Afleveringen

  • Anastacia has released eight albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has collected a total of 227 gold and platinum certifications and counts Elton John as one of her biggest fans.

    In 2000, she released "I'm Outta Love", her debut single, which quickly topped charts worldwide and paved the way for her first album, Not That Kind. This year sees her embark on a major arena tour to celebrate that album’s 25th anniversary.

    In this episode we talk about her experience with breast cancer - she underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 after being diagnosed for the second time, dealing with sexism in the music industry and being a mother beyond the traditional sense.





    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    02:32 Brodie Joins the Studio

    03:15 Day Jobs Before Fame

    04:16 Not That Kind at 25

    05:31 Finding Her Sound

    08:25 Celebrity Gig Stories

    11:34 Failures Tech and Glasses

    26:04 Dream Glasses Partnership

    26:57 Tinted Lenses Origin Story

    28:31 Sexism and Image Pressure

    31:45 Redefining Femininity

    32:32 Cancer Advocacy Fire

    37:40 Self Care Birthday Hack

    41:44 Writing Singable Songs

    44:22 Mothering Beyond Biology









    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    Give yourself a self-care birthday - go and get a mammogram

    There are so many different ways to be a mother

     So the word cancer, I didn't like it, but I looked at the first three letters



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Anastacia is celebrating 25 years since the release of her debut album ‘Not That Kind’ and is taking her #NTK2026 on the road

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Shania Twain - took us back to her childhood, where she felt she grew up too fast, singing in smoke-filled bars at a young age. There are some real similarities between these two episodes - see what you think: swap.fm/l/JyU54nvq2muyBpNFq3B9



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Anastacia answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Welcome to the FIRST EVER How To Fail Roundtable - a format we enjoyed so much we might just keep it. Today, Elizabeth is joined by broadcaster, actor, author and comedian Mel Giedroyc, and presenting powerhouse AJ Odudu for a candid conversation about body confidence, midlife reinvention and self-acceptance. Brought to you by Dove Whole Body Deodorant, they discuss navigating public scrutiny, aging, personal experiences of the menopause and the importance of friendship. 

    Together, they explore how honesty, resilience and everyday rituals can help us feel more confident and comfortable in our own skin.







    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 

    00:00 Intro

    02:39 Mel on body confidence

    05:50 AJ on self appreciation

    06:53 Freshness and shoot day hacks

    09:08 Mel career and live TV

    11:46 Screen scrutiny and representation

    18:05 Midlife reinvention begins

    22:15 The Power of Invisibility

    23:51 Slowing Down to Go Deeper

    24:58 AJ on Reinvention and Grief

    27:32 Daily Rituals as Survival

    28:45 Perimenopause Reality Check

    30:47 HRT and Finding Relief

    33:46 Owning ‘No’ and the Crone Era

    35:42 Women Supporting Women Finale









    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Mel: Body confidence, to me, is literally getting closer to the mirror.



    AJ: We don't worship ourselves and honour our bodies in the way that we should. 



    Elizabeth: Everything is data acquisition about the thing that went wrong… you can do better next time or make different choices.







    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:


    Dove Whole Body Deodorant: www.dove.com/uk/collections/whole-body.html


    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content


    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com









    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?


    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories








    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:


    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan  

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • In a career spanning four decades, Dame Kristin Scott Thomas has become one of Britain’s most celebrated actors: Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, The Horse Whisperer, Tell No One and Slow Horses, alongside acclaimed stage work including her Olivier‑winning performance in The Seagull.

    Yet her path was far from straightforward: discouraged at drama school, she moved to Paris as an au pair and rebuilt her training from scratch. Her childhood had already been shaped by profound loss after the deaths of her father and stepfather in near‑identical accidents. She has now channelled these experiences into her directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding, which she also co‑wrote and stars in, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham.

    We talk about her early grief, the emotional armour she built as a teenager, the chaotic experience of filming with Prince, making My Mother’s Wedding, the power of women writing women, her unforgettable Fleabag monologue and the joy and clarity she has found in her 60s.







    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:





    00:00 Intro

    03:15 Reclaiming a Tragic Narrative

    04:59 Joy in her 60s

    06:22 Co Writing With Her Husband

    07:03 Animation and Childhood Memory

    09:07 Casting and Creative Reunions

    12:23 Failure One: Prince Film Debut

    17:06 Fame Theater and Radical Roles

    24:09 Under the Cherry Moon Lessons

    25:28 Failure Two: Teenage Grief

    26:24 Childhood Losses

    27:58 Eldest Sibling Burden

    28:37 Acting Through Sadness

    29:59 English Patient Reflections

    33:19 Four Weddings Role

    36:39 Therapy and Healing

    43:41 Grief Advice and Faith

    45:45 Football and Identity

    49:16 Aging and Gratitude





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    “I wanted to take my past and make it into something positive.”



