Podcasts

We are delighted to launch series two of Ed Talks - a series of podcasts featuring interviews with interesting Old Eds from both sides of the drive. The series is produced by Ben Anderson (KES 2006) of Sound Rebel, a podcast production company that creates podcasts for businesses, organisations and charities across the UK.

Please note that the views expressed are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

You can subscribe now on all major channels and you can find them online here.

More Ed Talks to be announced.

We would love to hear what you think so please do get in touch and let us know. If you'd like to apply to feature in a podcast, please email us at development@kehs.org.uk.

Series One

Series 1

Directors Elliot and Zander Weaver (KES 2006 and 2009) who describe making their first feature film, Cosmos.

Natalie Haynes (KEHS 1993) talks Classics and comedy.

Dame Louise Makin (KEHS 1978) speaks about her career in business leadership.

Dr Seb Heaven (KES 2006) discusses his career in medicine and living internationally.

Lee Child (KES 1973) and Andrew Child discuss the future of Jack Reacher and growing up in Birmingham.


Response to Covid. A panel discussion with Alexa Joyce, Malcom Warr OBE, and Dr Hermine Graham.

Hannah Proops (KEHS 1997) talks about her role as Director of Drama and about TuneUp, an initiative created by Hannah and the Principal of KEHS, Kirsty von Malaisé.

Richard Wolffe (KES 1987), the US Columnist for The Guardian. Richard talks about the Black Lives Matter movement and what Joe Biden's victory could mean for campaigners.

Sumit Dheir (KES 2006), talks about how his A Level Economic Classes inspired him to want to work in the world of finance.

Professor Emma Rees (KEHS 1987), is the Director of the Institute of Gender Studies at Chester University. Emma discusses a number of topics, from the work she does at the University around gender and identity to her published work.

Grace Gwynne (KEHS 2013), talks about her route to becoming a barrister, and how the courts are operating in regards to COVID.

Series Two

The Sehdev Sisters (KEHS 2001, 2005 & 2011): in this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to four sisters who all went to KEHS - Gayatri Sehdev (2001), Sara Sehdev (2005), Jyoti Sehdev (2011) and Aarti Sehdev (2011).


Lexi Willetts (KEHS 1999) started her career as an intellectual property lawyer. Working as Head of IP for Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), during her tenure FIFA revolutionised their commercial programme by announcing two World Cup host countries at the same time. Some five years later and after completing a masters, she transitioned to consumer tech and is now the Founder and CEO of fashion-tech venture, Little Black Door.



Robert Whalley (KES 1965) left school in 1965 and went on to study History at the University of Cambridge. He didn't necessarily know what he wanted to do as a career during his time in education, but upon leaving university he applied to be in the Civil Service and was posted to the Home Office, where he enjoyed an incredibly long and successful career.



Lindsey Davis (KEHS 1967) talks about what it's like to be a writer, but also reflects back on both Birmingham and wider society in terms of how gender roles have changed since she was a girl. She's a proud Brummie who's now living back in Edgbaston after forty years in London, and she discusses what traits she developed at KEHS which have stayed with her throughout her life.


Student Callers. In this episode of Ed Talks we take a break from the norm as instead of talking to an Old Edwardian, Ben talks to four current students - two boys from KES and two girls from KEHS. Vedika, Jimmy, Alicia and Louis are all in their final year at King Edward's and are all Student Callers raising money for the Assisted Places Fund in their summer holidays.


Jean Moule (KEHS 1973) talks about her experiences of the school from both sides of the staff room door, but also about the changes she's seen during her time at KEHS both in terms of the changes at school itself and the changes in society.


Tom Johnson (KES 1965) has compiled and edited crosswords for The Financial Times, The New Statesman, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian amongst others, and recently had his first crossword in The Times. The Spectator also celebrated 50 years of its crossword recently - Tom has been involved for the last 40 of those.


