How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

TW // descriptions of self-harmRussell Kane is a comedian, novelist, playwright, podcaster, memoirist and presenter. He's know for his sell-out stand-up gigs across and for his TV work, including Live At the Apollo and Celebrity Juice. Plus he has two -count 'em - podcasts, Evil Genius and Man Baggage.I think Russell is genuinely one of the smartest people I've ever interviewed and his mind functions at about three times the speed of everyone else's. It was a real honour to talk to him, especially because he's a fan of the podcast and came ready, willing and able to open up. His failures include his inability to relax, his 20s and his failure to be fully authentic. And, for the first time ever, he opens up about his experiences with self-harm, and how he finally sought help during one of the darkest episodes of his life.This is such a riveting and enlightening listen. Thank you so much, Russell.And this is the last episode of the season - but don't worry, you know me, we'll be back with a couple of brilliant bonuses before you know it.--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com--Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Russell Kane @russell_kane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As well as being a stone-cold legend, Asim Chaudhry is probably best known for co-creating the BAFTA-award-winning mockumentary sitcom People Just Do Nothing and if you’ve ever been on a British Airways flight and paid attention to the safety video, you’ll recognised him instantly as the inept director of a sketch involving national treasures Sir Michael Caine and Olivia Colman. He's an actor, writer, director and musician. And he's also hilarious.He joins me to chat about failing drama class and being kicked out of school with two GCSEs, the time he got deported from America (no, really) and a vicious mugging that left him questioning what life was all about. Along the way we discuss comedy as a defence mechanism, using his dad as creative inspiration and why he wasn't sure about the jeans he was wearing on the day he came to my house.--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com--Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Asim Chaudhry @asimc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Benjamin Zephaniah discusses his failure as a 'gangsta' and his prison sentence. He talks about his struggles with dyslexia and leaving mainstream education. The emotional conversation revolves around his failure to have children and male infertility. The chapter explores the Speaker's journey from a troubled childhood, their dreams, family dynamics, and the story of their mother as part of the Windrush generation. They also touch on chosen family, frustration with history education, institutional inequality, and the power of personal stories.

Warsan Shire, a poet known for her powerful poem on the refugee crisis, talks about her failures in breastfeeding and math, her experience with an eating disorder, the meaning of 'home' and being a refugee. She also discusses her collaboration with Beyonce and the transformative power of support.

Caroline Stanbury, a reality TV star, reflects on her experience on Ladies of London and the challenges of being on a reality TV show. She discusses managing impatience as a multitasking CEO, mother, and wife. Caroline also opens up about the downfall of her business and the power of self-belief. In addition, she gives advice to women in unhappy marriages and emphasizes the importance of constructive pessimism.

