The Convex Conversation

Fredi Nwaka’s latest film, On the Other Foot, about a white racist cabbie who find himself stuck in a black body for 72 hours is comedic as well as thought-provoking. 

Fredi looks back on growing up as the only black child in the seaside town of Deal in Kent; reflects on his time in a notorious London gang and explains how he draws on his experiences to mentor young offenders & gang members to help steer them away from a life of crime.

The award-winning writer & rapper works in schools, prisons and in America with Crips & Bloods gang members.

Simson Uri-Khob is CEO of Save the Rhino Trust Namibia & this year’s winner of Prince William's Tusk Lifetime Award for Conservation in Africa.

He explains why he’s dedicated his life to protecting the world’s last free-roaming black rhino population in the desert from poachers & preserving their habitat with the vital help of local communities and leading conservation charity Tusk.

Simson also recalls taking the Duke of Cambridge rhino tracking in Namibia’s Kunene region & their joy at finally seeing one for 30 seconds after hours of trekking!

Annie Auerbach explains how learning to flex in our work & home lives, being rebellious & reinventing the rules, helps to create a smarter, happier life.

Annie is the co-founder of trends & cultural insights agency Starling and an expert in the future of work.

Her book on living & working on our own terms was written before the pandemic & has been critically acclaimed by the FT, Sunday Times Style, Stella & many more publications. Discover how Annie's findings can help you. 

Born in the UK to American parents, Jared Blumenfeld is one of America’s most innovative environmental leaders. He attended COP26 in Glasgow & gives us his take on what was achieved at the UN’s climate change summit as well as talking about the progress being made in California & the extreme weather America’s largest state is experiencing.

Jared believes we’ve gone beyond the precipice with climate change & that big business needs to be held more accountable for its actions. He also describes his extraordinary one-man 2,662-mile trek from Mexico to Canada, across searing deserts & rugged mountain ranges, on the stunning Pacific Crest Trail. 

Sabine knew at the age of 15 she wanted to design jewellery & work for herself. She shares fascinating stories of making a bracelet for Morgan Freeman for the Oscars; a golden corset for Angelina Jolie for the Maleficent 2 red carpet & reflects on precious time she spent with former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Sabine explains how she helped women in Botswana make a living, teaching them to make more sophisticated jewellery from ostrich eggshells & talks about the importance of giving back after surviving a terrifying cloud burst & devastating floods in India which destroyed entire villages & mountainsides.

This year’s Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year & Royal Marines Veteran Mark Ormrod tells Helen how his life was devastated in a split second in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2007. He stepped on & triggered an improvised explosive device on routine foot patrol in Afghanistan. He was just 24 & lost both legs & his right arm.

Mark has raised more than £600,000 to help other veterans & a film is being made of his inspirational story based on his book, Man Down.

He shares how, with the unwavering support of friends & family, he came back from suicidal thoughts, changing his mindset to become an 11-times medal winner at the Invictus Games, a peak performance coach & motivational speaker.

Dr Hannah French takes Helen on a musical journey through her life as a baroque flautist, studying and tutoring at the Royal Academy of Music. She talks about her passion for Bach & the pleasure she gets helping audiences unlock the fascinating secret stories classical music holds. 

Hannah has Ehlers Danlos syndrome – a genetic collagen deficiency which means she dislocates easily. She explains how she copes with the chronic pain, describing it as a constant companion she’s learnt to live with, and reveals how she fights the pain to make way for her music. 

Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth gives a fascinating insight into his job as as Britain’s first ever Director Space for the Ministry of Defence, responsible for building & delivering a national space programme for the UK.

A fast-jet pilot of 20 years & former leader of the combat arm of the Royal Air Force, AVM Smyth reveals he’s currently concentrating on low earth orbit, operating 63 miles above our planet and beyond.

His focus is looking back at Earth from space, using satellites & state- of-the-art technology to help with issues like climate change, agriculture, coastal erosion & to militarily protect & defend our nation.

As Britain prepares to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26, meteorologist Clare Nasir talks about the deep learning and research going on at the Met Office where she works by some of the biggest brains in climate science.

Clare says the science behind climate change has been known for decades and points out that this autumn the Nobel Prize for Physics went to two scientists for their work on the Earth's climate & reliably predicting global warming back in the sixties.

But we're now on the frontline, experiencing extreme weather, and chasing our tails. Clare stresses the need has never been more urgent to change our lifestyles and reduce our CO2 emissions. 

Helen free-falls at 125mph from 15,000 feet for an exhilarating sense of life as a member of The Tigers Army Parachute Display Team, in the capable hands of their leader, Sgt Frank Millerick.

Frank has done more than 3,000 jumps and talks about his passion for instructing hundreds of soldiers, watching them go from zero to hero, and seeing that light bulb moment. He talks openly about the challenges of life in the military and his pride at being part of the British Army’s Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.