Countercurrent: conversations with Professor Roger Kneebone

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