Crisis What Crisis?

Andy Coulson

Crisis What Crisis? provides authentic, judgement-free and useful storytelling from those who have been at the brutal, sometimes life threatening, sharp end of crisis and who survived and thrived in the process. Host Andy Coulson’s own background as a newspaper editor, Downing Street Communications Director, one-time inmate of HMP Belmarsh and now sought-after adviser to CEOs, allows him to bring a unique perspective to these conversations.

Episodes

Mentioned books

Jan 6, 2025 • 50min

Live from the CBI Conference: Dawn Airey on breaking down barriers, failure and leadership resilience

In our first live podcast recording at the 2024 CBI Annual Conference, Andy speaks to Dawn Airey CBE, one of the most remarkable figures in British media. In front of an audience of business leaders and policy makers, they discussed resilience and reputation along with the crises and triumphs that have defined her career. Dawn has spent her career thriving on challenge, and along the way earned a reputation as a bold and unapologetic trailblazer. For some who couldn’t keep pace she became Scary Airey or Zulu Dawn. From her early days at ITV navigating a world she has described as rampantly sexist, to launching Channel 5 where her passionate leadership and sharp vision put the channel on the map, Dawn’s career has been nothing short of a masterclass in resilience. But it has also included some significant setbacks, including when she left Sky TV to join what she thought would be a global media business, but which turned out to be something, just eight days later, to something very, very different. Today, as Chair of the Women’s Super League, Dawn is shaping the future of women’s football. In this short episode she provides some brilliant lessons for anyone looking to be a stronger leader. Links CBI: https://www.cbi.org.uk/articles/2024-annual-conference-highlights/Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson PartnersHost – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering, Linus Fielder, Linus DiffordWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global    For all PR and guest approaches please contact – podcast@coulsonpartners.com

Nov 25, 2024 • 1h 1min

100th guest special - Singer Katie Melua on teenage fame, a psychotic breakdown and how she found her way back

Selling 11 million albums, more than a million concert tickets and picking up 56 platinum awards along the way, Katie Melua is one of Britain’s most successful singer songwriters. In this episode, she takes us on a very candid and emotional journey - from Georgia to Belfast to London and to fame at just 19 years old where she was thrown immediately onto the treadmill of recording, tours and promotion. But the impact of her sudden stardom took a heavy toll on Katie’s mental health. In 2010 she suffered an acute psychotic breakdown. In frankly frightening detail, Katie tells us what happened but also shares the actionable, practical tools and insights that helped her find a way back to herself. Katie’s is a story of epic success but also of trauma and of recovery … all of it in the public gaze. An amazing conversation with our 100th guest. Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiemeluaofficial/Website: https://katiemelua.com/ Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson Partners Host – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering, Linus DiffordWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global    For all PR and guest approaches please contact – podcast@coulsonpartners.com

Nov 18, 2024 • 4min

Bonus Episode: David Holmes' Crisis Comforts

On January 28th, 2009, a rehearsed stunt on set of Harry Potter went horrifically wrong. David, who had been the lead stunt double for his friend Daniel Radcliffe for a decade, was left paralysed from the chest down. His is a story of acceptance, of finding positives in the darkest of places and of the power of human spirit. Here are his three crisis comforts which helped and continue to help him reject bitterness about his old life and instead pursue a different life … one full of meaning and purpose. Full episode https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/harry-potter-stuntman-david-holmes-on-finding-purpose-and-positivity-beyond-paralysis/Links David’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidholmes83/?hl=enBook The Boy Who Lived: https://amzn.eu/d/auagBtqDocumentaryDavid Holmes: The Boy Who Lived: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0CN4X1Q8B/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r Charities: The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital: https://www.rnohcharity.org/Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson PartnersHost – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering, Linus DiffordWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global    For all PR and guest approaches please contact – podcast@coulsonpartners.com

