Past Imperfect: Recent Episodes
The Times
Can early events shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson talk to outstanding people about how moments in their early lives informed their identities, their careers and their drive to succeed.
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“And when I went into the church hall, every little girl, every single one, was in pink ballet shoes. And I walked in with my green ballet shoes, which were half price in the sale. And I did want to run back out through those great big double doors. But I knew if I did I would never get to dance.”
In this episode we speak to Arlene Phillips, who tells us about her difficult childhood and her resilience in pursuing her passion for dance until today, most recently rewarded with the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer in Guys & Dolls.
Producer: Florence de Schlichting
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In this episode we talk to BBC broadcaster and presenter Ashley John-Baptiste about his significant achievements, despite having suffered childhood trauma from his upbringing in foster care.
Producer: Florence de Schlichting
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
"People don't want you to be able to see anything, report anything, or say anything intelligent. You just have to be an object of beauty."
In this episode, Hollywood legend Sharon Stone talks to us about her new career as a painter and how it helped her address childhood traumas. We also discuss her difficult relationship with Hollywood, and the abuse she encountered from men around her since becoming a sex symbol.
WARNING: contains very strong language
Producer: Florence de Schlichting
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to more extraordinary people about how their past has shaped their lives and how their childhoods have defined who they are today.
In this series they are joined by the likes of Sharon Stone, Arlene Phillips, Rachel Reeves and many more.
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Series Producer: Florence de Schlichting
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“Your life is built on the way you do things and the way people see you and the way you react”. The former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, says he is unsure whether he would choose the ability to see if he could. Born blind, David has come to know and embrace life without sight. But his start to life was fraught with pain; as a child he had to cope with the traumatic death of his father all whilst attending a strict school for the blind, where caning was a regular occurrence. “If you think about caning a child on their hand, when their hands are used for braille reading… it was like throwing salt in your eyes.”
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
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“I felt uncomfortable with my passions and with my life at school,” says Steve Backshall. The naturalist has wowed British children for years with shows such as Deadly 60, but his own childhood discomfort with his passion for nature is a lasting regret. He feels at home around animals in their natural habitat and despite coming face to face with the largest and deadliest creatures on the planet, Steve insists he is not driven by adrenaline seeking; “I certainly feel more intimidated and more at risk in the big city, than I ever do in the rainforest.”
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
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The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says on his parliamentary profile that he had a happy childhood with no financial hardships, but it was also one driven by such heartache that it’s hard to comprehend.
He was just four years old when his father John George died and after years of caring for his mother Nina, who was diagnosed with incurable cancer, she passed away too when he was only 15. Ed has remained a positive outlook on life, focused on his work, he’s adamant that he’s never felt sorry for himself. Yet when Ed’s son, John, was born with a rare neurological condition and he became a carer once again in adulthood, it's astonishing to comprehend the resilience that Ed has learned.
“Throughout my life, I've always thought that people need to see things in proportion a bit, look at what's most important.” - Ed Davey .
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“Perseverance can lead to a life that maybe society thinks you're not going to have”, that’s what Jimmy Akingbola tells us despite being placed in a children's home at the age of two years old. The actor, best known for his roles in Ted Lasso and Bel Air, was disowned by his father and abandoned by his mother, who suffered from schizophrenia not knowing what fate would be in store for her son, she left him in a social-security office.
Despite the feeling of not belonging that consumed Jimmy as a child, he has always remained a positive outlook on his life, acknowledging how lucky he was for the love and support he received through foster care.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
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“Everyone was fake in the world I was in”, that’s what Jamie Wood, step son of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, says of growing up in the shadow of a rockstar. He claims he was unwittingly introduced to drugs at a young age, which became a big part of an alternate reality he carved out for himself, away from the limelight. But multiple health scares, including a heart attack in his 40s, have made him rethink his own health. If he had the chance, he would tell his younger self “don’t take drugs, don’t trust dad”.
