Claim OwnershipCountercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone
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A podcast for people who like the unexpected. Join the surgeon and academic Professor Roger Kneebone in conversation with unorthodox people whose careers defy traditional boundaries and who swim against the tide.
Technical support by Justin Margovan - with my thanks
My personal website www.rogerkneebone.co.uk
Many of the people in Countercurrent feature in my book Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery (Penguin Viking, 2020)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313/313248/expert/9780241392058.html
Technical support by Justin Margovan - with my thanks
My personal website www.rogerkneebone.co.uk
Many of the people in Countercurrent feature in my book Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery (Penguin Viking, 2020)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313/313248/expert/9780241392058.html
263 Episodes
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Taslim Martin is an artist whose work takes many forms, including portraiture, design and site-specific works for public spaces. He lives and works in London, exhibits internationally and has works in the permanent collection of the British Museum and the Horniman Museum. In this conversation we discuss how his career has unfolded and explore some of the influences which have helped to shape it. https://taslimmartin.com
Sarah Hart is a mathematician whose research focuses on group theory. She is Professor Emerita at Birkbeck and Provost of Gresham College. In this podcast we explore her fascination with patterns, both in mathematical thinking and in the physical world. Sarah is well known for her ability to connect with a wide range of public audiences and she is passionate about exploring parallels between mathematics, language, art, history and music. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_B._Hart
Neal Peres Da Costa is Professor of Historical Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he founded the Historical Performance division in 2007. Before that he held academic posts in the UK. Neal is an expert on performance on historical keyboard instruments including the harpsichord. Alongside his work as a soloist, chamber and continuo musician performing with leading ensembles across the world, he is fascinated by the processes of historical and contemporary recording. In this conversation we explore how insights from the past can inform current practice, whether in music or medicine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Peres_Da_Costa
Per Palmgren is Associate Professor in Medical Education at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden where he is the director of doctoral studies at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics. In addition to his work as an academic, Per is an award-winning ballroom dancer who has represented his country many times. He also teaches and adjudicates in dance competitions. In this conversation we explore these different instances of performing. https://ki.se/en/people/per-palmgren
Professor Ian Walmsley is Provost of Imperial College London and Chair in Experimental Physics. He has a distinguished career as a researcher, both in the UK and overseas. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has many awards and honours, including a CBE. Ian has a specialist interest in quantum information processing and leads a research group in this field. He is about to step down from his role at Imperial and take on the leadership of the Oxford Quantum Institute. In this podcast we explore what quantum computing is and how non-specialists like me might think of it.
Dr Deborah Safron is a sociologist and independent scholar who was brought up in America. As part of her research she is documenting the now abandoned practice of 'reading vacations' at Oxford University, and exploring how long-form reading might be revived - both for young people and those in retirement. We discuss how these ideas might help disadvantaged young people to experience intensive reading as they study, complementing the role of AI.
Dave Stachowiak is an expert in leadership. He established and directs the Coaching for Leaders Academy in the USA, drawing on his experience with Gale Carnegie and his doctorate in organisational leadership. He started his weekly podcast Coaching for Leaders in 2011 and recently invited me to take part in an episode. In this conversation we explore the nature of leadership before comparing notes on our experiences in podcasting. https://coachingforleaders.com My conversation with Dave on his podcast: https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/teach-your-expertise-roger-kneebone/
Charles Hayter is a radiation oncologist, author and playwright. After an early career studying and teaching drama, Charles changed direction and became a medical student. He was inspired by radiation oncology's combination of technological precision with the human experience of patients coming to terms with cancer. His book Cancer Confidential was published in 2022. In this podcast we compare our experiences within and beyond the world of medicine. https://charleshayter.com/ Cancer Confidential: Backstage Dramas in the Radiation Clinic (University of Toronto Press, 2022)
Rachel Vickery is a human behaviour and high performance consultant. Initially an international gymnast on the New Zealand National Team, she retired from athletics at the age of nineteen. She trained as a physiotherapist and gained extensive clinical experience before specialising in supporting people from a wide range of high pressure professions and fields - including medicine, sport, the military and law. Rachel's approach integrates physical, mental and emotional dimensions. In this podcast we discuss our shared fascination in looking across conventional disciplinary boundaries. https://rachelvickery.com
Sophie Yates is a distinguished harpsichordist - recitalist, broadcaster, recording artist and teacher. We first recorded a Countercurrent conversation in 2017. In this podcast we explore Sophie's ability to listen with forensic accuracy in her world of music - and compare this with the role of listening in clinical practice and other areas of performing.
