There’s a small square of the Arctic – 3 metres by 3 metres - behind the UK Research Station in Svalbard, which Encounter Edu Founder & former teacher Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop calls his own. Huddled in sub-zero temperatures on the ice, he’s spent hours there, broadcasting to more than 150,000 children from 57 countries, sharing the magical northernmost region of the Earth with them, bringing scientists’ work to life and inspiring young minds to understand our planet. Encounter Edu produces live...
Jun 29, 2025•43 min•Ep. 220
When 18-year-old Arsenal & England star Myles Lewis-Skelly showed serious potential on the pitch as a young lad, his mum Marcia experienced how confusing and lonely the world of youth football can be, and realised she needed expert knowledge for their journey ahead. So, she studied for a Masters in Football Business and took agency exams, before setting up No1Fan.club – the UK’s first platform to help parents navigate the intricacies of the football industry, from grassroots and academy to P...
Jun 22, 2025•44 min•Ep. 219
David Lowe was outed on TikTok as the composer of some of TV's most iconic music when his 'how I created the BBC News themes' post to mark the 25th anniversary went viral! He's the man behind the opening music for programmes like The One Show, Panorama, Grand Designs and BBC Countryfile, as well as top TV ads. And he arranged a special version of Chariots of Fire by Vangelis for the 2012 Olympic medal ceremony when Andy Murray took gold in the tennis. David shows Helen how he builds the tracks, ...
Jun 15, 2025•51 min•Ep. 218
Nikki Scott shares the story behind founding Scotty’s Little Soldiers after her husband, 26-yr-old Corp Lee Scott of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was killed on active duty in Afghanistan. As Nikki navigated her devastating loss with their 5-yr-old son & baby, she realised there was little help for children and young people grieving the death of a military parent. Scotty’s supports hundreds of young people & is proud to have Prince Harry as their very hands-on Global Ambassador....
Jun 08, 2025•48 min•Ep. 217
Sahar Hashemi OBE reveals how her love of skinny lattes in '90s New York led to her giving up her career as a lawyer and starting Coffee Republic with her brother, Bobby. Sahar talks openly about the highs and lows of growing the business from the kitchen table to a £30 million empire with 110 American-style coffee bars, as well as the pain of leaving. As well as mentoring executives in how to retain a start-up culture in large companies, Sahar champions more than 2,000 female founders in a move...
Jun 01, 2025•46 min•Ep. 216
Mud on the seabed and the diverse, weird and wonderful invertebrates who live in it are having their climate moment, according to Marine Biologist Dr Ceri Lewis. Based at the University of Exeter – Ceri is part of the five-year Convex Seascape Survey researching how a healthy ocean can help fight climate change. She’s passionate about worms – from microscopic to 3 metres long - and how they influence carbon stores on the seabed. Ceri also talks about her latest scientific trip to the Galapagos w...
May 25, 2025•37 min•Ep. 215
Wendy Fulcher shares the story of losing her husband and soulmate John when he was just 52 to an aggressive stage 4 glioblastoma and how it led to her setting up a powerful, research charity. John was under the care of TV star Davina McCall’s consultant neurosurgeon Kevin O’Neill who we featured in our last episode. Kevin and Wendy set up the Brain Tumour Research Campaign together more than 20 years ago after Kevin expressed frustration at the field being woefully underfunded. BTRC supports Kev...
May 18, 2025•39 min•Ep. 214
Davina McCall’s consultant neurosurgeon Kevin O’Neill gives a fascinating insight into the five-hour surgery he carried out on the TV star, navigating his way between the brain’s two hemispheres to successfully remove a rare colloidal cyst Davina nick-named ‘Jeffrey’. Kevin recounts the journey into the centre of Davina’s brain and recalls the moment he came face to face with Jeffrey who, he laughs, was waving at him, smoking his pipe! Kevin is passionate about the ground-breaking research he le...
May 11, 2025•44 min•Ep. 213
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott’s son David gives a very personal insight into his father – a giant of the Labour movement – revealing family stories and anecdotes from his life at Westminster. David was born two days after John became MP for Hull East, serving his constituents and the country for 40 years. Former Prime Ministers Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown regularly kept in touch with John as advanced dementia took hold. He died, aged 86. David is now focussed on getting Alzheime...
May 04, 2025•46 min•Ep. 212
Crime reporter Martin Brunt has covered some of the biggest, shocking and most notorious crime stories in British history for Sky News over the last four decades. Still working in 24-hour breaking news, his book - No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason – filled with previously undisclosed details and fascinating inside track is about to come out in paperback. Martin shares gripping dispatches about his relationship with violent prisoner Charles Bronson; an unusual encounter with his musi...
