Cloutology

Solomon B Taiwo grew up in East London on the same street as rap star Dizzie Rascal and with the same passion for music, but at the age of 19 he discovered acting and that became his ambition. His father didn’t approve, they fell out and Solomon ended up homeless. This is the story of how he rebuilt his life and his relationship with his father without compromising on his dream…

Professor Kristofer Helgen is a zoologist renowned for his daring expeditions to far flung corners of the globe where he has found dozens of previously undiscovered species of mammal. When he’s not on out in the field, he’s looking for clues for his next adventure in the backrooms of world museums. I found him in a dusty space full of animal skeletons deep in the bowls of London’s famous Natural History Museum…

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo but sent to live in Europe with relatives when her father died and mother could no longer afford to keep her. She was forced to work long hours as a domestic worker whilst trying to study but got a break when she won a competition to model for the high-end lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. She now works between London and New York appearing in the likes of Vogue and Vanity Fair. She spends as much time as possible back in...

Ian Marber was in his twenties and working in property investment when he was diagnosed with coeliac disease. He became so interested with his diet, that he decided to resign and use his savings to study nutrition full-time. He went on to set up The Food Doctor consultancy which he has since sold. Ian still advises individual and corporate clients but is best known for his television appearances, newspaper columns and bestselling books…

Sarah Willingham started working in a restaurant in northern England in her early teens and by her early 20s, she was managing one of the busiest eateries in Paris. She later moved to London, secured a senior management position at a leading British chain before deciding to break out on her own. Sarah now invests in a wide range of businesses and has been repeatedly cited as one of the UK’s most influential business leaders. She’s best known perhaps as a judge on the hit TV show Dragons Den....

Tom Kerss is an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London – founded in 1675, its one of the most important scientific sites in the world. Tom has also authored books including Moongazing: Beginner’s Guide to Exploring the Moon. If space is his passion then failing to communicate that is his fear.

Sir Geoffrey Kent is founder of the award-winning luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent and he’s credited with inventing the experiential holiday. He has hosted everyone on his legendary African safaris from David Rockerfeller to Richard Burton and Prince Harry - each guest adding to his extraordinary bank of wild tales from every corner of the globe. Sir Geoffrey was brought up in the African bush himself and was trained at the Royal Military Academy in England but he has an old Land...

Linda Yueh is a Fellow in Economics Oxford University, a Professor at the London Business School and visiting Professor at Peking University. She’s advised the World Bank, European Commission, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum in Davos and held non-executive directorships at several major companies. She’s also a widely published author who’s had her own TV shows at Bloomberg and the BBC. With so many different roles, how does she describe herself?

Mark Wright is an award-winning entrepreneur and self-taught digital marketing specialist. He made his name winning The Apprentice TV show in the UK and he now runs several successful businesses. He made the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Europe in 2017, was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2018 UK Business Awards and it all started when he arrived in London as a backpacker from Australia.

Levison Wood is a soldier-turned-explorer, best-selling author, photographer and documentary film-maker. In 2014, he completed a nine-month expedition along the length of the Nile and followed up with an even more ambitious trek along the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan and then a 5,000 mile circumnavigation of the Arabian peninsula from Iraq to Lebanon. Previously, Levison served as an Officer in the British Parachute Regiment and saw combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2008....

Activist, educator and feminist: Njoki Njehu is co-founder of Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center, the coordinator of the pan-African Fight Inequality Alliance and has worked with many of the world’s leading NGOs. She has testified three times before the U.S. Congress on debt, HIV/AIDS and other crises facing Africa. She’s based in Nairobi, Kenya where she was brought up by a mother who farmed and father who bought and sold cars. Her local church awarded her with a scholarship to study...

Michael Howard was born into poverty in London and by the time he was sixteen he was fending for himself. He juggles several low-paid jobs just to cover his room and board before he got a break selling office furniture. He worked his way up through the business until he was able to buy it. Maris Interiors now designs and fits out office spaces throughout London and has a turnover of around 100 million pounds a year. I sat down with Michael in the corner office he occupies in the shadows of...

Rachel Shabi is a left-leaning British journalist best known for her work with the Guardian newspaper, previously as Middle East correspondent and now as a commentator on British society and politics. She appears regularly on television as a commentator on Middle-Eastern and British affairs and trains people from a diverse range of backgrounds on how to make the break in to TV. In her critically acclaimed book ‘Not the Enemy,’ Rachel tracks the history of Mizrahi Jews in Israel,and here she...

Liam Halligan is an economist, author and broadcaster, best known for his award winning ‘Economics Agenda’ column in The Sunday Telegraph. He’s also reported for the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Channel 4 News and he’s a regular panelist on my show CNN Talk. A vocal Brexiteer, he argues the UK economy is stronger outside the European Union which he explains in the book ‘Clean Brexit.’ Between 2007 and 2013, Liam took swapped journalism for a role as chief economist at a...

Professor Kate Williams is a historian and author of several award-winning, bestselling books including Queen Victoria and Josephine Bonaparte biographies and the novel Storms of War. Her work has been adapted for stage and screen and she often appears on television in her own right as an expert and panelist on a wide range of factual and entertainment shows. Here she speaks to Max Foster about what she’s learnt about royalty, power and the benefits of embracing your fears.

Ayesha Hazarika is a columnist, author, political commentator, stand-up comedian and Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is an honour bestowed by Queen Elizabeth. Previously, she was a Labour Party special advisor to the likes of Gordon Brown when he was Prime Minister and Ed Miliband as Leader of the Official Opposition. She has also advised business leaders in the music industry and other sectors. Here, she speaks to Max about what she’s learned about achieving...

If James Murray was from the US, he would epitomise the American dream. He’s British however, which makes his rise to success even more remarkable. The UK culture isn’t steeped in entrepreneurialism and risk-taking and was even less so in the 1990s when James was starting out. Dyslexic, he left school with few qualifications and moved to London to find work whilst his counterparts went off to university. After failing as a delivery driver, he found his feet as a telecoms salesmen and then...

Dr. Brian Klaas is an Assistant Professor in Global Politics at University College London. He’s also a columnist for The Washington Post, an author and regulator media contributor - usually on the subject of Donald Trump’s presidency. Apart from US politics and democracy, he specialises in authoritarian leadership and he brings those topics together in a series of books including "The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy" and ’How to Rig an Election." He first gained...

Lucy Beresford is an investment banker turned author, psychotherapist and media ‘agony aunt.’ She appears regularly on ITV, LBC and the BBC. The Huffington Post describes her as a ‘Sex & Relationships Guru’ but she also offers commentary on the public response to national disasters such as terror attacks. At her private practice in London, Lucy counsels high-profile people on dealing with fame, addiction and associated anxieties. Here, she describes to Max what she’s learnt about success...

Dharshini David is an economist, broadcaster, writer, speaker, business advisor and self-confessed nerd. She has reported and presented for flagship TV news shows in the UK including the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4. She has advised investment banks, government agencies and the supermarket chain Tesco. Her bestselling book, ‘The Almighty Dollar’ cuts through the jargon to make sense of the economic foundations that underpin the modern world. Here, she talks to Max about fears for her...