The Human Edge

The Human Edge returns! And what better way to celebrate the new edition of the podcast than an interview with my Dad. This is a conversation I've wanted to have for a long time, for two reasons - first it's the creation of a family artefact; and, second, to have a deep dive into my Dad's early years, and to ask (some of) the questions I might not be able to have answered in years t...

Paul van Zyl first came to prominence in the 1990s as part of the team supporting South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, working alongside figures such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The Commission focused on uncovering the truth about apartheid-era crimes, offering a model that prioritised truth-telling and accountability alongside the possibility of amnesty. Following this, Pau...

Pete Maiden is the founder and CEO of CHEXS, a Hertfordshire-based charity that’s been making a quiet but powerful impact since 2011.  His career began in the Royal Navy, where he developed the kind of discipline and leadership skills that would later shape his approach to community work. After leaving the military, Pete turned his attention to supporting young people and families, driven by a bel...

Nicolas Trindade is a Senior Portfolio Manager at AXA Investment Managers, responsible for managing global and sterling credit portfolios running into hundreds of millions of pounds. If you're thinking "this is going to be a dry episode" - think again! It was a very rich (no pun intended) conversation, talking about:  - Nic's immigrant background (his Portuguese parents were im...

David Brown is a life coach, a former Antarctic research scientist, and a martial arts instructor. David is also founder of the Institute of Sovereign Leadership. This is one of my favourite conversations to date. I loved David's thoughtful and articulate responses to my questions about his work around sovereign leadership, his journey as a leader, how he's overcome setbacks in life (inc...

Amanda Craig is a British novelist, short-story writer and critic. Born in South Africa in 1959, she grew up in Italy, where her parents worked for the UN, and was educated at Bedales School and Clare College Cambridge. After a brief time in advertising and PR, she became a journalist for newspapers such as The Sunday Times, the Observer, The Daily Telegraph and the Independent, winning both the Y...

Sometimes you meet someone in life who has such an extraordinary journey that you want to have them share it with you.  Euphemia began life in a small village in Ghana and now leads the legal team for Kraft Heinz’s Northern Europe business, managing legal operations for a $1.2 billion revenue region. Her journey is characterised by courage, resilience and positivity and I'm thrilled to be abl...

Conor Gearty KC is a founder member of Matrix Chambers. His practice as a barrister is primarily in human rights law and in public law, together with work in the field of corporate social responsibility.  Apart from his work as a barrister, Conor is Professor of Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics (LSE) where he has been Director of its Centre for the Study of Human Rights and LSE’s...

Madeleine Holt is a filmmaker, entrepreneur and campaigner in education. Formerly culture correspondent on BBC Newsnight, she makes films about innovative, community-minded comprehensive schools through her enterprise, Schools on Screen. She runs the pioneering Meet the Parents project in North London, encouraging all families to support their local, non-selective secondary schools. In 2019 she wo...

Professor Mark Peters is Consultant Paediatric Intensivist at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Professor of Paediatric Intensive Care at UCL Great Ormond St Institute of Child Health, and lead author in a landmark NHS study, which has found that reducing oxygen levels for critically ill children on mechanical ventilators in intensive care could save tens of young lives each year. Mark and I ta...

Andy Payne is without doubt one of the pre-eminent figures in the UK's video games industry. A 40 year (and counting career) has seen him, among many other things, run Mastertronic from 1988 – 2015, chaired trade body Ukie from 2005-2015, founded games industry charity, GamesAid, mobile and tablet specialist AppyNation, and Good Shepherd, which is the world’s first equity based crowdfunding p...

Stevie Griffiths started his working life in the boxing ring, turning professional at an early age. After retirement, he found a new passion in youth work and is now a social entrepreneur, bringing together communities in the King's Cross area of London. Stevie I began by talking about his boxing career, why he chose boxing over football and rugby, the fear that he used to feel in the changin...

Paula Keve is a PR powerhouse! She now owns and runs her own consultancy (Intra PR) and across her 20+ year career in PR has worked with well known brands such as Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, BNP Paribas, Headspace and Tinder. This is a must-watch for working parents (but I especially suspect working Mums who feel terrible guilt about the amount of time they're not spending with their...