James Forrest (KES 2002) was given the nickname The Mountain Man by The Sunday Telegraph, and for very good reason - he has recently broken the speed record for climbing the three British peaks unsupported, he's climbed every single mountain in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the fastest known time, and his book Mountain Man documents the first part of this journey when he climbed all English and Welsh mountains whilst holding down a job and trekking in his spare time. James is now a full-time adventurer, and talks about how he has turned his passion into his living.


His Honour Nicholas Cooke QC (KES 1973) is a former Senior Circuit Judge at the Central Criminal Court, often referred to as "The Old Bailey". Despite retiring as a judge a few years ago, he is keeping incredibly busy - he was recently made an Honorary Fellow at Aberystwyth University, he's doing a Research Degree at Oxford, he's on the Development Board of performing arts charity Orpheus, and he's the Chair of Fields in Trust Wales. In this conversation, Nick is incredibly honest about how he has seen the judicial system in the UK change over the course of his career, and how this contributed towards his reasons for retiring - and for his reasons to start a Research Degree in his sixth decade.


Professor Marian Knight (KEHS 1986) is a maternal and child health researcher and public health physician and was recently elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She leads @mbrrace and @NPEU-UKOSS and has spoken widely about Covid and pregnancy as well as ethnic disparities in maternity care. In this conversation, she talks about these issues and the research these organisations have been carrying out.


Ian Metcalfe (KES 1976) is the Chair of Commonwealth Games England and in this conversation talks about what an international event like next year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham does for a city like ours. Ian is a proud Brummie, and came back to the city straight after university. He is a solicitor by training and had a hugely successful career with international law firm Wragge & Co (retiring as a managing partner), but sport has always been his passion - one which was very much developed when he was on the sports fields at KES.


Duncan Grierson (KES 1987) is an entrepreneur with a track record of building cleantech companies, and in this conversation he talks about his most recent venture, Clim8.


Series Three


Beth Heaven (KEHS 2009) is Partnerships and Digital Senior Manager working at The Walt Disney Company's head office in London - and yes, characters do occasionally pop in to say hello! Beth's journey to Disney has been anything but linear, and being in such a creative role at one of the most creative companies in the world, it may be surprising to hear that Beth studied Biochemistry after leaving KEHS and even went for a finance job with one of the Big Four companies before deciding that it wasn't for her.


Melanie Etti (KEHS 2007) is a Fulbright Scholar completing a Master of Public Health degree at Harvard University. She spent much of 2020 working as a researcher in Uganda and will be continuing work within the field of global health during her year of postgraduate study. In this conversation she talks about how following her passions has been the driving force behind her career decisions, rather than following a predetermined career plan. She talks about the importance of hard work, determination and tenacity, but she's also incredibly modest about what she's achieved - very few people are offered Fulbright scholarships, and she's absolutely making the most of her opportunity in the States.


Dr. Chris Duncan (KES 2009) and Dr. Sarb Clare have accomplished something extraordinary together: whilst both working on the NHS frontline of the COVID pandemic they have also written a medical textbook, published with Cambridge University Press, which could revolutionise patient care in the future. The book is called Ultrasound for the Generalist which focuses on point of care ultrasound and the multitude of benefits that new portable ultrasound technology can provide in areas around the world. The book was supposed to be published in 2020, but Sarb and Chris were needed on the frontline when the pandemic hit. They talk about their experiences of working within the NHS during this difficult time, and offer some insight in to how the NHS is faring in January 2022, nearly two years after the world first went in to lockdown.


Anya Duxbury (KEHS 2019) is a recent KEHS leaver and is currently in the United States studying Business at Alma College in Michigan for a year - however, her passion is anthropology, which is the degree she's taking a short break from before she returns to Queen's Belfast to complete it next year. In this conversation Anya talks about the subject of anthropology itself, and how discovering it almost by chance set her off in a completely different direction with her life. As you will hear, Anya is hugely passionate about the subject and has recently been appointed as the National Vice Ambassador for the UK in the Applied Anthropology Network of Europe. She believes that some of the character traits that were instilled in her at KEHS had a part to play in this appointment, and we believe these same traits mean that she has a fantastic career ahead of her!


