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Aleks Krotoski chats to innovators and visionaries about what they’ve learned from inspirational giants that shaped their lives.


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Lex Gillette

Lex Gillette is a blind Paralympics champion in the long jump category. Lex talked to Aleks about the challenge of adjusting to his circumstances at such a young age, the encouragement he received from his mother to maintain his independence, and about an inspirational pastor whose YouTube videos help him keep focus on his training and his writing.

Martha Lane-Fox

Martha Lane-Fox is an entrepreneur and internet activist. Martha talked to Aleks about having success in the early days of the internet, how she helped two different Prime Ministers set a benchmark for government digital services, and about a female tech trailblazer who had to change her name to Stevie to get her CV read.

Ytasha Womack

Ytasha Womack is an award-winning author, filmmaker, independent scholar, and dance therapist. Ytasha talked to Aleks about her early love of dance, libraries and the movie The Wiz…and about the icon who inspired her scholarship and art.

Roman Mars

Roman talks to Aleks about his upbringing, about how a group of people he went to college with turned out to be some of the most talented people working in radio today, and about the surprising punk rock inspiration behind Radiotopia.

Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay is a multi-award winning poet, performer, and chancellor at the University of Manchester. Lemn spoke to us about growing up with a foster family that rejected him, spending his teens in children’s homes, then realising at the age of 18 his entire life was a lie. He also spoke about a giant who gave him strength and inspiration throughout.

Anab Jain

Anab Jain is a designer, futurist, filmmaker, and writer. We talked to Anab about the wild world of future-oriented thinking, our hyper-connected planet, and about an anthropologist and a mushroom that inspired much of her work.

Jude Kelly

Jude Kelly is a British theatre director and producer. Jude talked to us about growing up in ‘50s Liverpool, finding and fostering revolutionary theatre, and about a woman many refer to as ‘The Mother of Modern Theatre’.

Rachel Weiss

Aleks Krotoski talks to L’Oréal’s Rachel Weiss about bringing together her two great loves, make-up and technology, and about being an early adopter of podcasting, blogging, online dating, and beauty-blogging.

Anna Higgs

Anna Higgs is a producer and executive working in the intersection between film and digital storytelling. Anna talked to us about finding your way up the rickety climbing frame to success in a creative field, why she was sneered at at Film School, and about an movie giant who produced some of the most icon movies ever made.