    “If people enjoy what you do, it’s not bad.”



    “Having children allowed me to see where I’d gone wrong and where I was beating myself up.”



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Kristin’s directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding, is now available in UK cinemas and streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Apple TV

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Rosamund Pike - this episode explores how her career has resisted tidy narratives, how she’s navigated fame without reading reviews for 25 years and how her so‑called “failures” – not getting married, struggling with fear, raising two sons while working, even a disastrous attempt at cooking a rabbit – have shaped her. It’s ultimately about a woman interrogating identity, courage and the stories she tells herself:http://swap.fm/l/tePOA4HZ2PoaBBwudnv7



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Kristin answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • What draws an award-winning writer to the darkest corners of human behaviour? Patrick Radden-Keefe is a New York Times bestselling author and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is known for his acclaimed books, including Empire of Pain and Say Nothing - the latter was adapted into a BAFTA and Emmy-nominated drama series.

    Radden Keefe’s latest book, London Falling, investigates the life and untimely death of Zac Brettler, a North London teenager drawn into the criminal underworld. In this conversation, Patrick reflects on why he is so fascinated by “the bad guys”, how the extraordinary story behind London Falling unfolded and his unconventional writing process.

    Patrick also talks about the years of rejection that preceded his success and how it has shaped him. I hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the world’s finest narrative journalists (oh, and Patrick). JUST KIDDING.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:25 Why He Writes Bad Guys

    05:12 London Falling Origin Story

    08:01 Reinvention and Secret Lives

    10:06 Holocaust Legacy and Lying

    14:58 Carrying Grief and First Failure

    31:47 Parents Read First Drafts

    33:13 Family Themes And Fixations

    34:22 Chasing The New Yorker Dream

    36:49 Rejection Resentment And Drive

    41:14 What To Leave Out

    43:28 Research Outline

    48:13 Screenplays That Never Get Made

    50:51 Growth Outside Comfort Zone







    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    I tend to look at people, even people who do pretty monstrous things, as human beings... The question for me is always, how did they get there? And usually they got there by degrees.



    I'd like to think that the sense of who you are as a person isn't contingent on the dopamine hit of people telling you you've done a good job.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    London Falling is out now: www.patrickraddenkeefe.com

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jon Ronson - another journalistic hero of mine, Jon talked about his love of storytelling, what being bullied at school taught him and why truth-telling is vital: swap.fm/l/3Uwm2GCNCBpHQVZc6dwr

    Malcolm Gladwell - on being mediocre at running, failing to be a friend and whether prejudice can ever be a force for good: swap.fm/l/CxIsEyNtJcyXROPZQCvh



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Patrick answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • *triggers: This episode includes discussion of depression and mental health crises.



    In 1997 Natalie Imbruglia released her first single, Torn, which sold more than 4 million physical copies worldwide. In her homeland of Australia, it became the most played song on the radio, being played an average of 75 times a day over the two decades following its release.

    She landed a part in Neighbours in 1985, when she was just 16 years old, and stayed on the hugely popular soap for two years before moving to London. Her first album, Left Of Middle, went multi-platinum. Five further albums followed but it wasn’t always easy: in 2009 she took a six-year break from music to concentrate on acting, appearing on stage and in film and also as a judge on the Australian X Factor. Since then, she has released further music, become a mother to a son and won The Masked Singer.

    Now she returns with her seventh studio album, Algorithm.

    We talk about how writing this album coincided with the perimenopause, reflect on her time in Neighbours, her experience of dating apps, going through solo IVF to have her son, the sexism she faced in the music industry, plus the wisdom she has found in her 50s.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:08 Making Natalie’s new album Algorithm

    04:55 Neurodivergence and Menopause

    08:59 Death Scrolling

    10:47 Dropped by Label

    16:07 Neighbors and Rejection

    25:35 Dating in Your 30s

    27:15 Rejection Builds Clarity

    27:37 Choosing Love Over Biology

    30:47 IVF Reality Check

    34:13 Single Mother Headlines

    35:48 Manifesting With Lists

    38:11 Living After Torn

    43:53 Sexism and Aging Power







    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    It doesn't matter who it is, never give your power over to another human being. Never think somebody knows you better than you know yourself.



    I'm quite good at being the underdog. I find it much scarier to be at the top, waiting to fall off a pedestal.



