The Convex Conversation

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...

Jesse Dufton was the first blind person to lead a climb of The Old Man of Hoy – a daunting sea stack in the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland. It earned him a Guinness world record and was the subject of Alastair Lee’s multi-award-winning documentary Climbing Blind.  In newly-released Climbing Blind II, Jesse describes being “right at his limit” and “redlining for what felt like an eternit...

Pioneering jockey Khadijah Mellah, from Peckham, became the first UK jockey to compete in a horse race in Britain wearing a hijab.  A minute later, she made history again by riding her mount, Haverland, to victory in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood. A film was made of her remarkable story and an academy set up in her name to help other youngsters from under-represented urban areas pursue a career in...

Investigative journalist Glen Campbell details his decades long search for fugitive Lord Lucan – the Eton-educated gambler who disappeared without trace after murdering his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, in 1974. Glen forms an unlikely partnership with Sandra’s son, Neil Berriman, and their investigations all over the world are subject of a gripping new BBC three-part documentary, Lucan. They sp...

Laura Harnett spent 20 years as a high-flying corporate executive, in the boardroom at Selfridges and working for brands like IKEA and Coca-Cola. Never did she imagine she’d be championing a humble cleaning sponge. However, frustrated by supermarket aisles full of microplastic-filled cleaning tools, and a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer, she gave it all up to become an entrepreneur in her 4...

Miles Spencer has mentored tech founders for more than 30 years, and has created hundreds of jobs while founding, financing, building, and exiting three digital media companies. But he’s also strayed a long way from his US home.   He led 1500 people across 14 miles of open sea in kayaks, raising more than a million dollars for charity; ran with the bulls in Pamplona, and trekked 1,100 miles throug...

Michelle Feeney founded Floral Street Fragrances – an award-winning British brand with sustainability at its core – after a dynamic career leading top global beauty names, including Estee Lauder and Mac Cosmetics. The inspiration to create clean, affordable fragrances which won’t impact the planet, came during what Michelle describes as her gap year, aged 51. Inspired by flowers and vibrant cultur...

Seasoned barrister & environmentalist James Cameron - one of the leading architects of COP – reflects on three decades of arguing for a fairer and more sustainable planet. He co-hosts a new podcast series – Fossil vs Future – with his 30-year-old god-daughter Daisy Nicholls who works in sustainable finance. It’s a refreshing, authentic conversation exploring the climate crisis through differen...

Forensic Psychologist Kerry Daynes delves into the psyche of some of the most disturbed criminal minds to understand what lies behind their often heinous actions.   Her work as one of the most sought after forensic psychologists in the business has taken her from maximum-security prisons, police interview rooms and the witness box to the wards of secure hospitals where patients are detained under...

When Jermyn Street shirt-maker Emma Willis MBE heard a documentary on Radio 4 about injured soldiers recovering from life-changing injuries on their return from Afghanistan, she knew she wanted to help. Emma has spent years visiting patients at Headley Court Military Hospital in Surrey, gently measuring burns victims, Armed Forces men and women who have lost limbs and suffered dreadful injuries, t...

Photographer & storyteller Giles Duley MBE joins me from Ukraine where his NGO – the Legacy of War Foundation – is providing ambulances to the frontline to evacuate civilians, many of them elderly. Giles lost both legs and an arm when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011 whilst embedded with 101st Airborne. Locked in his own mind for 46 days, only able to blink,...

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...

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 discove...

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 a...