Nisha Pillai (KEHS 1979) is a former BBC News presenter with over 20 years experience, including being a rolling news anchor for BBC World News as well as an investigative journalist for Panorama and The Money Programme. However, this wasn't the path that she set out on after leaving KEHS as a degree from LSE led to a short career within merchant banking before she realised that this wasn't her passion and became a financial journalist, the path that eventually led her to the news desk. In this conversation, Nisha talks about her career as an investigative journalist and in particular, one story that she was at the forefront of - the Robert Maxwell case. She also talks about her career as a news anchor, and what it's like to be on screen when breaking news comes in - she was on air on 9/11, and had to both simultaneously process her emotions as a human being witnessing one of the most tragic events in our history whilst also being the calm and collected face of the BBC.


Jules Parke-Robinson (KEHS 1993) left KEHS and went on to Aberystwyth University, but from a young age knew she wanted to join the military. After completing her Masters Degree, she went to Sandhurst to train as an Officer and subsequently joined the Royal Military Police. Jules stayed with the Military Police for 21 years, where she became Commanding Officer of the Special Investigations branch. She explains the kind of work she did, gathering evidence across the globe, and also why she decided to leave the military and work in the corporate sector (she is currently Global Head of Investigations at GSK Consumer Healthcare). With the Commonwealth Games now just around the corner, Jules also talked about her role as the Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball - and what our chances are for the summer!


Neil Moxley (KES 1987) is the Chief Sports Reporter at The Sunday People and has previously worked for the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star, covering sports events across the globe. In this conversation, Neil talks about the play review he wrote at KES that sparked his passion for writing, and how his upbringing set him up to be able to feel confident in any situation as a journalist. Neil writes about many different sports but has a huge passion in particular for football. In this conversation, he talks about how he has seen the game change over his thirty-year career, and how the huge commercial interest in the industry of football has had both positive and negative impacts.


Nick Varley (KES 1986) is the founder of LookUp Communications and former CEO and founding partner of the content agency Seven46. Seven46 were known as the "bid specialists" because of their work helping countries to bid for major sporting events, and in this conversation Nick talks about his experience working with the London 2012 team to help them shape the story that won the UK the Olympic Games. After the success of the London 2012 bid, Nick went on to work with the teams who won bids for Rio, Tokyo and Paris, and talks about what the awarding committee are looking for when choosing a country to host the world's biggest event. He also talks about his career as a journalist and an author, and how this experience helped him to write the speeches that people like Lord Coe and Ken Livingstone gave as part of the London 2012 bid. Despite always having a love for sport, he never thought that his career would take him in the direction that it did - even though the seeds were planted when he was in the Sixth Form at KES.


Howard WIlliamson (KES 1972) is currently a Professor at The University of South Wales and has spent his career researching and teaching on the subject of young people and issues that affect them, from working as a lecturer to a government advisor in countries all over the world. Howard talks about how he always had a rebellious streak as a young man, and how King Edward's School helped to "consolidate this rebelliousness" - he believes that going to the school gave him a confidence to approach any situation, and he's as comfortable in a government meeting room as he is in a local youth centre.


Charlotte Gallant: Archiving the school's history for future generations. This episode of Ed Talks is slightly different, as we're not talking to an Old Edwardian - but instead, someone who knows Old Edwardians rather well, both present and past. Charlotte Gallant is the Foundation Archivist, and her role is to preserve and curate the archives of all of the King Edward VI Foundation schools. In this conversation, Charlotte talks about the kind of things that are in the King Edward's archive, but also about how she curates it - what will people like to look back on? What will give them a sense of what the schools are like today, in a hundred years time? How does she choose what goes into the archive and what doesn't?