Find out what it’s like to produce your first ever play and put it on alongside 3,800 other shows at The Edinburgh Fringe. Sam James, Technical Head of Claims at Convex and winner of the company’s Dream Pitch, produced ‘Girlhood’ which examines the roles of mothers and the impact of mother figures on our lives. Armed with a copy of The Accidental Producer, Sam recruited six young actors as well as up and coming writer Tiegan Byrne & director Cecilie Fray and opened to rave reviews....
Oct 13, 2024•38 min•Ep. 190
Dr Federica Amati - one of Britain’s top nutritional scientists – recalls the eureka moment studying with legendary Professor Elio Riboli when she realised the power of food on good health, preventing many chronic diseases. The Italian-born scientist teaches medical students at Imperial College London – something that didn’t happen five years ago – and is fuelled by a desire to help us all discover the science of eating for a lifetime of health, as documented in her new book – Every BODY Should ...
Oct 06, 2024•50 min•Ep. 188
Charlie Wild and Jessica Last have spent three years exploring the UK in search of unique and exciting adventures on our doorstep. From climbing peaks in the Scottish Highlands to surfing the breaks off Northern Ireland; foraging in the deepest forests of Snowdonia to camping wild on Dartmoor, they’ve discovered extraordinary places and wonderful characters. 52 of their most unforgettable trips are beautifully documented in their new book, Achievable Adventures, showing that regular adventure is...
Sep 29, 2024•47 min•Ep. 189
When Wing Commander Andy Green OBE broke the sound barrier in a supersonic jet car in 1997, he became the fastest person on land – a world record he still holds, almost three decades on. Andy explains the risks involved, the spectacularly small mathematical margins for error, lessons learned, and reveals the thrills of driving more than 763 mph across Nevada’s Black Rock Desert in the British-designed Thrust SSC - 54ft long, weighing 10 tons and featuring two military jet engines. Even NASA thou...
Sep 22, 2024•56 min•Ep. 187
101-year-old Jack Dark reflects on life in WW2 as part of the RAF’s elite Pathfinder Force. Just a lad at 18, Jack was a Bomb Aimer and Navigator in the Lancaster Bomber. The Pathfinders went in first to find and mark the targets. Their accuracy is said to have changed the course of the Second World War. Jack is one of a few surviving Pathfinders and is in demand by film and documentary-makers for his valuable memories of those daring, dangerous, nighttime missions. Jack Dark photographed on a L...
Sep 15, 2024•30 min•Ep. 186
Artist Chris Levine, renowned for his portraits of the late Queen, describes 7.83 Hertz – his new immersive installation featuring cutting edge lasers - which he hopes can be scaled to highlight the vital role our ocean plays in tackling the world’s climate crisis. Created in collaboration with the Convex Seascape Survey, Chris explains how understanding more about the Benthic zone, a living ecosystem deep on the seabed, and talking to scientists involved in the 5-year research project, inspired...
Sep 08, 2024•38 min•Ep. 185
Golden Globe, BAFTA & Emmy-winning drama producer Gareth Neame OBE shares stories behind some of the most-watched original dramas he’s created – from global phenomena Downton Abbey to the BBC hit Spooks. As filming for the third Downton film nears the end with a cast who are like family, Gareth gives a sneak peek into other dramas he’s making, including The Day of the Jackal with Eddie Redmayne, Lockerbie, starring Colin Firth and The Gilded Age. The CEO of Carnival Films is fourth generatio...
Jul 21, 2024•47 min•Ep. 184
As Britain experiences the first two weeks of a Labour Government, award-winning Chief Political Commentator of The Sunday Times, Tim Shipman, assesses where we’re at and what’s in store under Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Tim gives an insight into what it takes to be a trusted political insider, likening it to the spy world where members of the Cabinet, ministers, special advisors and so on are sub agents of his network and need to be treated right! Tim’s hotly anticipated third instalment in hi...
Jul 14, 2024•53 min•Ep. 183
When reigning Olympic Gold triathlete Dame Flora Duffy takes her place on the pontoon on the Seine in Paris in three weeks’ time, it marks the end of a long, frustrating battle to make the start line. Flora finished 2022 on a high, winning her second Commonwealth Gold, but was devastated not to race at all in 2023 due to a painful, complicated knee injury which she feared might end her incredible career. Flora is relieved to be under the radar for Paris 2024, having been favourite for five years...
Jul 07, 2024•36 min•Ep. 182
Four time British FIM Enduro World Champion Jane Daniels aimed simply to complete her first ever Dakar race – an extreme endurance event. But she won the 2024 Women’s Class, racing across 7,891km of towering sand dunes, vast oases, and dramatic rock formations in Saudi Arabia, sponsored by Italian motorcycle company Fantic. Jane, from Wigan, shares the thrills and challenges of her high-octane sport. She started racing when she was 12, inspired by her road racer dad Andy, has been crowned Enduro...
