Wendy Mak on Instagram
Veera Brave Girl

In 2025, it's estimated that we see at least 4,000 ads, every single day. And the lines are becoming more and more blurred between what is "real" and what is AI generated.

In an era where the use of AI has become commonplace, what is the correct balance between increasing productivity and maintaining consumer trust?

Wendy Mak is the Chief Marketing Officer at MUFG Pension & Market Services, and is a regular speaker on topics such as AI, tech, and communications. In this episode, we also discovered that Wendy is an influencer on her personal Instagram page, where she shares content on fashion, beauty, and fitness.

Having the dual perspective of both a marketer and an influencer has granted Wendy a unique lens on the way that AI is used today. Wendy believes that using AI is important to promote innovation. However, she is also an advocate for clear labelling of Gen AI in advertising, arguing that this honesty is essential to maintain consumer trust.

Wendy also shares with us her work with 'Veera Brave Girl', a non-profit organisation that provides resources for migrant women.

We hope you enjoy.

Gabrielle Feather - Holding Both on Substack

This is one of the most intense interviews I’ve done. Surely.

Please check out our new Substack, which is an audio and textual hub for all things Vanilla Club Podcast, where we interact and engage with complexity in order to better appreciate simplicity.

This episode is a continuation of a run of episodes with Substackers whose writing we admire. Gabrielle Feather is a brilliant guest, who as you’ll see, brings a warmth and sensitivity and a remarkable emotional range to this special episode.

Gabrielle is known as 'Holding Both' on Substack, and describes her page as a space for the "in-between" - grief and awe, collapse and becoming, motherhood and undoing, hope and rage.

She is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Tasmania, working in the field of psychology, with a niche specifically in “climate and collapse aware psychology.”

In this episode, Gabrielle was prompted with some open-ended questions (sometimes these “simple” questions are the very hardest to answer), relating to the state of the climate, and the general proximity of the looming and intersecting crises we are facing.

We talk about how folks in their 30s and 40s today are the bridging generation between the old world and the new. We speak about how collapse is in fact a process, not a singular event. And that matters because we all play a part in life processes, day in and day out; we can’t therefore be fatalistic even in the face of crisis.

Gabrielle walks us through her own healing journey, her choice to have children, and the life and times of a young activist at the Wilderness Society. She speaks of struggling to find her life purpose in a system that she didn't believe in, and finding disillusionment at every turn, to then embracing the disillusionment, and finding joy on the other side of it.

Gabrielle also tells us about an experience she had with Ayahuasca, where the plant told her that emotional regulation is the number one thing that humanity needs to cultivate. Psychedelics are a smitch out of my wheelhouse but to hear the “pro” case for them and for mysticism writ large was thought-provoking and worthy of further reflection.

We were delighted to record and produce this episode. We hope you enjoy.

Mike Jones - Resilient Tomorrow on Substack
Anarcasper on Substack

Vanilla Club on Substack

With the introduction of our own Substack, we are introducing a short run of episodes with Substackers whose writing that we admire.

We came across Mike Jones' Substack 'Resilient Tomorrow' through his striking article - 'Convenience is the Cage'. In this article, Mike prompts us to reconsider what wealth really means, from shifting our perspective of wealth as money, to wealth as access and strong communities.

This "redefining of narrative" is one the seven pillars in Mike's key framework that he shares in the episode. Mike's aim is to provide his audience with steps for "exiting the system" that are actually approachable. He found that many are quick to diagnose the problem - yet few provide solutions that feel realistic or achievable. And at it's core, these solutions centre around sharing knowledge and building community.

Mike takes us through a little bit of his journey over the past decade that brought him to this turning point, or “exit ramp”, as he would put it. His tech background has provided him with a unique approach that we really appreciate, which is marrying classic community ideals with modern technology.

We hope you enjoy.

The Honest Sorcerer on Substack

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Vanilla Club on Substack

Our planet’s approach to renewable energy is totally dependent on fossil fuels and finite resources.

What happens once we’ve exhausted the accessible portion of fossil fuels? And what could we have learnt from the Indigenous cultures of Earth?

With the introduction of our own Substack, we are introducing a short run of episodes with Substackers whose writing that we admire. We came across The Honest Sorcerer's writing on Substack and were struck by his stark, no nonsense approach to the energy crisis we are facing. He is an anonymous narrator of the Earth's polycrisis, our overuse and dependence on finite resources, as well as the fragility of our modern systems and civilisation. A random walk through Honest Sorcerer's Substack is not for the faint hearted.

In this episode, Honest Sorcerer takes us back to his turning point, from a hopeful mechanical engineering student, who believed that technology could solve the woes of the world, to the less optimistic truth teller that we see today.

He also paints a pretty dark picture of what he thinks our future will look like if we continue with our consumptive and extractive ways.

But he also reminds us that there is a sunnier side to the inevitable collapse. It is still a beautiful world where there will always be simple things to enjoy.

We hope you enjoy.

