Crisis What Crisis?

Pauline Stonehouse found herself at the centre of what is one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice. Between 2000-2015, the post office bullied and prosecuted more than 700 innocent sub post masters and post mistresses. Those prosecutions carried out by the post office’s criminal law division were based on evidence gathered from a recently installed but as it turned out fatally flawed computer system. Some went to prison following convictions for false accounting and theft. Many were financially ruined and shunned by their communities. Others died before their names were cleared. Pauline was forced into bankruptcy, lost her home and in 2007 was convicted of six counts of false accounting. Convictions which were formally overturned only very recently.This is an appalling story of an entirely unnecessary crisis, driven by a misguided, institutional belief that hundreds upon hundreds of sub post masters were not pillars of their communities but instead that they were all, individually and quite independently – sophisticated criminals. In Pauline’s case, the post office decided to trust a machine over a mum and an employee who was both respected and experienced. And then they set out to ruin her life, with her husband and two daughters as collateral damage.This was a very British scandal, uncovered with thanks to journalists like the brilliant Nick Wallis and those victims are now set to get compensation.Pauline handled the unravelling of her happy life with incredible strength, without a hint of self-pity and as you’ll hear, with a heavy reliance on her sense of humour – a much undervalued crisis tool.This is the story of an ordinary woman thrown into the centre of a truly extraordinary crisis and it’s packed with lessons for anyone who has lost or fears they might lose control of their lives.Pauline’s Crisis Cures: 1 – Sense of humour2 – Reading – I love the sense of escaping into another world. I read anything and everything on my kindle. I download books constantly. Whatever spikes my fancy. From love stories to thrillers, to historical.. whatever floats my boat at the time3 – Jigsaw puzzles – I love them. A big 2000 piece on my dining table! I’ve been doing them since before my daughter was born. It’s another form of methodical escapism. It occupies your mind in a different way.Links:Justice For Sub postmasters Alliance https://www.jfsa.org.uk/Pauline Stonehouse twitter https://twitter.com/PaulineStoneho2/status/1466494526655283207Nick Wallis’ book – https://amzn.to/3U9sCqPHorizon Scandal Fund - https://www.horizonscandalfund.org/ Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/pauline-stonehouse-on-injustice-scandal-and-survival/ Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Bill Browder describes himself, with justification, as Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy. His best-selling book Red Notice – an autobiography that reads like a thriller - tells the story of how the grandson of one of America’s best-known communists became one of Russia’s most successful capitalists.Bill is founder of The Hermitage Fund which at its peak became not only the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia but the best performing fund in the world. But when Bill fell foul of Putin’s personal agenda, he was suddenly and dramatically kicked out of Russia. Bill reacted by setting out to expose a shocking case of state-sponsored corruption. His lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky was later arrested, tortured and in Nov 2009, whilst in custody, brutally murdered.Bill has since devoted his life to creating a legacy for Sergei and his family.  Something he achieved against the odds with the implementation of The Magnitsky Act – a law to punish Russian human rights violators - since adopted in a number of other countries. To say that this one-man crusade has irritated the Russian President would be an understatement. Putin has repeatedly abused Interpol’s Red Notice system in a number of failed attempts to have Bill arrested and brought to Russia.Bill continues to live in fear that the shifting sands of global politics will somehow allow Putin to one day get his revenge. Bill is certainly no friend of President Trump and fears that were he to return to the White House that this could lead to him being a pawn in a Russian/US deal.Though a staggering story of crisis for Bill, he maintains that it is a much more important one for Sergei and the family that he left behind.  