March 5, 2021
Sarah Churchwell is Chair in Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of London. She's an expert in 20th-century American literature, culture and history and has written four highly acclaimed books: The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, What Americans Like, Careless People and Behold America. She writes for newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, is a regular guest on TV and radio and has judged the Booker Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the David Cohen Prize for Literature. She talks about the return of the expert, the power of scholarship and how to fight falsehood and fascism in a pandemic.
February 26, 2021
Harriet Minter is a journalist, speaker, broadcaster and coach. The founder of the Guardian’s Women in Leadership initiative, she has written about leadership, diversity and the future of work for publications ranging from The Times to Marie Claire and Psychologies. She presents Badasswomen’s Hour for Talk Radio, has given two Ted X talks and currently has two new books out, Great Ted Talks Leadership: An Unofficial Guide to Words of Wisdom from 100 TED Speakers and WFH: How to Build a Career You Love When You’re Not in the Office. She talks about how to work out what you really want and how to build your brand, even when the idea of it makes you wince.
February 19, 2021
Ayesha Hazarika is a broadcaster, journalist, political commentator and award-winning stand up comedian. She was a Labour Party special adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband from 2007 to 2015. She now presents her own show on Times Radio, is a columnist for the Evening Standard, the Scotsman and the i paper and a regular guest on TV and radio shows ranging from The Andrew Marr Show to Have I Got News for You. Her first book, Punch and Judy Politics was one of the top ten bestselling political books of 2018. Ayesha was awarded an MBE in 2016. She talks about politics, comedy, power - and finding joy at work.
February 12, 2021
Daisy Buchanan is an award-winning journalist, author and host of the chart-topping podcast, You’re Booked. She has written two highly acclaimed works of non-fiction, How To Be A Grown Up and The Sisterhood, has written for almost every national newspaper and magazine and has been an agony aunt for Grazia and a columnist for The Pool. Her first novel, Insatiable, is a sizzling, funny, tender portrayal of lust and the search for love. She talks about millennials and money, desire in a time of "Me Too", mental health in a pandemic and owning ambition.
February 5, 2021
David Bodanis is a bestselling author, speaker, futurist and polymath. His books include E = mc2, which was translated into 24 languages and made into a ballet, Electric Universe, Passionate Minds and The Art of Fairness. He has been a popular speaker at Davos and big corporates and for many years taught the “Intellectual toolkit” course at Oxford. He talks about how to write a bestseller - and how nice guys (and girls) can win.
January 29, 2021
Viv Groskop is a writer, stand-up comedian, TV and radio presenter, executive coach and one-woman powerhouse. She's the host of the chart-topping podcast, How to Own the Room, which is also a bestselling book and has published two literary self-help books, The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature and Au Revoir Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature. Her new book, Lift As You Climb explores the challenges and joys of combining generosity with ambition. She talks about money, power and finding fun at work - yes, even now.
January 22, 2021
Dame Sarah Connolly is one of the world’s leading mezzo-sopranos. She is well known for roles ranging from Caesar in Handel’s Giulio Cesare to Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She has sung in many of the world’s great opera houses, won masses of awards for her work, and was awarded a DBE in 2017. She talks about the “balls of steel” she developed in her childhood, what she has learnt from playing men and what it’s like when a pandemic collides with cancer.
January 15, 2021
Guy Spier is a Zurich-based investor whose Aquamarine Fund has achieved market-beating returns. He studied at Oxford with David Cameron and then at Harvard Business School and started his fund after a disastrous stint at a company that wrecked his reputation and made him unemployable. He's the author of a bestselling book, The Education of a Value Investor and a regular commentator in the media. He talks about greed, shame - and what really matters.
August 31, 2020
Phil Jones worked on a children's play bus, at a refuge for teenage runaways and as a gardener before training as a journalist. He has worked on The Jeremy Vine Show (and its predecessor The Jimmy Young Show) for 30 years. He thought Covid was just like flu, but when he woke up with it, on the first day of lockdown, he found out it wasn't. In this podcast, he talks about his brush with mortality, how public broadcasting can help the culture wars and why he's changed his mind about Brexit.
August 24, 2020
Adam Hamdy planned to become a lawyer. Instead, he worked as a strategy consultant and as a tech entrepreneur before breaking into Hollywood as a screenwriter and becoming a bestselling author of thrillers. But he knows about struggle. The son of an Egyptian father who worked as a waiter in the UK, he was once so hard up that he had to burn his own furniture. In this podcast, he talks about an accidental career, dramatic changes in direction and his attempts to help us find a vaccine.
