The Thread, from Alpha

Join Stephen Foster and Arthur Brooks, Professor at Harvard University and New York Times bestselling author, live from Leadership Conference 2025 as they discuss the science of happiness for leaders and the importance of reckoning with idols. Arthur shares fascinating findings on neurochemistry, covering the concepts of enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning; the emotional cost of leadership; and insights on impulse control, dopamine, addiction, and truth-telling.

Author and journalist, Louise Perry, joins Stephen Foster to examine why the sexual revolution has failed many women and families. Drawing on data, lived experience, and her own journey from atheism to faith, she reflects on marriage, dating, power, and why ancient wisdom may speak more clearly to modern confusion than today’s promises of liberation.

Stephen Foster is joined by church leaders Archie Coates, Al Gordon, and Pete Hughes. Together they reflect on a growing spiritual openness across society and a renewed hunger for God within the church. They discuss the surge of people exploring faith, stories of healing and encounter, and what this moment calls for in terms of prayer, invitation, and relational leadership – especially in raising up the next generation.

In this episode, Stephen Foster talks with Nicky Gumbel about faith and leadership in a world marked by conflict and uncertainty. Nicky reflects on a growing spiritual hunger and openness he’s seeing, including in his own Alpha group. They discuss leading like Jesus, the challenges of leadership today, and the importance of unity and learning from the global church.

In this Bonus episode of The Thread from Leadership Conference 2025, we hear from multiple Emmy and BAFTA Award winner Bear Grylls. Bear joins Nicky Gumbel live from the Royal Albert Hall and shares about his new book "The Greatest Story Ever Told", the process of writing it, and how deeply it has impacted his life.