The way in which Bill describes his burden of guilt over the death of his friend, who demonstrated astonishing bravery in the weeks before his death, is deeply moving.But it is the way in which he has come to terms with a life of constant crisis and threat, at least for as long as Putin is in power, which is for me the most fascinating and chilling aspect of this conversation. Bill's Crisis Cures: 1. I have a Peloton in my basement and the worse things get, the harder I work out – so I’m in the best shape when times are really bad.2. I focus on my family. It’s kind of weird to be fighting murderers on the one hand and then being at the school gates.  The normalcy of bringing up a family is incredibly helpful in these situations.3. I listen to country music. There’s a song called ‘Beer For My Horses”. It’s about a bunch of Texas lawmen who after they’ve rounded up a bunch of bad guys and hanged them, serve beer for their horses and Whiskey for their men. I love it.Links:Freezing Order – https://amzn.to/3eDnLhg Red Notice – https://amzn.to/3RJ7AxI Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/bill-browder-on-murder-guilt-and-with-fear/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

In this first episode of our fifth series I talk to Guy Hands - a man who Tom Wolfe would have described as ‘A Master of the Universe’. A private equity titan who through his skill and sheer force of personality has been one of the most successful dealmakers of the last three decades.Not every deal has gone well though – some in fact have gone spectacularly wrong. Most famously his acquisition of EMI was a multi-million-pound failure which still stings. Guy talks with candid honesty about those professional crises and peels back the lid on the secretive world of private equity.But what’s truly remarkable about this episode is not the riches gained or lost. It’s the personal challenges that Guy faced before the success and indeed since, that really makes this a crisis story worth listening to.Challenges like his severe dyslexia – Guy still has a reading age of 13 and the spelling level of a seven-year-old, dyspraxia, chronic OCD and a number of other crippling conditions.Guy’s life under its successful veneer has often been one of significant struggle which at times has taken him to the darkest of places in terms of his mental health. A battle against what he describes (quoting from the World According To Garp) as The Under Toad – the constant fear of being dragged down to disaster.A reminder that whoever you think someone is – however perfect and successful a life they appear to be leading – the reality will almost certainly be something very, very different. Guy’s Crisis Cures:1. Gardens – Being able to smell the garden. If it’s raining a bit softly – even better.2. Yoga – I find it very, very useful. Partly the stretching which I really enjoy. Partly a little bit of physical exercise, but not too much. And partly just to clear my mind to think.3. Listening to music – The one that gets me up when I’m really down is Mama’s & Papas – Dedicated To The One I Love. It has that wonderful line about the darkest time being just before dawn. I can play that line over and over again. Links:Guy's book - https://amzn.to/3xqV5i7https://engagebritain.org Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise Difford Full transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/guy-hands-on-fortune-failure-and-the-fear-of-the-under-toad/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Dr Richard Shepherd (Dick) is an Expert Forensic Pathologist who has conducted over 20,000 post-mortems throughout his illustrious career. Many of these have been in the aftermath of some of the world’s most shocking disasters of recent times – including 9/11, the Clapham rail disaster, 7/7 and the death of Princess Diana.But in 2016 Dick suddenly struggled to separate his work and homelife, something he’d always prided himself on being able to do. It started with a panic attack whilst flying a light aircraft over the town of his first high profile assignment, Hungerford. And it culminated with the simple chink of ice in his wife’s gin and tonic – the moment which, as he says, snapped his links with reality and sent him back to the mortuary at the Bali bombings.Dick is brutally honest during our conversation, about his inability at that moment to carry on, and the dramatic unravelling that followed which led him to consider suicide. Thankfully, with the support of his wife, herself a doctor, and the help of counsellors, Dick made a full recovery and was able to return to his work. Now aged 69, his passion for pathology is as strong as ever. Dick has written two insightful and brilliant books which I urge you to read before the summer ends. They provide a detailed account of what it is to be pathologist and the critical role it plays for us all. Including the ‘inconvenient truths found during a post-mortem’, as Dick puts it, that have ensured justice has been done and answers provided to those who have lost loved ones.Richard’s Crisis Cures: 1. FLYING – It just has nothing to do with my day-to-day life. To