Maajid Nawaz was radicalised as a teenager and built his life around an extremist ideology that led to his arrest in Egypt, prison, and torture, before walking away from it and rethinking everything he once believed.

Years later, after becoming a well-known voice in counter extremism, he lost his role as a presenter on LBC during Covid, publicly labelled and ridiculed for his views.

This conversation lands at a time when the Home Office has apologised for what’s being described as one of the darkest periods in British history around the grooming gang scandal, and that’s where things open up.

We get into what actually happened, the cover ups, the corruption, the scale of what was allowed to go on, and why so many people were ignored or shut down for speaking about it, along with his take on who benefits when something like that is kept quiet for so long.

From there it builds into the bigger picture, power, influence, how decisions are made behind the scenes, from public narratives to government contracts, and what starts to come into view once you begin connecting the dots.

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Key moments include:

✔ 00:00 Being drawn into extremism at a young age and how that path took hold.

✔ 09:00 Arrest in Egypt, time in prison, and the reality of torture and its impact.

✔ 22:00 Grooming gang scandal, the Home Office apology, and what was happening while it was being covered up.

✔ 36:00 Why people who spoke out were shut down and what that says about the system.

✔ 48:00 Covid, losing his role at LBC, being labelled publicly, and the personal fallout of that.

✔ 1:05:00 Power and influence, how decisions are shaped behind the scenes, and what drives them.

✔ 1:18:00 Government contracts, incentives, and what sits underneath public facing decisions.

✔ 1:30:00 Where this leaves people now and why more are starting to question what’s really going.

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Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb

Follow Maajid Nawaz:

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maajidnawaz?igsh=OHZxMWI5OWxidGVh

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He Wasn’t Built For This… He Became It

Darren Grigas has completed a world first 127 mile foot crossing of the 55 million year old Namib, run 100 miles across a frozen lake in temperatures down to minus 50, taken on uncharted rainforest, and completed Marathon des Sables alongside Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Most people look at extreme endurance athletes and assume they’ve always been wired differently, as though they were built for it from the start, but Darren’s story completely dismantles that.

This didn’t begin with a lifelong obsession for pushing limits. It started with a random morning, a car crash, and a body that didn’t work the same way anymore.

At that point, he wasn’t running ultra distances or training for deserts and jungles. He was living a normal life, working a job, following a routine, and struggling to run a single mile without his body breaking down.

What followed was anything but a sudden transformation. It was slow, frustrating, and at times painful enough that most people would have stepped back and accepted their limits, but instead of doing that, he started asking a different question around what the version of himself would look like if he actually overcame it.

That shift in thinking changed everything.

Over time, that mindset took him from barely getting through a mile to standing on the start line of some of the toughest endurance events on the planet.

It was great to have Darren back on the podcast for this one, because we go beyond the highlight reel and get into the reality behind it. The training around a full time job, raising kids, and dealing with pressure most people never see, along with the mental battles that don’t make it onto social media.

What stands out most isn’t just what he’s done, it’s how he thinks. The way he approaches pain, pressure and adversity, understanding the difference between discomfort and real damage, and knowing when to push and when to hold.

There’s also a side to this that most people wouldn’t expect, including personal pressure, family challenges and financial strain, all happening in the background while still showing up and doing the work.

That’s where this really lands, not in the extremes themselves but in the mindset behind them, and the idea that you don’t wait until you feel ready, you make the decision first and then build yourself into the person who can handle it.

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Key moments include:

✔ The car crash that changed everything

✔ Struggling to run a single mile after injury

✔ The mindset shift that drove everything forward

✔ Marathon des Sables alongside Sir Ranulph Fiennes

✔ A world first 127 mile foot crossing of the Namib

✔ Running 100 miles across a frozen lake in minus 50 conditions

✔ Uncharted rainforest and extreme environments

✔ Training around work, family and real life pressure

✔ Understanding pain vs real damage

✔ Building resilience through real life adversity

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Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb

Follow Darren Grigas:

🔗 Website: https://darrengrigas.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darren.grigas?igsh=Mzgwb2wxZmlqZzI4

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/182m17a9ni/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🔗 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/darren-grigas

Renowned performance coach Michelle Flynn works with high performers operating at an elite level, people at the top of their game who, on the surface, look like they have everything under control.

She was doing the same.

Training hard, disciplined, performing at a high level, until her body shut her down. Twice.

It’s something she now sees constantly, high performers still delivering, still pushing, while carrying chronic stress and having no real understanding of what it’s doing to their body.

This goes far beyond mindset and habits.

We get into mental health, suicide, hormones, menopause, emotional pressure, and why so many people who look “fine” are anything but.

Michelle also challenges a lot of the advice being pushed in the health and performance space, and why some of it isn’t just ineffective, it can actually put people at risk when it’s followed blindly.

This is about what’s really going on underneath performance, and what it actually takes to sustain it without paying for it later.

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Key moments include:

✔ The moment Michelle collapsed and no one could explain why. ✔ Why stress isn’t always obvious and can build without you realising. ✔ The “work hard, play hard” lifestyle and its hidden impact. ✔ How pushing through eventually leads to your body forcing you to stop. ✔ The turning point that led her to completely rethink her life. ✔ Why small daily habits matter more than extreme health routines. ✔ How to manage stress and perform without burning out.

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Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb

Follow Michelle Flynn:

🔗 Website: https://www.michelleflynncoaching.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleflynncoaching?igsh=cnhma2V1YjRpYTF6

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleflynn?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios