The Convex Conversation

To mark Dementia Action Week, Dr Dennis Chan from UCL reveals the ground-breaking work he & research colleagues are doing to detect Alzheimer’s disease - one of the biggest causes of dementia - years, even decades, before symptoms like memory loss show. Dr Chan explains how Virtual Reality is useful in testing & how everyday digital data like our heart rates, sleep patterns & breathing patterns ga...

Helen travels to the southern tip of the Western Isles to learn everything there is to know about one of life’s great delicacies & what it’s like to be an oyster farmer in one of the most beautiful, remote places in the Outer Hebrides. Gerard MacDonald founded the company after a visit to France & the realisation that the cold pristine waters of the Atlantic could offer the perfect habitat. Landin...

Triathlete Dame Flora Duffy dreamt of winning the Olympics from the age of seven when she started competing in triathlons in Bermuda where she was born & spent her childhood.   Fast-forward to Tokyo 2020, and the 34-year-old won gold in typhoon conditions – finishing her cycle, swim & run more than a minute clear of Britain’s silver medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown. Flora gives Helen an insight into...

Line of Duty star Vicky McClure introduces us to her Dementia Choir, subject of a third series on BBC1 this autumn. She explains how science has proved the positive impact music has on those living with dementia, something she sees when she’s with the choir members and experienced with her nonna Iris, who died of dementia. Vicky also reveals how she uses music to help her prepare for roles in dram...

After 24 years as a correspondent, Foreign Affairs Editor & Diplomatic Editor at Sky News, award-winning journalist Tim Marshall has used his experiences to write best-selling books using maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of world powers.  Tim - who is commentating on the situation in Ukraine and writing for publications like The New Statesman - explains why he thinks...

Coinneach Macleod, who comes from a small crofting settlement on the remote island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, reveals how he’s unexpectedly become known to millions all over the world as The Hebridean Baker. Coinneach’s unique blend of delicious recipes & fascinating stories from the Scottish Islands, music, stunning scenery, culinary secrets from his Aunt Bellag (93) & Gaelic in his one-minu...

Actor Neil Morrissey was catapulted to fame in Men Behaving Badly & has been on our screens for the last four decades, in drama & comedy.  The Good Karma Hospital star tells Helen about growing up in children's homes from the age of ten, being taken away from his parents, and how acting saved him.  He also explains what it was like being a household name through the phone hacking years, talks abou...

The Ukrainian refugee crisis is the fastest growing in Europe since the second world war & could last years, with more than 2 million people already abandoning their homes following Russia’s invasion. Founder & CEO of Indigo Volunteers Holly Penalver talks about her charity’s role at the Ukranian borders, the extraordinary international response & the need for the UK to urgently issue more visas....

To mark International Women's day, we hear from Shabnam Dawran – a national news presenter from Afghanistan – who made headlines all over the world for standing up to the Taliban in Kabul when she was refused entry to her TV studios in the first few days of the new regime.    The 26-year-old was forced to flee her home country a few months ago after being threatened at gun point & sharing her stor...

Broadcaster & editor-in-chief of The Frank Magazine Melanie Sykes speaks openly to Helen about her recent discovery she’s autistic & her new-found determination to speak out & help others.   Melanie has embraced her diagnosis at the age of 51 & says she’s looking at life through a different lens, unpicking and making sense of some of the past.   Melanie also talks passionately about the magazine s...

As a young boy, Alessandro Savelli grew up in Genoa in Italy enjoying pasta made by his grandmother. When he wanted to start a brand from scratch, he came up with the idea for Pasta Evangelists, offering hand-made fresh pasta and the ingredients for delicious sauces delivered through the letterbox.   Alex and his partner Finn pitched on Dragons Den two years ago for £75,000 of investment but were...

Netflix say The Queen's Gambit has broken all records for the most watched limited series, with 62 million households gripped by their seven-part drama. But the story behind it is just as fascinating.   Co-creator & executive producer Allan Scott bought the rights to the Walter Tevis book in the eighties & tells Helen the trials & tribulations behind trying to get studios interested in the story o...

