Professor Oliver Johnson (1992) and Rik Ubhi (2004) join Ben to talk about working together on Oliver's new book Numbercrunch: A Mathematician's Toolkit for Making Sense of Your World.

Rik is the Editorial Director of Heligo (an imprint of Bonnier Books) and when Oliver's proposal came to him, he didn't know about the Old Eds link. A conversation about a mutual shared love of Aston Villa led to a conversation about their upbringings, which of course led them to realise they'd both walked the same corridors at King Edward's School.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

This episode of Ed Talks is slightly different, as we're not talking to an Old Edwardian - but instead, someone who knows Old Edwardians rather well, both present and past. Charlotte Gallant is the Foundation Archivist, and her role is to preserve and curate the archives of all of the King Edward VI Foundation schools.

In this conversation, Charlotte talks about the kind of things that are in the King Edward's archive, but also about how she curates it - what will people like to look back on? What will give them a sense of what the schools are like today, in a hundred years time? How does she choose what goes into the archive and what doesn't?

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Howard Williamson (1972) is currently a Professor at The University of South Wales and has spent his career researching and teaching on the subject of young people and issues that affect them, from working as a lecturer to a government advisor in countries all over the world. Howard never had a plan for his career - opportunities have just presented themselves based around his area of expertise. 

A thread that has run through his life, however, is his work with the Milltown Boys, who were the subject of his first book "Five Years" which was a groundbreaking study of youth, poverty and crime in 1970's Britain. Howard talks about how he first met the Milltown Boys when he was a student, and also about the subsequent work he did with them in "The Milltown Boys Revisited" (published in 2004) and "The Milltown Boys at Sixty" (published in 2021). 

In fact, he describes his work with the Milltown Boys as a second education: "I have been immensely privileged in my life, largely from having two educations – one in an elite and prestigious secondary school, and one on the streets of Milltown."

He talks about how he always had a rebellious streak as a young man, and how King Edward's School helped to "consolidate this rebelliousness" - he believes that going to the school gave him a confidence to approach any situation, and he's as comfortable in a government meeting room as he is in a local youth centre. 

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Nick Varley (1986) is the founder of LookUp Communications and former CEO and founding partner of the content agency Seven46. 

Seven46 were known as the "bid specialists" because of their work helping countries to bid for major sporting events, and in this conversation Nick talks about his experience working with the London 2012 team to help them shape the story that won the UK the Olympic Games.

After the success of the London 2012 bid, Nick went on to work with the teams who won bids for Rio, Tokyo and Paris, and talks about what the awarding committee are looking for when choosing a country to host the world's biggest event. 

He also talks about his career as a journalist and an author, and how this experience helped him to write the speeches that people like Lord Coe and Ken Livingstone gave as part of the London 2012 bid. Despite always having a love for sport, he never thought that his career would take him in the direction that it did - even though the seeds were planted when he was in the Sixth Form at KES.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Neil Moxley (1987) is the Chief Sports Reporter at The Sunday People and has previously worked for the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star, covering sports events across the globe. In this conversation Neil talks about the play review he wrote at KES that sparked his passion for writing, and how his upbringing set him up to be able to feel confident in any situation as a journalist.

Neil writes about many different sports, but has a huge passion in particular for football. In this conversation he talks about how he has seen the game change over his thirty year career, and how the huge commercial interest in the industry of football has had both positive and negative impacts.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Jules Parke-Robinson (1993) left KEHS and went on to Aberystwyth University, but from a young age knew she wanted to join the military. After completing her Masters Degree, she went to Sandhurst to train as an Officer and subsequently joined the Royal Military Police.

Jules stayed with the Military Police for 21 years, where she became Commanding Officer of the Special Investigations branch. She explains the kind of work she did, gathering evidence across the globe, and also why she decided to leave the military and work in the corporate sector (she is currently Global Head of Investigations at GSK Consumer Healthcare).

With the Commonwealth Games now just round the corner, of course which are being held in Birmingham, Jules also talked about her role as the Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball - and what our chances are for the summer!

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Nisha Pillai (1979) is a former BBC News presenter with over 20 years experience, including being a rolling news anchor for BBC World News as well as an investigative journalist for Panorama and The Money Programme. However, this wasn't the path that she set out on after leaving KEHS as a degree from LSE led to a short career within merchant banking before she realised that this wasn't her passion and became a financial journalist, the path that eventually led her to the news desk.

In this conversation, Nisha talks about her career as an investigative journalist and in particular, one story that she was at the forefront of - the Robert Maxwell case. She also talks about her career as a news anchor, and what it's like to be on screen when breaking news comes in - she was on air on 9/11, and had to both simultaneously process her emotions as a human being witnessing one of the most tragic events in our history whilst also being the calm and collected face of the BBC.

She also talks briefly about the BBC as an organisation, and how she is proud of its history of impartiality. At the moment it feels as if the BBC is being attacked from all sides - and Nisha argues that this is exactly where the BBC should be.

Nisha has now pivoted in her career again, and loves her life as a conference host, motivational speaker, and coach - you can find out more about Nisha on her website, www.nishapillai.com

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Anya Duxbury (2019) is a recent KEHS leaver and is currently in the United States studying Business at Alma College in Michigan for a year - however, her passion is anthropology, which is the degree she's taking a short break from before she returns to Queen's Belfast to complete it next year.

In this conversation Anya talks about the subject of anthropology itself, and how discovering it almost by chance set her off in a completely different direction with her life. Anthropology is, broadly, the study of what makes us human, and Anya is particularly interested in how societal structures can influence the behaviour of the individual (Anya applies some of her learnings to the context of KES and KEHS in a case study we can all relate to!)

As you will hear, Anya is hugely passionate about the subject and has recently been appointed as the National Vice Ambassador for the UK in the Applied Anthropology Network of Europe. She believes that some of the character traits that were instilled in her at KEHS had a part to play in this appointment, and we believe these same traits mean that she has a fantastic career ahead of her!

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Dr. Chris Duncan (2009) and Dr. Sarb Clare have accomplished something extraordinary together: whilst both working on the NHS frontline of the COVID pandemic they have also written a medical textbook, published with Cambridge University Press, which could revolutionise patient care in the future.

The book is called Ultrasound for the Generalist which focuses on point of care ultrasound and the multitude of benefits that new portable ultrasound technology can provide in areas around the world: taking equipment to the patient rather than asking the patient to come in to hospital is just one of them, but one which could dramatically help people especially in areas with more barriers to access to healthcare.

The book was supposed to be published in 2020, but Sarb and Chris were needed on the frontline when the pandemic hit. They talk about their experiences of working within the NHS during this difficult time, and offer some insight in to how the NHS is faring in January 2022, nearly two years after the world first went in to lockdown.

To find out more about the book, visit https://www.generalistultrasound.com

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Melanie Etti (2007) is a Fulbright Scholar completing a Master of Public Health degree at Harvard University. She spent much of 2020 working as a researcher in Uganda and will be continuing work within the field of global health during her year of postgraduate study.

In this conversation she talks about how following her passions has been the driving force behind her career decisions, rather than following a predetermined career plan. She talks about the importance of hard work, determination and tenacity, but she's also incredibly modest about what she's achieved - very few people are offered Fulbright scholarships, and she's absolutely making the most of her opportunity in the States.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for you - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.