climb into my little plane and take off into a blue sky over the coast to France for lunch. Intellectually it is interesting to learn but it’s the freedom and it is a very good clearer of minds.2. MUSIC – I love music of all types. I’m very broad-church. If I’m very stressed it’s Marriage of Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutti – Mozart. When I’m a bit grumpier, it’s the other end of the spectrum – and there’s always, Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall.3. Reading – I’m not very good because I usually fall asleep. Holidays are when I read most. 100 years of solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It’s a tremendous story – I can keep going back to it.The Seven Ages of Death by Dr Richard Shepherd: https://amzn.to/3dcVw8R The Unnatural Causes tour is starting on October 5th – find events at: https://drrichardshepherd.com/eventsUnnatural Causes: https://amzn.to/3QCilAFHost – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/dr-richard-shepherd-on-a-career-immersed-in-crisis-his-unravelling-and-why-brits-are-so-bad-at-death/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Henry Scowcroft is an award-winning science writer for Cancer Research UK.  In 2016, his girlfriend of six years, Zarah Harrison was diagnosed with an aggressive stage four tumour. After a short and brave battle she sadly passed away, with Henry by her side, just as he had been throughout her treatment. Struggling to cope and with a need to understand what had happened, Henry channelled his grief into writing ‘Cross Everything’ – a book which documents both his personal relationship with Zarah and her illness but also their struggle to understand and come to terms with her cancer.The result was a memoir and manual that has been described as the most emotional textbook you will read.In this shortcuts episode, Henry explains how, through his writing, he was able to provide a powerful legacy for Zarah – and a guide for others who face a similar challenge.  It is a detailed and deeply moving conversation about grief, making sense of the unfathomable nature of cancer and recovery. Henry's Crisis Cures: 1 – To carve out time for myself and make sure I’m looking after myself so I can be as helpful to the people around me as I can. 2 – Not getting caught up in the shoulda’ woulda’ coulda’ – there’s always a way to look back at the way you ended up in a situation you’re in and think, ‘if only I’d done X, if only I’d done Y, I wouldn’t be here.  But the fact is, you are where you are.  You’re here now.  Look forward, not backwards.  Focus on the horizon and not over your shoulder.3 – Music – Particularly the guitar which I’ve always loved playing.  I play in a band to this day.  I love listening to music – it’s so powerful at being able to get your head in a different space to where it is.  If you want to weep then music is incredibly good at taking you into that zone.  It was especially important when Zarah died.Crisis Track David Crosby – Traction in the Rain.Links: - https://open.spotify.com/track/0qexU8674Ii6vaeFolN6Gb?si=f5d5685f69d24a80 - https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/donate?gclid=CjwKCAjwsNiIBhBdEiwAJK4kho_CgAZZPfqR3-9lrx5Uj4yHIq7rpM5_OYywkUil1oJdQSY5evX5YBoCD9AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds- Henry's book: https://amzn.to/3DkXtuJHost – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/shortcuts-henry-scowcroft-on-grief-writing-to-recover-and-the-power-of-music/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Our guest this week is Nimco Ali OBE.  A leading survivor activist, author and political strategist.  Born and raised in Manchester, at the age of six whilst on a trip to Somalia with her Grandparents, she found herself caught in the crossfire of a civil war.  Forced to flee and unable to return home, she was for a time a child refugee.  She found safety with her family but the following year, faced an altogether different trauma. Organised and encouraged by her own mother, Nimco underwent the brutality of FGM.   She later became seriously ill as a result of complications from that abuse. The mental scars continued for many years to come.  Despite this Nimco has become one of the world’s most powerful campaigners and activists against FGM – an act that still impacts many millions of women.In this conversation, Nimco speaks impressively about how she managed the impact of her crises including the complex and fractured relationship with her mother and family. To this day she is subjected to intimidation and criticism for breaking the code of silence that too often exists around FGM.In this podcast she talks powerfully about the methods she has deployed to survive and thrive including a sense of humour and a love of The Spice Girls.  