Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone

By Professor Roger Kneebone

What's Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone about?

A podcast for people who like the unexpected. Join the surgeon and academic Professor Roger Kneebone in conversation with unorthodox people whose careers defy traditional boundaries and who swim against the tide.

Technical support by Justin Margovan - with my thanks

My personal website www.rogerkneebone.co.uk

Many of the people in Countercurrent feature in my book Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery (Penguin Viking, 2020)

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313/313248/expert/9780241392058.html

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Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone episodes:

04.29.2024
John McMunn in conversation with Roger Kneebone
John McMunn fell in love with opera and performing at the age of ten. He studied at Harvard University before moving to England to become a Choral Scholar at King’s College Cambridge, then studied at the Royal College of Music...
04.15.2024
Rob Sansom in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Rob Sansom is an actor, Simulated Patient, house decorator and builder. In this conversation we explore how his work in these apparently unrelated worlds connects in unexpected ways.
04.01.2024
Siobhan Davies in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dame Siobhan (Sue) Davies has had a long career in contemporary dance. Initially at the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Sue established Siobhan Davies Dance Company in 1988. Her studio - Siobhan Davies Studios - was designed by Sarah Wigglesworth within...
03.18.2024
David Spiegelhalter in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter was Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge until his recent retirement. A gifted broadcaster and communicator, David became familiar to many through his media discussions around statistics and risk...
03.04.2024
Lilli Cooper in conversation with Roger Kneebone
After completing her training in plastic surgery and as a professional coach, Lilli Cooper has expanded her interests to address issues around performance, anxiety and wellness through coaching and specialised support. In this conversation we explore how she focuses...
02.19.2024
Richard Horton in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr Richard Horton is the Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet. In this conversation he describes the challenges and excitement of being at the helm of one of the world’s leading medical journals and his approach to controversy and political involvement. We...
02.05.2024
Aristeidis Anagnostou in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Aris has been fascinated by the human body for as long as he can remember. Early on he discovered a special aptitude for treating ill and injured people through touch, broadening his skills during his degree studies as a sports...
01.22.2024
Helen Anahita Wilson in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Helen Anahita Wilson trained as a pianist and spent years performing contemporary compositions in the UK. She then became immersed in the complex rhythmical structures of Indian music. In 2019 she was about to travel to India at the start...
01.08.2024
Robert Lindsey in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Robert Lindsey studied English Literature at Oxford University, where he completed PhD in Shakespeare studies and co-edited the Penguin edition of Christopher Marlowe’s plays. He then changed direction and trained as a barrister. Since then he has practised in the...
12.25.2023
Gareth Mitchell in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Gareth Mitchell lectures in science communication at Imperial College London. For many years he presented the weekly technology programme Digital Planet on the BBC World Service. He also presents occasionally on BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science. We explore parallels between...
12.11.2023
Lord Robert Salisbury in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, has had a long career as a Conservative politician. He represented South Dorset in the House of Commons from 1979-1987. He was a junior defence minister for two years before being appointed to the...
11.27.2023
Andrew Grundon in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Andrew Grundon is an artist who draws, paints and sculpts. He designs and paints traditional pub signs, makes marionettes and is writing and illustrating a novel. In this podcast we discuss the remarkable range of skills which he has gained...
11.13.2023
Jonathon Tomlinson in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr Jonathon Tomlinson has been a full-time GP in East London since 2001. He is fascinated by the challenges subtleties of the clinical consultation. He writes about patient clinical advocacy and the social determinants of health and has an MA...
10.30.2023
Abigail Bainbridge in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Abigail Bainbridge is a book conservator and Director of Bainbridge Conservation. She teaches on many degree programmes, including at West Dean College, Camberwell College of Art and City & Guilds of London Art School. She sits on the Royal Society...
10.16.2023
Allan Hamilton in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Allan Hamilton holds four professorships at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - in neurosurgery, radiation oncology, psychology and electrical engineering & computing. His book The Scalpel and the Soul, based on over two decades as a neurosurgeon, explores...
10.02.2023
Ishminder Mangat in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr Ishminder Mangat is a junior doctor based in Bristol. She is fascinated by exploring how clinical medicine and the arts can enrich and enlighten one another. Her own podcasts explore a range of topics, including the power of narrative...
09.18.2023
Desiree Botana Machado in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Desiree Botana Machado is a skilled prosector, preparing dissections of human cadavers for teaching medical students and surgeons. We discuss how her work combines extraordinary levels of craftsmanship and skill with deep anatomical knowledge and the ability to engage with...
09.04.2023
James Eastaway in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr James Eastaway trained as a doctor while developing his career as a leading Baroque oboeist and working in experimental theatre. As a musician he plays in some of the UK and Europe’s leading ensembles, while as a doctor he...
08.21.2023
Joz Norris in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Joz Norris is an award-winning writer, actor and comedian. We explore Joz’s approach to his work in the world of comedy, and discuss how his absurdist approach has opened new directions. We examine parallels between our professional lives and discuss...
08.07.2023
Anna Detari in conversation with Roger Kneebone
The Hungarian musician Anna Detari studied the flute at the Liszt Institute in Budapest and developed a passion for performing contemporary compositions before her career was disrupted by Musician’s Focal Dystonia - a mysterious condition which she went on to...
07.24.2023
Angeliki McAllister in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Miss Angeliki McAllister trained as a breast surgeon, initially focusing on procedures to remove cancers and refashion patients’ breasts. Now she is developing a non-operative clinical role, bringing together the many kinds of expertise which women experiencing breast cancer need....
07.14.2023
Simon Friend in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Simon Friend retired from PwC in 2017 after 35 years with the company. His background in accountancy, auditing and business leadership has led to a range of other roles, including being Non-Executive Director at the Royal Academy of Arts. We...
06.19.2023
Maiko Tsutsumi in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Maiko Tsutsumi studied furniture making and Japanese lacquer work as an apprentice in her native Japan in the 1990s. After moving to London and studying furniture design at the Royal College Art, she worked for a design studio in London....
06.05.2023
Tim Boon in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Tim Boon is a historian of the public culture of science. In his long career at the Science Museum he has explored many aspects of public history relating to health. In this conversation he traces his career’s evolution and we...
05.22.2023
