Dangerous Minds with Ed Stafford

Leo Houlding is a world-class climber and adventurer, veteran of a score of epic ascents including Everest. But he specialises in free climbing – i.e. without ropes – and helped pioneer para-alpinism – climbing up and flying down. In the last episode of the current series, Ed talks to Leo about what fostered the desire for risk and how difficult it is to rationalise. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Geoff Holt MBE had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean 3 times and sailed over 30,000 nautical miles, before breaking his neck in 1984. Geoff has been a quadriplegic ever since and became the first disabled yachtsman to single-handedly sail around Great Britain in 2007. He talks to Ed Stafford about his remarkable story, overcoming physical and mental obstacles along the way. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic explorer, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and stand-up comic. Ella also hosted Neanderthals - Meet Your Ancestors and Body Clock: What Makes Us Tick? on BBC Two and in this episode of Dangerous Minds, she discusses nature, evolution and her own battles with depression. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes was declared the greatest living explorer by the Guinness Book of Records in 1984. 36 years later, he’s still breaking records and dreaming up more life-threatening feats. Sir Ranulph discusses what drives him to keep going, including his fierce competitive streak and perceived failures. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ness Knight has swum the length of the River Thames and has also descended the Missouri river and the Essequibo river in Guyana. Here she talks to Ed about the isolation that comes when testing your mental and physical limits, as well as the obstacles in putting trust in others and yourself. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dwayne Fields spent his formative years in inner-city London, wrapped in the world of street gangs and gun and knife crime. After a life-threatening incident, Dwayne recalls how he made the decision to change his life forever, setting himself the challenge of becoming the first black Briton to walk to the Magnetic North Pole. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jason Fox, former royal marine and host of Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins, has also rowed across the Atlantic, walked to the North Pole and hosted his own show entering the drugs cartel strongholds of Mexico, Colombia and Peru, to reveal the brutal hidden worlds that he was once tasked with destroying. Ed talks to Jason about mental health, vulnerability and coping techniques. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the first episode of Dangerous Minds, host Ed Stafford is joined by Joe Simpson - mountaineer, author and motivational speaker. While climbing in Peru in 1985, Joe suffered severe injuries and was lost, suspected dead, after failing into a crevasse. But against all odds he survived and managed to crawl back to his basecamp.His ordeal was documented in his bestselling book Touching The Void, adapted into the 2003 film described as the most successful documentary in British cinema history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.