WARNING: contains very strong language and discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“The birds will help you”, says Mya-Rose Criag. The 21-year old ornithologist, author and campaigner explains how catching glimpses of rare birds has the ability to heal and soothe. She saw the positive effect in her own life as she grappled with her identity at school thanks to an unusual family life. And she saw how her mother’s Bipolar Disorder was calmed by family birdwatching trips; “at the start she couldn’t focus… she couldn’t talk. At the end, she was sharp and present and spotting things… she was my mum again”.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“People talk about being obsessive like it’s a bad thing… but it’s not, it’s a really good thing. It drives you,” says Gary Numan. The influential pop star explains how he has come to see his Asberger’s diagnosis as a superpower, despite struggling with it as a youngster. For Gary, his early fame and success felt like an “express train”, one he was always looking into from the outside. Now, he speaks about how his wife, Gemma, reinvigorated his declining career in music, when “she encouraged me to go back to doing it as a hobby”.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
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“I am so grateful for everything that’s ever happened,” says Suzie Fletcher. The Repair Shop’s resident leather expert explains how traumatic experiences have shaped her into the person she is today. Chief among those was the abusive 15-year marriage to her late husband, Rob. Despite facing violence and psychological manipulation, Suzie maintains an open and ever curious approach to understanding abusers as well as their victims; “he was a human being, too. He had all the same emotions”.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“If you love your kids, they will be more resilient than you think,” says Joe Wicks. The nation's P.E.teacher talks about how his parents’ enduring love shaped Joe into the person he is today. Through his dad’s struggles with drug addiction and his mum’s mental illness, Joe found that movement and exercise helped him through his difficult childhood circumstances and since then he has made it his mission to ensure all kids have the same opportunity to get moving and "use your body to shift your mindset and change your reality for a few moments”.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“I’ve been able to be equal parts missionary and mercenary,” says Karl Lokko. In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, the venture capitalist and former gang leader talks of how his extraordinary youth has led to a clear purpose in the work he now does. At the age of just 12, Karl witnessed his first shooting. He went on to be shot at, stabbed, cut in the face and he saw his close friend get murdered. But with the help of certain influential women in his life, Karl turned his life around before founding Black Seed, which finances black entrepreneurs.
Karl’s experiences have shaped his mission; “I went uptown to get resources to bring downtown”.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Producer: Calum McCrae
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best selling writer Anthony Horowitz, shares how he believes his astonishing drive and creativity was born out of trauma. He fought against countless people telling him he would never be good enough, including his own father, and now he’s one of Britain's most prolific writers with more than 55 books, including the Alex Rider teen spy series that has sold over 21 million copies, and adding to the James Bond series of thrillers.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“Life is what is in front of you” says Deborah Meaden. In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, the business leader shares how the challenges she faced in her early years shaped her as the entrepreneur we know today. At four years old she lived with a surrogate family whilst her mother worked to make ends meet. She met her biological dad on her doorstep as a teen, and left school at 16, and her first company failed.
Deborah prides her success in later life from the determination, grit and tenacity that she learnt from the challenges she faced in childhood.
WARNING: contains discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why is it that often people with the hardest beginnings in life become the most successful adults? And is there something to learn from those people who perhaps have the strongest sense of what matters most?
Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to even more extraordinary people about how they overcame moments in their early lives to achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of one of Britain’s most recognisable women in business Deborah Meaden, the nations favourite PE teacher Joe Wicks, acclaimed novelist Anthony Horowitz and more.
New episodes every Thursday.
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In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, former Prime Minister Tony Blair shares how the challenges he faced in his younger years shaped him into the man we know. From the devastating stroke his father suffered, to his mother’s death when he was in his early 20’s and how he managed anxiety whilst he was Prime Minister.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, entrepreneur Richard Branson shares how despite his success with his business ventures from the Virgin Group, he has come up against challenges just like you and I. From living with severe dyslexia, to leaving school at 15 years old with teachers doubting his potential and how he’s learnt to manage his ‘yes man’ personality- Richard reflects on how the adversity he faced in his life shaped his success.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics.
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, TV Presenter Kirstie Allsopp shares how she lived in the shadows of her mothers impending death for several years. From nurturing her siblings from a young age, to attempting to carry out her mum’s final wish of being buried in the family garden, Kirstie explains how the hardships she faced in her early years have helped her to now give to others what she has always yearned for herself- a perfect home.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Death, illness, bullying, grief
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, actor Brian Cox shares his memories of growing up in poverty in Dundee after his father died when he was just eight years old, and how witnessing his mother’s attempted suicide made him know he could survive anything.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Suicide, death, illness
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, one of the UK’s most successful rappers Professor Green, Stephen Manderson, talks candidly about being brought up on an East London council estate by his grandmother, struggling with anxiety and how his father's suicide made him re-evaluate his own life.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Suicide, death, illness, abuse
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear renowned poet Lemn Sissay OBE share the harrowing but compelling story of his childhood. Stolen from his birth mother and rejected by foster parents, Lemn endured years of mistreatment within the UK care system.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Death, illness, abuse, racism
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear British politician Bridget Phillipson’s first hand account of growing up in poverty on a council estate in Sunderland. From house burglaries, to school bullies and feeling ‘caught between two worlds’ as a student at Oxford university.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Death, abuse
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear the novelist, Maggie O’Farrell, reflect on the misfortunes and sliding door moments that have put her life at risk. From a fatal illness she suffered with as a child, to nearly drowning as a teenager and her encounter with a stranger on a dark night- who she later found out was a murderer.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: Death, illness, injury, abuse
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear the champion British diver, Tom Daley, share the impact of his childhood stardom. From battling school bullies, to navigating the devastating loss of his father. Tom reveals his deeply romantic side, his passion for parenthood and, astonishingly, his lifelong fear of diving off the top board.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including:
abuse, mental illness, grief, injury
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear businesswoman and former civil servant Suzanne Heywood share her life story. At the age of six she embarked on ten years of sailing around the world with her family. From threatening pirates at gunpoint, to undergoing brain surgery after their boat was shipwrecked and many more jaw-dropping moments, Suzanne reflects on how these early events shaped the rest of her life.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: abuse, mental illness, grief, injury
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known, we hear Fatima Whitbread MBE share her life story, from being abandoned as a baby and her devastating relationship with her birth mother to becoming an Olympic medal winning, world beating javelin thrower.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: sexual abuse, mental illness, grief
Series producer: Anya Pearce
In this episode of What I Wish I’d Known hear senior British politician Michael Gove’s first hand account of being abandoned in an orphanage, growing up in seventies Scotland and how he feels about stabbing Boris Johnson in the back.
