Hosted by Dr Angela Lewis, a former CIA intelligence officer and senior intelligence leader, The Unknown Knowns explores what happens when intuition meets tradecraft — when the data ends and genuine insight begins. Drawing on a career spent working at the heart of intelligence and decision-making, Angela explores how we sharpen judgement, confront bias and make sense of complexity. From cognitive blind spots and negotiation to influence and communication, each episode brings lessons from the world of intelligence to the decisions we make every day — helping us think better, lead smarter and communicate with greater impact.
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
31%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchHosted by Dr Angela Lewis, a former CIA intelligence officer and senior intelligence leader, The Unknown Knowns explores what happens when intuition meets tradecraft, when the data ends and genuine insight begins. Drawing on a career spent working at the heart of intelligence and decision-making, Angela explores how we sharpen judgement, confront bias and make sense of complexity.
Recent episodes include "Put Down the Eraser: How to Lead People Whose Job is to Think" (21 October 2026, 24 minutes), "Degrading Tomorrow's Dataset: How Erasing History Shapes the Future" (14 October 2026, 28 minutes), and "Why Struggle Makes Us Better Problem-Solvers | Figure-It-Out-Ology (Part 2) by Dr Angela Lewis" (7 October 2026, 18 minutes).
The Unknown Knowns publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 23 minutes.
Booking probability for The Unknown Knowns is 31%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. The Unknown Knowns requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. The Unknown Knowns's contact route on record: verified email.
The strongest fits for The Unknown Knowns are Business & Management Consulting. The Unknown Knowns has a business audience.
The Unknown Knowns is a business show.
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Episode #29
How much freedom should we give people whose job is to think independently? And when does autonomy become abandonment? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns, Dr Angela Lewis explores the relationship between autonomy...
Episode #28
What happens when we erase the parts of history that don't fit the stories we want to tell? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores how the preservation, distortion and deliberate erasure of...
Episode #27
What makes some people look at an unfamiliar problem and think, I can figure this out ? In Part II of Figure-It-Out-Ology , Dr Angela Lewis explores the psychology behind our ability to navigate challenges we don’t yet...
Episode #24
What do you do when you don’t know the answer? We tend to think of expertise as having the answers. But what about knowing what to do when you don’t? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores what...
Episode #23
What is your best alternative if the deal in front of you falls through? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores BATNA, or Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. This negotiation concept...
Episode #22
What happens when the system you're trying to understand keeps changing? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores complexity theory and the difference between complicated systems and complex...
Episode #21
What happens when the world changes but your mental model does not? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores Bayesian reasoning through the unlikely lens of the 2006 animated film Over the Hedge...
Episode #20
What makes analysis trustworthy? It is not simply the quality of the information or the confidence of the analyst. It is the quality of the thinking that connects evidence to judgement. In this episode of The Unknown...
Episode #19
What can baseball teach us about intelligence analysis? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis turns to the world of baseball and the story of the Oakland Athletics to explore how data, strategy and...
Episode #18
In this episode, Dr Angela Lewis explores what happens when intelligence concepts leave the classroom and start showing up in everyday life. Angela explains why experts can recognise underlying patterns across very...
Episode #17
Where is the line between influence and manipulation and how do you know when you've crossed it? In Part 2 of this series, Dr Angela Lewis moves from theory to practice, exploring how influence works in the real world...
Episode #16
What separates persuasion from manipulation? Is there a clear line, or do most forms of influence exist somewhere in between? In Part 1 of this two-part series, Dr Angela Lewis explores the psychology and ethics of...
Episode #15
The Intelligence Cycle has shaped intelligence analysis for decades. But what if it only tells part of the story? In the final episode of the Intelligence 101-ish series, Dr Angela Lewis explores why intelligence is...
Episode #14
How do intelligence professionals turn scattered information into something decision makers can actually use? In Part 2 of the Intelligence 101-ish series, Dr Angela Lewis introduces one of the most influential...
Episode #14
What is intelligence? Contrary to popular belief, it has very little to do with spies, secrets or James Bond. In the first episode of a new three-part series, Dr Angela Lewis explores what intelligence actually is, why...
Episode #14
What if the examples we remember most are distracting us from the lesson they were meant to teach? In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores how people learn, why certain ideas stick and what...
Episode #13
In Part 2 of their conversation, Dr Angela Lewis is joined once again by former CIA officer Darrell Blocker to explore the habits and mindsets that underpin effective judgment. Building on their earlier discussion about...
Episode #12
In this two-part series, Dr Angela Lewis is joined by Darrell Blocker, a former CIA officer with 28 years of experience in intelligence operations and leadership. In part 1, they will explore one of the most...
Episode #11
In this episode of The Unknown Knowns , Dr Angela Lewis explores a deceptively simple question: why do some messages land while others fail? Drawing on intelligence tradecraft and organisational psychology, Angela...
Episode #10
<p>In this episode of The Unknown Knowns, Dr Angela Lewis explores why some of the most persistent problems resist simple solutions.</p><p><br></p><p>Rather than focusing on individual events or decisions, Angela...
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