    Sometimes the universe is working for you, it just doesn't feel that way at the time.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Natalie’s latest album, ‘Algorithm’ is to be released on 4th September. Pre-order here: republicofmusic.lnk.to/algorithm

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Shania Twain - this episode reflects on a childhood marked by poverty, early fame, loss and self-doubt: swap.fm/l/JyU54nvq2muyBpNFq3B9

    Lily Allen - talks about failing to be famous, body image, children, marital breakdown, addiction and songwriting: swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Natalie answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Hannah Murray found fame when she was just 17, playing the self-destructive Cassie in E4’s Skins. She juggled an English degree at Cambridge University alongside playing Gilly in HBO’s Game Of Thrones and went on to film Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

    When the physical and mental stress required from these roles began to take its toll, Murray sought treatment from a reiki healer. From there, her life began to spiral as she became heavily involved with a ‘healing’ organisation whose promises of real-life magic and enlightenment were increasingly seductive. She ended up being sectioned after a psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

    Now, she has written her first book. The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness is a deeply personal account of these events, written with compulsive lyricism. It takes readers on a journey to the edges of reality, where magic is possible, and where the liminal space between what is real and what is imagined becomes ever more porous.

    In this episode we delve into Hannah’s breakdown and what it taught her. We discuss living with BPD, her decision to quit acting and why, as a society, it’s so important to talk about severe mental health conditions - even if it makes us uncomfortable. Plus: when does our modern obsession with ‘wellness’ go too far?







    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    00:00 Introduction

    04:30 Acting Roles and Emotional Toll

    07:51 The Memoir

    09:17 Traumatic Filming and Aftermath

    11:57 Failure to Be Happy Always

    16:06 Rapture Highs and Bipolar

    18:14 Reiki Rabbit Hole and Cult Questions

    28:50 Wellness as Addiction

    30:25 Hotel Breakdown Begins

    32:17 Exorcism and Delusions

    33:26 Realizing You're Sectioned

    35:18 Medication and Coming Back

    36:12 Shame to Compassion

    42:55 Bipolar Mania Explained

    48:41 Leaving Acting and Moving On







    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    On the nature of modern mental health discourse: "What if I want to talk about when I was drinking my own urine on a psychiatric ward? You can’t really say that at a dinner party... there is still a big taboo around psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, and other conditions that are less palatable and less kind of cozy."



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    The Make-Believe by Hannah Murray is available now in hardback and audio, read by Hannah https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/471422/the-make-believe-by-murray-hannah/9781529155211

    Hannah will be in conversation with Jessie Cave at Kings Place on Friday 5th June. Link to tickets here: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/hannah-murray-in-conversation-with-jessie-cave/

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jennette McCurdy - discusses childhood fame, toxic family dynamics, eating disorders, grief and how reclaiming her own identity after her mother’s death ultimately set her free: swap.fm/l/DqqwmylXlnMvnfOmG53z

    Marian Keyes - the bestselling writer on addiction, creative insecurity and body image: swap.fm/l/3opU8XRCVTQLV4v994U5



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Hannah answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • *triggers: contains description of physical assault



    Emily Atack left school at 16, confident she wouldn’t need a GCSE for what she wanted to do: act. It turns out, she was correct. She starred as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the smash-hit comedy The Inbetweeners when she was just 17 and is currently on our screens as Sarah Stratton in Disney+’s hit drama Rivals, as well as co-hosting a new ITV game show, Nobody’s Fool, with Danny Dyer.

    But it hasn’t always been easy: she faced sexual harassment and abuse from the age of 10. We talk about the impact this has had on how she now understands her own capabilities and about how her unbreakable bond with her sister, Martha, has helped her survive the toughest challenges.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    00:00 Introduction to Emily

    03:19 Learning Boundaries

    05:33 Class and Growing Up

    07:39 Paul McCartney Connection

    10:00 Failing to Believe In Herself

    14:58 Leaving Home at Sixteen

    25:10 Inbetweeners Fame Fallout

    30:18 Praise for Rivals

    31:23 Earning Creative Trust

    32:51 Emotional Regulation Struggles

    35:40 Forgiveness and Loneliness

    37:20 Childhood Trauma and Sex

    41:35 Alistair and Finding Home

    46:52 Motherhood and Body Image

    55:19 Keeping Nice Things and Goodbye







    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    So many people don’t take responsibility for their failures…. Which is why this podcast is so great.



    Forgiveness is something you have to find in yourself



    I hate being called fat - it hurts my feelings.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Emily hosts ‘Nobody’s Fool’, a brand new strategic quiz show with Danny Dyer, available to stream on ITVX, with the final three episodes airing on 30th, 31st May and the final on 1st June at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Katherine Parkinson - Fresh from her latest BAFTA win, Katherine Parkinson joined Elizabeth to discuss the self-doubt, trauma, humour and resilience that shaped her journey from awkward outsider to one of Britain’s most beloved actors: swap.fm/l/CplscDFzT9oyNGV1Oan0

    Danny Dyer – the actor and national treasure on identity, anger, vulnerability and learning to break the patterns you were born into: swap.fm/l/L192dU5DZHQnCUjFWuX8



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Emily answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • *triggers: contains description of physical assault



    Katherine Parkinson is the two‑time BAFTA‑winning actor beloved for The IT Crowd, Doc Martin, Humans and most recently, Rivals, the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation that became an international Emmy winner. Fresh from her latest BAFTA win, she joins Elizabeth to reflect on the unexpected turns that shaped her life – from Surbiton to Oxford, from comedy to chaos, and from self‑doubt to a hard‑won sense of confidence.