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: drug and alcohol misuse, mental illness, grief
Series producer: Anya Pearce
Why is it that often people with the hardest beginnings in life become the most successful adults? And is there something to learn from those people who perhaps have the strongest sense of what matters most?
In this podcast, formerly known as Past Imperfect, Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester chat to extraordinary people who have lived astonishing lives and not only survived, but thrived.
Sporting icons, remarkable politicians and other well known figures give their first hand account on how they achieved success in the face of adversity.
Plus, Alice and Rachel reflect on their greatest interviews to date from the Past Imperfect archive with new thoughts and revelations.
Follow the podcast now so you never miss an episode.
Joan Bakewell, 89, is a Labour peer is a broadcasting legend. She was one of the first women to be taken seriously in television and on radio. She broke boundaries with her arts and investigative programmes but was in a constant battle to pursue her career in an environment where institutional sexism and discrimination were rife.
Her private life was equally fascinating, she juggled two children, a high-powered job, two marriages and a seven-year affair with the playwright Harold Pinter who wrote a play based on their relationship, Betrayal. “Even when she was behaving badly, she behaved well,” one fellow journalist commented at the time.
Today she discusses her novel cancer treatment, sex, music and miniskirts, death and growing up during the War in the industrial North of England.
Warning: Contains discussions of sensitive subjects including cancer and sexual abuse.
OUT Links for Additional support (on Past Imperfect pod pages Website)
Child abuse
https://www.nspcc.org.uk
Cancer Support
https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/
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Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson are joined by Conservative peer, campaigner and one of the founders of legendary dance club Ministry of Sound, James Bethell. James talks candidly about his campaign against online pornography, his aristocratic background, raves and the devastating impact of his mother's descent into depression, addiction and her tragically early death.
NB: (trigger warning included) Contains discussion of sensitive topics including: postnatal depression, child neglect, drug and alcohol misuse, mental illness, suicide.
Links for additional support (also on Past Imperfect podcast pages)
Post Natal Depression Support
https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/what-is-pnd/post-natal-depression
Alcoholism and Addiction
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services
https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk
Mental health and suicide awareness
https://www.mind.org.uk/
The Samaritans Tel: 116 123
www.samaritans.org.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Rachel and Alice talk to Professor John Bell, Regius professor of Medicine at Oxford University. His first memory, he says, was looking up and seeing “a load of guys with white coats around me”. He’d contracted polio and his father, had also caught the disease and was critically ill in the same hospital.
“People forget about polio,” he says, but Professor Bell never did, always concerned that another disease may sweep across the world.
Now, more than 70 years later, he is known for helping secure a covid vaccine and advising the government on how to lead Britain out of the pandemic. His research teams are also on the brink of major breakthroughs in the fight against cancer.
Links for additional support (also on Past Imperfect podcast pages)
Polio information and support
Polio - Eradication, Vaccination, & Access | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Polio Survivors Network – Lives lived with healthcare lessons for the future
Cancer Support
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Explorer, broadcaster and Chief Scout Bear Grylls talks candidly to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson about his love of adventure, the profound impact of the deaths of his inspirational father, and one of his closest friends in the SAS, Sergeant Chris Carter. Bear discusses life in the special forces, the challenges of climbing Mount Everest, and the catastrophic parachuting accident that nearly paralyzed him for life.
Links for additional support (also on Past Imperfect podcast pages)
Bereavement support
www.sueryder.org.uk
The Royal British Legion
Support for soldiers and ex-soldiers
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk
Mental health
https://www.mind.org.uk/
Support for those affected by paralysisLiving with Paralysis - Reeve Foundationwww.christopherreeve.org/living-with-paralysis
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David Harewood (MBE, OBE) is an actor who attained international stardom with roles in Homeland and The Night Manager.
Hee was the first black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre in London, and has delivered acclaimed performances as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. His latest role is a white Conservative commentator William F Buckley pitched against the liberal Gore Vidal in the hit play Best of Enemies which has received rave reviews in the West End.
But David’s early life was marred by racist attacks, and mental illness, culminating in a him experiencing a psychotic breakdown. Despite being awarded both an MBE and an OBE
he still sees himself as an outsider. “There’s a sense of displacement, “he says, “That’s been constant throughout my life.”
WARNING: contains some strong language and discussion of sensitive topics including: racist attacks, homophobia, drug and alcohol misuse, mental illness, suicide.