What really goes on behind the curtains of the wild, wild, world of air travel? In this wide-ranging episode, we're joined by aviation expert Keith Tonkin - former military and commercial pilot, now Managing Director of Aviation Projects. He started his career in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), where he spent 15 years. He then spent 9 years flying internationally and domestically with Qantas.

Our presumption with this podcast series is in confronting complexity, we enable ourselves to better understand simplicity. And this episode highlights that. Following the tragic Air India crash in June, we sought out Keith to shed light on what may have happened, and to unpack the systems, people, and governance mechanisms that make modern aviation possible. Keith takes us through a bit of his background, what inspired him to fly as a young man, pathways for career progression for young prospective pilots, how the climate is affecting air travel, and the work he’s doing today in aviation consultancy.

We also dive into the inner workings of the aviation industry. Flying has become so ingrained in modern life that we seldom recognise the complex exercise in supply chain optimisation that it is. Every single flight is essentially an elaborate just-in-time exercise, with an immense number of moving parts that must go right, with a product that after all, is perishable. When you understand how much had to go right to get you that hot meal at 35,000 ft, you simply can't, (or at least bloody well shouldn't) complain about any little minor thing.

We hope you enjoy.

Follow K9 on X: https://x.com/k9_reaper

This was one of the most fun and engaging shows we have done on our lovely, fledgling, Vanilla Club Podcast.

K9 Reaper, a volunteer, civil protection officer, neighbourhood watchman, and citizen journalist, defies easy description. He is someone who has been labelled a racist (on X, with no shred of evidence), or at the least, not fully cognisant of his (white) privilege. He is also unafraid to tell of the underbelly of the collapse of state functions in what was once a functioning, if apartheid-based economy. He is bound to draw criticism. And that is the resounding attractiveness of K9 Reaper as a character. Someone who smiles despite the futility of it all. He was given ample opportunity, by me your host, to rag on the ANC. I don't have any problem holding two things as both possibly true, Apartheid was racist and had to go, and, three decades of post-apartheid rule by the ANC is a sufficient time frame to judge them strictly on their record of governance. Yet K9 is hesitant to criticise the ANC. He is resolved to offer as candid a take on the situation, describing CIT heists (the notorious cash-in-transit heists) in graphic detail for our viewers; yet he remembers to counterbalance this with stories of the beauty of South Africa, the many splendours of its surrounding habitat, the ridiculously endowed flora and fauna, in addition to a charming set of subcultures that the nation is evidently brimming with.

This is a man who talks about "the last cigarette," and is surrounded by crime, much of it violent, ruthless, tipped with carnage and desperation. But he is clearly someone who loves his country. He is a gonzo citizen journalist too, and does it with a wry sense of humour.

Hats off to K9 Reaper! We hope you enjoy.

At Vanilla Club, we are all about simplicity. But on Vanilla Club Podcast, we venture out, asking the basic questions of real world experts, taking a desire for simplicity and contrasting it with worlds of complexity. Today we delve into the great blue yonder, crank that Blue Danube tune on Space Odyssey 2001 and join us! Here we go. Simpletons in Space!

In this week's thought provoking episode, political scientist and space policy expert, Dr. Kathryn Robinson, joins us to explore how space is far more than rockets and stars, it’s a hidden infrastructure underpinning our everyday lives. From GPS and climate data, to medical systems and financial networks, space technology is woven into the fabric of modern existence.

Dr. Kat unpacks the ethical and political stakes of space governance, and critiques Australia’s dependence on foreign satellites and urges for smarter sovereign investment.

With sharp insight and personal warmth, Dr. Kat shares her experience as an American academic in Australia, touching on cultural contrasts in academia and gender equity in STEM. We also hear about Dr. Kat's personal journey into space policy and her lifelong fascination with the cosmos.

We hope you enjoy.

In this week's episode, we were joined by Forrest Rain Oliveros at the Vanilla Club Plantation in Coorumba, Queensland. Ground Zero for Simple Wellness!

The conversation begins directly with the sheer physicality of ballet, and the required emotional discipline, and how it challenges conventional ideas of masculinity. Forrest opens up about navigating gender expectations and lingering stereotypes, including the absurdity of perceptions that ballet is feminine, when it is in fact a "power + endurance" discipline.

From here, we explore toxic masculinity, the social impacts of fatherlessness, and the media’s role in shaping distorted ideals around manhood and self-worth. We touched how many modern men find themselves emotionally isolated and disempowered, struggling to form real connections, and Forrest offers his simple advice for any young men today who are struggling. Complex stuff that Vanilla Club is here to try and make simple!

Forrest also shares his experience of the differing health perspectives of Eastern and Western cultures. We also explore other cultural contrasts between the U.S. and Hong Kong, from Hong Kong’s blend of family and filial piety, to the U.S.'s focus on individualism and self-centredness.

The episode closes with Forrest's reflections on the relationships he made during his Far North Queensland stay, and the importance of connection and community.

We hope you enjoy.