The Convex Conversation

Investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown reveals the remarkable story behind her exposing the 1MDB fraud in which billions of dollars were embezzled from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. 

From her kitchen table in London, Clare worked doggedly with the FBI and US Department of Justice on her one-woman investigation which toppled a government, implicated top politicians, leading institutions and involved Hollywood names, diamonds & a $250 million super yacht.

The complex story – which began for Clare as an environmental expose into the destruction of Borneo’s tropical rainforest - is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Man on the Run. 

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is serving 12 years in jail for his part in the fraud, and his alleged mastermind, Jho Low, remains on the run, wanted for money laundering. 

Six years ago, the British Army tasked Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick OBE with forming a unit to defend and preserve some of the world’s greatest cultural treasures, at risk of theft or destruction in conflict.

The former tank commander explains how the lessons learned by the real-life ‘Monuments Men’ in World War 2 - documented by Sir Leonard Woolley and whose story formed the basis of George Clooney’s film - were invaluable when he set up the British Cultural Property Protection Unit.

Tim designed a course for UNESCO to train Ukrainian armed forces in how to address these issues in the current conflict, and he’s just returned from Estonia where he’s been working with Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian forces.

Hello! Magazine’s former Editor in Chief Rosie Nixon talks openly about how she unexpectedly found herself on the brink of burnout after 16 years at Britain’s favourite celebrity magazine.

Despite incredible career success, Rosie was running on empty and didn’t feel the same joy from the adrenalin-fuelled, glamorous publishing world she had once thrived in.

She spent hours walking in the Surrey hills, digging deep into how she felt and what she wanted, and has now trained as a life coach, helping other exhausted mid-lifers reinvent themselves. Rosie remains at Hello! one day a week as Editor at Large.

Photographs by David Venni 

Grange Hill star Linda Magistris founded The Good Grief Trust after she lost her partner – BAFTA-winning director Graham Theakston - to a rare cancer and found little support to help her cope with his early death.  

Linda has grown it into the UK’s leading bereavement network, bringing more than 900 specialist charities & services together under one umbrella for individuals and health care professionals. 

Actors Greg Wise, Afterlife and Downton Abbey star Dame Penelope Wilton and Todd Carty are among its dedicated ambassadors. 

The Trust is run for the bereaved, by the bereaved – people who understand different kinds of loss and who can offer some hope, gentle guidance, and expert direction to ensure the right, tailored help is found.

Operation Ringtail culminated in convictions following the smashing of a drugs ring who smuggled more than £1.5 billion worth of cocaine into the UK, hidden in boxes of frozen chicken. 

Leading the investigation was this week’s guest, Detective Chief Superintendent Carl Galvin - Head of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Carl talks about his 25 years as a covert operative, the ever-changing face of organised crime & how his expert teams work to stay ahead of the criminals. New crimes are constantly emerging, like the 3D printing of automatic weapons destined for terrorists which led to the first UK conviction for privately manufactured firearms. 

Serious and organised crime is estimated to cost the UK taxpayer a staggering £47 billion a year, making it the most significant national security threat to our economy. 

Dr Chloe Buiting, known as The Jungle Doctor, is an Australian wildlife vet & conservationist whose love for nature & animals started as a teenager on the remote Lord Howe Island, described by Lord Attenborough as “so extraordinary it’s almost unbelievable.”

Chloe’s work includes fitting prosthetics on elephants in Chiang Mai who have lost limbs through treading on landmines; dehorning rhino in Africa to prevent poachers killing or maiming them & treating koalas burned in the Australian bush fires. 

She’s an official Advocate for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize; on the board of Zoos Victoria – the first carbon neutral zoological facility in the world – and a consultant for Fauna & Flora.

2024 is an exciting year for women’s sport, not least with the Olympics in Paris on the horizon - the first Games in history to offer gender parity.

Sue Anstiss MBE has been involved in women’s sport for more than three decades - dedicating much of her working life to fighting for equality and driving change. 

We explore the impact of teams like the Lionesses, some fascinating history, the challenges which still lie ahead and what equality in sport can do more broadly within society.  

Sue directed the recent Netflix documentary ‘Game On – The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport’ featuring trailblazers like Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, broadcaster Clare Balding and Olympic gold heptathlete Dame Denise Lewis. 

As our climate emergency deepens, the CEO of Triodos Bank UK – one of the world’s most sustainable banks – explains how the current global banking system needs strong mandatory regulations to become a catalyst for a more sustainable future and fairer economy. 

Dr Bevis Watts is the first, and perhaps only, environmentalist to lead a UK bank and has spoken at key conferences like Blue Earth Summit and COP26.

We explore how our financial world can use nature-based investments to tackle issues which threaten our way of life as well as the planet, providing more help for those in society who need it. 

Bevis - former CEO of a wildlife trust and passionate scuba diver - also chats about his Swallows and Amazons-style adventure in a kayak which led to the discovery that wild beavers are back on the River Avon for the first time since Tudor days. 

Beaver photographs by Dr. Bevis Watts

When Vogue Philippines asked Artu Nepomuceno to trek to the remote mountain village of Buscalan to photograph 106-year-old tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od, he said yes immediately!

Apo Whang-Od is the last 'mambabatok' of her generation, keeping the thousand-year-old practice of 'batok' alive by training and inspiring her grandnieces in the ancient art of inking. Artu's intimate portraits of Apo Whang-Od - a cultural icon in the Philippines and beyond - graced the cover of Vogue worldwide, re-defining beauty.

He shares the stories and emotions behind what was a very personal journey, humbly insisting he was “just the photographer”. Artu says the spotlight belongs to 106 years of Apo Whang-Od’s pure beauty.

Scientist, painter and former Army helicopter pilot Hannah Shergold on her "fascinating yet peculiar" journey to becoming an artist.

Hannah is one of the UK's most successful self-represented artists, best known for her extraordinary wildlife pieces which have raised more than £300,000 for conservation charities like Tusk and the Invictus Games Team UK.

She shares stories from her missions to austere & remote parts of places like Afghanistan and African trouble spots recovering the wounded in the Lynx; reveals her usual methods of creating her work - joking paint thinner is her assistant - and talks about her passion for psychology.