Episode 200 — Guest reflections & the power of conversation
What it felt like to be on The Grant, what they learnt, and why it works
I used the opportunity for an in-person recording at The Grant Meet-Up in September 2025 in the midst of chats and drinks with a group of dedicated listeners to celebrate 200 episodes . I brought back two former guests - Angels Orduna, Executive Director of A.SPIRE and Science Journalist Thomas Brent - to Place du Luxembourg to ask them two simple questions: how was it to be on the show and what stayed with you after being on The Grant?
Their answers are candid and practical - having time to slow down, being asked the follow-up questions that sharpen thinking, and discovering new ways to explain complex work to colleagues, partners and funders.
We also talk about the medium podcast itself: why a calm, long-form conversation cuts through noise in EU funding, how stories carry lessons better than slides, and why honest reflections - successes and stumbles - help the whole community learn. If you listen for human, useful insight you can take back to your day job, this is a warm thank-you and a peek behind the curtain of The Grant.
00:00:17 A special opening
00:10:07 Fly in
00:12:45 200th episode recap
00:18:02 How was it to be on The Grant?
00:27:50 Reflections that the participation gave you.
00:40:05 The toughest challenge