Nov 11, 2024 • 57min

101. Harry Potter stuntman David Holmes on finding purpose - and positivity - beyond paralysis

On January 28th, 2009, a rehearsed stunt on set of Harry Potter went horrifically wrong. David, who for a decade was the lead stunt double for his friend Daniel Radcliffe, was left paralysed from the chest down.A number of long and dangerous operations followed, many of them lifesaving. David survived but his condition is degenerative - each year bringing yet more challenge for him.From being an elite gymnast and professional stunt double for the most famous boy in the world at the time… as someone who was defined by their physicality … David’s accident stripped of his identity.His story – told brilliantly in the moving documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived and now in his autobiography - is more than one of survival. It is the story of someone who decided to reject bitterness about his old life to pursue a new one full of meaning and purpose. As David puts it: “I’m having a unique journey on this planet, and I am going to own it.”David is now a podcaster, producer, author … and an inspiration to all that meet him. He is speaking at Creative Folkestone Festival on 21st November. Secure your tickets now: https://www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/whats-on/david-holmes-harry-potterandrsquos-double/?book=566337Thank you David for sharing your remarkable perspective, positivity and wisdom.Links David’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidholmes83/?hl=enBook The Boy Who Lived: https://amzn.eu/d/auagBtqDocumentaryDavid Holmes: The Boy Who Lived: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0CN4X1Q8B/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r Charities The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital: https://www.rnohcharity.org/Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson PartnersHost – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering, Linus DiffordWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global    For all PR and guest approaches please contact – podcast@coulsonpartners.com

Nov 4, 2024 • 4min

Bonus Episode: Lindsay Nicholson's Crisis Comforts

On the face of it, magazine guru Lindsay Nicholson has had a brilliant, glamorous and high-powered career. Yet she achieved all this whilst her own life has been marked with crisis, with drama and the most unimaginable grief. Here are her three crisis comforts which helped and continue to help her survive and thrive through the most extreme and painful experiences. Full episode https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/series/series-7/ Links Lindsay’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsayannenicholson/Lindsay’s X: https://x.com/linsnicholsonBookPerfect Bound: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Bound-memoir-trauma-heartbreak/dp/0008685274 Charities: Riding for the Disabled: https://rda.org.uk/Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bmSome Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson PartnersHost – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering, Linus DiffordWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global   

Oct 28, 2024 • 1h

100. Magazine megastar Lindsay Nicholson’s astonishing lessons on how to cope when life unravels … again and again and again

Lindsay Nicholson transformed some of our best-known magazine titles including Cosmopolitan, Prima and, most famously, Good Housekeeping. On the face of it a brilliant, glamorous and high-powered career for which she was awarded an MBE in 2018. But Lindsay achieved all this whilst her own life was marked with crisis, with drama and the most unimaginable grief. In 1992 Lindsay lost her first husband, the journalist John Merritt, when she was pregnant with their second child, Hope. Five years later, their nine-year-old daughter Ellie died from the same rare form of leukaemia. Lindsay then faced her own ten-year battle with breast cancer. She came through but then, in 2016, in a series of events following a near death car crash, her life unravelled. The result? The end of her second marriage, a lost home, a lost job and – for a while – a damaged reputation. A set of circumstances that truly took her to the brink. Lindsay’s brilliant new memoir – Perfect Bound is not only a compelling read it’s in many ways a field guide on how to cope when faced with real difficulty. In this episode she shares her astonishing story and the invaluable lessons of how to survive and thrive through the most extreme and painful experiences. Links    Lindsay’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsayannenicholson/Lindsay’s X: https://x.com/linsnicholson Book Perfect Bound: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Bound-memoir-trauma-heartbreak/dp/0008685274 CharitiesRiding for the Disabled: https://rda.org.uk/ Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm   Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk      Your Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682    This podcast is brought to you by Crisis What Crisis? Productions and Coulson PartnersHost – Andy Coulson   CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel PickeringWith special thanks to Ioana Barbu and the brilliant people at Global    For all PR and guest approaches please contact – podcast@coulsonpartners.com

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!

Get the app