    In this episode, we talk about her childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, how her brothers are convinced she’s in MI5 (we will never know), the class anxieties that coloured her university years, her lifelong battle with disorganisation and the pressure she put on herself to “earn her place”. Katherine also opens up – for the first time – about a violent assault she minimised for years, the shame she carried and how motherhood has reframed her understanding of fear, safety and resilience.

    We also explore the joy she found in acting, the liberation of embracing her own contradictions, the friendships that sustained her and the work that goes into rebuilding after trauma.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    00:00 Intro

    03:48 Northern Ireland Roots

    04:06 Why Rivals Works

    05:34 Class and Oxford

    08:08 Lizzie and Fred Fred

    10:51 Jilly Cooper Loss

    14:03 Failure One Disorganised

    15:46 Exam Breakdown Story

    19:14 Fear of Winning

    20:52 MI5 and Astronaut Dreams

    22:07 Academia vs Acting

    23:07 Pressure and Perfectionism

    23:59 Choosing the Actor Path

    25:23 Facing Unprocessed Trauma

    26:04 Assault

    30:03 Shame and Cultural Context

    33:45 Anxiety and Motherhood

    38:56 Anger and Survival Instincts

    40:08 Oboe Failure and Braces

    42:21 Failing Freely as an Actor

    43:49 Happiness and Goodbye



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    “My mum has always said to me, ‘You’re not afraid to fail’”



    “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a company [as Rivals] where everybody makes me laugh so much, and that is literally all I care about.”



    “I used to want to be an astronaut.”

    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    All episodes of Rivals are now available to stream on Disney+ in the UK and internationally, with new episodes dropping weekly and a second instalment arriving later in the year. In the US, the series is available exclusively on Hulu.

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Danny Dyer – the actor and national treasure on identity, anger, vulnerability and learning to break the patterns you were born into: swap.fm/l/L192dU5DZHQnCUjFWuX8

    Miranda Hart – the beloved comedian and writer on anxiety, belonging, people-pleasing and finding the courage to take up space: swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth answers listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Emilia Clarke is the Emmy‑nominated actor who became a global cultural icon as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, a role that catapulted her from fresh drama‑school graduate to one of the most recognisable faces on the planet. Since then she’s starred in everything from Me Before You to Solo: A Star Wars Story, won acclaim on the West End and now leads Ponies, a Cold War spy thriller she also produces.

    In this episode, we talk about her childhood love of acting, the imposter syndrome that followed early fame, her failure to master mathematics, the terror and denial surrounding her aneurysms, the shattering grief of losing her Dad, the joy of female friendships and…yes, ok…Game Of Thrones.





    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Cheating Death Opener

    00:14 Emilia Clarke Intro

    02:54 Ponies And Friendship

    03:39 Learning Russian Lines

    06:45 Why Acting Means Failure

    08:33 Failing At Maths

    11:44 Early Acting Spark

    14:10 Losing Her Dad

    21:09 Failure At Recovery

    24:30 Aneurysm In The Gym

    27:10 Misdiagnosed Stroke Scare

    28:01 Second Aneurysm

    29:25 Surgery Goes Wrong

    31:37 Relearning and Emotional Shutdown

    33:30 Back to Work Too Soon

    35:43 Recovery Without Grace

    37:40 Healing and New Diagnoses

    40:12 Bad at Celebrity

    43:01 Game of Thrones Aftermath

    46:08 Body Image and Press

    48:11 Brows and Beauty Culture

    50:40 Self Knowledge and Closing





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    You spend your 20s and 30s trying to be somebody else, and then your 40s are the moment when you go back to who you actually are.



    I was blessed that after each of my brain injuries, in my mind, there was no other option but to carry on.



    The only good thing about having someone that you love pass away is that every good thing that ever happens, you know it's them.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    All episodes of PONIES will be available on Sky and steaming service NOW in the UK & Ireland from 22 May

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Kate Winslet – the Oscar‑winning actor on reinvention, self‑doubt and the power of starting again at any age: swap.fm/l/qrRLW000eyVDrBz3ZtbI

    Gillian Anderson – the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning icon on fame, burnout, womanhood and refusing to shrink herself for anyone: swap.fm/l/7NyZMzkfVOpGyDtlB6k0



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth answers listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Aline Brosh McKenna is the brilliant writer behind some of the most iconic films and TV of our time: The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now, she’s back with The Devil Wears Prada 2.

