The Rob Smith Podcast - All Bases Covered

For this episode of All Bases Covered, we continue the environmental theme, as I engage in a thoroughly entertaining conversation with Paul Whitfield, Director General of the Wildwood Trust. Wildwood is well known in East Kent, a unique wild animal park that specialises in native British species, which is open to the public to visit, but also has heavyweight success in breeding and reintroducing species such as red squirrel, dormice, pine marten and beaver. But the project that has really hit the big time is reintroducing wild bison into the English countryside. When one of the three females introduced into the Blean woodland earlier this year turned out to be pregnant, and gave birth to the first baby wild bison in England in thousands of years, the story went global - Leonardo DiCaprio tweeted about it to his 55 million followers, it was on the front page of just about every major newspaper around the world, from the Guardian and Telegraph to the New York Times and the Washington Post. Even the Daily Star reported on it!Paul is a really engaging advocate for rewilding - but perhaps surprisingly spent more than a decade working as a solicitor specialising in employment law before becoming heavily involved in Wildwood. Encouragingly he is more optimistic than he has been in years for the future of wildlife and genuine progress on climate change - feeling that we have reached a tipping point in public opinion that means politicians can no longer ignore these issues and still get elected. The recent COP15 pledge for 30% of the planet to be protected for nature by 2030 stands as one significant example - as well as the huge quantity of column inches expended over COP27 on climate change. There is a long way to go - but at least its on the agenda.We recorded our conversation on the 19th December 2022 in a shed that Paul has been forced to use as a temporary office - while his usual space undergoes a major rewiring project, after mice attacked the cables. One of the hazards of working in an environment where wild animals are actively encouraged... It was bucketing down with rain, so you may hear a bit of that in the background from time to time. If you want to find out more about the great work that Wildwood do - www.wildwoodtrust.org is the place to go.

My latest conversation is with Jatin Patel – one of the UK’s hottest fashion designers, and its amazing. Based in Rochester in Medway in Kent, his bespoke clothing label Kalika's Armour www.kalikasarmour.com is worn by some of the UK’s wealthiest people and top models. He’s British Indian, his parents came to the UK from the Gujurat in the 1960s – and our conversation took place the day after Rishi Sunak became the UK’s first non-white political leader, a really significant moment whatever your politics, and the spark for a really thought provoking discussion about race and racism, belonging and what it means to be British.We also talked about fashion, obviously, and sustainability and ethics in the industry. We also talked about his personal journey from being a working class lad from the midlands to his current success – overcoming prejudice and confidence issues along the way. Our conversation took place in his extraordinary apartment in a Napoleonic Fort in Rochester, with gun emplacement windows that overlook the river and the castle and cathedral, a space stuffed with all manner of objects collected over the years - peacocks and Buddhas, crowns and chandeliers, even a full size leopard! Its somewhere exotic and creative and very much what you might expect of someone embedded in high fashion - but maybe unexpected in the Medway Towns. He is fierce advocate of Medway and its creative potential, and vocal about the need to protect and promote its further and higher education opportunities - he studied at KIAD which famously also counts Zandra Rhodes as an alumnus.A dazzling character, even if he habitually dresses all in black, Jatin is also about to launch a new project to bring his designs to the wider public. I find him to be really stimulating and energising - and I hope you enjoy our conversation too.

A conversation with Evan Bowen-Jones, CEO of the Kent Wildlife Trust recorded at Tyland Barn on the 7th November 2022.Its an extensive ramble of a conversation, starting with the fact that global leaders are gathering for COP27 in Egypt to talk about climate change amid concerns that it may already be too late for the world to reduce CO2 emissions enough to meet the 1.5c target by 2050. We talk about Wilding and Rewilding and the difference between the two, and the release of wild bison into the Blean woodland near Canterbury. Evan talks about the need for government regulation and public subsidy to help landowners and farmers engage in good countryside management as well as food production, so that marginal land isn't needlessly ploughed up or set to pasture for little if any gain to humanity, but with serious consequences for wildlife. He was inspired to become a conservationist after watching David Attenborough's Life on Earth as a child, and talks about being fortunate enough to have spoken with him on several occasions. Despite the huge concerns over the current state of the environment, Evan remains optimistic for the future, and hopeful that with enough efforts now Kent, and indeed the UK, will have significantly more wildlife in it in 50 years time than we have today - which I find to be really heartening.

Ever heard of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy? Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency? Last Chance to See? All hugely successful and influential works by the legendary author, futurist, environmental campaigner and procrastinator Douglas Adams. In this episode award winning broadcaster Rob Smith chats with Sophie Astin, who was PA to Douglas Adams for over 5 years, until his tragic, sudden, unexpected death at the age of just 49 from a massive heart attack in 2001. This is the first time Sophie has spoken publicly about her time spent working closely with the author, and how difficult it was to cope with suddenly losing not only a close friend - but also her boss, and her job. The conversation ranges through some very heavy name dropping ( Muhammad Ali, Stephen Fry, Salman Rushdie, John Cleese...) dealing with loss, starting a business, and career advice for teenagers. Love is all you need.

Amanda Redman is a hugely successful businesswoman based in Tonbridge in Kent - who also happens to be a hugely successful mum. When she was a little girl she wanted to ab an astronaut. But that doesn't mean she is in any way disappointed at the way things have turned out. She's just written a book, Dare to be Fair - looking at why women's long term financial prospects are often less rosy than those of men - and what to do about it. She is also great fun to spend some time with.