The Convex Conversation

  Barnardo’s CEO Javed Khan talks about the devastating effect COVID has had on Britain’s vulnerable youngsters & the crippling drop in funds now faced by Britain’s leading children’s charity as a result of lockdown.   He warns the current children’s mental health crisis could become a catastrophe; shares his thoughts on #BlackLivesMatter & his personal experiences of racism growing up in the seve...

C4 Countdown’s Susie Dent reveals how a shy lexicologist from Oxford first ended up on our screens more than 25 years ago. She confesses to a fascination for the hot topic of swearing, shares her favourite & least favourite words and reveals the fun behind Eight of Ten Cats & recording her new podcast, Something Rhymes with Purple, with Gyles Brandreth in her kitchen.

Sir Chris Bonington has lived life on the edge. In The Convex Conversation, he talks to Helen Fospero about the draw of the beauty of the mountains, his desire to push himself to the limit on expeditions and the attraction to the risks involved.    Chris describes his emotional ascent to the summit of Everest; takes us on a journey to the north face of the Eiger and gives an insight into the shy y...

  Entrepreneur Anna Jones tells us why she quit her job as CEO of a top publishing house to set up a members’ club aimed at championing women in business, networking and developing their careers.   A chance meeting at a party led to the formation of AllBright in the UK and in the States.    The name was inspired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who famously said: “There is a spec...

Music legend Bob Harris joins us from his studio ‘Under The Apple Tree’.   He reminisces about happy times with John Lennon in New York, being on tour with Queen in Vegas, and friendships with Robert Plant, Marc Bolan, Sir Elton John & Sir Alex Ferguson.    He also reveals how doctors saved his distinctive voice, loved by millions, during life-saving treatment for an aortic tear.   And Whispering...

Blind entrepreneur and TV presenter Amar Latif talks about his life and how blindness has helped him see the world.    Amar’s passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries. He’s clocked up half a million miles including trekking through inhospitable jungles & shark infested waters in Nicaragua, and reaching the summit of North Africa’s highest peak, Mount Toubkal.    He set up the wo...

Convex CEO & Chairman Stephen Catlin gives a personal insight into his life as an insurance underwriter & entrepreneur.  He shares stories from his childhood; his youth in the seventies; becoming a ‘scratch boy’ for Lloyd’s of London despite his mum’s misgivings about his suitability for an office job; his passion for the great outdoors, and his excitement at starting all over again with a blank s...

When Claire Lomas was paralysed in a riding accident, she remembers thinking in her darkest days how dull life would be. In our Convex Conversation she reveals how wrong she was. Claire talks about the extraordinary challenges she’s taken on, not least of them becoming a mum against the odds. She’s raised more than three quarters of a million pounds for spinal research, including for The Nicholls’...

In our debut Convex Conversation, Perty reveals the challenges of being Red One; the extraordinary trust that exists between the pilots & engineers; a close shave on frontline duties in Afghanistan and why The Queen has a photo of him in her handbag!  I hope you enjoy our podcast – we'd love you to share Red One’s story with friends and family.         -