    Before Hollywood, Aline studied literature at Harvard and worked as a freelance magazine writer in New York. She was 38 when everything changed with the release of The Devil Wears Prada - and she’s been creating sharp, funny, deeply relatable stories ever since.

    In this episode, we talk about writing for Meryl Streep (no biggie) the acting and magazine career that never happened and what life as an award-winning screenwriter *really* looks like. Plus: the motivating advice every single woman needs to hear.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:15 27 Dresses and People Pleasing

    04:24 Learning Not to Smallify

    07:09 Writing Bold Characters

    08:11 Devil Wears Prada Two Return

    12:35 ‘Failed’ Acting Dreams

    17:31 Working With Great Actors

    23:20 Writing Meryl’s Big Speech

    25:35 Scrappy Creativity Mindset

    26:34 ‘Failed’ Magazine Career

    29:00 Screenwriting Doors Open

    32:07 Comedy Cred And Awards

    35:23 Nine Pilots No Series

    41:57 Ask For What You Want



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I wasn't taught to “smallify” myself by my mother, and that's maybe one of her greatest gifts.



    If it becomes necessary to apologise to get what you want, I think that’s okay. As long as you're aware that you're doing it... as a tactic or a strategy.



    Learning to withstand and be amused by failure is so key and so critical.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Devil Wears Prada 2 is in cinemas now!

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stanley Tucci - A DWP cast member no less! The iconic Nigel…sorry, Stanley came on HTF and talked about dealing with the loss of his late wife, surviving cancer, finding love again and…failing to swim: swap.fm/l/WCW054IGNZnSnTzEXPTN

    Dawn French - Another genius comedy writer who talks about heartbreak, humour, adoption and meeting Jennifer Saunders: swap.fm/l/NJDrzxLKhyi6icOrxmHT

    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Aline answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Richard Gadd is the creative talent behind Baby Reindeer - the Netflix show which won six Primetime Emmys, two Golden Globes and garnered 84.5 million views within its first 45 days.



    Gadd began in stand-up, and by 2016 he’d won a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. His work became known for its compulsive storytelling, blending dark comedy with a kind of philosophical kink for asking audiences the most uncomfortable questions.



    Now Gadd returns with Half Man, a six-part drama co-production between HBO and the BBC, which Gadd created, wrote, executive produced and stars in.

    In this episode we talk through his childhood, how it felt to be abruptly catapulted into being the most googled man on the planet following the release of Baby Reindeer and the complexity of identity and sexuality.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:13 Fame and Self Worth

    05:37 Writing Dark Truths

    06:52 Baby Reindeer Explosion

    08:00 Becoming Ruben

    09:40 Half Man Meaning

    10:57 Workaholism Origins

    23:58 Family Support After Trauma

    24:30 Comedy Meets Abuse Healing

    26:13 Rebuking Shame

    27:51 Fame And Re Triggering

    29:12 Stubbornness And Casting Martha

    33:03 Sexuality Beyond Labels

    36:15 Grudges Empathy Forgiveness

    40:13 Athlete Failure And Closing





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I never wanted fame. I just liked the idea that one day I would make a piece of art that was culturally important because then maybe I would learn to like myself.

    It doesn't matter your intelligence, where you come from, your upbringing, anything… it’s about the hours you put into it. Hard work trumps everything.

    I think actually that we have but scratched the surface of sexuality in a way... there are so many complications to it.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    You can watch Half Man on BBC iPlayer every week

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stephen Merchant - the actor, writer and director on turning 50, failure in stand-up and what he learned from Ricky Gervais when he co-wrote The Office: swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge - the creator of Fleabag talks about ambition, doubt and creating bold work: swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Richard answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • The acclaimed actor, singer and producer was born in Los Angeles to a Greek mother and a Bulgarian father who emigrated to the United States in 1949.

    You might know her from early roles like Bosom Buddies, where she met her future husband Tom Hanks, and from standout turns in films including Runaway Bride, It's Complicated and her unforgettable scene-stealing in Sleepless in Seattle.

    Behind the camera, she helped bring My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mamma Mia! to the big screen.

    Alongside her film career, Wilson has built a powerful musical voice, releasing albums since 2012 and collaborating with artists like Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. She now returns to her solo work with her sixth album, Sound Of A Woman, released on 1st May.