Jun 30, 2024•40 min•Ep. 181
Explorer Oli France on his 64-day, 3,588-mile 'human powered' journey, cycling alone for 39 days from Death Valley in California to Denali, eventually reaching the summit of one of the world’s most challenging mountains. Oli spent ten years dreaming of and five years planning ‘The Ultimate Seven’ project – expeditions which will culminate in, hopefully, him becoming the first person to travel from the lowest to the highest point of every continent, under his own steam. Oli describes the highs an...
Jun 22, 2024•38 min•Ep. 180
Dr Jack Wolfson practised as a traditional hospital cardiologist in the States for more than 16 years, following in his eminent father’s footsteps. An epiphany moment with his now wife, Dr Heather Wolfson, led him on a different journey - to investigate the cause of heart disease and illness, rather than ‘put a Band-Aid’ over the symptoms. Based in Scottsdale, AZ, Dr Jack runs Natural Heart Doctor, embracing good nutrition, nature, healthy living, avoiding chemicals and toxins in the battle to t...
Jun 16, 2024•47 min•Ep. 179
In this week’s Convex Conversation we explore behavioural science and its role in helping tackle some of the greatest challenges in society. Behavioural scientist Elspeth Kirkman – Chief Programmes Officer at innovation charity Nesta – reveals how issues like the nation’s health, domestic decarbonisation and the disparity in early childhood are being viewed through different lenses to bring about positive change. Elspeth explains how thinking like an artist can improve our decision making – a co...
Jun 09, 2024•48 min•Ep. 178
To mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Helen joins the Paddle Group, Royal Marines Association, on the Thames in a folding two-man boat, known as a Klepper, made famous by the Cockleshell heroes. As she paddles with former Royal Marines corporal Chris Maynard and some of the team preparing to cross the Channel to Normandy, she discovers how these expeditions help personnel from all the forces with their mental health, bridging the no man’s land some experience between serving and civvy street. T...
Jun 02, 2024•39 min•Ep. 177
Travel writer Catherine Fairweather talks about her new podcast series, Voices from the Frontline, exploring lives shaped by war. In the first episode she interviews her husband, revered photo-journalist Sir Don McCullin, and recalls how she first heard about Don from foreign correspondent Jon Swain when she was 11, living in Laos during the Indochina Wars. Catherine’s father was a diplomat and her mother Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher’s translator. Their exciting life living all over t...
May 26, 2024•37 min•Ep. 176
Prince William is building 24 sustainable homes on his Duchy of Cornwall land at Nansledan to provide temporary accommodation and support for some of the many people sleeping rough in the county, in partnership with homelessness charity St Petrocs. Jon Sparkes OBE is a trustee of St Petrocs; ran Crisis; Scope; is currently CEO of UNICEK UK and is about to move to Mencap, where he’ll be pushing for change for the 1.5 million people in Britain with learning disabilities. Jon shares his very person...
May 19, 2024•37 min•Ep. 175
Deep in the sub-basement of the Natural History Museum in London, surrounded by a vast collection of dinosaur bones, world-leading palaeontologist Prof Paul Barrett gives an insight into how prehistoric times can inform current issues like climate change. In this golden age for prehistoric reptiles, where on average one new dinosaur is discovered every week, innovative digital tests and detailed online archives mean we can find out more about their life on Earth, our planet & evolution. Paul...
May 12, 2024•47 min•Ep. 174
An insider’s view from former cabinet minister Rory Stewart OBE on the upcoming UK election and the difficulties a new Government will face taking over a country that he believes is bust, with public services we can't afford. Rory is already selling out venues like the O2 in the autumn with his The Rest is Politics podcast co-host Alastair Campbell when they'll be debating the issues before the nation votes. He shares candid stories from his eye-opening decade at the heart of Government, detaile...
May 04, 2024•40 min•Ep. 173
Major General Alastair Bruce OBE is known for his engaging live TV commentary, here and in America, on royal weddings, jubilees, and the King's Coronation, giving viewers an accurate insight into ceremonial life and history. Alastair - a direct descendant of the revered warrior king Robert the Bruce - is the current Governor of Edinburgh Castle, a role which dates back to 1107. He reveals his love of the realm goes back to childhood when he made a detailed replica of the crown jewels from clay a...
Apr 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 172
Former Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter gives his assessment on the current conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as reflects on his 45 years serving in the military. Sir Nick says the world looks a lot more like it did in the 1910s and 1930s and explains the geopolitics behind why he believes conflict is now possible at a scale and intensity he hoped we’d never see again after 1945 came to an end. Britain’s longest serving military chief since Lord Mountbatten shar...