My sound engineer Chris is a lovely man, but he is not easily impressed. After an interview, if Chris says 'yeah, that was good' I know I've struck GOLD. Today's episode garnered TWO SEPARATE 'yeah that was good'(s) from Chris which is why I know it's a very special one. And of course it would be, because my guest is the truly wonderful Michael Rosen. He is the author of more than 200 books, including some of the most beloved children’s stories of all time. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is one of his, a book which is now (terrifyingly) over 30 years old. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Michael was one of the first to be hospitalised. He spent 47 days in Intensive Care, some of them in an induced coma and on a ventilator. He returned home in June to discover that his poem, These Are The Hands, had become a viral anthem for NHS care workers.He joins me to talk about all of this, as well as his failures in cricket, academia and health. In one of the most moving conversations I've ever had on this podcast, we also talk about the death of his beloved son Eddie from meningitis at the age of 18 and how Michael still feels (misplaced) guilt over what happened.Thank you Michael for being so open and vulnerable. This is a wonderful listen - but do have tissues nearby.--Michael's latest book, Please Write Soon: a story of Two Cousins in World War II is out now an available to order here: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Please-Write-Soon-by-Michael-Rosen-author-Michael-Foreman-illustrator/9780702303180--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com--Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Michael Rosen @michaelrosenyes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Natasha Brown is the author behind one of my favourite novels of recent years. Assembly runs to 100-pages and has already been compared to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. It was shortlisted for both the Folio and the Goldsmiths Prize, as well as being named the Foyles Bookshop Book of the Year. It tells the story of an unnamed Black British woman working at a bank in the city, who is confronted with the numbing aggression of racist encounters and systems as she confronts a life-or-death decision.When I first met Natasha, I knew I had to get her on the podcast. She is so wise, clever and emotionally intelligent. She talks to me about failures in social media, learning French and a tele-sales job that taught her about the power of language itself. We also discuss how she feels about failure given her objective levels of success, the concept of separating your own identity from what it is you do, race as a construct and what 'privilege' really means (if anything). Also: what she learned from studying Maths at university (yes, she's one of a select bunch of novelists with a Maths degree, including David Foster Wallace...).--Assembly by Natasha Brown is now out in paperback and available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/444/444275/assembly/9780241992661.html--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com--Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Natasha Brown @wordsbynatasha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Todays' guest is Jarvis Cocker: musician, writer, broadcaster. He was the frontman of Pulp, one of the most successful 90s Britpop groups whose hit, Common People, turned Jarvis into a star at the age of 32. He joins me to talk about the vagaries of fame, his failures in acting and academia, abandonment by his father, being raised by a household of women and the impact this has had on him, as well as divorce, co-parenting, clearing out the loft and why ephemera is an important part of our culture. Plus, he gives me a Birmingham-based anecdote that I think might be one of the greatest metaphors for celebrity I've ever heard.Jarvis's book. Called Good Pop, Bad Pop, is out TOMORROW https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1114959/good-pop--bad-pop/9781787330566.htmlHe will be in conversation at the Royal Festival Hall in London at 7.30pm on Friday 27th May. Book here: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/literature-poetry/jarvis-cocker-good-pop-bad-pop--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com---Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Jarvis Cocker @jarvisbransoncocker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ugh. Today's guest is just SO GOOD. Minnie Driver, actress, musician and writer, was nominated for an Academy Award for Good Will Hunting and later starred in TV shows such as Will & Grace and Starstruck. Her (brilliant) debut book is called Managing Expectations and is described as a ‘tell-most memoir’. In her own words, it’s about how things not working out actually worked out in the end.She joins me to talk about her failures in acting, her failure to get an agent or to perform a convincing orgasm at an audition (a crash course in sexism in the industry), her run-ins with Harvey Weinstein, her experiences in the fakery of Hollywood and how that affected her mental health, and her self-perceived failure to get married. We also touch on the death of her beloved mother, becoming a single parent herself and what it means to be a fully-realised woman in her 50s. I adored this conversation - Minnie is so wise and eloquent and has really, truly spent time thinking about what life means. As such, she's the most perfectly imperfect guest.--Minnie's memoir-ish, Managing Expectations is out now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/managing-expectations/minnie-driver/2928377083793--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com---Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Minnie Driver @driverminnie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back, baby! And I thought I'd open this new season with a bona fide SUPERHERO. Because that's just how we roll.My guest today is Simu Liu - the first Asian superhero in the Marvel cinematic universe and the star of the 2019 movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He also appeared in season 4 of Selling Sunset, where Chrishell tried to sell him a house (arguably the real achievement, amirite?). Simu was born in China. His parents were products of Mao's Cultural Revolution and ended up emigrating to Canada. Simu was raised by his grandparents for the first four years of his life before being taken to Canada, where he couldn't speak the language. It was an early lesson in resilience - one he would never forget.Simu joins me to talk about this, as well as his failed accountancy career, a formative heartbreak and failing to get a part in Crazy Rich Asians. Along the way we discuss 'the white gaze' and marginalisation in Hollywood, the dark days of his adolescence when he rebelled against his parents restrictive (and sometimes abusive) behaviour and...well, menstruation. Plus: how he's still friends with Chrishell and what it's like filming Greta Gerwig's Barbie.I adored our conversation because Simu came so willing to own every single one of his failures. His experience of heartbreak from a straight, male perspective was fascinating to me. And he's so smart I could just listen to him for days.--Simu's memoir, We Were Dreamers, is published next week! Pre-order it here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/we-were-dreamers/simu-liu/9780008546472--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com---Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Simu Liu @simuliu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices