Countercurrent: Conversations With Professor Roger Kneebone

Tilda Lewis has a longstanding fascination with historical costume design and creation, having studied at Wimbledon College of Arts. Especially passionate about eighteenth century women’s hats and bonnets, Tilda talks to me about the role of ‘trimming’ at that time, and the subtleties of hat-wearing then and now. 

Alan Powers has been fascinated by twentieth century architecture throughout his career. Alongside his work as an architectural historian and teacher he is a well-known author, watercolour artist and print maker. In this conversation we explore similarities and differences between our ways of seeing and thinking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Powers

Edwina Ibbotson is a couture milliner who studied in London, New York and Paris. She’s known for combining striking designs with meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail. Based in London, she is a member of the British Hat Guild and the Art Workers’ Guild and has had work exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum. http://www.edwinaibbotson.co.uk

Peter Morris is managing director of the London-based architectural practice AAHM (Alford, Hall, Monaghan, Morris). He and his partners design buildings with a huge variety of scale and style. In this conversation we discuss similarities and differences between practising architecture and medicine and explore the role of the ‘expert generalist’. https://www.ahmm.co.uk

Geoffrey Durham’s career as a stage magician has been through many stages, from his early days in variety and his persona as The Great Soprendo, his later years as a performer in his own name, and his current work mentoring and coaching other professional magicians. We discuss the techniques of stage magic and Geoffrey’s ability to transfix an audience of thousands with his personality and skill. http://www.geoffreydurham.com/geoffrey-durham-newspaper-trick.html 

Logan Murray is well known in the world of stand up comedy. We explore how Logan helps people ‘bring their inner idiot out to play’, finding aspects of themselves they didn’t know were there. Alongside the obvious differences between medicine and comedy we discover unexpected parallels with aspects of clinical communication. https://loganmurray.com  

Ian Shircore combines a career writing books under his own name with his work as a ghost writer for others. After discussing his recent book about the decades-long songwriting partnership of Clive James and Pete Atkin and another about Clive James’s poetry, we explore the world of ghost writing. Ian outlines how he uses his writing skills to capture the authentic voices of people who are not comfortable with the process of creating a book from scratch. https://www.unitedghostwriters.co.uk/profiles/ianshircore/

Equally at home with jazz, classical repertoire and works by contemporary composers, Simon Mulligan is one of the world’s leading pianists. A gifted composer himself, Simon has worked with musicians from many traditions. In this conversation we explore ideas around improvisation, genres and technical skill - and talk about responding to unexpected disasters. http://www.simonmulligan.com  

Dr Sally Frampton is a medical historian who focuses on developments in surgery. Her 2018 book Belly Rippers traces the development of abdominal surgery in the nineteenth century. We discuss our different perspectives on the world of surgery and talk about our work documenting the development of keyhole surgery in the 1980s through simulation-based re-enactment. https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-sally-frampton#/

Paul Craddock’s 2021 book Spare Parts: A Surprising History of Transplants brings together his interests in cultural history, writing and engagement. In this podcast we discuss how he came to write the book and talk about the ideas within it. We look back at our collaborations over many years and explore how our ideas have shaped one another’s thinking. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311/311106/spare-parts/9780241370254.html    

Bill Beswick has decades of experience as a top-level sports coach and pioneering sports psychologist. In this podcast we explore his approach to working with diverse teams, asking how the question ‘if a coach supports the players, who supports the coach?’ resonates with clinical practice. https://billbeswick.com

Simon Akam is a British writer and journalist who studied journalism in New York before working all over West Africa as a freelance correspondent. He writes for the Economist’s 1843 magazine and other publications. His 2021 book The Changing of the Guard, telling the inside story of the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11, has proved highly controversial. In this conversation we explore what it means to be a journalist and a non-fiction writer.  http://www.simonakam.com/about/

Miss Sarah Itam is a consultant urological surgeon with a special interest in male and female reconstructive urology. She is passionate about communication, education and engagement, inspiring young people from all backgrounds. She gained a Distinction in the Masters in Education in Surgical Education which I lead at Imperial College London. She is also a gifted pianist, while her web series Health in HD explores health and wellbeing from different perspectives. https://www.youtube.com/c/HealthInHD

The classicist Dr Emily Kneebone talks to me about her recent book Oppian’s Halieutica: Charting a Didactic Epic (published by Cambridge University Press in September 2020). We discuss how Oppian's overlooked 3,500-line poem from the second century AD provides insights into relationships between people, fish and nature in the ancient world - issues that continue to confront us all today.

Alexandru Bolboaca has developed the idea of software design and engineering as an instance of craftsmanship. In this conversation he describes the nature of his work, and we explore its similarities with words, musical notation and other forms of expression through symbols. Alex's podcast Think. Design. Work Smart explores issues around adapting to a changing world. https://mozaicworks.com/blog/think-design-work-smart-youtube-channel/ 

Jeff Mills served a four-year apprenticeship in the 1980s, learning every aspect of his trade through constant repetition. As he became more experienced he began to lead teams of painters, working on large construction projects. Now he focuses more on small-scale work where he can attend to every aspect of a job himself. In this conversation we exchange ideas about what it means to become expert.

In addition to his career as a rheumatologist, Ronan is the medical director of dotMD, which he describes as ‘a two day festival of curiosity for doctors and healthcare practitioners looking for more from medicine’. This brings together his interests in medicine, music and the arts. Our conversation ranges across looking after patients with chronic disease, improvisation in medicine, the role of undertakers in clinical care, and insights from comics and zombie culture. https://www.dotmd.ie 

From her early days as a Principal at the Royal Opera House, Teresa Cahill has sung all over the world and worked with leading opera companies and conductors. She has a wide and eclectic repertoire and a longstanding fascination with bel canto. In addition to performing she is a professor in the vocal department of Trinity Laban, London. In this conversation we explore parallels between our interests and professional worlds. https://teresacahill.com

David Hockings is Head of Percussion at the Royal College of Music and Principal Percussionist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He’s much in demand as a performer and a teacher and has worked with all the major London symphony orchestras. As Principal Percussionist with the London Sinfonietta he plays highly demanding contemporary music involving a wide range of instruments. He’s passionate about education and has worked with communities and disadvantaged people all over the world. In the podcast we explore points of connection between our worlds of music and medicine and discuss what it means to lead and inspire. https://londonsinfonietta.org.uk/players/david-hockings

Marnie Chesterton is radio producer and presenter who works with scientists to explore listeners’ questions about science. She is also passionate about stand-up comedy. In this podcast we develop ideas around performance and presentation, exploring explore parallels between Marnie’s experience in broadcasting and mine in medicine.