Links for additional support (also on Past Imperfect podcast pages)
Anti-racismhttps://www.stophateuk.org/about-hate-crime/racism-in-the-uk
Alcoholism and Addiction
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services
https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk
Mental health and suicide awareness
https://www.mind.org.uk/
The Samaritans Tel: 116 123
www.samaritans.org.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Former Lady in waiting Lady Anne Glenconner, talks candidly to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson about growing up as a member of the Royal Family’s inner circle. She reveals the high s and lows of her life as a socialite: Riding tricycles with Princess Margaret, holidays in Mustique and being maid of honour at the Queens’s coronation. She speaks frankly about her marriage overshadowed by an abusive husband and the death of two sons.
Warning: Contains frank discussion of domestic violence, death, brothels and violence to animals (eels)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anne-Glenconner
Links for additional support (also on Past Imperfect podcast pages)
Domestic abuse
www.womensaid.org.uk
Domestic Abuse Help · National Centre for Domestic Violence (ncdv.org.uk)
Child Abuse
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pat Cullen is a trade union general secretary who has led her members out on strike for the first time in her union’s 109-year history. In recent weeks, Pat has been on picket lines all over the country with her colleagues and patients, leading the negotiations with the UK government on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing.
In this episode of Past Imperfect, Pat Cullen talks candidly to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson about how her tenacity and her belief in justice has been shaped by growing up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and through losing both her parents as a teenager.
“When I believe in something.” She says, “I’ll follow it through to the bitter end, I absolutely will.”
Links
the Royal College of Nursing
https://www.rcn.org.uk/
Bereavement support
https://www.sueryder.org/
https://www.thegoodgrieftrust.org/
Mental health
https://www.mind.org.uk/
young people’s mental health
https://www.youngminds.org.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mariella Frostrup is a renowned journalist and a voice familiar to Times Radio listeners. Today, the tables are turned. Mariella is on the other side of the mic, answering the questions rather than asking them.
She talks candidly to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson about her chaotic childhood, constantly being moved from house to house, from country to country as her parents divorced. She talks about the devastating impact of her dad’s early death and her stepfather’s violence and links to the IRA. Mariella also shares warm memories of her youth in the music industry, living in London’s Kings Road at the height of its punk glamour, jokes with Bono and dates with Iggy Pop.
Warning: Contains discussions of sensitive subjects including: alcoholism, bullying, death, drug use, domestic violence and coercive control, death.
Links for additional support
Bereavement support
https://www.sueryder.org/
https://www.thegoodgrieftrust.org/
Domestic Violence
https://www.ncdv.org.uk/domestic-abuse-help/
Bullying
https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/
Alcoholism and Addiction
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services
https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk
Mental health
https://www.mind.org.uk/
young people’s mental health
https://www.youngminds.org.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Candice Brathwaitei s a best-selling author, television presenter and social media star. Her honest and funny accounts of motherhood as a black woman have made her one of Britain’s most successful influencers. But her early life was far from picture perfect. She was raised by her grandfather due to her mother’s mental health issues. Her father died suddenly was she was 21. Then she was almost killed by an infection following the birth of her first child. This experience led her to explore the experiences of black mothers and baby in the UK health care system. A 2018 study showed that black women were more than 5 times more likely to die in childbirth. A shocking statistic, that inspired Candice to become a vocal campaigner for health care reform.
Warning: Contains frank discussion of illness, childbirth, abortion, suicide and racism.
Additional support
Pregnancy and Post-natal support
National Childbirth trust
https://www.nct.org.uk/
Mental health and suicide awareness
https://www.mind.org.uk/
www.samaritans.org
The Samaritans Tel: 116 123
Abortion advice
(www.mariestopes.org.uk)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pauline Black has been called “the Queen of Ska”. She came to prominence in the 1970s as the lead singer of the renowned 2-Tone band The Selecter. Pauline has also been an actress with roles in film and television shows. She is a deputy lieutenant for the West Midlands and was recently awarded an OBE by the King. But throughout her childhood, growing up as an black child adopted by a white family in Essex Pauline says she felt like a “cuckoo, in somebody else nest”. Education and Music were her escapes. As she puts it: “Any band is like a surrogate family.”
Warning: Contains discussions of sensitive subjects including racism, and sexual abuse.
Additional support
www.adoptionuk.org
www.nspcc.org.uk
Michael Morpurgo is a best-selling author who has written more than 130 books and whose stories
have been turned into plays and films watched by everyone from the late Queen to schoolchildren.
His books include War Horse, Kensuke’s Kingdom and Private Peaceful.
He became Children’s Laureate in 2003. Michael was a teacher before turning to writing and still loves reading stories in classrooms around the country.
But his childhood was far from a fairy tale. He talks candidly to Rachel and Alice about being a War baby; living with a depressed mother and disciplinarian step father. He relates tales of visiting India with the Queen aged 16, dropping out of the Army; and the shock discovery of his real father’s identity whilst watching TV one Christmas.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sir Keir Starmer is a politician, who grew up in Surrey and worked as a barrister before becoming an MP. He specialised in human rights law and rose through the ranks to become Director of Public Prosecutions before being awarded a knighthood 2014.
