The Brilliant Humans Podcast

What if a DNA test didn't just reveal a name — it revealed a woman who had already changed the world without you ever knowing she existed? Five years ago, Dan Albaum received a message that would rewrite his family's story. Through 23andMe, a connection surfaced: Regina Jones, his great-grandfather's daughter, a woman born in wartime South Central LA, raised with little, and driven by something th...

Nine episodes. Nine guests. Nine brilliant humans who changed a life - and were publicly told so. Before the next chapter begins, host Jonathan Griffiths pauses to do something simple but important: say thank you out loud, and mean it. This isn't a full episode - far from it - it's a moment of gratitude for everyone who made Season 2 what it was. For Declan Edwards, Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, Steve Price...

What happens when a fresh-faced kid in a Depeche Mode t-shirt walks onto your track and quietly dismantles everything you believed about winning? For Kriss Akabusi MBE — Olympian, world champion, and one of the most iconic figures in British athletics history — that moment arrived in 1985, when a teenager called Roger Black turned up to train with a group of seasoned internationals. Roger was Racy...

He grew up in a children's home in East London. Roger grew up as a grammar school boy on the South Coast, heading for a career in medicine. On paper, their worlds should never have touched. But geography — and a shared, relentless hunger to be the best — changed everything. In this episode, two-time Olympic silver medallist Roger Black MBE celebrates the brilliant human at the centre of his story:...

What kind of man puts money behind the bar of a local pub for strangers, quietly funds redundant journalists, and turns down a fortune just to keep his concert tickets under forty pounds? Paul Heaton — singer, songwriter, and one of Britain's most quietly extraordinary humans — has never made headlines for his generosity. And that's exactly the point. Simon Cresswell first stumbled into Paul Heato...

What do you do when two years of pain, specialists, and dead ends leave you wondering if this is just your life now? For Anna Stewart — adventurer, singer-songwriter, and former English teacher in Nepal — that question became unbearably real after a snowboarding accident just before her 25th birthday sent her tumbling off a cliff, fracturing vertebrae across her lower back and landing her in an An...

What does it look like when two people spend a lifetime quietly making everyone around them better? For Tom Barnes - sports media executive, endurance athlete, and one of a handful of people to have ever rowed an ocean - the answer is Paul and Linda. His parents. Long before Tom and his rowing partner Rich pushed off from the Canary Islands into 72 days of open Atlantic, it was Paul who said six w...

Colonel Ray Rider flew F-16s, survived Vietnam, graduated top of his class at the Air Force's elite Fighter Weapons School — the real-life equivalent of Top Gun — and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the United States' premier decoration for extraordinary achievement in aerial flight. He served his country for 30 years. Then Alzheimer's disease tried to take the rest. In this episode, Kriste...

What happens when a brilliant coach sees potential in the kid everyone else wants to kick out? Coach Ed Harris didn't just teach Steve Price how to play American football — he saw something in a hyperactive 11-year-old British kid who didn't know the rules, didn't respect authority, and was more interested in causing chaos than playing the game. While teachers suspended Steve, Coach Ed did somethi...

Content Warning: This episode contains references to drug use and the death of a teenager. Please listen with care. Angela Mabbs never thought of herself as brilliant. But when her daughter Fiona's world shattered with the loss of her 16-year-old son Dan, Angela became the quiet force that held everything together — moving in for six weeks, shielding her family from the media storm, and playing th...

What does it look like when one person changes the entire direction of someone's life? For happiness researcher and BU Happiness College founder Declan Edwards, the answer has a name: Sebastian Terry - known to many as "the Bucket List Guy." When a 16-year-old Declan, struggling with self-doubt and a lost sense of identity, stumbled across Seb's story from a hospital bed, he had no idea it would b...

"I am officially overwhelmed. Thank you for listening." When I started The Brilliant Humans Podcast , I wanted to shine a light on the people who make our lives better. I didn't realise quite how many of you across the world were waiting for these stories. In this short "Phase One" wrap-up, I want to say a massive thank you to: The Guests: Who shared their vulnerability, their laughter, and their...

