All The Small Things

Tom Rasmussen (they/them) is a Lancaster born, London based writer and singer. When out of drag, they are contributing editor at Dazed Beauty, LOVE Magazine and Refinery29, and a regular contributor to the Independent and i-D. Their work has also been featured in Vice, Broadly, Tank and the Gay Times. In 2018 they were named an LGBT trailblazer by The Dots and one of the voices of now for i-D. Tom also forms half of the radical queer punk band ACM. Their first book, Diary of a Drag Queen, was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2020.

This month sees the release of their second book: “First Comes Love: On Marriage and Other Ways of Being Together”. It’s a witty and incisive exploration of what marriage means along the whole spectrum of sexuality and class. They look at why people get married - for security, romance, or celebration, and why others see taking part in this deeply binary, normative system problematic in itself, examining what the future looks like for this historic and universal institution.

Follow Tom: @tomglitter

Buy their book: https://bit.ly/3xuAIhX

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and follow the show @ATSTpodcast.

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna and co-produced by Holly Falconer. The artwork was designed by Alex Sedano and the music was composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ashley ‘Dotty’ Charles is a broadcaster and writer from south London. After joining the BBC in 2014 she became the first solo female to host the BBC Radio 1Xtra Breakfast Show in 2016, leading the breakfast show to its highest-ever audience and interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Will Smith. She has presented TV programmes including BBC One’s music show, ’Sounds Like Friday Night’, and BBC Three’s ’Story of Grime’ documentary series.

Dotty is currently the Lead Cultural Curator at Apple Music and the host of Apple Music 1 show The Dotty Show, as well as a Commissioning Editor at GRAZIA. Last year, The Times lauded her as ‘the powerful new voice of her generation.’

Her debut book “Outraged: Why Everyone is Shouting and No One is Talking” is an essential read for anyone who uses the internet and engages with outrage culture (that’s most of us). Dotty takes a candid and hilarious exploration into the state of cancel culture in our online world, and how we can channel our collective outrage back into the fights that matter.

Buy Dotty’s book: https://bit.ly/36c7999

Follow Dotty on Instagram: @thedottyshow/

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and follow the show @ATSTpodcast.

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna. The artwork was designed by Alex Sedano and the music was composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Otegha Uwagba is the author of the Sunday Times Bestselling Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women published in 2017 and Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods in 2020. She is also a speaker, brand consultant and founder of Women Who, a London-based multi-media platform aimed at creative women that operated from 2016 - 2020. She also hosts the culture and ideas podcast In Good Company. Her forthcoming book We Need To Talk About Money - part memoir, part cultural commentary - is published by 4th Estate on 8 July. I gained so much from this book and it will no doubt be a catalyst for an conversation about money, transparency, racism and class.

Pre-order Otegha’s new book: https://bit.ly/3yfHaJZ

Find Otegha on Twitter: @OteghaUwagba

Listen to her podcast and subscribe to her newsletter.

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and follow the show @ATSTpodcast.

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna. The artwork was designed by Alex Sedano and the music was composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathy Reay (she/her) is a writer, editor and disability consultant. She covers disability rights and representation, with a particular interest in the beauty and film industries. She is also a single mother of two and speaks about her life and her experiences on her instagram @ThatSingleMum. 

There is so much in this conversation. We hear about Cathy's childhood, her advice for her teenage self, we discuss her experience of motherhood, both online and offline. We also talk about what a better future for disabled people would like from a political standpoint, in the media and crucially, in our every-day lives. Cathy speaks brilliantly about how important it is to challenge our perceptions of what we think accessibility means and how we need to reduce the stigma around asking someone about their access needs. We also talk about the life-changing power of a good skincare routine.

Find Cathy on Instagram @ThatSingleMum

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and follow the show @ATSTpodcast.

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna and co-produced by Holly Falconer. The artwork was designed by Alex Sedano and the music was composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paris Lees (she/her) is a writer, presenter and the first openly trans person to be a contributing editor for Vogue. Last month, she released her debut book ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’, an unmissable coming of age memoir, following the story of Byron Lees, growing up on a council estate in a dead-end town in the East Midlands. It’s written in an evocative vernacular style with an utterly immersive depiction of early 2000s culture.

The book is not always an easy read as Paris’ adolescence was highly dramatic, with periods of bullying, a troubled home life, rebellion, sexual abuse and crime. Paris has written an addictively-readable debut, cementing herself as one of the UK’s most exciting young writers. In this episode, we talk about Paris book writing process, how well the memoir would lend itself to television, the traumatic process of “looking back”, sexual abuse, her time in a youth offenders’ institution, self-care and more.

Episode content warning: sexual and physical abuse.

Find Paris 

Buy her incredible book

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and find the show @ATSTpodcast

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna, with artwork designed by Alex Sedano and Music composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael James Wong (he/him) is the founder of Just Breathe and a leading voice in the global movement for modern mindfulness. He is an author, speaker, community leader and meditation teacher who is dedicated to expanding the conversation around the mind and mental health. Michael is internationally recognised for his work in the wellness community as both as an advocate and entrepreneur. He writes books about hope and is the voice behind the Just Breathe meditation app.

