Podcast

The real Alan Turing – with Sir Dermot Turing

Sir Dermot Turing is the acclaimed author of 7 books including Prof, a biography of his famous uncle Alan Turing. He is brilliant in his own right but has also strived to tell the ‘real’ story of an extraordinary man. As he says himself Alan Turing ‘crammed into a life of only 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his country and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story.’

Want to know how to be happier? Dr. Russ Harris has the answers

Russ Harris is a doctor, therapist & international best-selling author. He’s also hugely passionate, funny and insightful. The approach of ACT which is Russ’s lifeblood is something I first studied and thought was utterly brilliant back in 2003 when I was doing my psychology MSc. It was however so difficult to translate the theory and concepts into something useable. That is what Harris has done – opening it up to literally thousands of people around the world. From every day folk with every day problems through to working with the World Health Organisation helping refugees in Uganda, Syria and Turkey

How much does friendship really matter – with Lydia Denworth

Is your friendship house in order? And how much does friendship really matter? On this episode I speak to Lydia Denworth, an award-winning science journalist who amongst other accomplishments wrote a book called Friendship which explores the science and the incredible power behind connection. She explains how friendship is this amazing bi-product of human evolution which impacts our health far more than we often give credit to. While we give time to other health related activities such as going for a run or watching what we eat friendship can often fall down to the bottom of our list of priorities.’

You are more resilient than you think – with Professor George Bonanno

On this episode Fiona speaks to author and Professor at Columbia University George Bonanno, who challenges how we see many long-standing beliefs about trauma. It’s a hopeful picture that he paints.

From Football Boots to Dr Martens – CEO Kenny Wilson

Some of the topics we explore this week – How a school boy en route to becoming a professional footballer ended up as CEO of Dr Marten’s, why a belief that ‘the harder you work the luckier you get’ can only get you so far, how important it is to love what you do and why no matter how senior or successful you are you still learn from other people.

What neuroscience tells us about autism in children – with Dr. Wu Nordahl

Autism in girls, how the autistic brain experiences anxiety differently to a typical brain and what this looks like in the developing brain – this week Fiona speak’s to the incredible Dr. Christine Wu Nordahl who is a neuroscientist from University California Davis pushing the boundaries on the study of these areas.

From Singapore to Soho House – the journey of Creative Director Nabil Aliffi

Harper’s Bazare described Nabil Aliffi as ‘This London-based Singaporean wunderkind’, I describe him as a friend, coachee and ‘One to Watch’ as he takes his continues to take his career as a Creative from strength to strength.

How Investigative Journalism Brought One Young Woman Up Close & Personal with Weinstein

Some of the topics explored this week with Andrea Thompson – editor in chief Marie Claire – How investigative journalism provides marginalised women with a voice, why the Weinstein scandal happened when it did, and how social media has galvanised communities to create positive change.

The art of insubordination with Dr. Todd Kashdan

In this episode, Fiona talks to psychologist Professor Todd Kashdan about a variety of topics, homing in on the subject of his latest book “The art of insubordination”. Todd explores how diverging from norms isn’t always a bad thing—especially if it’s in pursuit of positive change. But that there is a way to disagree constructively. We also discuss ageism, diversity, communication, intellectual humility and essential life skills.

Walking the Boards from the Westend to the Film Studio with Kirsty Hoiles

Kirsty Hoiles is an actress who has worked extensively in theatre and was appearing as Tanya in the West End production of Mamma Mia before lockdown. Other West End Credits include Betty Blue Eyes, Gone With the Wind and Les Miserables. She also appeared in the movie of Les Miserables. Recent television work includes Call the Midwife, Remember Me, Scandelous Lady W and Close to the Enemy all for the BBC.

The School of Life with Sarah Stein Lubrano

Sarah Stern Lubrano describes herself as “a nice American Jew from New York, who accidentally transplanted to United Kingdom.” Among other things Sarah has done a lot of work for the School of Life is a global organisation that helps people access ideas related to wisdom and resilience, and especially those sorts of qualities in times of difficulty.

From the military to mindfulness – with Major Pat Burgess

Major Pat Burgess has been deployed on operations to Northern Ireland, the invasion of Iraq (and subsequent tours) and a further three tours of Afghanistan. This is perhaps at a juxtaposition with what he has trained in and now advocates to thousands of military personnel – mindfulness.

Presenter and producer – Tim Lovejoy

Tim Lovejoy is a television presenter who’s currently on Channel 4’s ‘Sunday Brunch’ every weekend. On this episode Fiona covers a huge range of topics from serial killers to politicians, why the education system is broken, how people end up where they do in life, social media and how Tim got into TV, including what he learnt from Chris Evans.

How to handle difficult emotions – with Dr. Anna Colton

How do you deal with difficult emotions? On this episode Fiona talk’s to clinical psychologist Dr. Anna Colton, who works across the whole spectrum of mental health to high performance. They discuss how learning to tolerate distress is one of the fundamental foundations to navigating life and living a healthy life. We look at what this actually means and how it plays out in different populations from high performance work environments to the life of teenagers.

How to leave your psychopath – with comedian Maddy Anholt

Maddy Anholt is a comedian, actor, writer and Ambassador for Women’s Aid. Her debut book, How to Leave Your Psychopath is published by Bluebird, Pan Macmillan. While the book is comic and light hearted it also outlines a range of controlling relationships which classify as abusive in ways that often are not talked about – namely emotional abuse. It’s not uncommon to know people in these relationships, which is what makes the book so valuable – it educates and offers guidance.

The coach of coaches in elite sport – Cody Royle

Cody Royle’s book The Tough Stuff: Seven Hard Truths About Being a Head Coach covers things that just aren’t spoken about – the performance not just of the team but of the coach. How for example the emotional toll of not just loss and grief impacts your ability to coach, but so many factors such as media pressure, expectations of the public even selecting and deselecting team members each week. But who coaches the coach? Fiona and Cody talk about this and more including the role Cody himself has taken on as a coach of coaches.

Guys who get it – the men of the women’s movement with Dr Michael Kimmel

On this episode Fiona speaks to Michael Kimmel, one of the world’s leading experts on men and masculinities, someone who the Guardian newspaper called “the world’s most prominent male feminist” and who has also been described as a tireless advocate of engaging men to support gender equality. Among other things they discuss what being a male feminist actually means, how men judge men and what is means to be a ‘real man’ as opposed to being a ‘good man’

The break up monologues – with comedian Rosie Wilby

Rosie Wilby is an award-winning comedian, author and podcaster who has appeared many times on BBC Radio 4 programmes including Woman’s Hour and Four Thought. Her latest book The Breakup Monologues is based on her acclaimed podcast of the same name and is a fantastic read – weaving together humour and science seamlessly. Rosie says this has helped her to make sense of her own narrative, but it does far more than that. It makes sense of it for anyone who has suffered the pain of a breakup.