Nimco is an extraordinary woman who, through her sheer force of personality and strength of mind, has brought about change in attitudes towards FGM here and abroad.Nimco's Crisis Cures: 1 – Humour – I find it in the people around me.2 – An App called Pattern – it’s about star signs… I’ve become more connected with the idea that our life path is charted before our birth.  I’m a great believer in fate and destiny.  We assume we’re more important than we are, rather than being a grain of sand in a broader conversation.  I hold true to the idea that if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.3 - The Spice Girls – I believe they were fundamental to my activism – a group of women who took on the patriarchy in a different way.  I was once asked what my favourite quote was and I said  –  “If you want to be my lover, you got to get on with my friends”Links:https://www.thefivefoundation.org/Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull mention below: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/nimco-ali-on-the-brutality-of-fgm-intimidation-and-girl-power/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/nimco-ali-on-the-brutality-of-fgm-intimidation-and-girl-power/

For our second Shortcuts episode, we are joined this week by former NFL athlete, Anthony Trucks. Anthony had an incredibly difficult start in life, given up by his mother at the age of three, he was placed into the US foster care system, where he was physically and mentally abused, tortured and starved. At the age of six he was finally placed into a loving family home and at 14 was adopted.Despite the stability, Anthony went dramatically off the rails as a teenager before football rescued him. He went on to play for three NFL teams but, after a career ending injury in 2008 and the death of his Mum he found himself battling severe depression.In this episode Anthony talks fluently and powerfully about how he took control of his life again – by coming to terms with his past, his failures and by focussing on compassion. He’s now a highly successful motivational speaker and creator of The Shift Method of personal development.Anthony’s Crisis Cures:1 – Reframing failure. We make it way worse than it actually is. If you can reframe the failure and find the lesson, you find a way to do better next time. It gives you hope to not have to face the same crisis again in the future.2 – Organisation. The reason a lot of us stay in crisis is we don’t know how to get out of it. We don’t want to take the wrong path, so we take no path. I bring everything down to earth and once I can see it, I can chart a path.3 – Action. Action ends suffering. We sit with emotional feelings with no action to change them. Feelings are born of actions and if you’ve taken an action that’s made you feel this way, the only cure is to take an action in opposition. That moment you don’t want to move, is the moment you must move and do something.Links:https://identityshiftbook.com/Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/shortcuts-15-minutes-with-nfls-anthony-trucks/ Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Today’s guest is Lord Sebastian Coe. Double Olympic Gold Medal winner, politician and driving force of the brilliant 2012 London Olympics. Seb’s career has largely been one of triumph. But as President of World Athletics he has also known what it is to be at the centre of crisis … and to have your own integrity questioned. Seb talks about the ups and downs of his life in compelling and frank detail. And he explains how his resilience – both in times of success and difficulty – came from his Yorkshire upbringing and his father and trainer Peter, a man who survived a truly dramatic war time experience. As Seb says: “The human condition is landscape, it’s geography, it’s family, it’s friendships, it’s influences – with mine I was very lucky. I’m forever indebted.” This is an episode packed with sound, practical crisis advice from a man who has led a remarkable life in the public eye.Sebastian’s Crisis Cures:1 – Friends. If you can count the number of true friends on the fingers of one hand throughout a lifetime then you’re doing remarkably well.2 – Music. I’m a passionate Jazz aficionado – I’ve got thousands of recordings. I find jazz the most mood alerting music. I walked from the warmup track in Moscow to the final of the 1500 in the stadium listening to Sidney Bechet – Just a closer walk with thee’3 – Recognise the absurdity of life. Sometimes you just have to sit back and say, “this is beyond comedic and accept it for what it is.”Links:The Sebastian Coe Foundation – http://www.sebcoe.co.uk/Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/sebastian-coe-on-olympic-crises-integrity-and-a-sense-of-the-absurd/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Chris Difford is a lyricist and co-founding member of 70’s & 80’s