The High Performance Podcast

In this special episode, Jake Humphrey visits Future Youth Zone in Dagenham, part of the OnSide network, where he sits down with Professor Green for one of his most personal conversations yet. Reflecting on his difficult childhood, Professor Green reveals how youth clubs gave him a sense of belonging when he needed it most and why spaces like this can change the course of a young person's life. Ja...

Jake and Damian tackle the question nobody prepares you for: how do you actually know when it's time to walk away? Whether it's a job, a career, a relationship, or a version of yourself you've been fighting to hold onto, leaving is one of the hardest decisions any of us will ever make. But across nearly 450 conversations on High Performance, one thing keeps coming up: the people who walk away well...

Nick Fry bought an underperforming Formula 1 team for £1 and went on to win the World Championship. But before the historic 2009 fairy tale with Brawn GP, Nick and his wife had to face the ultimate risk: agreeing that if they lost everything, they would be perfectly content living on tinned tuna for the rest of their lives. In this episode, the former CEO of Brawn and Mercedes strips away the glam...

Ben Stokes has just announced his retirement from international cricket. And the person who can best explain what that decision truly costs — and what Stokes has meant as a captain and a human being — is Stuart Broad. Stuart retired in 2023 on his own terms: last ball, The Oval, England versus Australia. In this conversation, he tells the full story of the night he walked down the hotel corridor a...

Jake and Damian go deep on one of the most universal struggles in high performance: why so many of us find it almost impossible to say no, and what it's actually costing us when we can't. Drawing on conversations with promoter Barry Hearn, who walked away from a £30 million deal because he didn't like the people behind it, comedian Katherine Ryan, who voluntarily gave up a career-defining TV slot...

Professor Geir Jordet flips everything you think you know about high-stakes performance on its head, revealing that a penalty shootout is won or lost long before the foot ever hits the ball. In this episode, the world’s leading football psychologist breaks down the meticulous psychological warfare of the 2022 World Cup Final and explains how England transformed from the world’s worst shootout team...

Russ Cook, better known as the Hardest Geezer, became famous for running the length of Africa. 352 days. 10,000 miles. The first person ever to do it. But before all of that, he was a teenager scrubbing a Waitrose toilet at 4am, opening a cupboard to find a single tin of new potatoes, and hiding a gambling debt from his girlfriend. In this conversation, Jake goes back to before Africa - to the yea...

Boris Becker burned out at 25. Former British No1 Jo Konta carried her family's sacrifice onto court every match and Irish tennise pr Conor Niland described a tennis player's self-worth as entirely tied to winning and losing — nothing else. Three players, the same problem: identity wrapped around results, the sport becoming something to survive. This week, in the run-up to Wimbledon, Jake and Dami...

Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has lived through the highest stakes and the ruthless politics of motorsport. In this episode, Liam opens up about the reality of his Red Bull exit, revealing how he was blindsided, unfairly judged and left carrying the blame for a radical car setup experiment. He also shares where his self belief comes from, from finishing last in go karting to ignoring t...

Sir Gareth Southgate is England's most successful manager since 1966. Two finals, four tournaments and by the end, fans were throwing beer at him in the stadium. Today, as England embark on another World Cup journey, we revisit one of the most candid leadership conversations we've ever recorded. Gareth explains why he knew it was time to leave before the final was even played, what he said to his...

The UK has announced a ban on under-16s using social media. Jake and Damian's reaction is immediate: the ban is right, but it cannot do the job alone. In this episode they go back into the archive to hear from the people who saw this coming. Jonathan Haidt on the phone-based childhood we built without realising what we were dismantling. Johann Hari on the 10,000 engineers paid to undermine your se...

David Seaman is one of England's greatest ever goalkeepers, with 75 caps and multiple trophies with Arsenal. In this episode he shares the moments that shaped him, many of which have never been told like this before. David takes us from being released by Leeds United at 19 to walking out for England at the World Cup, opening up about the fear he felt after the Ronaldinho free kick and the untold s...