Callum Thorpe in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Callum Thorpe initially trained as a scientist, gaining a PhD in immunology from Imperial College London. He then trained as an opera singer and is now an internationally renowned soloist. In this conversation we explore the nature of performance in...
05.08.2023
AJ West in conversation with Roger Kneebone
AJ West’s career has been varied and at times controversial, and his interests are diverse. In addition to fifteen years as a television journalist and news presenter, he has participated in Big Brother and become a writer. His first novel...
04.24.2023
Ann Martin-Davis in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Ann Martin-Davis is an award-winning pianist who performs as a soloist and chamber musician all over the world. In addition to her performing and recording career she is passionate about teaching. We explore parallels between our experiences of teaching, coaching...
04.10.2023
Robert Peake in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Robert Peake is Senior Associate at Next Action Associates. He studied at UC Berkeley in California, where he gained a degree in English Literature and taught programming languages. His interests and talents cross many boundaries, and during the Covid pandemic...
03.27.2023
Robert Kirby in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Robert Kirby trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College. With support from The Prince’s Trust he established People People, a company which brings techniques from the theatre into other areas of professional practice. We discuss our experiences of changing...
03.13.2023
Paul Haidet in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr Paul Haidet’s work crosses multiple boundaries. As Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Public Health Sciences and Humanities at Penn State University, he is fascinated by crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. His lifelong passion for jazz has a profound...
02.27.2023
Sam Guglani in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Dr Sam Guglani and I explore how his work as an oncologist is interwoven with his lifelong fascination with writing and the arts. Sam describes how he established Medicine Unboxed more than a decade ago, how it has developed in...
02.13.2023
Ana Silvera in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Ana Silvera’s work defies orthodox categories, spanning folk, jazz, pop, classical and many other traditions. In addition to her recordings she works in ballet and theatre and collaborates widely. She is also an interpreter of Ladino song. anasilvera.com
01.30.2023
Ash Ranpura in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Ash Ranpura’s career has moved between experimental neuroscience, internal medicine, clinical neurology and hospital redesign. In this conversation we compare our experiences of moving between fields and across interdisciplinary boundaries and explore how our experience of clinical practice has shaped...
01.16.2023
Miranda Lowe in conversation with Roger Kneebone
As Principal Curator of Crustacea and Cnideria at the Natural History Museum, Miranda Lowe is responsible for the museum’s vast collection of marine invertebrates, dating back over two hundred years. In addition to her own research she is passionate about...
01.02.2023
Ian Skelly in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Ian Skelly is a well-known music presenter on BBC Radio 3. A familiar voice at the BBC Proms, Ian has a wide range of interests including photography, film making and writing. In this conversation we discuss his approach to radio...
12.19.2022
Harry Collins in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Harry Collins is Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff University. For over forty years he has been writing on the sociology of gravitational wave physics. A prolific author, his ideas around interactional expertise have been both influential and controversial. In this...
12.05.2022
Ananth Viswanathan in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Vis specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, an eye disease where pressure on the optic nerve leads to impaired sight. As a surgeon he performs operations of the utmost delicacy and precision; as a teacher he passes on...
11.21.2022
Peter Randall-Page in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Peter Randall-Page is internationally known for his carvings in stone, often at massive scale and in public places. He is fascinated by connections between ideas, metaphors and the natural world. Much of his work is inspired by nature and underpinned...
11.07.2022
Simon Blackburn in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Mr Simon Blackburn’s clinical work varies from operating on premature babies with congenital abnormalities to treating adolescents with surgical problems. We discuss how he combines technical precision in the operating theatre, communication with children, their parents and others who provide...
10.24.2022
Monica Lalanda in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Monica Lalanda spent much of her career as an emergency doctor. She has always had a passion for drawing and developed a parallel career as a graphic artist, developing the concept of ‘graphic pathographies’ to help patients and their carers...
10.10.2022
Iain Burnside in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Iain Burnside studied at Oxford University, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy in Warsaw. As a freelance pianist, he specialises in song repertoire and has collaborated in performances and recordings with many of the world’s leading singers....
09.26.2022
Hansjorg Schmidt in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Hansjorg Schmidt heads the MA Light in Performance programme at Rose Bruford College in London. In this conversation he explains how he uses light when designing theatrical productions, and we explore ideas about the role of light in professional settings. ...
09.12.2022
Austin O’Carroll in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Austin O’Carroll spends much of his time working with homeless and marginalised people in Dublin, where he founded Safetynet (an organisation designed to address inequalities and improve healthcare for homeless people). His PhD, based on ethnographic research, examines the experiences...
08.29.2022
James Taylor in conversation with Roger Kneebone
As a professional keynote speaker, James Taylor is a skilled performer who works with audiences across the world. His Supercreativity podcast features over 350 conversations with leaders the field. In this conversation we explore similarities and differences between podcast conversations,...
08.15.2022
Tim Weekes in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Tim Weekes has wide experience in the world of pre-hospital care. Trained as an Emergency Medical Technician and solo responder, his degree course as a paramedic has led to his many roles as a care provider, teacher and coach.
08.01.2022
Jeff Bezemer in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Jeff Bezemer and I discuss our collaboration aimed at making sense of the operating theatre as a pedagogic space. Jeff’s background in applied linguistics and ethnomethodology gives him completely different perspectives from mine as a surgeon. In this podcast we...
07.18.2022
Onora O’Neill in conversation with Roger Kneebone
The moral philosopher Onora O’Neill (Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve) has a longstanding fascination with trustworthiness. She has explored these ideas extensively, through writing and broadcasting (including her 2002 BBC Reith Lectures). Her 2022 book A Philosopher Looks at Digital Communication...
07.04.2022
Luke Delmas in conversation with Roger Kneebone
As a postdoctoral synthetic chemist, Luke Delmas is fascinated by the challenges of conducting experimental work and teaching students the skills of the laboratory. He is a core member of the Chemical Kitchen project at Imperial, where undergraduate students gain...
06.20.2022
Sarah Whatley in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Sarah Whatley trained as a dancer. She has a longstanding interest in how dance and choreography intersect with ways of thinking about movement in other professional areas. In this podcast we uncover unexpected similarities between our experiences in dance, medicine...
06.06.2022
Anna Batistatou in conversation with Roger Kneebone
Anna Batistatou specialises in the pathology of cancer and is interested in issues of perception, cognition and communication. In this podcast we explore different ways of seeing and making sense of what we observe.

