Between Christmas and the New Year, many of us finally get a moment to pause. To reflect on what this year has taken from us and what we want the next one to stand for.
If you’re looking for something thoughtful to listen to in that quieter space, we’d really recommend a recent episode of the Charter for Compassion podcast, hosted by our CEO and co-founder Jennifer Nadel.
Jennifer is joined by Professor Paul Gilbert, one of the world’s leading psychologists and the founder of Compassion Focused Therapy, for a deep and searching conversation about what compassion really is and why it matters so much right now.
Too often, compassion is dismissed as weakness. Professor Gilbert makes the case that it is anything but. Drawing on decades of research, he explains how compassion is rooted in courage, wisdom and strength, and how it is wired into our brains as a vital system for managing threat, fear and stress.
They also explore what this means for politics and public life. In a system that rewards conflict and performative toughness, what would change if we took compassion seriously, not as sentiment, but as a guiding value for leadership and policy?
With compassion,
Compassion in Politics
P.S. We’ve just launched our end of year survey, asking what issues matter most to you and where you’d like us to focus our campaigning. If you have five minutes, we’d really value hearing your priorities for 2026.