Joe Hart was England's number one for over a decade, won two Premier Leagues at Manchester City, and was one of the most recognisable goalkeepers of his generation. Then Pep Guardiola arrived - and everything changed. In this conversation with Jake and Damian, Joe speaks with remarkable honesty about the mental block that nearly ended his City career before it peaked, the moment he felt genuinely...

Jake and Damian take stock and draw on five years of conversations with some of the world's highest performers. This episode strips everything back to four questions — the ones that, according to existential psychologist Tatiana Schnell, sit at the foundation of a meaningful life. Does your life add up? Do you feel you matter? Do you have a sense of purpose? And do you truly belong to something bi...

Andy Wilman is back for round two, bringing his signature blunt honesty as the creative force behind Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm. Few people in television have built more iconic shows or stayed more allergic to nonsense while doing it. In this episode, Andy dives straight into the chaos of creation, explaining why building something from scratch forges an unbreakable bond that mak...

Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, and Peter Crouch between them have won Champions League titles, Premier League medals, over 200 England caps. And yet not one of them ever lifted a major trophy for their country. In this roundtable, three men who were inside the 'Golden Generation' dressing room finally say what went wrong. The media that made players scared to perform. The manager who wouldn't listen. Th...

James Milner retired this week as the Premier League's all-time appearance record holder. 658 games. 24 years. Never once dropped his standards. This week Jake and Damian sit down to ask the question that nobody else is asking — not what he achieved, but how someone holds their standards every single day for that long. What does it cost? What does it give you? And what can the rest of us learn fro...

Nico Rosberg spent 31 years building his identity around a single goal to become Formula 1 World Champion. In this episode Nico reveals the stark reality of achieving his ultimate dream, explaining why his 2016 triumph brought relief rather than euphoria and why he walked away from a £100m+ fortune at his absolute peak. He strips back the curtain on his legendary, fierce rivalry with childhood fri...

What happens when the medical system tells you you’re clear, but the hardest part of your recovery is actually just beginning? In this special roundtable episode, brought to you in partnership with Postcode Lottery, we explore the unseen side of living through and beyond cancer. Joining Jake in the studio are legendary solo sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, Frank Fletcher (CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Ca...

Fear doesn't disappear when you become successful. It just changes shape. In this episode, Jake and Damian go into the archive to ask a question most of us avoid: what are you actually afraid of — and what's it costing you? They're joined by clips from some of High Performance's most memorable conversations: Phil Heath on navigating darkness to find your highest level, Scott McTominay on the self-...

Steve McClaren has lived the full arc of elite football, from the immense pressure of managing England to lifting trophies in Europe and standing alongside Sir Alex Ferguson during Manchester United’s historic Treble campaign. In this episode, Steve takes us inside the uniquely brutal world of the England job and World Cup expectation, describing the psychological weight of carrying 70 million peo...

We packed up the studio in the Vauxhall Combo electric van and travelled to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for a deeply reflective conversation with Team GB athlete Georgia Hunter-Bell. Away from the heat of competition, Georgia opens up for the first time about a chapter of her life she has never publicly revealed before. She shares her experience going through dark times after wa...

Trust is the single most important currency in sport, business, and life - and in the age of AI, it's becoming scarcer by the day. This week Jake Humphrey is joined by producer Will to dig into why. Drawing on some of the most powerful conversations in the High Performance archive, they explore what trust really is, how it breaks down, and whether it can ever truly be rebuilt. Featuring: Rachel Bo...

Justin Cochrane is one of elite football’s most respected coaches and a vital part of the England Men's backroom team. Justin’s leadership focuses on reading a squad’s emotional temperature and providing players the freedom to be themselves. In this episode, Justin shares the moving story of losing his wife Leeanne to cancer and how her selfless approach to her final days redefined his perspective...

Ronda Rousey is back in the spotlight on Netflix this weekend — and it felt like the perfect moment to revisit this conversation we had with her in Hollywood - one of the most funny and honest conversations we've ever had on this show. Sitting down with Jake and Damian in Hollywood, Ronda reveals the secret she hid from everyone: that she fought the final chapter of her UFC career already concusse...