Rolling Stone magazine once said if Sam Millar's life was fiction, it would be a thriller. After 8 years in prison, Sam travels to New York to start a new life away from the troubles of Northern Ireland. After initially working in a casino, Sam goes on to mastermind and pull off one of the biggest bank robberies in US history, involving the FBI, a dodgy priest, and even the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Sam gives us the full story about how it happened, how he initially got away with it, and how he eventually got caught and ended up in prison. Hope you enjoy the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a two-part episode, we speak with Belfast author Sam Millar who was imprisoned at the age of 17 in Northern Ireland and went on to spend 8 years enduring some of the toughest conditions imaginable. In this episode, Sam talks about Bloody Sunday, how he ended up in prison, the protests that took place and the physical and mental torture he endured during his time in the infamous Long Kesh detention centre, also known as H-Block. We build up to a journey that took him to New York, where he attempted one of the biggest bank robberies in US history, described in detail in his book 'on the Brinks'

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicholas Schmiddle is an award-winning journalist, author and is famous for investigating and covering some of the biggest stories on the planet for The New Yorker. He recently spent five years embedded with the Virgin Galactic Space Tourism program, which is the topic of his book Test Gods. In this episode, you're also going to hear about his experiences in Pakistan investigating the Taliban, writing about the assassination of Bin Laden, investigating TMZ, helping clear an innocent man of murder and the story behind American Sniper, Chris Kyle. Hope you enjoy the epiosde.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ella Al-Shamani is one of the world's leading paleoanthropologists and evolutionary biologists. She is also explorer and stand-up comic. In this episode, you will hear the fascinating history of the handshake, how the popular greeting has evolved over time and some alternatives that have and are still used around the world. Ella also shares some of her experience working in hostile environments and conflict zones. It's a fascinating listen and may have you thinking twice before you go in for your next handshake. Hope you enjoy the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don’t let the word economics put you off, this is an episode of practical advice and insider stories that you don’t want to miss. Will Page was the first Chief Economist for Spotify, playing a key role in navigating the music industry through the major disruption of online piracy. You're going to get the inside scoop on how Spotify changed the music landscape both in terms of how music is consumed, but also how it's produced. You'll find out how Spotify and artists make their money and who the next big artist is in the UK to shake up the music industry. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mandy Hickson began flying at just 14 years and went on to become only the second female ever to fly the Tornado GR4 operationally. Mandy fought hard to achieve her ambition to be a Royal Air Force pilot, entering a world that was almost exclusively built for and run by men. She went on to complete three tours of duty and 45 missions over Iraq. In this episode, she talks us through her journey and the challenges she faced both in and out of the cockpit. Hope you enjoy the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cade Metz is an expert on Artificial Intelligence, writer for the New York Times and author of a new book on the rise of Artificial Intelligence called Genius Makers. In this episode, you're going to hear how AI impacts you both wittingly and unwittingly, where we currently are in the AI journey and what the future holds for big tech, data and the impacts of AI on our daily lives.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve all been going through lockdown and that takes a toll on our mental health, so we thought it would be a good idea to release our episode with Psychotherapist and best-selling author Sarah Crosby. Sarah exploded on Instagram under the handle,The Mind Geek, after she started creating and posting mental health content, with the aim to make mental health information accessible and interesting. In this episode, Sarah is going to share some of those methods. I hope you enjoy the episode. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Clissold is a British expert on China, Senior Research Associate at the Cambridge University China Centre, and author of the international bestseller Mr.China. In this episode, Tim tells the incredible story of how he ended up working with a Wall Street trader to invest, lose and try to recover over $400 million in mainland China as the country first opened up to foreign direct investment in the 1980’s. He talks through some of the stresses, cultural differences and surreal experiences he went through during his time in China. We also get his thoughts on the unrest in Hong Kong, China’s expansion policy in the South China Sea, corporate espionage and of course Covid. Tim gives a very different perspective on China that you very rarely hear in western media, hope you enjoy the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Ormrod was in the Royal Marines and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where he suffered life-changing injuries. His story is absolutely incredible and the way he talks about the events that unfolded in Afghanistan and how he went on to deal with the aftermath and what he’s achieved, will leave you in absolute awe of the guy. The story is due to be made into a movie and once you’ve listened to this episode with Mark, you’ll understand why. Hope you enjoy the episode and please share it with friends and family.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.