    In this episode, we talk about growing up in a traditional, private family but later living in the public eye, bringing My Big Fat Greek Wedding to the screen, her friendships with Nora Ephron and Bruce Springsteen - and how her experience of breast cancer reshaped her life and friendships.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    02:39 Sleepless In Seattle Scene Secrets

    04:32 Finding Her Voice

    07:53 Labels and Late Blooming

    13:07 Privacy to Speaking Out

    14:56 Greek Wedding Breakthrough

    17:43 Drama School Rejections

    27:57 Proving Them Wrong

    29:03 Onscreen Friendship Magic

    31:03 What Friendship Means

    32:12 Breast Cancer and Blame

    35:07 Honoring Her Father

    39:55 Family Secrets and Privacy

    45:50 Building Family Values

    47:20 Fired as Ticket Taker



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I’ve come to a stage in my life where I’m only now just finding my voice, both metaphorically and literally.

    We spend so much of our lives shedding those identities that don't work for us anymore until we get to a place where I am now, which is literally the most unfiltered place you can be when you get to a certain age where you just don’t care what anybody thinks and you can tell the truth more fully.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Sound Of A Woman is out on 1st May

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Ruth Wilson – on refusing Botox, being rejected from Oxford and living with her father’s Alzheimer's: swap.fm/l/ZbkfbAmZFOX0zB2u1iiC

    Melanie Chisholm – the former Spice girl on mental health, identity and navigating fame: swap.fm/l/OAU4TwoXfjVLvCdrcSYY

    Gloria Steinem – my personal hero: on activism, ageing and redefining success: swap.fm/l/WbcOneXzQpdLfYriAQXE



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails



    Elizabeth and Rita answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Today’s guest is a female billionaire: the co-founder and CEO of the Good American inclusive fashion brand and a founding partner of SKIMS, the shapewear and loungewear company. Emma Grede’s close working partnerships with the Kardashian family have led her to become an advocate for empowering women through business.

    Now, she’s publishing her first book, Start With Yourself, in which she explores everything from building personal resilience to developing self-forgiveness.

    In this episode we discuss her East London mindset, her famously controversial (!) attitude towards work-life balance, being a mother of four (her twins were born via a surrogate) and her experience of miscarriage. Female ambition, fertility, the discomfort of hard work…I’m so grateful to Emma for opening up on subjects that are so often shrouded in silence.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:02 Ambition Loves Discomfort

    05:57 Growing Up East London

    07:31 ‘Too Ambitious’

    08:34 East London Business Code

    11:15 An Employee Mindset

    19:13 Work-Life Balance Myth

    26:34 Fearless Hustle Mindset

    27:53 ITB Rise and Influencers

    29:08 LA Office Ego Crash

    31:40 Parenting as a Team

    32:56 Fertility Reality Check

    38:19 Good American Expansion Misstep

    46:25 Mother’s Influence





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I have always thought about ambition as something that I am entitled to as long as I work for it.



    If you want to be extraordinarily successful… Then extraordinary work is required.



    You become confident because you know you can get through things and you know what's on the other side of failure.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Emma’s debut book ‘Start With Yourself’ - is available to buy now

    The Testaments, a new Hulu original series, streaming exclusively on Disney+

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Melinda French Gates - another extraordinarily successful female philanthropist, who co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization, for 24 years: swap.fm/l/Zr3OTH30YZpvPRiXIkeX

    Mo Gawdat - an incredible guest who has been on How to Fail FOUR times - most recently in December last year to talk about the most common mistakes we make in love: swap.fm/l/Daw9T2DZbicGt0aOZZVX



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org



    Elizabeth and Emma answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • This week we are joined by podcasting royalty, Sophie Habboo!



    Habboo found fame on Made In Chelsea, E4’s structured-reality show following the lives of affluent 20-something Londoners where she met fellow cast-mate Jamie Laing in 2017. The two began dating - and then launched a media empire. Their podcast, NearlyWeds was an instant hit and was rebranded as NewlyWeds when they got married in 2023.

    Habboo now runs the hugely successful JamPot podcast production company with her husband and the two served as executive producers on Raising Chelsea, a new three-part Disney+ documentary following the couple as they face the messy, scary and comic reality of becoming parents for the first time.

    In this episode Sophie talks openly about her feelings of overwhelm and anxiety in the run up to their wedding, her ADHD diagnosis, the challenges of being a new mum and the importance of setting boundaries.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:50 Family Roots And Motherhood

    06:39 Ziggy Bay And Marathon Madness

    08:35 Failure One: No Boundaries

    10:23 One Day Office Job Disaster

    16:01 Wedding Overwhelm And ADHD

    20:52 Insecurities and Social Situations

    21:53 Anxiety and Imposter Feelings

    23:05 Therapy and Psychic Rituals

    24:18 Sponsor Break The Testaments

    26:12 Motherhood and Fear of Failing

    29:36 Love Story With Jamie

    33:54 A Surprise Voice Note



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I do always have imposter syndrome and maybe even as a mother... I really struggle with ‘mum guilt’.