Apr 19, 2024•36 min•Ep. 171
As NASA prepares to land people on the Moon for the first time since 1972, aerospace physiologist Dr Tess Morris-Paterson talks about her work selecting astronauts for missions like Artemis and what it takes to become an astronaut. Tess explains the lunar orbit of the Moon's South Pole, discusses plans for astronauts to live and work under the Moon's surface, and how these missions will pave the way to travel to Mars using hydrogen from the lunar ice caps. Tess went through the gruelling selecti...
Mar 24, 2024•48 min•Ep. 170
Bonita Norris became the youngest British woman to summit Everest in 2010, aged just 22. What was even more remarkable about her feat, was that she only started mountaineering at university. Inspired and driven by the thought of seeing the curvature of the Earth from the world’s highest peak, Bonita explains how she conquered tough mental, physical and practical challenges to achieve her dream. She recounts the moment she fell on the way down, landing on the treacherous Hillary Step – a near ver...
Mar 17, 2024•46 min•Ep. 169
Eminent scientist Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University, shares some of his extraordinary life’s work, taking us on a fascinating journey through the science of our body clocks. As work and recreation time has become increasingly blurred, we’ve neglected our 24-hour biological clock which guides us towards the best time to sleep, eat and think. Using his own studies and those of other international sleep scientists, Russell explains how new science has proved t...
Mar 10, 2024•50 min•Ep. 168
Historian Alice Loxton is on a mission to bring history to a wider, younger audience using the power of her 2 million followers on socials. The 28-year-old presenter and author travels up and down the UK, filming intriguing bite-sized historical facts and little-known stories from various periods in authentic settings. Alice has packed a lot in – working with The National Trust, Downing Street, Sky Arts, Christies, Sotheby’s, and more – and hosts documentaries on History Hit TV with Dan Snow who...
Mar 03, 2024•42 min•Ep. 167
When a 26-year-old American astrophysics major arrived in the Old City of Kabul in Afghanistan to volunteer, she had no idea the work would become a major part of her life, helping tens of thousands of people survive and thrive in unstable, war-torn countries. Shoshana Stewart, President of Turquoise Mountain, explains how the international NGO started with a chance conversation between the then Prince of Wales and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, followed by an extraordinary mission for he...
Feb 25, 2024•45 min•Ep. 166
Investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown reveals the remarkable story behind her exposing the 1MDB fraud in which billions of dollars were embezzled from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. From her kitchen table in London, Clare worked doggedly with the FBI and US Department of Justice on her one-woman investigation which toppled a government, implicated top politicians, leading institutions and involved Hollywood names, diamonds & a $250 million super yacht. The complex story – which b...
Feb 18, 2024•46 min•Ep. 165
Six years ago, the British Army tasked Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick OBE with forming a unit to defend and preserve some of the world’s greatest cultural treasures, at risk of theft or destruction in conflict. The former tank commander explains how the lessons learned by the real-life ‘Monuments Men’ in World War 2 - documented by Sir Leonard Woolley and whose story formed the basis of George Clooney’s film - were invaluable when he set up the British Cultural Property Protection Unit. Tim des...
Feb 11, 2024•43 min•Ep. 164
Hello! Magazine’s former Editor in Chief Rosie Nixon talks openly about how she unexpectedly found herself on the brink of burnout after 16 years at Britain’s favourite celebrity magazine. Despite incredible career success, Rosie was running on empty and didn’t feel the same joy from the adrenalin-fuelled, glamorous publishing world she had once thrived in. She spent hours walking in the Surrey hills, digging deep into how she felt and what she wanted, and has now trained as a life coach, helpin...
Feb 04, 2024•42 min•Ep. 163
Grange Hill star Linda Magistris founded The Good Grief Trust after she lost her partner – BAFTA-winning director Graham Theakston - to a rare cancer and found little support to help her cope with his early death. Linda has grown it into the UK’s leading bereavement network, bringing more than 900 specialist charities & services together under one umbrella for individuals and health care professionals. Actors Greg Wise, Afterlife and Downton Abbey star Dame Penelope Wilton and Todd Carty are...
Jan 28, 2024•48 min•Ep. 162
Operation Ringtail culminated in convictions following the smashing of a drugs ring who smuggled more than £1.5 billion worth of cocaine into the UK, hidden in boxes of frozen chicken. Leading the investigation was this week’s guest, Detective Chief Superintendent Carl Galvin - Head of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit. Carl talks about his 25 years as a covert operative, the ever-changing face of organised crime & how his expert teams work to stay ahead of the criminals...
Jan 21, 2024•51 min•Ep. 161