His progress into the establishment was completed when he was elected to parliament the following year and in 2020 he became leader of the Labour Party.
Now if the polls are to believed Keir Starmer may be prime minister after the next general election.
But his childhood was far from easy. Keir talks candidly to Rachel and Alice about growing up in a small pebble dashed house with six humans and four dogs, where money was tight and the phone was cut off. He shares bittersweet memories of early years overshadowed by his mother’s degenerative, disabling illness and frequent critical stays in hospital high dependency units.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Maggie O’Farrell is a novelist who has won multiple awards for her best selling books.
In 2007 she was named as one of Waterstones 25 authors of the future and her recent book Hamnet won The Women's Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her new novel out in August 2022 called The Marriage Portrait is much anticipated by her many fans.
But despite her success as a writer, Maggie’s life has been littered with misfortunes and sliding door moments. Rachel and Alice sit down with Maggie to talk about the life threatening illness she suffered with as a child, a near miss of drowning as a teenager and her encounter with a stranger on a dark night who she later found out was a murderer.
Marie Curie: www.mariecurie.org.uk
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
SAMM: www.samm.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Evanna Lynch played one of J K Rowling’s most loved characters, Luna Lovegrove, in the Harry Potter films.
Evanna always identified with Luna rather than Hermione or Harry or Ron when she grew up reading the books but never thought she would one day become pen pals with the author or end up acting her heroine.
But despite her successful career she’s been in constant conflict with herself throughout most of her life. At the age of 11 Evanna reveals that her eating disorder had fully consumed her and one of the only things that she found offered a form of escapism was reading the Harry Potter books.
Now she’s written a book: The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and Glory of Growing Up.
Beat Eating Disorders: www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
The Performing Arts Children's Charity: www.pachildrenscharity.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
Richard Branson is one of Britain’s best-known entrepreneurs who is as much a brand as a businessman and a billionaire.
Sir Richard Branson has run everything from trains to planes, a record company and a bank. His Virgin Group now controls more than 400 companies, he has his own island and even a rocket.
But despite his life looking picture perfect from the outside, Richard has come up against challenges just like you and I. Rachel sits down with Richard to talk about living with severe dyslexia, leaving school at 15 years old to conquer the world of business and how he’s learnt to manage his ‘yes man’ personality.
BDA: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Virgin Unite: www.unite.virgin.com
Future First: www.futurefirst.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
Wes Streeting is a Labour politician who is already being tipped as a potential future leader of his party. He is a former president of the National Union of Students, who worked for the Blairite campaign group Progress before winning his Ilford North parliamentary seat from the Conservatives in 2015. He then served as shadow Secretary of State for child poverty before becoming shadow health secretary.
Wes Streeting is a centrist who supporters say could win back the party’s traditional working-class voters without alienating middle England. He is a gay Christian Cambridge graduate who is also tough on crime and patriotic.
But this rising star of the Labour Party hasn’t had an easy time climbing the ladder. Rachel and Alice sit down with Wes to talk about his childhood experiences growing up in poverty on a council estate in East London and how grandparents, who spent time in prison, impacted his life.
CPAG: www.cpag.org.uk
UK Community Foundations: www.ukcommunityfoundations.org
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Richard Coles has been both a chart-topping pop star and a Church of England vicar. He had a number one hit single with The Communards in the 1980s and now Richard Coles is a successful broadcaster and author who has just published his debut novel Murder Before Evensong. He is as his beloved husband David, who died in 2019, used to say a “borderline national trinket”.
But his life hasn’t always been so rosy. Rachel and Alice sit down with Richard to talk about his father’s business collapsing when he was 13, his “mental crisis” after coming out to his mother at the age of 16 and how he was never allowed to have a church wedding to the man he loved.
Cruse: www.cruse.org.uk
NAT: www.nat.org.uk
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
Henry Marsh is the world’s best-known neurosurgeon who has spent the last forty years doing some of the most technical and delicate operations in the world on the brain. Rachel and Alice sit down with Henry to discuss his story of saving lives under intense pressure from Nepal to Ukraine as well as in the UK. And how he is now navigating his own journey of living with cancer after witnessing a vast amount of dying and death, grief and bereavement in his career.
MUCH LOVED: www.muchloved.com
The National Brain Appeal: www.nationalbrainappeal.org
DEC: www.dec.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
Nadhim Zahawi is an Iraqi-born British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education since September 2021. Rachel and Alice sit down with Nadhim to talk about his turbulent childhood where he fled to the UK at age 11 during Saddam Hussein's early years in power, his father’s bankruptcy and how this left his family penniless and on benefits, and how his drive and charisma led him to establishing a firm place within parliament.
