Legal Grounds | MIKE BASSETT

Conversations on Life, Leadership & Law

One of the things I enjoy most about being a trial lawyer is that to do it effectively you have to construct a narrative.

The clear-cut facts are the constants, they can’t be polished over with a story, or at least they shouldn’t.

And the variables?

Well, that’s where narrative steps in.

So as odd as it may sound, in a lot of ways the great lawyers of history have more in common with great mathematicians.

Both were tasked with the deceptively difficult task of reconciling the known with the unknown.

Of course, this kind of problem solving is required for almost any knowledge-based job, but only a select few careers rest on one’s ability to think and then justify that thinking.

Now, narratives have been proven to be one of the most effective ways to convey information and I’m sure there are plenty of scientific reasons behind this.

But in a more esoteric sense, I believe a well-crafted narrative is a sign that the narrator has thought deeply about the situation.

But another profession that I think screams as a job that requires the parsing of information to build a complete narrative is think-tank fellow.

They work exclusively with variables because their constants are never truly constant.

To do this kind of work takes a brilliant mind, but luckily enough, I was able to get one on the show.

Akshobh Giridharadas is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), which is consistently rated as one of the top think-tanks in the world.

Akshobh has been a broadcast and print journalist for ESPN and Channel NewsAsia, and has taken his knowledge into the consulting sector including work for the World Bank.

He continues to write on diverse topics such as geopolitics, business, and technology and has published articles for multiple outlets including The Diplomat, MoneyControl, and The Quint.

A two time TEDx Speaker and holds two master’s degrees: one in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a second in journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in Pune, India.

And finally, Akshob is the co-host of a new Podcast series titled The Global Detail Podcast (GDP) with Brandon Duke which goes beyond borders and headlines and seeks to interview an eclectic mix of experts with powerful stories about their geopolitical experiences.

It’s a deep conversation and I hope you can join it.

Enjoy the show!