As well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions fade & over-ambitious goals for a new body start to slip, wellness guru Rhian Stephenson explains the power of food and how to feel good & energised all year round.   Rhian is a nutritional therapist & naturopath who gave up her role as CEO of Psycle London to create her own wellness company, ARTAH out of her passion to help and inspire people to enjoy op...

British actor Peter Wight tells Helen about filming the upcoming BBC drama The Reckoning, based on the life of disgraced entertainer Jimmy Savile. He also chats about working with Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage on Cyrano which is out at cinemas now.   Peter, who has graced our screens & performed on stage for five decades, shares stories of working with legendary film director Mike Leigh; bru...

Fredi Nwaka’s latest film, On the Other Foot, about a white racist cabbie who find himself stuck in a black body for 72 hours is comedic as well as thought-provoking.    Fredi looks back on growing up as the only black child in the seaside town of Deal in Kent; reflects on his time in a notorious London gang and explains how he draws on his experiences to mentor young offenders & gang members to h...

Simson Uri-Khob is CEO of Save the Rhino Trust Namibia & this year’s winner of Prince William's Tusk Lifetime Award for Conservation in Africa.   He explains why he’s dedicated his life to protecting the world’s last free-roaming black rhino population in the desert from poachers & preserving their habitat with the vital help of local communities and leading conservation charity Tusk.   Simson als...

Annie Auerbach explains how learning to flex in our work & home lives, being rebellious & reinventing the rules, helps to create a smarter, happier life.   Annie is the co-founder of trends & cultural insights agency Starling and an expert in the future of work.   Her book on living & working on our own terms was written before the pandemic & has been critically acclaimed by the FT, Sunday Times S...

Born in the UK to American parents, Jared Blumenfeld is one of America’s most innovative environmental leaders. He attended COP26 in Glasgow & gives us his take on what was achieved at the UN’s climate change summit as well as talking about the progress being made in California & the extreme weather America’s largest state is experiencing.   Jared believes we’ve gone beyond the precipice with clim...

Sabine knew at the age of 15 she wanted to design jewellery & work for herself. She shares fascinating stories of making a bracelet for Morgan Freeman for the Oscars; a golden corset for Angelina Jolie for the Maleficent 2 red carpet & reflects on precious time she spent with former South African President Nelson Mandela.   Sabine explains how she helped women in Botswana make a living, teaching t...

This year’s Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year & Royal Marines Veteran Mark Ormrod tells Helen how his life was devastated in a split second in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2007. He stepped on & triggered an improvised explosive device on routine foot patrol in Afghanistan. He was just 24 & lost both legs & his right arm.   Mark has raised more than £600,000 to help other veterans & a fil...

Dr Hannah French takes Helen on a musical journey through her life as a baroque flautist, studying and tutoring at the Royal Academy of Music. She talks about her passion for Bach & the pleasure she gets helping audiences unlock the fascinating secret stories classical music holds.    Hannah has Ehlers Danlos syndrome – a genetic collagen deficiency which means she dislocates easily. She explains...

Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth gives a fascinating insight into his job as as Britain’s first ever Director Space for the Ministry of Defence, responsible for building & delivering a national space programme for the UK. A fast-jet pilot of 20 years & former leader of the combat arm of the Royal Air Force, AVM Smyth reveals he’s currently concentrating on low earth orbit, operating 63 miles above our...

As Britain prepares to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26, meteorologist Clare Nasir talks about the deep learning and research going on at the Met Office where she works by some of the biggest brains in climate science. Clare says the science behind climate change has been known for decades and points out that this autumn the Nobel Prize for Physics went to two scientists for...

Helen free-falls at 125mph from 15,000 feet for an exhilarating sense of life as a member of The Tigers Army Parachute Display Team, in the capable hands of their leader, Sgt Frank Millerick.   Frank has done more than 3,000 jumps and talks about his passion for instructing hundreds of soldiers, watching them go from zero to hero, and seeing that light bulb moment. He talks openly about the challe...

As we mark World Mental Health Day, Dan Keeley shares his battles with his own mental health in the hope his journey can help others who may feel too afraid to speak up.   Dan, who describes being bi-polar as both a blessing & a burden, talks about his extreme adventures including running unsupported from Rome to Home – 1,250 miles in 65 days – to raise awareness. His sights are now set on Mont Bl...