In his inspiring and beautiful new book 'SENBAZURU, Small Steps For Hope Healing and HappinessMichael shares a personal collection of short stories and teachings, accompanied by traditional hand-painted proverbs and prayers. Together these bring to life gentle wisdoms and universal truths to guide a meaningful way of living. Shared throughout the book in twelve straightforward steps is also the powerful practice of orizuru, the art of folding paper cranes, a journey that will encourage you to slow down and create a hopeful perspective for the future.

Find Michael

Buy his book

Download the Just Breathe meditation app

Find me @VenetiaLaManna and find the show @ATSTpodcast

This podcast was edited and produced by Venetia La Manna, with artwork designed by Alex Sedano and Music composed by William Haxworth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Candice Brathwaite is an author, journalist, TV presenter, and the founder of Make Motherhood Diverse – an online initiative that aims to ensure more people see themselves reflected online. 

Candice’s new book, Sista Sister, is a compilation of essays about all the things she wishes she'd been told when she was a young Black girl growing up in London. From family and money to Black hair and fashion, as well as relationships between people of different races and colourism. Sista Sister is the follow up to Candice’s debut book, I Am Not Your Baby Mother, which was published in May 2020 and quickly became a Sunday Times Best-seller. It’s an urgent and eye-opening book about Black British motherhood, the first of its kind in the UK.

In this interview, Candice explains why Black British women will always be at the forefront of her storytelling. She tells us about the boundaries she has in place to ensure optimum self-protection and fearless creative output, the highs and lows of social media and how she doesn’t promote the idea of becoming an influencer. We also discuss friendship and trauma bonding, performative activism, cultural appropriation in wellness, colourism, her career aspirations and much more.

Pre-order Sista Sister

Buy I Am Not Your Baby Mother

Find Candice on Instagram

Candice's TV recommendation

All The Small Things is co-produced and edited by Venetia La Manna and produced by Holly Falconer, with music composed by William Haxworth and artwork designed by Alex Sedano.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlie Craggs (she/her) is an award-winning author, activist and speaker, hailed by Vogue as “the voice of a community”. Charlie is the founder of Nail Transphobia, a conversation-focused national campaign that tackles transphobia through education, empowerment and nail art. She is the author of To My Trans Sisters, an inspirational collection of letters written by successful trans women, sharing the lessons they learnt on their journeys to womanhood, celebrating their achievements and empowering the next generation to become who they truly are. This year, Charlie will be presenting a documentary about trans youth for the BBC. She is also the face of The Body Shop's global Self Love campaign.

Follow Charlie: @Charlie_Craggs

Buy her book: To My Trans Sisters

Find me: @VenetiaLaManna

Find the show: @ATSTPodcast

CW: suicide.

Thank you to REN Clean Skincare for sponsoring this episode. Here are two of my favourite products that I mentioned, the Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic and the Clean Screen Mattifying Mineral SPF 30

All The Small Things is co-produced and edited by Venetia La Manna and produced by Holly Falconer, with music composed by William Haxworth and artwork designed by Alex Sedano.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CW: brief mention of suicide.

Poorna Bell (she/her) is an award-winning journalist, digital editorial expert, three-time author, mental health ambassador and badass power-lifter. This month sees the release of her fantastic new book: “Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength”. Part memoir, part manifesto, this book starts a conversation about women’s strength and fitness, tapping into the reservoir of mental strength we each have, in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss. Poorna shares her own story, as well as drawing on research and telling the stories of other women who’ve forged their own path. This book is intersectional, refreshing and a necessary interrogation of the health and fitness industry, as well as the government’s role when it comes to mental health. I absolutely LOVED it.

In this episode, we discuss diet culture, mental health, the government's co-opting of the mental health movement during the pandemic, the menopause, representation and more.

Find Poorna on Twitter @PoornaBell

Find Poorna on Instagram: @PoornaBell

Pre-order her book: Stronger

Follow her community: @SeeMyStrong

Poorna’s book recommendation: Luster by Raven Leilani

Thank you to REN Clean Skincare for sponsoring this episode. Here are two of my favourite products that I mentioned, the Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic and the Clean Screen Mattifying Mineral SPF 30

This episode is also kindly sponsored by Papier. Head to and use code 'VENETIA15' for 15% off your first order.

All The Small Things is co-produced and edited by Venetia La Manna and produced by Holly Falconer, with music composed by William Haxworth and artwork designed by Alex Sedano.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andria Zafirakou (she/her) is "the best teacher in the world". Andria is art and textiles teacher at Alperton Community School in Brent, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse places. She has worked her entire teaching career of 15 years at Alperton Community School and is now Associate Deputy Headteacher leading on staff professional development. In 2018, she won $1million when she was crowned “the best teacher in the world” by the Varkey Foundation. Using the prize money awarded by the Global Teacher prize, Andria founded a charity called Artists in Residence (AiR) with an aim to improve arts education in schools. Andria’s brand new debut book “Those Who Can, Teach: What It Takes to Make the Next Generation” is an inspiring story about what it takes to work on the frontlines of education today. A call for people to value the arts in state education, as well as a powerful reminder that a teacher ready to listen can transform a young person's life. I LOVED it. As did my mum. As did my husband. A must read!

Find Andria: @Andriazaf

Find her book: Those Who Can, Teach

Find me: @venetialamanna

Find the show: @ATSTpodcast

This episode is kindly sponsored by Papier. Head to and use code 'VENETIA15' for 15% off your first order.

This episode was co-produced and edited by Venetia La Manna, produced by Holly Falconer, with music composed by William Haxworth and artwork designed by Alex Sedano.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.