

One house; Many rooms - What is analysis? Reflective, sometimes funny and occasionally heretical, this episode pulls together the threads of the series so far. Revealing how all analysis hinges on one thing: how we think, and sometimes, how it can sometimes drift into ritual rather than insight. What does it mean to analyse? Where did modern analytical thinking come from? And why do so many disciplines: intelligence, academia, business use the same word but mean entirely different things? Shownotes and more available from Follow us on YouTube at /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38488175

Proof Positive - What is evidence? 09/21/2025

Proof Positive - What is evidence? From courtrooms to laboratories, from policing to public policy, “evidence” is a term loaded with assumptions. But what do we really mean when we say something is evidence? Who gets to decide? Not just in the courts, but in real life too? Mark and Howard ask: What is evidence? From courtrooms to science labs to public policy, they explore how this powerful word shapes truth, trust, and decision-making. Transcript, shownotes and more are available from /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38296140

Trust is everything - Interview with Dr James Wilson 09/05/2025

Trust is everything - Interview with Dr James Wilson Dr Wilson takes us through his journey from medical school in the shadow of Ebola outbreaks, to rainforest fieldwork, to NASA satellite projects that caught the attention of the intelligence community, and later, front-line pandemic response. Mark and Howard welcome Dr. James Wilson, a practicing pediatrician and one of the world’s leading experts in operational health security and biosurveillance. Wilson has built systems used to anticipate and detect infectious disease crises, served as the first operations chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biosurveillance Integration Center, and has decades of experience in epidemic forecasting and intelligence analysis. This is not just a story about pandemics. It’s a story about information, uncertainty, and the resilience of societies when confronted with the unknown. Visit for shownotes, transcript and more episodes To learn more about Dr Wilson visit /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/38105050

Intelligence Beyond Earth - Looking inside and out 08/21/2025

Intelligence Beyond Earth - Looking inside and out In this special episode, Mark and Howard welcome their first guest: Dr. John Elliott, honorary research fellow in computer science and coordinator of the SETI Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews. Arthur C. Clarke once described John’s work as “of great importance,” and with good reason. His research spans human language, dolphin communication, computational linguistics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Visit for shownotes, transcript and more episodes Visit /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/37914035

Intelligence; good, bad and indifferent 08/17/2025

Intelligence; good, bad and indifferent Mark and Howard wrestle with the deceptively simple question: What is intelligence? They explore why intelligence is so hard to define, how it differs from raw data and information, and why it sits somewhere between science and art. Along the way, they highlight the many uses (and misuses) of the word “intelligence,” from law enforcement practice to political spin. Visit us at /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/37850335

An appeal for information 08/17/2025

An appeal for information We use the word “information” every day, but what does it actually mean? In this first episode, drawing on experience from intelligence, law enforcement and academia Mark and Howard dig into the foundations of our information-saturated world, exploring how data becomes meaning, why context matters, and how our assumptions shape what we think we know. Visit us at /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/37806400

Who are The Collators? 08/17/2025

Who are The Collators? This is a trailer episode to introduce the pod - We’ve tried to make a show for people who want to sharpen their thinking. Whether you’re a seasoned analyst or simply curious about how we make sense of the world. If you’re interested in critical thinking, information theory of just how people form beliefs, then I think we might have something for you. On behalf of Mark, Howard and Jay, Hello world… Visit us at Shownotes, transcript and links /episode/index/show/2e8c179d-6d2c-4b0b-a52f-0ba80b14fdac/id/37751975

The Collators

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