    Had I been diagnosed with ADHD earlier, I would've been able to understand and have more compassion for myself.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Raising Chelsea is available to watch now on Disney+

    The Testaments, a new Hulu original series, streaming April 8 exclusively on Disney+

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jamie Laing - on anxiety, insecurity and the pressure of fame. Plus his ‘failure’ to have a long-term relationship [spoiler alert: it all worked out just fine!]: swap.fm/l/QXKrzzpg5hULgBpXWMBY

    Dorinda Medley - on young widowhood, dealing with anger and what The Real Housewives of New York taught her: swap.fm/l/Q3MPl0zGn9MShaUdGEi4



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org



    Elizabeth and Sophie answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • In this debut preview episode of History’s Greatest Fails, Elizabeth Day and Dan Jones argue that the story of Richard’s rise and fall (and rise again) is much more modern that you’d first believe. Not least because of the reality-TV-style discovery of his remains under a Leicester council car park in 2022. 
    To listen to the full mini-series, head to This is History: History’s Greatest Fails wherever you listen to podcasts and on YouTube. 
    And more about this episode: In many ways, Richard’s alleged ‘failures’ — which include allegedly killing the Princes in the Tower and overseeing the demise of Plantagenet rule — overshadow Richard III as the reformer that also existed. He introduced trial by jury and translated many laws into English. But those facts are not often what’s associated with him. He’s more likely to be seen as the villainous caricature of Shakespeare’s Richard III. 
    He died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. And we haven’t been able to stop talking about him since. 
    Yes, it’s time to consider the story of England’s last Plantagenet king, Richard III — a centuries-old tangle involving alleged murder, Shakespeare, vanquish and one mighty rediscovery. 

    A Sony Music Entertainment production. 
    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts 
    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] 
    Learn more about your ad choices. 
    Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
    ––
    Presented by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day 
    Producer - Alan Weedon 
    Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman

    Researcher - Phoebe Joyce 
    Executive Producer - Simon Poole 

    Executive Producer for Daylight Productions - Elizabeth Day  

    Executive Producer - Dan Jones Production Manager - Jen Mistri Production coordinator - Eric Ryan Head of content - Chris Skinner 
    Special thanks to Alex Lawless, Hannah Talbot, and Selina Ream


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Amy Jackson Westwick is a major Bollywood film star with some 14 million followers on social media. Yet she grew up in a working class family in Liverpool. So how did a teenager from Merseyside become one of the most recognisable British actors working in Bollywood?



    Today on How To Fail, she tells us her story.

    We discuss growing up too fast, how she broke free from a cycle of narcissistic relationships and how she now manages a blended family (Amy has two sons - one with her husband, the actor Ed Westwick, and one from a previous partner). Plus: what she learned from her years in Bollywood and why she’s ’a petty cow’.





    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:13 Chasing Security Not Fame

    04:08 Finding Yourself Again

    06:35 Growing Up Too Fast

    06:50 Liverpool Childhood Roots

    11:27 Pageants to Bollywood Break

    24:04 Perfect Family Fantasy

    25:21 Romanticising Love

    26:40 Back To Back Relationships

    27:30 People Pleasing Patterns

    29:06 Narcissists And Boundaries

    31:53 Leaving And Healing

    36:39 Blended Family Reality

    39:52 Step Parenting Rules

    47:05 Listening To Yourself





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:



    Security comes in so many different forms - and for me it's peace of mind.



    If it doesn't feel right, then it's not right... you've got to actually know how you're feeling and not be afraid to voice it.



    [On narcissistic relationships]: I confused controlling behavior for somebody who was loving and caring, and in actual fact it was the complete opposite.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Amy’s podcast ‘What’s the Tea Amy?’ is out now

    The Testaments, a new Hulu original series, streaming April 8 exclusively on Disney+

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Lily Allen - on early fame, mistakes, relationships and motherhood: swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ

    Gillian Anderson - on body image, rebellion and refusing to fit in with other people’s expectations: swap.fm/l/7NyZMzkfVOpGyDtlB6k0



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org



    Elizabeth and Amy answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • This is a special episode, sponsored by Bumble, taking a look at all the different ways we can meet someone: whether you meet young, in your 50s, or post-divorce. The three women in this episode (and four if you count me!) - are here to show us that finding the love of your life isn’t always straight-forwards, or linear.

    First up, you'll hear from the brilliant and hilarious Miranda Hart, who got married when she was 51, and talks through her first date with her now husband. Then Australian comedian Celeste Barber talks about meeting her ‘hot husband’ young, and quickly becoming a step-mum to two young children. Finally, American author Glennon Doyle talks about leaving her marriage for the love of her life, Abby – and co-parenting her three children with her ex-husband in a blended family.

