Fettes Community Podcast

Fettes Community

Insights and updates of interest to those connected to Fettes College

  1. Lecture Series - This Will Be Your World - Sport

    MAR 26

    Lecture Series - This Will Be Your World - Sport

    This is a podcast recording on the evolution in the world of sport as part of the thought provoking Sixth Form 'This Will Be Your World' lecture series for students at Fettes College. If you have an interest in sport, the value of sport to the world economy, changes in sports audiences or the industry in general, this is well worth a listen.   Our guest speakers were: Tom Usher, an Old Fettesian and a true expert in EU and UK Competition law. Tom has a passion for sport and has worked for a number of firms and clients for more than 30 years. He is currently a senior advisor at Burness Paull.  Tom advises on all aspects of EU and UK competition law. His general work includes merger clearance (and challenges to merger and other regulatory decisions), competition compliance and the treatment of vertical agreements, abusive practices and cartels. Tom has been involved in leading cases in a number of sectors including Sports, Music, Betting, Gaming & Broadcasting, which have dealt with issues such as collective selling, exclusive licensing arrangements, abuses of monopoly power and horizontal agreements between competitors. He has also spent many years advising a major Bank on its involvement in cartels in the financial services sector, including LIBOR price fixing and foreign exchange manipulation. He has been involved in advising the PGA European Tour in relation to a number of issues arising from the emergence of LIV golf. Joe Morrison, also an Old Fettesian, is a live sports broadcaster. Joe is currently a Commentator for the UAE PRO League and the Live TV Broadcaster for the Saudi Pro League. He is a very well known face of football to millions of sports buff’s across the Middle East, Indian Sub-continent and Asia. Joe began his career at the BBC and has worked for Arab Radio and Television (ART) Ten Sports and Sony ESPN on various football and sports programming rights including the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, UEFA Euros and two FIFA World Cups, from Brazil and Russia. Joe describes himself as a big advocate of using data analysis for content creation and a ‘Constructive Deviant!’ He also says this about himself ‘ 3 FIFA World Cups, 2 UEFA Euros, 19 yrs of UEFA Champions League and 10 yrs of Premier League without kicking a ball !!’ Our staff chair was Mr Alastair Armstrong, Director of Learning and Teaching / Teacher of History.   Our student chair was Lower Sixth Form Sports Science student, Maverick R. The session was very insightful with students and staff asking a huge range of questions during the Q&A.  The student event was recorded on Monday 23rd March 2026.

    1h 1m
  2. Fettes in conversation with author Alex Starritt

    10/03/2025

    Fettes in conversation with author Alex Starritt

    Fettes in conversation with award winning author Alex Starritt (Mo 2001-2004) Parents and Old Fettesians had the opportunity to join our very own Rob Harrison in the Library for a fascinating ‘Fettes in conversation’ event with Old Fettesian, Author, Alex Starritt.  This was an opportunity to hear about Alex’s writing journey.  His first novel, The Beast was Spectator Book of the Year. His second book, We Germans, won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, was shortlisted for the Prix Femina and Prix Medicis, and was translated into numerous languages. His new novel, Drayton and Mackenzie is on the long list for the FT's business book of the year prize, the first novel on the list for 15 years.  Rob Harrison (Staff 1991-present) utilised his own love of literature and language as a long standing English teacher.  He talks skilfully with Alex about writing, his character inspiration, research, and the influences of his novels.  We hear about Alex’s writing style, his editing process and storylines from his three very different books. Did working at the Daily Mail influence writing The Beast? Did having German grandparents encourage his writing of We Germans? And did being of high academic intelligence and studying at Oxford sew the seeds of Drayton & Mackenzie? The audience thoroughly enjoyed this engaging event and were swiftly adding Alex’s books to their must read list.  After Fettes, Alex studied History and German at Somerville College, Oxford, from 2004-2008. He has worked as a literary translator from German – his translations include Stefan Zweig's A Chess Story, Arthur Schnitzler's Late Fame and a selection of Kafka's short stories, The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man. Alex has also worked at newspapers and magazines, and been on the founding team of two companies: Apolitical, a knowledge platform for civil servants that was named one of the world's most innovative companies in 2018, and Sunday Briefing, which provides insights into international politics and business for a range of corporations, investment funds and government agencies.

    51 min
  3. Lecture Series - This Will Be Your World - Population

    05/26/2025

    Lecture Series - This Will Be Your World - Population

    This is a podcast recording of the thought provoking session on ‘Population’ that the Fettes College Sixth Form students had on 19th May 2025 as part of the Fettes College 'This Will Be Your World' lecture series.   Our guest speakers were: Professor Francisca Mutapi BSc DPhil FZAS FRSE FAAS is a global health strategist, thought leader and health expert championing equitable health solutions for Africa. She holds a Chair in Global Health Infection and Immunity at the University of Edinburgh as well as honorary positions at several universities including the Universities of Oxford and Ghana. She is also the Deputy Director of the pan-African TIBA Partnership  Her research has influenced WHO and global health policy as well as improved treatment for over 50 million African children. A passionate advocate for inclusive global health, she advises the World Health Organisation (WHO), UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Novartis and Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE) and is the vice chair of the Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases board. She is a trustee for the Oxford based Weidenfeld Hoffman Trust, a TED Fellow and fellow of multiple science academies. Giuseppe Zampaglione is an economist with 40+ years of international experience in development economics.  After 10 years as an economist with Italian development agencies, from 1995 to 2020 he was with the World Bank where he developed strong operational, managerial, and policy advisory skills in various positions including Sr. Social protection economist, Sr. Advisor on conflict and human development, and World Bank Country manager in Kosovo and later in Honduras. Countries of focus included also Togo, Niger, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Chad, CAR, Ethiopia, and Comoros.  He holds a BA cum laude in Economics (Rome La Sapienza), an MSc at the London School of Economics, and an EDP in management and finance (Harvard Business School). He has lectured at Wirtschafts Universität (Austria), Princeton University, London School of Economics; University of Kosovo, Nova University Lisbon, and in Italy at the Universities of Pisa, Milan, Modena and Reggio Emilia and ISPI/Bocconi.  He has published more than 40 articles and essays on public policies, safety nets, fragile countries, and local development issues. He is now consulting international agencies.  Staff chair was Ms Lexi Markantonis, teacher of Maths and Assistant Houseparent in College East.  Student chair, Lower Sixth Form Geography student, Chloe M.   The session was very insightful with students and staff asking a huge range of questions during the Q&A.

    47 min

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Insights and updates of interest to those connected to Fettes College

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