#BrilliantHumansPodcast #KindnessMatters #ChristmasEpisode In this very special Christmas bonus episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , I’m joined by my son, Logan , for a short, joyful, and surprisingly wise conversation about kindness, courage, and what it really means to be a brilliant human. Released on Christmas Day 2025, Logan shares what his day looked like, explains his important role as...

#MentalHealthAwareness #MensMentalHealth #BrilliantHumansPodcast Content Warning - This episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast contains references to suicide. Please take care while listening, and if this feels too heavy today, it’s okay to skip this episode or return when you feel ready. On this deeply moving episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan Griffiths is joined by Chris McIntos...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan sits down with PR and communications professional James Sweeney . A natural storyteller, community builder, and advocate for people with stutters, James brings warmth, honesty, and quiet courage to every conversation he enters. Today, he celebrates his friend Gareth Bone - a man he describes as “the human personification of a hug.” Across...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan Griffiths talks with Jamie Cartwright , a former professional footballer, Ironman competitor, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, dad, husband, and passionate mental-health advocate. From gritty football pitches to gruelling endurance events and the intense challenge of appearing on Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins , Jamie has lived a life shaped...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan speaks with Helen Amery - Mace Energy Method Practitioner, founder of Wild Fig Solutions , and someone devoted to helping people release limitations and rediscover emotional freedom. Helen pays tribute to her Uncle Fred - a gentle, warm, endlessly funny presence who shaped her childhood with kindness, silliness, and a deep sense of belongi...

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide and bereavement. In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan sits down with teacher, choreographer, and lifelong musical theatre lover Jo Burston , as she shares the deeply personal story of the brilliant human who changed the course of her life. Jo opens up about the lifelong anxiety she carried from childhood, the trauma...

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan Griffiths speaks with Paul Naisbitt - a survivor of domestic abuse, advocate, volunteer, and campaigner raising funds to create the first male refuge in the North of England. Paul shares his remarkable journey from feeling trapped and voiceless to rebuilding his life with purpose and compassion. He opens up abo...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan Griffiths talks with Chip Means about the power of laughter, vulnerability, and what we can learn from Conan O’Brien’s unique blend of humour and humanity. From late-night comedy to quiet moments of self-doubt, Chip reflects on how Conan’s openness about mental health and imperfection makes him not just funny - but profoundly relatable. To...

When your big brother becomes a professional footballer, admiration can take many forms. For Steve Shaw, it grew into a lifelong respect for habits, humility, and hard work that separate raw talent from true brilliance. In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Steve reflects on the powerful lessons he learned from his brother Paul Shaw - lessons forged through nearly two decades in profes...

In this deeply moving episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan is joined by Ryan Curtis-Johnson - a proud, gay, neurodivergent dad, and Chief Communications Officer at The Valuable 500. Ryan opens up about his brilliant human: his mum, Ann. A formidable, outspoken woman who never let her MS diagnosis define her, Ann showed strength, compassion, and fierce love throughout her life, especi...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , Jonathan Griffiths speaks with Sasha Gorbatenko , a runner, TEDx speaker, champion of women in technology, and platinum-tier facilitator of Google’s I Am Remarkable programme. Sasha shares the story of her Brilliant Human , Irina, a formidable journalism teacher whose lessons went far beyond writing. Through discipline, curiosity, and compassion di...

In this episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , host Jonathan Griffiths interviews Lloyd Hollett , a stand-up comic and entertainer, who shares his journey and the profound influence of his childhood hero, Russ Abbott . Lloyd reflects on how Abbott inspired him to pursue a career in comedy, the importance of family entertainment, and the role of teachers in nurturing talent. The conversation del...

In this first episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast , host Jonathan Griffiths sits down with Andrew Tilling to explore the extraordinary legacy of his parents, Ian Tilling and Cecilia-Wells Tilling . From Ian leading the largest peacetime aid convoy to Romania to Cecilia founding a transformative theatre school , their stories of resilience, courage, and community impact reveal what it truly mea...