The Brilliant Humans Podcast

The Brilliant Humans Podcast is a show that celebrates extraordinary people, but with a twist...our guests never talk about themselves. Instead, each episode shines a light on a Brilliant Human who inspired them, changed their life, or helped them see the world differently. From everyday heroes and unsung champions to iconic figures and innovators, you’ll hear stories of kindness, courage, creativity, resilience, generosity, and love. These conversations, with host Jonathan Griffiths , are real, uplifting, and full of the lessons that make us more connected and more human. This is not a podcast about success. It’s a podcast about the best of humanity. And in a world that often rewards self-promotion and noise, The Brilliant Humans Podcast creates space for reflection, appreciation, and acknowledgement - for saying thank you to the people who helped make us who we are. If you’re looking for thoughtful, movin

The Brilliant Humans Podcast is a society podcast hosted by Jonathan Griffiths, with 33 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Jonathan Griffiths hosts The Brilliant Humans Podcast, a society show with 33 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #30

  Ep 30 | Henry Cavill: The nerd king who gave AJ permission to stop hiding

  Sep 17, 202635 min

  What happens when a man who built his identity inside the armed forces walks out the other side with nothing to show him who he is? For AJ — 3D print business owner, tabletop gaming lead at Luton Comic Con, and dad of four — the answer came from an unlikely source: Henry Cavill. Not just Superman. Not just Geralt of Rivia. But the man who sat on the Graham Norton sofa talking about Warhammer 40,000 with zero apology and total conviction — and made AJ feel like his passions were worth owning out loud. In this special episode, recorded in partnership with Luton Comic Con 2026, AJ traces a journey from post-military identity crisis to full-time creator, and explores why a Hollywood actor's unashamed nerdiness changed the way he sees himself, parents his kids, and shows up in the world. Along the way they dig into tabletop gaming, the controversy around Henry's casting as Superman, his battles to keep The Witcher true to its source material, and the Warhammer film that's quietly in development. If you've ever hidden a passion because you thought it wasn't cool enough — or needed someone to show you it's safe to be exactly who you are — this one's for you.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #29

  Ep 29 | Agatha Christie: The disabled novelist who became the best-selling author of all time

  Sep 3, 202638 min

  She had a condition that made writing physically and mentally painful. She was a woman working in a genre dominated by men. And in 1926, she vanished for 11 days — a mystery she took to her grave. Yet Dame Agatha Christie went on to become the best-selling novelist of all time, with over two billion copies sold. Gen Dearman, CEO of disability charity Challengers, first picked up an Agatha Christie novel as an eight-year-old in a hotel in Worthing — and hasn't stopped since. In this conversation, Gen traces forty years of companionship with Christie's work: the accessible, put-it-down-and-pick-it-back-up quality of her writing, the feminist defiance hidden in plain sight, the disability Christie never let define her, and the Poirot theme that still conjures the warmth of Gen's late mum on a quiet evening. Gen also shares the work she leads at Challengers, a Surrey-based charity that transforms the lives of disabled children and young people through the power of play — with a non-exclusion policy as radical as anything Christie herself might have championed. Find out more at disability-challengers.org . If you've ever found a book that felt less like reading and more like coming home, this one's for you.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #28

  Ep 28 | She Never Stopped Trying | With Nicky Banger

  Aug 27, 202642 min

  She was born at two pounds, three ounces — three months early, fighting for her life before she'd even begun it. Then came the cerebral palsy diagnosis, the surgeries, the bullying, the anorexia. And through all of it, nobody knew whether Sophia would ever live independently, hold down a job, or simply be okay. In this episode, Jonathan is joined by Nicky Banger — former professional footballer and CEO of the Knights Foundation — who has dedicated his life to supporting families with children who have additional needs. But today, Nicky isn't here to talk about his work. He's here to talk about his daughter. Sophia's story is one of extraordinary, quiet courage. Multiple major operations. Cyberbullying. An eating disorder. A system that repeatedly told her family she wasn't worth the fight. And yet, at 21, she's studying law — and one of the world's biggest law firms has come looking for her. Nicky reflects on what it meant to parent through fear without showing it, why resilience can't be taught but can be modelled, and how Sophia is becoming the role model she never had. Learn more about the work Nicky leads at the Knights Foundation: https://www.theknightsfoundation.org/ If you've ever watched someone you love face odds that felt impossible — and seen them win — this one's for you.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #27

  Ep 27 | When living fully becomes your legacy | With Hendrika Willemse

  Aug 20, 202635 min

  What does it mean to truly live — and what does it cost when the person who showed you how is suddenly gone? Hendrika Willemse was 23 years old. After working late with her brother Andre a phone call changed everything. A heart attack. A stroke. No goodbye. And a company to figure out alone. Andre was 18 years older than Hendrika — part big brother, part business partner, part father figure in a home where her biological father was never present. He was the reason she went into tech when almost no other young women were doing it. He was the one who showed her what it looked like to combine deep technical knowledge with genuine commercial instinct, to work hard and play hard, and to squeeze everything out of life. He was 41 when he died. In this episode, Hendrika — three-time world karate champion, keynote speaker, and partner at Storyo — shares how Andre's way of living became the lens through which she sees the world. His legacy isn't a lesson she was taught. It's a standard she holds herself to every single day. Learn more about Hendrika at https://www.hendrika-willemse.com/ If you've ever lost someone before you had the chance to say thank you, this one's for you.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #26

  Ep 26 | The Woman Who Knew Everyone | With Sam Leyden

  Aug 6, 202637 min

  Before Sam Leyden played his first gig, before the tens of thousands of streams, before the song that stopped someone in their tracks at 3am — there was Betsy. A woman who raised three daughters largely on her own after losing her husband young. A woman who worked every job imaginable without ever making a fuss about it. A woman so well-known and so deeply loved in Liverpool that, as the family saying goes, if her picture appeared next to the Pope's in the newspaper, everyone would ask: who's that man standing next to Betsy Devlin? In this episode, singer-songwriter Sam Leyden takes Jon inside the life of his grandmother — the storyteller at the Sunday roast table, the woman in the comments of every single post, and the quiet force behind some of his most personal music. From the backstreets of Liverpool to open mic nights with four people in the room, Betsy was always there. Sam reflects on how her selflessness, resilience, and unspoken grit shaped not just who he is, but how he writes — and why kindness, not status, turns out to be the thing people remember. Follow Sam on Instagram at @sam_leyden or find his music on Spotify. If you've ever had someone in your corner who never once made it about themselves, this one's for you.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on The Brilliant Humans Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.