The Convex Conversation

Artist Chris Levine, renowned for his portraits of the late Queen, describes 7.83 Hertz – his new immersive installation featuring cutting edge lasers - which he hopes can be scaled to highlight the vital role our ocean plays in tackling the world’s climate crisis.

Created in collaboration with the Convex Seascape Survey, Chris explains how understanding more about the Benthic zone, a living ecosystem deep on the seabed, and talking to scientists involved in the 5-year research project, inspired him.

Chris also talks about his excitement at unveiling a sculpture at the Great Pyramid of Giza in October. ‘Quadrivium’ extrapolates some of the intriguing mathematical, geological  and astronomical design mysteries the pyramids hold.

Meditation, light, lasers, stillness, energy, frequencies – take a journey with Helen into Chris’s thought-provoking world from his barge in Hampshire.

Chris Levine by Michael Fung Photography

Chris Levine and the late Queen

7.83 Hertz - Let it Be

7.83 Hertz - Blipvert

Lightness of Being 

Golden Globe, BAFTA & Emmy-winning drama producer Gareth Neame OBE shares stories behind some of the most-watched original dramas he’s created – from global phenomena Downton Abbey to the BBC hit Spooks.

As filming for the third Downton film nears the end with a cast who are like family, Gareth gives a sneak peek into other dramas he’s making, including The Day of the Jackal with Eddie Redmayne, Lockerbie, starring Colin Firth and The Gilded Age.

The CEO of Carnival Films is fourth generation in a long line of eminent film-makers and reflects on a childhood immersed in cinematography, recalling wonderful days on the sets of movies like Star Wars before we knew what it was!

Gareth’s great-grandmother Ivy Close – actress & silent movie star

As Britain experiences the first two weeks of a Labour Government, award-winning Chief Political Commentator of The Sunday Times, Tim Shipman, assesses where we’re at and what’s in store under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Tim gives an insight into what it takes to be a trusted political insider, likening it to the spy world where members of the Cabinet, ministers, special advisors and so on are sub agents of his network and need to be treated right!

Tim’s hotly anticipated third instalment in his gripping sequence of four political books – No Way Out - has just hit book shelves. Covering the last seven years at Westminster, it offers an unflinching, unfiltered account of some of the most turbulent, chaotic years in British politics.

When reigning Olympic Gold triathlete Dame Flora Duffy takes her place on the pontoon on the Seine in Paris in three weeks’ time, it marks the end of a long, frustrating battle to make the start line.

Flora finished 2022 on a high, winning her second Commonwealth Gold, but was devastated not to race at all in 2023 due to a painful, complicated knee injury which she feared might end her incredible career.

Flora is relieved to be under the radar for Paris 2024, having been favourite for five years leading up to her victory at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, and says the thought of competing as defending Olympic Champion has been a driving force through the tough times.

Taylor Swift's new album has also played a role! Flora plans to see her perform live in Vienna after the Games. 

Four time British FIM Enduro World Champion Jane Daniels aimed simply to complete her first ever Dakar race – an extreme endurance event. 

But she won the 2024 Women’s Class, racing across 7,891km of towering sand dunes, vast oases, and dramatic rock formations in Saudi Arabia, sponsored by Italian motorcycle company Fantic.  

Jane, from Wigan, shares the thrills and challenges of her high-octane sport. She started racing when she was 12, inspired by her road racer dad Andy, has been crowned Enduro World Champion four times and remained unbeaten for two years.

Explorer Oli France on his 64-day, 3,588-mile 'human powered' journey, cycling alone for 39 days from Death Valley in California to Denali, eventually reaching the summit of one of the world’s most challenging mountains.

Oli spent ten years dreaming of and five years planning ‘The Ultimate Seven’ project – expeditions which will culminate in, hopefully, him becoming the first person to travel from the lowest to the highest point of every continent, under his own steam.

Oli describes the highs and lows of part 2, from close encounters with bears and speeding trucks to traversing the wild Alaskan wilderness where few humans have been, crossing vast glacial crevasses, icy fords and treacherous terrain where zero complacency is essential for survival. 

Dr Jack Wolfson practised as a traditional hospital cardiologist in the States for more than 16 years, following in his eminent father’s footsteps.

An epiphany moment with his now wife, Dr Heather Wolfson, led him on a different journey - to investigate the cause of heart disease and illness, rather than ‘put a Band-Aid’ over the symptoms.

Based in Scottsdale, AZ, Dr Jack runs Natural Heart Doctor, embracing good nutrition, nature, healthy living, avoiding chemicals and toxins in the battle to tackle heart disease – the world’s number one killer – and heal other illnesses.

In this week’s Convex Conversation we explore behavioural science and its role in helping tackle some of the greatest challenges in society.

Behavioural scientist Elspeth Kirkman – Chief Programmes Officer at innovation charity Nesta – reveals how issues like the nation’s health, domestic decarbonisation and the disparity in early childhood are being viewed through different lenses to bring about positive change. 

Elspeth explains how thinking like an artist can improve our decision making – a concept explored in her new book ‘Decisionscape’ - and reveals her shock at delivering a speech at the UN with no idea she was doing it! 

To mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Helen joins the Paddle Group, Royal Marines Association, on the Thames in a folding two-man boat, known as a Klepper, made famous by the Cockleshell heroes. 

As she paddles with former Royal Marines corporal Chris Maynard and some of the team preparing to cross the Channel to Normandy, she discovers how these expeditions help personnel from all the forces with their mental health, bridging the no man’s land some experience between serving and civvy street. 

The Paddle Group will re-enact some of the key events and landings of 1944, with 99-year-old veteran Norman Stanley Ashford watching from the beaches. 

Travel writer Catherine Fairweather talks about her new podcast series, Voices from the Frontline, exploring lives shaped by war.

In the first episode she interviews her husband, revered photo-journalist Sir Don McCullin, and recalls how she first heard about Don from foreign correspondent Jon Swain when she was 11, living in Laos during the Indochina Wars.

Catherine’s father was a diplomat and her mother Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher’s translator. Their exciting life living all over the world experiencing different cultures gave her a thirst for adventure which led to a career as a travel editor for magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Porter. Catherine reveals the places she’s left her heart, including Bhutan in the Himalayas.

Photograph by Max McCullin

Photograph by Sir Don McCullin