The Convex Conversation

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...

When Wing Commander Andy Green OBE broke the sound barrier in a supersonic jet car in 1997, he became the fastest person on land – a world record he still holds, almost three decades on.  Andy explains the risks involved, the spectacularly small mathematical margins for error, lessons learned, and reveals the thrills of driving more than 763 mph across Nevada’s Black Rock Desert in the British-des...

101-year-old Jack Dark reflects on life in WW2 as part of the RAF’s elite Pathfinder Force. Just a lad at 18, Jack was a Bomb Aimer and Navigator in the Lancaster Bomber. The Pathfinders went in first to find and mark the targets. Their accuracy is said to have changed the course of the Second World War. Jack is one of a few surviving Pathfinders and is in demand by film and documentary-makers for...

Artist Chris Levine, renowned for his portraits of the late Queen, describes 7.83 Hertz – his new immersive installation featuring cutting edge lasers - which he hopes can be scaled to highlight the vital role our ocean plays in tackling the world’s climate crisis. Created in collaboration with the Convex Seascape Survey, Chris explains how understanding more about the Benthic zone, a living ecosy...

Golden Globe, BAFTA & Emmy-winning drama producer Gareth Neame OBE shares stories behind some of the most-watched original dramas he’s created – from global phenomena Downton Abbey to the BBC hit Spooks. As filming for the third Downton film nears the end with a cast who are like family, Gareth gives a sneak peek into other dramas he’s making, including The Day of the Jackal with Eddie Redmayn...

As Britain experiences the first two weeks of a Labour Government, award-winning Chief Political Commentator of The Sunday Times, Tim Shipman, assesses where we’re at and what’s in store under Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Tim gives an insight into what it takes to be a trusted political insider, likening it to the spy world where members of the Cabinet, ministers, special advisors and so on are su...

When reigning Olympic Gold triathlete Dame Flora Duffy takes her place on the pontoon on the Seine in Paris in three weeks’ time, it marks the end of a long, frustrating battle to make the start line. Flora finished 2022 on a high, winning her second Commonwealth Gold, but was devastated not to race at all in 2023 due to a painful, complicated knee injury which she feared might end her incredible...

Four time British FIM Enduro World Champion Jane Daniels aimed simply to complete her first ever Dakar race – an extreme endurance event.  But she won the 2024 Women’s Class, racing across 7,891km of towering sand dunes, vast oases, and dramatic rock formations in Saudi Arabia, sponsored by Italian motorcycle company Fantic.   Jane, from Wigan, shares the thrills and challenges of her high-octane...

Explorer Oli France on his 64-day, 3,588-mile 'human powered' journey, cycling alone for 39 days from Death Valley in California to Denali, eventually reaching the summit of one of the world’s most challenging mountains. Oli spent ten years dreaming of and five years planning ‘The Ultimate Seven’ project – expeditions which will culminate in, hopefully, him becoming the first person to travel from...

Dr Jack Wolfson practised as a traditional hospital cardiologist in the States for more than 16 years, following in his eminent father’s footsteps. An epiphany moment with his now wife, Dr Heather Wolfson, led him on a different journey - to investigate the cause of heart disease and illness, rather than ‘put a Band-Aid’ over the symptoms. Based in Scottsdale, AZ, Dr Jack runs Natural Heart Doctor...

In this week’s Convex Conversation we explore behavioural science and its role in helping tackle some of the greatest challenges in society. Behavioural scientist Elspeth Kirkman – Chief Programmes Officer at innovation charity Nesta – reveals how issues like the nation’s health, domestic decarbonisation and the disparity in early childhood are being viewed through different lenses to bring about...

To mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Helen joins the Paddle Group, Royal Marines Association, on the Thames in a folding two-man boat, known as a Klepper, made famous by the Cockleshell heroes.  As she paddles with former Royal Marines corporal Chris Maynard and some of the team preparing to cross the Channel to Normandy, she discovers how these expeditions help personnel from all the forces wit...

Travel writer Catherine Fairweather talks about her new podcast series, Voices from the Frontline, exploring lives shaped by war. In the first episode she interviews her husband, revered photo-journalist Sir Don McCullin, and recalls how she first heard about Don from foreign correspondent Jon Swain when she was 11, living in Laos during the Indochina Wars. Catherine’s father was a diplomat and he...