Flex Media Group
Flex Media Group is how Underground speaks in its own voice — livestream briefings, long-form conversations, and Underground Magazine — built around strategic advisory, economic diplomacy, and our continued focus on Africa.
Livestream
Underground Live: The Year-End Outlook
UpcomingA live year-end briefing on the political and capital currents we expect to shape the first half of next year.
Tony Smith, Founder & Managing Partner
Capital Flows & Political Risk, Live
PublishedA live conversation on how institutional allocators are weighing political risk against return in the current cycle.
Yumi Castellanos, Partner, Investment & Capital Strategy
Reading an Election From the Outside
PublishedA livestream walkthrough of how we read an unfolding election cycle as outside advisors, not participants.
Naledi Okonjo-Reyes, Partner, Government & Political Affairs
After the Handshake: A Transition Debrief
ArchivedA recorded debrief on what changes, and what should not, inside an institution once a political transition is formally complete.
Marcus Thane, Partner, Strategic Intelligence & Analysis
Podcast
Submarine Diplomacy: The Discreet Channel
PublishedSubmarine Diplomacy is our term for a prepared, confidential channel: a carefully structured conversation between principals who need to speak candidly before anything is made public. This episode walks through the method using a hypothetical, illustrative visit scenario set in Gabon. It is a fictional scenario used to explain the approach — it does not describe, name, or imply any actual client, mandate, or government outcome.
Tony Smith, Founder & Managing Partner
The Long Game: Economic Diplomacy in Practice
PublishedA conversation on how economic diplomacy is actually practiced day to day, away from the headlines and the signing ceremonies.
Naledi Okonjo-Reyes, Partner, Government & Political Affairs
Reading the Room: Political Risk in Real Time
PublishedHow our intelligence practice separates genuine signal from noise when a situation is still moving.
Marcus Thane, Partner, Strategic Intelligence & Analysis
Crisis, Quietly Managed
ArchivedOn the discipline of managing a crisis so that, done well, most people never hear about it at all.
Elias Farrow, Partner, Crisis & Special Situations
What Comes After the Handshake
UpcomingA forthcoming episode on what institutional investors should ask for once a deal in principle is reached, not before.
Yumi Castellanos, Partner, Investment & Capital Strategy
Underground Magazine
Underground Magazine — Issue 01: The Architecture of Access
Our inaugural issue, on how access to decision-makers is actually built, and why it is slower and quieter than most assume.
February 2, 2026Underground Magazine — Issue 02: Capital Without Borders
An issue on cross-border capital strategy, and the political context every serious allocator now has to price in.
May 4, 2026Underground Magazine — Issue 03: The Diplomacy of Discretion
An issue on discreet advisory practice across government affairs, security, and economic diplomacy, with a continued focus on Africa.
August 10, 2026Underground Magazine — Issue 04: Transition States
Our forthcoming issue on institutions in transition, from governments between mandates to companies between owners.
December 1, 2026Frequently Asked
Who is Flex Media Group for?
Principals, institutions and allocators who want our thinking directly, in long form, rather than secondhand.
Can I suggest a topic or pitch an episode?
Yes. Write to our media team with a short outline and we will respond.
Is any of this confidential client work?
No. Nothing published here discusses an actual client, mandate or matter without a confirmed, named engagement; illustrative examples are always identified as such.
Have a story or a guest in mind?
Our media team reviews every pitch personally.