CARE: www.careinternational.org.uk
SARI: www.saricharity.org.uk
Barnardos: www.barnardos.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont
Series producer: Ben Mitchell
Tom Kerridge is a broadcaster and multiple Michelin star winning chef. Rachel and Alice travel to his pub The Coach in Marlow to talk about his parents divorce, his father's death after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and turning his own life around after years of overindulgence of food and alcohol whilst working 100 hour weeks as a young chef.
HOOP: www.hoopuk.org.uk
FareShare: www.fareshare.org.uk
Drink Aware: www.drinkaware.co.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Minnie Driver is an actor and musician who has released three studio albums and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Good Will Hunting. Rachel and Alice meet Minnie in a south London apartment to talk to her about her new memoir "Managing Expectations", her unconventional unconventional childhood, the shock of coming to terms with fame and overcoming sexism in the industry from Harvey Weinstein.
Fawcett: www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
Gingerbread: www.gingerbread.org.uk
Acting for Others: www.actingforothers.co.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is a 16 time Paralympic medallist and now sits as a Cross Bench Independent Peer in the House of Lords. Rachel and Alice visit Tanni in the Palace of Westminster to talk to her about growing up with spina bifida and overcoming derogatory comments from strangers in the street as a child to become one of Team GB's most decorated Paralympians.
Scope: www.scope.org.uk
Shine: www.shinecharity.org.uk
WheelPower: www.wheelpower.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Justin Webb is a broadcaster who has spent almost four decades at the BBC; from North American Correspondent to co-presenter on Radio 4's Today programme. He joins Rachel and Alice in the studio to talk about the impact never meeting his father had on him, the mental health struggles that he experienced his step-father suffer from, and the bullying he faced at boarding school.
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Kidscape: www.kidscape.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Ugo Monye is a broadcaster, Question of Sport captain and former England international rugby player. Rachel and Alice welcome Ugo to the studio to talk about his father leaving the family home, being racially abused at nursery and overcoming social class structures at school to succeed on the pitch.
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Wooden Spoon: www.woodenspoon.org.uk
Show Racism the Red Card: www.theredcard.org
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to even more extraordinary people about how they overcome moments in their early lives achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of England and British & Irish Lions star Ugo Monye, Academy Award nominated actor Minnie Driver and Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge.
New episodes every Monday.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Peter Kyle MP is a Labour politician and the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland. He sits down with Rachel and Alice to discuss his life-long tussle with dyslexia, growing up as as a gay schoolboy under Section 28, and coming to terms with his mother's departure when he was a child after running away with his father's best friend.
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
British Dyslexia Association: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Dame Rose Tremain is the multi award-winning novelist and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Rachel and Alice join Rose in her home to talk about her difficult life at boarding school in France, defying doctors with her cancer treatment and growing up with a mother who she doesn't think ever loved her.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Action for Children: www.actionforchildren.org.uk
Voices in the Middle: www.voicesinthemiddle.com
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Rob Rinder MBE is a barrister, broadcaster and host of Judge Rinder. He speaks to Rachel and Alice about how homophobia, anti-Semitism and his grandfather's experiences during the holocaust informed who he is today.
Buttle UK: www.buttleuk.org
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Jewish Blind & Disabled: www.jbd.org
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Lucy Ditchmont
James Rebanks is a British author and farmer. Rachel and Alice join him at his farm to discuss his childhood acting out at school to shake off his rural roots, leaving school at 15, and how the death of his grandfather forced a rift between him and his father.
Right to Succeed: www.righttosucceed.org.uk
The Princes Countryside Fund: www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk
The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution: www.rabi.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Huma Abedin is an American political staffer who worked as Hillary Clinton’s top-advisor for 25 year. She speaks to Rachel and Alice from America about how her childhood in Jeddah, coming to terms with her father's death, and her husband's sexting scandal - not only destroyed their marriage but potentially damaged Hillary's bid to become President.
Fumble: www.fumble.org.uk
Runnymede Trust: www.runnymedetrust.org
Macmillan Cancer Support: www.macmillan.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Ebony Rainford-Brent MBE is a broadcaster World Cup winning cricketer and Director of Women's Cricket at Surrey CCC. She sits down with Rachel and Alice and speaks candidly about the injury that left her unable to walk for a year, the impact the murder of her brother when she was five, and how she dealt with race in cricket.
