The Geopolitics & Power Podcast Phil Elwood | 'All The Worst Humans' Confessions of a Public Relations Operative
Feb 16, 2026
57:48
Podcast Starter Packs
- Offshore Finance/Kleptocracy & Money Laundering
- Geopolitics/Economics/Economic Development
- Explorers & Adventurers
- Investigative Journalists
“I deserved whatever the opposite of a Pulitzer is.”
Phil Elwood is the author of All the Worst Humans, a confessional memoir from the dubious world of public relations.
As a PR operative. He helped Qatar win the 2022 World Cup. He spun the release of the Lockerbie bomber into a “positive headline.” Had the Gaddafi family, the Assad regime and plenty more among his clients.
Phil speaks with humility and incredible clarity about what he learned from that world. The moral grey zones, the craft behind the spin, and how media manipulation really works in practice.
It’s a rare, honest window into an industry that prefers the shadows.
- How propaganda and PR actually get executed behind closed doors
- The mechanics of “first ink,” astroturfing, and reputation laundering
- The moral compromises behind Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid
- Sportswashing, Liv Golf, and the new global game of influence
- Whether the media is more easily manipulated than ever?
- Whether AI and independent creators can break the old PR machinery