The Risk-Takers, with Simon Reeve and Christina Lamb

About this episode

Christina Lamb and Simon Reeve discuss their experiences and attitudes towards risk in their careers as journalists and adventurers.

Not many of us can claim to have hunted with the Bushmen of the Kalahari; been detained for spying by the KGB; or smuggled ourselves over a border into an active war zone under the floorboards of an ambulance. Yet, for our latest guests on the Futureverse, this is all in a day’s work. The Sunday Times’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Christina Lamb, who has been covering conflict around the globe for over three decades, does not regard herself as a risk taker, though. It was not an attraction to danger that led her to war reporting, but a surprise wedding invitation that landed on her desk in 1987. Similarly, as a teenager, the adventurer and broadcaster Simon Reeve, enjoyed the thrill of cycling down Acton High Street on his BMX, but did not imagine that he would spend his early professional life on the tail of neo-Nazi terrorists in Boston Spa. In this special episode of Y TREE view, Christina and Simon join Kamal Ahmed for a conversation about their attitudes to risk: what motivates them to take the risks that they do and how they calculate risk on the ground. It is a fascinating insight into what it means to put your life on the line in order to shine light on the darkest corners…

People in this episode

Host: Kamal Ahmed

Guests: Christina Lamb, Simon Reeve

Topics covered

• risk-taking
• war reporting
• adventure
• journalism
• personal safety

Keywords

• risk
• journalism
• adventure
• war reporting
• personal safety

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Sunday Times

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