new wave pop band Squeeze. With classic hits such as Tempted, Up The Junction, Labelled With Love & Cool For Cats, his contribution to the British music scene has been considerable and long lasting.In this conversation Chris talks with power and candour about the challenges he has endured and survived including addictions and chronic dyslexia which impacted his childhood deeply.Despite being hindered by a stammer and labelled as ‘backward’ by an unsympathetic school system, Chris was determined to follow his dream to join a band and become a songwriter. Squeeze went on, of course, to have huge commercial success both here and in the US.But as the tours stacked up, Chris had clearly started self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, retreating slowly as he says to a ‘very dark place’. His chronic fear of flying and months spent on the road away from his young family began to take their toll and it was only with the intervention of a friend which made him see he had a serious problem, taking him to a treatment centre and helping him on his road to recovery. This week Chris celebrated 29 years of sobriety and continues to ‘pay it back’ in-between touring by holding song-writing workshops in prisons and raising money for food banks and NHS nurses.As Squeeze prepare to be one of the first bands to cross the Atlantic following lockdown restrictions, touring on both sides of the States with Hall & Oates before returning to the UK to tour with Madness, Chris shares his simple approach to keeping life within the four walls of his day. An impactful and heart-warming first Shortcuts episode.Chris’ Crisis Cures: 1. AA/NA Meetings – Listen to what’s going on. Buddy up with somebody – somebody will always be there to hold your hand and make you a cup of tea. You’ll never forget the taste of that cup of tea if you get the message.2. Adopt a piece of music – Have it around you at all times. For me that’s James Taylor “You’ve Got a Friend.” I’ve always loved it. There’s something very moving about the chords and the words. They can lift you out of a dark place.3. Keeping things simple – Don’t live in the past. You can’t regret what you did yesterday because it’s gone, and you can’t know what’s coming in the future. We all like to live in the future but it’s quite dangerous. Living within the four walls of a day is the simplest thing to do. The routine of a day is extremely important.Links:–https://amzn.to/3daHcxC–https://www.madness.co.uk/2021/05/15/madness-special-guests-squeeze-the-ladykillers-tour-2021/–https://chrisdifford.com/–https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk/Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louis DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/shortcuts-15-minutes-with-squeezes-chris-difford/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Scouted at the age of just 16 – Lorraine Pascale was the first black model to appear on the cover of US Elle magazine. She featured in the 1998 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and was photographed by the late Corinne Day for The Face magazine with supermodel, Kate Moss. When the modelling career came to an end, she went on to new heights as a chef, an author and TV presenter, achieving success on both sides of the Atlantic.But her early life was a far cry from her later triumphs. Fostered shortly after her birth, then raised by a woman in the grip of alcohol addiction, she was once more put into the care system, only to endure long years of pain and hardship. Lorraine speaks candidly about this time and how meeting her birth mother much later on, left her convinced that she was a complication she didn’t want, or need in her life.Despite all of the childhood trauma, Lorraine is positive and demonstrates throughout why her no nonsense practical approach to problem solving has earned her the nickname of ‘Mrs Solution Focused’ amongst her friends.Lorraine’s Crisis Cures:1 – Exercise – that’s getting up and going to the gym. Getting on the treadmill and each day trying to beat the previous run. It gives you a great sense of achievement and gets the dopamine going.2 – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – Spring – I have it on repeat. I find it very powerful. Music is a great cure…3 – Constant self-talk – Affirmations. I was dumped on the day my mum died – that’s a crisis. It was the only way I got through it. Things like, “You’re going to be okay, you’re great, you’ve got this…” – It sounds weird, but it really, really works. Links:Tact Fostering https://www.tactcare.org.uk/Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/lorraine-pascale-on-rejection-the-pity-pool-and-making-the-mess-your-message/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/lorraine-pascale-on-rejection-the-pity-pool-and-making-the-mess-your-message/