What's Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone episodes:

John McMunn in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Rob Sansom in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Siobhan Davies in conversation with Roger Kneebone

David Spiegelhalter in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Lilli Cooper in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Richard Horton in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Aristeidis Anagnostou in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Helen Anahita Wilson in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Robert Lindsey in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Gareth Mitchell in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Lord Robert Salisbury in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Andrew Grundon in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Jonathon Tomlinson in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Abigail Bainbridge in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Allan Hamilton in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ishminder Mangat in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Desiree Botana Machado in conversation with Roger Kneebone

James Eastaway in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Joz Norris in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Anna Detari in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Angeliki McAllister in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Simon Friend in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Maiko Tsutsumi in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Tim Boon in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Callum Thorpe in conversation with Roger Kneebone

AJ West in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ann Martin-Davis in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Robert Peake in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Robert Kirby in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Paul Haidet in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Sam Guglani in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ana Silvera in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ash Ranpura in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Miranda Lowe in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ian Skelly in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Harry Collins in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Ananth Viswanathan in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Peter Randall-Page in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Simon Blackburn in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Monica Lalanda in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Iain Burnside in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Hansjorg Schmidt in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Austin O’Carroll in conversation with Roger Kneebone

James Taylor in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Tim Weekes in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Jeff Bezemer in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Onora O’Neill in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Luke Delmas in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Sarah Whatley in conversation with Roger Kneebone

Anna Batistatou in conversation with Roger Kneebone