The Convex Conversation

Natalie Queiroz MBE shares her story of survival and determination to make a difference after being stabbed 24 times with a carving knife in a frenzied nine-minute assault whilst eight months pregnant. She recounts the moment she realised her hooded attacker was her partner Bob – the love of her life – and father of her unborn child. He’s now in prison for attempted murder. Natalie’s life changed...

Former Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police Neil Basu talks candidly about serving in Counter Terror when the threat level against Britain was at its highest since the Northern Ireland troubles of the ‘70s.  In part two of our special, Neil quotes Dickens when he describes those seven years as “the best of times and the worst of times”, liaising closely with MI5 to stop terrorists attacking th...

Neil Basu - former Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police - retired as the most senior officer of colour in the UK, dedicated to a service that has a problem with race and, according to the Casey Review, remains institutionally racist.  As a mixed-race detective, he stuck with it through bombings, murders, kidnaps, extortion and during his time running counter terrorism, working closely with MI5...

New York Magazine/Vogue journalist Jon Gluck was living the dream at 38 - married, loving his first New York apartment and enjoying his baby daughter.  But, after a minor, innocuous slip on a patch of ice, he was devastated to be diagnosed with a rare, incurable blood cancer and given just 18 months to 3 years to live.  22 years on and counting, Jon has written a searingly honest account of his su...

At 5.44am on May 15th, 17-year-old Emma Schwerin from Montana reached the summit of Mount Everest with her dad, Sam, and earned not one, but three world records!  She’s the youngest American female ever to summit Everest, as well as Mount Vinson in Antarctica, and the youngest woman in the world to conquer the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent.  Emma – who describes herself as...

Cian Adams and his brother Jordan have a gene mutation which means they will almost certainly develop devastating symptoms of a rare form of frontotemporal dementia in their 40s. The same gene robbed them of their mum, Geraldine, when she was just 52, as well as their aunt, nana and other relatives. Known as the FTD Brothers, Cian and Jordan take on epic running challenges – including a 903-mile r...

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 scie...

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 platfor...

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...

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 o...

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 re...

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 influe...

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...

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 laug...

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...

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 dispa...

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 ad...

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 fe...

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 li...

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-...

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 ab...

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...

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 ac...

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...

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 abou...