    I hope this episode brings you as much laughter, reassurance and warmth as each of those guests have brought me. And hopefully it inspires you to refresh your Bumble profile, or download Bumble now!

    Listen to Miranda’s full episode here: swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu

    Listen to Celeste’s full episode here: swap.fm/l/qLmwfjyeSolWuFeaHGdt

    Listen to Glennon’s full episode here: swap.fm/l/Nd3ZzVy73FXUMupJ4i1q





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

    Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories





    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabday

    Website: www.elizabethday.org





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com

    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton has a slew of devoted clients including Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Martha Stewart, as well as millions of Instagram followers and a regular slot offering advice on The Drew Barrymore Show. His memoir, Your Roots Don’t Define You, is a New York Times bestseller.

    But growing up was hard on Appleton: he was the middle of five children and struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia at school. He was bullied by his classmates for being gay - something he didn’t yet understand about himself. At 16, he left school to work full-time and began a serious relationship with his colleague, Kate. By 19, he was a father.

    In this episode we discuss imposter syndrome, the darkest moments of his life, shame and the work he’s done to overcome the hurdles he’s faced. And, of course, we talk about the Kardashians.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    02:33 Imposter Syndrome as Fuel

    04:24 Red Carpets and Online Pressure

    05:27 Hair as Celebrity Identity

    07:15 Memoir and Health Wake Up

    08:48 Dash the Dog and Comfort

    11:02 Shame Coming Out and Healing

    22:26 Kids First After Divorce

    23:05 Holiday Triggers and Boundaries

    24:31 Success Doesn't Heal

    25:18 Inner Child Healing Work

    27:22 Envy Into Mentorship

    30:08 Kardashians on Failure

    31:25 Hair Identity and Change

    35:18 Comparison and Social Media



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    It’s okay to make mistakes, but I love learning from them and understanding why we make those decisions.



    Hair is such a big part of people's identity. It tells who you are.



    You can externally excite yourself... But if you're not aligned internally, you still have that sad and lonely feeling.



    I think imposter syndrome to an extent is healthy... It keeps me turning up to jobs prepared. I treat every job like it's the first time I've done it.





    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Chris Appleton’s book Your Roots Don’t Define You, is out now

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    📚 WANT MORE?

    Rylan Clark - on public breakdowns, surviving divorce and rebuilding his sense of self.

    Dawn French - on comedy, adoption and finding confidence later in life.



    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org



    Elizabeth and Chris answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content





    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com





    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless





    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


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  • I never thought I would have to write these words, but here we are. In the wake of my dear friend’s passing, I wanted to reflect on the life of one of the most radiant people I’ve ever met: Mel Schilling. I never quite understood the truth of the phrase ‘she lights up a room’ until I met Mel. It wasn’t just the sparkling smile or the sequins she loved wearing or the glittery eyeshadow; it was deeper than that: she wanted others to shine, to feel special and to be loved. To believe themselves worthy of love.To be in Mel’s company was to feel anything was possible. I wanted to re-release this very special episode of How to Fail because it shows so much of the woman she was. It was also the first time I met Mel in person after admiring her for years from afar on our TV screens. I’m so lucky to have known her.Please enjoy getting to know my friend Mel.And if you want to hear more of her extraordinary insights and wisdom, you can listen to her on How To Date [link here: swap.fm/l/92EWhbCOZtcpVjwW1ZhD]. 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.orgHave a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcastsTo bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]_________________________________________________________________________Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Starting over can feel heartbreaking and overwhelming, especially after losing a loved one, and the idea of rebuilding a life can seem impossible. In this episode, Stanley and Geri show us that sometimes moving forward isn’t about letting go of the past, but learning to carry it with you in a way that allows life to continue. Stanley Tucci speaks with brave honesty about the death of his first wife, Kate – the guilt he felt as he tried to move on and the difficult choices he faced while creating a new life for his children.Geri Halliwell Horner reflects on losing her father as a teenager, how that loss shaped her ambition and how writing her novel unexpectedly helped her make sense of long‑held grief.This episode explores love, loss and the resilience that allows us to keep going after such events. I hope it brings you a sense of solidarity or confirmation that we don’t need to erase what came before; sometimes, it becomes the very force that helps us begin again.Listen to Stanley’s full episode of How to Fail here: http://swap.fm/l/WCW054IGNZnSnTzEXPTN Listen to Geri’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/a7i32bvmHld3JFuDmShl 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:Bereavement support: https://www.cruse.org.uk/ Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcastsLeave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabdayTikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabdayWebsite: www.elizabethday.orgHave a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcastsTo bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices