The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast
Greatest Hits – The New Shape of Insight: Five Voices Redefine Research, Strategy, and Human Behavior
December 9, 2025
Research is evolving from reporting the past to shaping what comes next, and the most meaningful shifts begin with how we understand people. In this Greatest Hits episode of The Curiosity Current, five guests share the ideas that are redefining the insights profession. From Adam Hagerman’s view of research as a strategic engine, to Lindsey Goodman’s lived-world ethnography, to Marcus Cunha on influence and ROI, to J. Walker Smith’s return to analog life, and Ben Valenta’s work on connection and well-being, this episode brings together the human themes that turn information into impact.
Insight takes on its real shape when curiosity meets context. The research field has stretched far beyond reporting the past. Today, it guides decisions, influences strategy, and helps organizations understand the people they hope to serve. 

In this Greatest Hits episode of The Curiosity Current, host Stephanie Vance revisits five conversations that show how insight grows when it is handled with depth, imagination, and care.

Adam Hagerman, a researcher and strategist whose career has spanned Apple, GLG, and Indeed, opens the episode with a shift that changed the way his teams worked. Instead of treating research as a confirmation step, he used theoretical frameworks to help people think more broadly about what they could build. He talks about the moment when leaders stopped looking for reassurance and started exploring possibility. His approach shows how structured thinking and narrative clarity can push teams toward ideas they might have overlooked.

Lindsey Goodman, Consumer Insights Leader at Wolverine Worldwide, brings us into the world of lived experience. Ethnography allows her to watch people move through ordinary moments that carry unexpected weight. A shopper pausing at a shoe wall. A runner tightening a lace. A decision made quietly, without explanation. These small details often reveal more truth than direct answers. Through her hindsight–insight–foresight model, she shows how past patterns, present behavior, and emerging signals can work together to shape products that feel intuitive and relevant.

Marcus Cunha Jr., Professor of Marketing at the University of Georgia and Director of the MMR Program, speaks directly to the heart of influence. Research holds real value only when it helps people make decisions. He pushes his students to understand that accuracy alone is not enough. They must connect insight to business outcomes, communicate clearly, and frame their work in ways leaders can act on. Without that discipline, even strong research fades into the background.

J. Walker Smith, Knowledge Lead for Strategy and Consulting at Kantar, zooms out to the cultural landscape. After years of forecasts about a fully digital world, the pandemic revealed something else entirely: people want to return to experiences that feel textured, physical, and human. Markets, festivals, shared gatherings, small rituals, the moments that remind us who we are. He believes that digital tools will evolve to support these analog desires rather than replace them, giving researchers and brands a wider canvas for understanding real life.

Ben Valenta, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Fox Sports and co-author of Fans Have More Friends, brings the episode to a close with the social side of human behavior. Across leagues and across countries, highly engaged fans share common traits: stronger friendships, higher well-being, and a deeper sense of belonging. The patterns hold consistently, even when the sports differ. He explains why fandom is not simply enthusiasm. It is a form of social infrastructure that gives people connection, energy, and meaning.

Across these five conversations, a single thread becomes clear. Insight lives in the ways people think, behave, connect, and create. When researchers understand those layers, their work does more than inform. It guides, aligns, and helps organizations make choices that reflect the real world.

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