Episodios

  • Ade Adepitan - ‘At 16 I’d seen more violence than anyone should ever see’
    Aug 14 2024
    TW: contains references to racist abuse and racially-aggravated violence. This is probably one of my favourite episodes of all time, and I don’t say that lightly. The former championship wheelchair basketball star turned TV presenter, Ade Adepitan, came into the How To Fail studio with an open heart and a moving story to tell. He blew us all away. Ade talks about growing up working-class, Black and disabled and how the intersection of these left him feeling he had to prove himself twice as much. He talks about letting his parents down and a family estrangement that lasted 10 years. We chat about the impact of leaving Nigeria, aged three, and how that has continued to shape his outlook on life and we talk about his own self-perceived failure to protect his friend from a racist attack as a teenager - and how what happened changed all their lives. We also talk about a 2005 BBC documentary where he broke down in front of cameras while trying to climb a volcano and his fear that he had let himself and the disabled community down. AND - in a first for How To Fail -his failure to take a compliment You can catch Ade presenting Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympic Games this summer. As always, I’m desperate to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    53 m
  • Pat Cummins - 'My mother’s death taught me cricket isn’t as important as family'
    Aug 7 2024
    Considered by many as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, the Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins is extremely well-placed to tell me how he wins but also how he’s been shaped by losing. But his losses have not been limited to the cricket pitch. In an extremely moving exchange, he tells me about his mother dying from cancer and how her death put the rest of his life into perspective. We talk about the continuing juggle of family commitments with the demands made of an elite sportsman and the practical strategies he’s found to say no to people (he gives us his top three tips and, trust me, they are SO helpful). This is someone for whom resilience and tenacity are key - after becoming a professional cricketer at 18, he spent the next 5 years plagued with injuries and played less cricket than he’d ever done in his life. Pat recounts how he kept going and what he loves to do when he’s not on the pitch (it involves fixing fences slowly…and quite badly). Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Senior Producer: Selina Ream Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 m
  • Elif Shafak - ‘There’s only one thing that scares me - and that’s indifference’
    Jul 31 2024
    I could listen to Elif Shafak speak for HOURS. The eloquence of this woman! She speaks like most of us would aspire to write. I cannot get over it. Shafak, the Turkish-British author, combines ferocious intelligence with a captivating turn of phrase so it’s little wonder she’s garnered so much critical acclaim. She has been nominated for countless literary awards, including the Booker Prize and made the BBC’s 100 Most Inspiring Women list of 2021. Elif and I talked about the importance of outsidership, why it’s her mission to champion ‘otherness’, the fluidity of chosen family and how growing up without her father’s love shaped her for years to come. We also discuss gender, sexuality, prejudice and why the only thing that terrifies her is indifference. There are truth bombs in every sentence. And we talk about her fantastic new novel, There are Rivers in the Sky. As always, I’m desperate to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Senior Producer: Selina Ream Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    46 m
  • Danny O Donoghue - ‘I’m finished drinking, I’m finished smoking, everything’
    Jul 24 2024
    Danny O’Donoghue is best known as the lead singer of The Script and a former coach on singing talent show The Voice. But the last year of his life has been overshadowed by personal tragedy: the death of his bandmate and best friend Mark Sheehan at the age of 46. In his first full-length interview since Mark’s death, Danny opens up about how he navigated grief, how he spiralled into alcohol abuse and how he managed to find a way to survive through therapy and faith. It’s an extraordinary story, movingly told with great profundity. Danny’s failures include failing music in school and dropping out (he was finally diagnosed with Dyslexia earlier this year), the failure of his first record deal and failing to look after himself physically and spiritually as an adult. Thank you, Danny, for being so open and for your willingness to show a vulnerability that I know will help many others who are struggling with loss. As always, I’m desperate to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    47 m
  • Introducing How To Write a Book: Episode 1 - The Idea (Part 1)
    Jul 22 2024
    In this first episode of How to Write a Book, Elizabeth Day’s new podclass series, hosts Sara Collins, Sharmaine Lovegrove and Nelle Andrew discuss coming up with ideas. Just where do ideas for books come from? How do you know if they’re any good, or even if they’re right for you to pursue? Our expert podclass provides answers to all of this - and even a lesson in how to know when your idea might be ready to send to an agent. And we could not have a more experienced bunch to guide you on this journey. Sara Collins is the bestselling novelist and screenwriter currently serving as a judge for the 2024 Booker Prize. Her debut novel, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, won the Costa book awards in 2019 and she later wrote the TV screenplay. Nelle Andrew is a literary agent and former Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards, and Sharmaine Lovegrove is the co-founder and managing director of Dialogue Books, an inclusive