Mar 30, 2025•50 min•Ep. 211
Inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandi, social reformer, author and Ted Talk speaker Robin Greenfield explains why and how he’s simplified his life - strand by strand - so others can simply live. 38-year-old Robin was on his way to his first million in his 20s, drove a new car, ran a marketing business in the States and was immersed in consumerism. Now he undertakes extreme experiments and adventures to demonstrate more sustainable ways of living in harmony with the planet and which don’t ex...
Mar 23, 2025•46 min•Ep. 210
ENT surgeon Gabriel Weston’s new book is a deeply personal and provocative journey through the human body. In this captivating, alternative exploration of our anatomy, Gabriel dissolves the boundaries which often divide surgeon and patient, pushing beyond the limit of what science can tell us about who we are. Gabriel has just sold the rights to her first book Direct Red, about life as a young female surgeon, to Netflix and Brad Pitt’s company Plan B so watch this space for a new medical drama....
Mar 16, 2025•57 min•Ep. 209
Simon Hart reveals why he’s published his personal diary entries in his new book, Ungovernable – The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip, lifting the lid on what really went on at Westminster during one of the most turbulent times in British politics. Simon had a front-row seat at the heart of government - in the cabinet under Boris Johnson; as Chief Whip for Rishi Sunak and cast out to the side lines by Liz Truss for her 49-days at Number 10. Simon describes the Whip’s office as a field hospital ...
Mar 09, 2025•43 min•Ep. 208
Successful entrepreneur and co-founder of Intelligent Change Alex Ikonn shares how he turned his life around through the simple habit of gratitude. Alex’s teenage years were tough - he lost his father to cancer, suffered hardships at home with little money, mum worked round the clock to make ends meet – but by changing his mindset and practising daily gratitude, things started to improve. He co-founded Intelligent Change to create tools and methods to help others transform their lives and become...
Mar 02, 2025•44 min•Ep. 207
In part two of our special with music legend and CCO of Whizz Kid Entertainment, Malcolm Gerrie gives an insight into the new film he’s just finished shooting with blind tenor Andrea Bocelli. Malcolm and the team from Lionsgate have had incredible access to the star and his family at their home and venues all over the world. The much-anticipated film comes out in the autumn. Malcolm also chats about his 23 years exec producing the BAFTA's – and revamping the Brits, introducing unexpected collabo...
Feb 23, 2025•51 min•Ep. 206
In part one of our two-part special, the story of how a teacher from Newcastle pushed the boundaries in music, creating the legendary eighties show The Tube. Malcolm Gerrie booked ‘low priority act’ Madonna for her first UK performance, helped U2 break America at Red Rocks, breathed fresh life into Tina Turner’s career and exec produced live performances from Elton, REM, The Who, The Jam and many more. Malcolm exec'd the Bafta's for 23 years, revamped The Brits, and has just finished making a fi...
Feb 16, 2025•48 min•Ep. 205
Hacked Off board director Emma Jones explores Prince Harry’s ‘monumental victory’ against News Group Newspapers and what it means for hundreds of other victims of press intrusion. Emma was at London’s High Court when Rupert Murdoch’s group settled with the Duke of Sussex at the eleventh hour, minutes before the trial was due to start. NGN issued an unequivocal apology for incidents of unlawful activity and serious intrusion as well as paying substantial damages. Hacked Off campaigner Hugh Grant ...
Feb 09, 2025•42 min•Ep. 204
80 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated, 87-year-old Holocaust survivor John Hajdu MBE shared his story of survival with the Princess of Wales this week and got a big hug. So, we’re re-running our episode where John tells Helen about his harrowing life as a young boy in Budapest seeing Jews persecuted & killed and his parents forced to labour camps. Comforted by his teddy bear as the horrors unfolded, the bear remains his constant companion. John was honoured to be photographed by Ra...
Feb 02, 2025•45 min•Ep. 203
Award-winning artist George Butler creates ink and watercolour drawings in situ in war zones, refugee camps and disaster areas all over the world and some of his work can be found in museum archives, including at the V&A. His testimonies of ordinary people capture suffering, courage, moments of hope, and introduce us to real characters behind the headlines, whose situations we rarely hear about on the news. George has drawn in a leprosy clinic in Nepal; spent time with The Hazda tribe in Tan...
Jan 26, 2025•48 min•Ep. 202
Jesse Dufton was the first blind person to lead a climb of The Old Man of Hoy – a daunting sea stack in the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland. It earned him a Guinness world record and was the subject of Alastair Lee’s multi-award-winning documentary Climbing Blind. In newly-released Climbing Blind II, Jesse describes being “right at his limit” and “redlining for what felt like an eternity” as he leads a brutal and painful ascent of Devils Tower in Wyoming with his sight guide, wife Moll...
Jan 19, 2025•34 min•Ep. 201
Pioneering jockey Khadijah Mellah, from Peckham, became the first UK jockey to compete in a horse race in Britain wearing a hijab. A minute later, she made history again by riding her mount, Haverland, to victory in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood. A film was made of her remarkable story and an academy set up in her name to help other youngsters from under-represented urban areas pursue a career in racing. 24-year-old Khadijah explains how, as a young Muslim woman, she’s changing perceptions in spo...
Jan 12, 2025•42 min•Ep. 200
Investigative journalist Glen Campbell details his decades long search for fugitive Lord Lucan – the Eton-educated gambler who disappeared without trace after murdering his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, in 1974. Glen forms an unlikely partnership with Sandra’s son, Neil Berriman, and their investigations all over the world are subject of a gripping new BBC three-part documentary, Lucan. They speak to Lucan’s aristocratic friends, his brother, the nanny’s boyfriend, and the clues finally lead ...
Dec 15, 2024•53 min•Ep. 199
Laura Harnett spent 20 years as a high-flying corporate executive, in the boardroom at Selfridges and working for brands like IKEA and Coca-Cola. Never did she imagine she’d be championing a humble cleaning sponge. However, frustrated by supermarket aisles full of microplastic-filled cleaning tools, and a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer, she gave it all up to become an entrepreneur in her 40s and start Seep. Seep is a B Corp which designs eco-friendly, plastic-free, biodegradable cleaning...
Dec 08, 2024•35 min•Ep. 198
Miles Spencer has mentored tech founders for more than 30 years, and has created hundreds of jobs while founding, financing, building, and exiting three digital media companies. But he’s also strayed a long way from his US home. He led 1500 people across 14 miles of open sea in kayaks, raising more than a million dollars for charity; ran with the bulls in Pamplona, and trekked 1,100 miles through the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria with his great friend, Wells Jones. The eye-opening tr...
Dec 01, 2024•41 min•Ep. 197
Michelle Feeney founded Floral Street Fragrances – an award-winning British brand with sustainability at its core – after a dynamic career leading top global beauty names, including Estee Lauder and Mac Cosmetics. The inspiration to create clean, affordable fragrances which won’t impact the planet, came during what Michelle describes as her gap year, aged 51. Inspired by flowers and vibrant culture, Floral Street has collaborated with the Van Gogh Museum and watch this space for another exciting...
Nov 24, 2024•43 min•Ep. 196
Seasoned barrister & environmentalist James Cameron - one of the leading architects of COP – reflects on three decades of arguing for a fairer and more sustainable planet. He co-hosts a new podcast series – Fossil vs Future – with his 30-year-old god-daughter Daisy Nicholls who works in sustainable finance. It’s a refreshing, authentic conversation exploring the climate crisis through different generational lenses. Together they discuss a series of what they call ‘what abouts’ – what about t...
Nov 17, 2024•52 min•Ep. 195
Helen takes an 11-degree chilly dip in Windermere in the Lake District with renowned Cold Water Swim Coach Gilly McArthur to experience the benefits of cold exposure and blue spaces. Gilly is part of a world-class team working on an NHS research project with Oxford and Portsmouth Universities, investigating whether cold water & outdoor swimming can help alleviate anxiety and depression. Gilly explains the compelling science behind how the cold improves our physical and mental wellbeing, what...
Nov 10, 2024•50 min•Ep. 194
Forensic Psychologist Kerry Daynes delves into the psyche of some of the most disturbed criminal minds to understand what lies behind their often heinous actions. Her work as one of the most sought after forensic psychologists in the business has taken her from maximum-security prisons, police interview rooms and the witness box to the wards of secure hospitals where patients are detained under the Mental Health Act. These experiences have provided Kerry with a wealth of stories for her best-sel...
Nov 03, 2024•44 min•Ep. 193
When Jermyn Street shirt-maker Emma Willis MBE heard a documentary on Radio 4 about injured soldiers recovering from life-changing injuries on their return from Afghanistan, she knew she wanted to help. Emma has spent years visiting patients at Headley Court Military Hospital in Surrey, gently measuring burns victims, Armed Forces men and women who have lost limbs and suffered dreadful injuries, to make bespoke shirts as a thank you for their courage. Her charity, Style for Soldiers, was born ou...
Oct 27, 2024•43 min•Ep. 192
Photographer & storyteller Giles Duley MBE joins me from Ukraine where his NGO – the Legacy of War Foundation – is providing ambulances to the frontline to evacuate civilians, many of them elderly. Giles lost both legs and an arm when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011 whilst embedded with 101st Airborne. Locked in his own mind for 46 days, only able to blink, he was lucky to survive. He explains how, even before his injury, his work was focussed on drawing a...
Oct 19, 2024•57 min•Ep. 191
