Leeds Voices

What's it like to stand on top of Mount Everest? Find out from a Leeds graduate who is just back from his record breaking 16th summit. Kenton Cool talks about life as a mountain climber and how it all stems from being a Leeds student (3:30). Also taking time to speak to us is CEO of Aviva Amanda Blanc, who shares her insight as one of only nine female leaders in the FTSE 100 and the Government's W...

What did Captain Kirk love about being a University of Leeds student? Listen to Chris Pine (3:35) recall his life in Leeds, including how a barbecue at his Brudenell Road home was the “glorious cap to a great year”. You'll also hear: elite rugby player Jodie Cunningham (Medical Sciences 2013), who introduced her England teammates to the Otley Run (20:00) how Leeds ignited a passion for equality in...

This episode features Martine Croxall (Geography 1990), who as a BBC news presenter has broken major stories to the world. She recalls her student life of home perms and nights out, saying “they would lift a hatch up out of the floor and you would walk down these steps” to a club under the Merrion Centre (28:50). We check in with a Leeds doctoral fellow, who explains how low-carbon heat pumps coul...

The latest episode of our Forever Leeds podcast charts the journey of Ben Winston (Broadcasting Studies 2004) from Brudenell Road to Beverly Hills, becoming executive producer of one of the biggest TV events of the decade – Friends: The Reunion. We explore how two Yorkshire schoolgirls created the first fake news controversy with the infamous  Cottingley Fairies  hoax. Leeds re...

On the new podcast for University of Leeds alumni and everyone who loves the University… Labour MP Jess Phillips tells us how studying at Leeds shaped her life, her politics and her love of dance music. We meet the visionary planner behind Leeds’ world-famous modernist architecture, now celebrating his 100th birthday. We learn how Leeds researchers are turning the tide on climate change. And we he...

Welcome to FOREVER LEEDS, the new podcast for everyone who’s ever studied at the University of Leeds – or is thinking of applying to Britain’s most exciting university. On this debut edition we find out how Leeds is helping the W.H.O. to fight the next pandemic. We discover how BBC, Observer and Telegraph journalist Kamal Ahmed’s life was changed by his time studying politics at Leeds. We learn ho...

Coming soon - the Forever Leeds podcast from the Alumni team at the University of Leeds. The University of Leeds is one of Britain’s great places of learning, with a worldwide reputation for innovation, a vibrant student culture, and a thriving global alumni community. FOREVER LEEDS is the new podcast for everyone who went to Leeds, has children or relatives at Leeds right now, or is thinking of a...