imprint at a major publishing house. Each of them is an expert in one stage of the publishing journey…. and all are literary nerds (in the best possible way). Together, Sara, Sharmaine and Nelle are your on-hand writing community giving you the push you need to get started on that novel, memoir, or piece of non fiction you've always dreamed of writing. We hope you enjoy our part 1 & part 2 on IDEA. If you don’t want to wait for next week’s episode, you can subscribe now and binge them all at once by tapping ‘subscribe’. You’ll get to listen to all episodes ad-free and get exclusive subscriber access to How To Fail and Failing With Friends. Books discussed in these episodes include: •The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins •The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett •Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden •Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth •The Color Purple by Alice Walker •Scissors, Paper, Stone by Elizabeth Day •Paradise City by Elizabeth Day •Magpie by Elizabeth Day We also talk about Christopher Booker, Kit de Waal, The Seven Basic Plots and Michael Crichton’ Executive produced by Elizabeth Day for Daylight Productions and Carly Maile for Sony Music Entertainment. Produced by Imogen Serwotka. Please do get in touch with us, your writing community, with thoughts, feedback and more at: howtowriteabook.daylight@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    37 m
  • Sara Cox - ‘it made me feel a bit of a failed mum’
    Jul 17 2024
    Sara Cox is a broadcaster and author. You might have grown up with her on Radio 1’s iconic Breakfast Show. You might remember her being one of the first so-called ‘ladettes’ (and if you do, we talk about how much she hates this word in the episode). You might have read one of her bestselling books - she wrote a memoir in 2019, followed by two novels, the most recent of which, Way Back, was published in March. She’s now the host of the most listened to radio show in Europe: BBC Radio 2’s tea time, as well as being on our screens at the helm of the hugely successful TV books show, Between the Covers. But her upbringing was far removed from media luvviedom: she comes from a Lancashire farming family and spent her childhood shuttling between her divorced parents - her father’s farm and her mother’s pub. We talk about how these early experiences affected her and what she learned from her parents’ break-up. We also discuss her failure to farm, her failure to believe she’s ACTUALLY an author and an early career failure to control Sacha Baron Cohen when he was a live guest on Radio 1 (and the media’s misogynistic treatment of Cox in the aftermath). As always, I’m desperate to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 m
  • Danny Dyer - 'I’m a f**king legend or I’m a f**king disgrace. I suppose I divide people'
    Jul 10 2024
    We bonded over swearing. And, although I’m not one to brag: Danny Dyer said it suits me. DANNY F***ING DYER! I mean. I know this is a podcast about failure, but surely that’s a major life achievement? Anyway, I digress… Today’s guest was born in East London and had a challenging childhood - his parents split when he was nine after his mother discovered Danny’s father had a secret family. Acting was, in many ways, his escape from everyday life. He started in his teens, and was soon acting alongside luminaries such as Helen Mirren, Mark Rylance, Daniel Craig and Derek Jacobi. In his 20s, his mentor was the playwright Harold Pinter - someone Danny considers a father figure in his life, and who he has as the screensaver on his phone. We talk about what he learned from his drug addiction and his subsequent rehab, including one panic-inducing story about being on stage and forgetting his lines after spending the night before smoking crack in New York. It’s an extraordinary tale of resilience and self-growth and I really appreciate Danny’s honesty in telling it. We also talk about what psychics say to him, his concerns over his daughter becoming famous, his royal heritage and why he might have got the wrong dog. Danny’s show Mr Bigstuff is out on Sky - Wednesday 17th July How to Fail is going on a live tour in Spring 2025, presented by Hayu! Tickets are on sale now at www.fane.co.uk/how-to-fail Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Josh Gibbs Senior Producer: Selina Ream Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    53 m
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson - ‘I was caught stealing gay porn'
    Jul 3 2024
    This week: it’s Mitch from Modern Family! On screen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson brought to life one of the most beloved comic roles in recent years but he’s also a Tony-award winning theatre actor, not to mention host of the wonderful Dinner’s On Me podcast. Jesse was so easy to talk to - I felt I could ask him anything, and frequently did. We chat about his adolescent failures at sport when it seemed to be all his dad wanted from him, and this leads us into a deeply moving discussion about his own sexuality. The story of how his parents became aware that their son was gay is one that will stay with you for a long time - and although it contains its fair share of trauma, it is delivered, as ever, with Jesse’s trademark black humour. We also speak about his inability not to read reviews and his abject failure to meditate (one I can relate to). Plus: fascinating chats about surrogacy, social anxiety and whether straight actors should ‘play gay’. As always, I’m desperate to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. Listen to ‘Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson’ here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dinners-on-me-with-jesse-tyler-ferguson/id1683905652 Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Senior Producer: Selina Ream Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 m