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Lives Not Lives: www.livesnotknives.org
Show Racism the Red Card: www.theredcard.org
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Jay Blades MBE is a broadcaster, furniture restorer and host of the Repair Shop. He joins Rachel and Alice to talk about how dealing with racism at school, his divorce and battling with his mental health has helped him to become the man he is today and allowed him to mentor others including Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org
The Black Fund: www.theblackfund.co.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Sir James Dyson is a farmer, businessman and world known for vacuum cleaners and strawberries. Rachel and Alice visit him at the Dyson Institute to talk about how the death of his father when he was just nine drove him to create and to become Britain's richest man.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Winston's Wish: www.winstonswish.org
Child Bereavement UK: www.childbereavementuk.org
James Dyson Foundation: www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Lawrence Chaney is the reigning champion of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK. They join Rachel and Alice in the studio to discuss how they overcame the violent bullying they received at school, struggling with their gender identity and how they found their true-selves through drag.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Bullies Out: www.bulliesout.com
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Mermaids: www.mermaidsuk.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Dr Waheed Arian is an Afghan refugee, leading radiologist and recently announced as the UK's Best Doctor at The Sun’s Who Cares Wins awards. He joined Rachel and Alice in the studio to discuss how he fled Afghanistan arriving in Britain illegally and alone at 15, self-schooled his way out of a youth detention centre and into Cambridge University to study medicine and how he set-up his own charity providing phone consultations to the sick in war zones.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Arian Teleheal: www.arianteleheal.com
Refugee Action: www.refugee-action.org.uk
British Medical Association: www.bmacharities.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Shirley Ballas is a ballroom dance champion who became known as 'The Queen of Latin' and is now the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing. She joins Rachel and Alice to talk about the struggles of leaving home at 15 to become a professional dancer, the impact of the sudden death of her brother, and how the bullying and abuse she feels she has suffered both in and out the industry spurred her on to succeed.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
Alder Hay Hospital: www.alderhey.nhs.uk
Action for Children: www.actionforchildren.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Angela Rayner MP is the Member or Parliament for Ashton under Lyne and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. She sat down with Rachel and Alice to relive her childhood on a council estate in Stockport where she began caring for her mother at the age of 10 as she couldn't read or write and suffered from Bipolar disorder, became pregnant at 15 and left school a year later at 16 without any qualifications.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Bipolar UK: www.bipolaruk.org
Young Mums Support Network: www.ymsn.co.uk
The Honeypot Children's Charity: www.honeypot.org.uk
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to even more extraordinary people about how they overcome moments in their early lives achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of the Ru Paul's Drag Race Champion Lawrence Chaney, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas.
New episodes every Monday.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org
Mary Portas, aka Mary Queen of Shops, is a retail consultant, broadcaster and was chosen to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets by the then Prime Minister David Cameron. She speaks candidly to Rachel and Alice about the impact that the sudden deaths of both of her parents had on her as a teenager, and what it meant to be part of one of the first gay couples to legally marry in the UK.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Action for Children: www.actionforchildren.org.uk
Child Berevement UK: www.childbereavementuk.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Eddie Marsan is one of the UK's best character actors; appearing in films such as Sherlock Holmes, Tyrannosaur and Deadpool 2. He joins Rachel and Alice from his home and opens up about a childhood surrounded by racist, homophobic and domestic violence, coming to terms with his own spirituality, and fighting an internal class war.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Reclaim: www.reclaim.org.uk
Acting for Others: www.hactingforothers.co.uk
Stand Against Racism & Inequality: www.sariweb.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Sir Damon Buffini is a businessman and Chairman of the National Theatre, Royal Anniversary Trust and the Ryder Cup Committee. Rachel and Alice join him at his home to talk about overcoming the racism he faced at University, chairing the government's Cultural Recovery Fund, and how the work ethic instilled in him as a child drove him to become the most powerful black man in Britain.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org
The Prince’s Trust: www.princes-trust.org.uk
Buffini Chao Foundation: www.buffinichao.com
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Ed Balls is a broadcaster, former Labour Politician and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and the winner of Celebrity Best Home Cook 2021. He talks openly to Rachel and Alice about his time in government, how he overcame the bullying he faced as a child and why he kept his lifelong stammer a secret.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Bullies Out: www.bulliesout.com
Young Minds: www.youngminds.org.uk
The Brittish Stammering Associtation: www.stamma.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE is an actor, playwright and Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss the impact the TV series Roots had on his identity, the racial violence he witnessed as a child in 80's London and how his career has taken him from an ambulance driver in Casualty to leading one of the UK's biggest theatres.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Stop Hate UK: www.stophateuk.org
Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org
Theatre's Trust: www.theatrestrust.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Esther McVey MP is the former Minister of State for Housing has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2017. She joins Rachel and Alice from her office in Westminster to reveal how her life began in the care of Barnardo's, before being returned to her parents and going on to become children's tv presenter and a politician.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
If Chloe Can: ifchloecan.org.uk
Barnardo's: www.barnardos.org.uk
The Children's Society: www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Douglas Stuart's debut novel, Shuggie Bain, brought him international acclaim after winning the 2020 Booker Prize. One year on from it's publication he joins Rachel and Alice from his home in New York to reveal just how much he and Shuggie have in common, the ways he coped with his mother's alcoholism as a child, and the dangers he faced growing up gay in 1980's Glasgow.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Scottish Book Trust: www.scottishbooktrust.com
National Association for Children of Alcoholics: www.nacoa.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Nadiya Hussain MBE rose to fame after winning The Great British Bake Off back in 2015. She talks to Rachel and Alice about the way her life has changed since then and how the abuse that she faced as a child inspired her to be a force for change.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
Blueprint for All: www.blueprintforall.org
The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Nigel Owens MBE became the first referee to take charge of 100 Rugby Union international games before his retirement last autumn. He joined Rachel and Alice from his farm in Wales, where he opened up about coming to terms with his sexuality, the devastating impact it had on his mental health, and how rugby saved him after he tried to take his own life.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust: www.wrct.co.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Andy McNab is one of the UK's most decorated former soldiers and has become a bestselling author of military fiction. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss his childhood in the borstal system and juvenile detention and how creating a story about his daughter in his mind helped him survive torture in Iraq.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
Help for Heroes: www.helpforheroes.org.uk
The Armed Forces Charity: www.ssafa.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Jacqueline Gold CBE is the CEO of Ann Summers, Vice-President of The Children's Trust and one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. She sits down in her home with Rachel and Alice and opens up about her parent's divorce, surviving sexual abuse and turning her trauma into a positive by empowering women in both the bedroom and the boardroom.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org
Cruse Bereavement Care: www.cruse.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Professor Green, Stephen Manderson, is one of the UK's most successful rappers and mental health campaigners. He joins Rachel and Alice to talk candidly about being brought up on an East London council estate by his grandmother, struggling with depression and how his father's suicide made him re-evaluate his own life.
Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
National Suicide Prevention Alliance: www.nspa.org.uk
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to extraordianry people who have overcome trauma or adversity in their early lives to achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of the rapper Professor Green, CEO of Ann Summers Jacqueline Gold CBE and 2020 Booker Prize winning author Douglas Stuart.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Ade Adepitan describes how, despite losing the use of one leg due to polio as a toddler in Nigeria, he forged a career encompassing sport, broadcasting and writing, winning many medals for wheelchair basketball, tennis and dance. Which was the biggest challenge: overcoming the racism he faced in East London in the 1970’s, poverty or contemporary attitudes towards disabled people?
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Lord John Bird, founder of ‘The Big Issue’ Magazine, describes how he overcame poverty, crime and homelessness to become a member of the House of Lords. In this frank interview John Bird discusses the harsh realities of urban poverty in twentieth century England, the orphanage system and the skills he learnt to survive a life on the streets.
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Lord Stuart Rose, Baron Rose of Monewden, is a millionaire businessman. He was knighted for his services to the retail industry and has been CEO of many companies including Marks and Spencers, Ocado and Fat Face. But his success is in start contrast to the lives of his parents who were dogged with financial adversity, mental health, illness and, ultimately, suicide. In this frank interview Stuart Rose discusses his family’s immigrant work ethic; a childhood in Africa and in Quaker Boarding school; and the impact of his mother’s tragic death.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Tom Daley, the champion British diver, discusses the impact of childhood stardom, bullying and the devastating loss of his father: ‘my biggest cheerleader’. Tom reveals his deeply romantic side, his passion for parenthood and, astonishingly, his lifelong fear of diving off the top board.
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Former chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid talks about growing up with four brothers, children of immigrants from Pakistan, sharing a two bedroom house in one of Bristol's most notorious areas. Sajid describes how he overcame racism and low educational expectations to forge a stellar political career and to hold some of the most influential positions in British Government.
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Poet and Booker Prize Judge, Lemn Sissay MBE shares the harrowing but compelling story of his childhood. Stolen from his birth mother and rejected by foster parents, Lemn endured years of mistreatment with the UK care system. Today he is one of Britain's most renowned poets and literary figures.
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Baroness Aminka Helic, a former refugee describes fleeing the war in Bosnia, with only her black leather jacket and her extraordinary journey to the Foreign Office and the House of Lords.
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The actor Brian Cox discusses growing up in poverty in Dundee after his father died when he was 8, and how witnessing his mother’s attempted suicide made him know he could survive anything.
You can now listen to Past Imperfect and all the other podcasts from The Times, on the Times Radio app. To download the app just go to your app store and search 'Times Radio'.
Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, discusses her two near-death experiences and the battles with depression and self-harm that gave her the resilience for politics.
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In his fifties, the Nobel Prize winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse made a shocking discovery that revealed that his childhood was based on secrets and lies. No-one in his family was who he thought they were. Paul discusses his remarkable scientific achievements, his educational triumphs and the importance of failure, and how the unravelling of his own genetic certainties affected his life, his work and his views on nature versus nurture.
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Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson visit home, craft and property guru Kirstie Allsopp, in Devon, to talk ironing napkins, being a young carer and DIY funerals. Kirstie reveals how her mother’s strong personality and long illness shaped the person her daughter became, and Kirstie's focus on creating the perfect home in both her own life and in her career.
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Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson spend a morning with Tony Blair, talking TV, politics and parenting. “My father would have been a Brexiteer” he says. He reveals how his father's stroke and his mother’s death shaped the person he became, his own political approach, and the family he and Cherie created.
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Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson talk to outstanding people about the traumatic events in their early life, and the effect it had on their drive to succeed. Guests in the first series include Tony Blair, Lemn Sissay and Kirstie Allsopp
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.