Sydney Sam is an African entrepreneur on a mission to transform the continent, one creative solution at a time. He's a four times founder, a global speaker, an entrepreneurship educator, a brand/marketing leader and in 2019 made the Forbes 30 under 30 list. And he's as impressive in person as his bio suggests! But what made the conversation so special for me was its unexpected twists and...

Mark Dowds is a serial entrepreneur, currently scaling the Belfast based RESPONSIBLE, a pioneering tech company in the resale industry. Mark was formerly a Church Minister, and brings a uniquely spiritual approach to business and to life. Mark's zest for life - and for what he calls 'wild' adventures - is inspirational to behold. Our conversation ranged from cancer survival, to busi...

Kitch is a 25 year old rapper from Walthamstow, East London. He was born with a speech impediment and it wasn’t until he found fluency in rap that his journey as a once frustrated young man, blossomed into that of an artist expressing his voice through music. Kitch uses a blend of Hip-Hop, UK Rap, and Grime to tell stories of life’s complexities, music that resonates with a wide and diverse audien...

Jeremy Crane is a consultant transplant and vascular surgeon based in London. His practice encompasses kidney and pancreas transplantation, dialysis access surgery, vascular surgery (including varicose vein surgery) and he has a specialist interest in treating chronic wounds. Jeremy and I discuss why some surgeons have a God complex, how the medical staff working in the NHS have lost a sense of be...

Sam Kukathas has pioneered a new approach in personal development and transformative guidance called Neuro Resonance Optimisation™️ - a revolutionary system using self-generated sound which helps leaders to break through the emotional, mental and energetic glass ceilings that holds them back from achieving the results they desire. Sam and I began the conversation talking about anxiety and how in h...

Mucktaru Kargbo, or MK, as most people know him, is a multi-award winning, high-end barber, who is as skilled cutting European hair as he is cutting African hair.  He's worked in salons, on TV, in film, for the catwalk, in session shoots and has taught extensively both in the UK and internationally. In this conversation, MK and I explored his journey from roots to tip (pun intended!) MK'...

For over 14 years, Richard Wain has been supporting local businesses and organisations to impact the world positively through their digital marketing activities and to connect with their clients through authentic storytelling as the founding director of Vu Online, a digital marketing agency based in the South West of England. Passionate about nature and regeneration, Richard co-founded the Positiv...

Frank Reeves is an entrepreneur and tech investor. He co-founded and was the CEO of avvio.com and allora.ai, until his exit in 2022. He is now the Founding Partner at Voyria, a fund investing in start-ups in the travel sector. Frank and I talked about how he turned Avvio around from technical insolvency, the importance of therapy, ADHD, finding purpose, how to create the DNA of a business, the rea...

Richard Morris was a pioneer in Silicon Valley, building the internet infrastructure and services we use as utilities today.  After a successful exit and moving back to the UK, Richard wanted to focus more on social impact and co-founded and managed TheGivingMachine, a not-for-profit social enterprise that enables us all to shop and give for free to the causes of our choice, enabling over 1 millio...

Leo Elstob, aka Leo Zero, is a true creative - a graphic designer, a radio presenter, a DJ and a remixer for the likes of Dua Lipa, Florence and the Machine, David Bowie and Lou Reed, among other things. Whether you're a creative person, or want to become more creative, or you're simply curious about how creative people work, this episode is for you. The conversation covers what creativi...

Mark Ridderhof is a former professional basketball player and is now Head of Sales of a UK-based scale-up. Mark is passionate about people and companies and helping to empower them to reach their goals. He is endlessly curious about why we do certain things and likes to challenge himself and others to see how we can improve. This is something he always looks to in his life whether it's privat...

Patrick Onyido is a super-talented, self-taught baker. He's the owner of a bakery and cafe business in North London, Paddy Cakes, which has become a hub for the local community, and has a loyal following of customers as a result of the sensational quality of his products. Patrick and I talk about the immigrant experience (Patrick moved to London from Nigeria when he was 10), the experience of...