Ashley Solomon is Head of Historical Performance and Professor at the Royal College of Music. He is a baroque flute and recorder player who has performed as a soloist all over the world. He co-founded the baroque ensemble Florilegium in 1991. Since then they have made over 35 recordings and performed all over the world, including almost a hundred appearances at London's Wigmore Hall. Ashley has been working with indigenous musicians in Bolivia for over twenty years, uncovering and exploring a baroque musical tradition dating back to the Jesuit missions in the 17th century. https://www.rcm.ac.uk/hp/professors/details/?id=01414
The Very Rev Dr Mark Oakley is Dean of Southwark. He has held many ecclesiastical roles, including Rector of St Paul's Covent Garden, then Chancellor at St Paul's Cathedral. He is deeply interested in poetry, is a prolific writer and has a PhD in English literature. A turning point for Mark as a young minister in his twenties was his work with young men dying from HIV/AIDS. In this conversation we explore the role of poetry and metaphor in Mark's ministry and find surprising resonances between our areas of practice.
Stephen Kovacevich is one of the most celebrated concert pianists of his generation. Since his Wigmore Hall debut in 1961 he has been known for his interpretations of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert. Stephen and I look back over his career and discuss his experiences as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and conductor, collaborating with many of the world's leading performers and orchestras. He and pianist Martha Argerich will be performing at the Wigmore Hall in October 2025 in a concert to celebrate his 85th birthday.
Michael Booth is Chief Library Assistant at the London Library, where he has worked for forty years. One of his remarkable skills is an ability to track down books that have gone missing amongst the Library's collection of over a million volumes. We discuss the combination of observation, experience and detective work that enable him to find even the most elusive items in the Library's enormous repository. https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk
Toby Purser is Head of Conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. His musical interests encompass symphonic, operative and contemporary repertoires alongside film music and intercultural collaborations. He founded the Orion Orchestra in 2005 and is its artistic director. Toby has been guest conductor with many leading orchestras across the world. In this conversation we explore the many facets of a conductor's role. https://www.tobypurser.co.uk
Wayne Meeten is a distinguished craftsman whose work builds on ancient Japanese metalworking techniques and is profoundly influenced by Tai Chi. Wayne has studied in Japan, working with leading experts in the field. His works are created from a flat sheet of metal using only a hammer. He has won numerous awards for his work, which is in many private and public collections. In this podcast he traces his journey from his early days working in a jeweller's shop in Brighton through a series of unpredictable twists and turns. http://www.wvmstudio.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqH56YPO5zM
Dr Janis Wong is Data and Technology Law Policy Advisor at The Law Society of England and Wales. She holds a PhD in computer science and is especially interested in the intersection between legal practice, technology, computing and artificial intelligence in today's rapidly changing environment.
Howard Phipps is an artist and print maker, well known for his wood engravings which often focusing on the natural world, with haunting images of landscapes and trees and a vivid sense of place. He exhibits widely, his work features in the collections of many museums and galleries and he has won numerous prizes. He has been a member of the Society of Wood Engravers since 1985. https://howardphipps.co.uk
The portrait artist Adele Wagstaff trained at Newcastle University and the Slade School of Fine Art. She has been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the BP Portrait Award and her work has been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery. Alongside her work in the UK she spends time in Egypt, working on portraits of people along the Nile. Adele teaches a wide range of students, including life classes at the Royal Academy of Arts, which is where we first met. In this conversation we explore similarities and differences between our areas of work. https://www.adelewagstaff.co.uk
Helen Leek is a pianist who has won many prizes, including the International Young Concert Artists Competition and the Brant International Piano Competition. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician and teaches piano at Royal Holloway, University of London. She also gives masterclasses and adjudicates at competitions within the Royal College of Music. In this conversation explore her approach to music and discuss parallels between our professional worlds. Helen dedicates this podcast to the memory of psychotherapist Bill Hendry, who died suddenly in March 2025.
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