Ctrl Alt Delete

This episode of Ctrl Alt Delete is in collaboration with CityFibre, talking all about connectivity and the future of tech. I wanted to do an episode on the future of work, tech, modern cities and Internet connection. Chatting to me on these topics is Laura Osborne who works with CityFibre. Laura’s background is in public affairs, government communications and more recently consumer campaigning. She was Which?’s first Head of Corporate Affairs, working with businesses to improve the banking, energy and telecoms markets for consumers.

Now she is helping to lead the campaign calling on the Advertising Standards Authority to change the rules on how “fibre” is used in broadband adverts, so that consumers are no longer misled. In this episode we talk about the impact of smart technology in our homes, online doctors, digital assistants who can pick up on your mood and health data, how the internet connection you have matters, how connectivity affects or can improve the way we work and lots more. We also discuss how in 2016, only 5% of engineering modern apprenticeships were taken up by women, and how only 24% of those in digital technology jobs in the UK are women and what can be done about that. We discuss the future of modern connected cities too, as in cities like Tallinn, people engage with their government effortlessly via digital platforms that enable them to sign contracts, file their taxes, and vote. Can the UK follow? In general, we discuss what’s in store of the future of our technology as we become more and more connected. For more info on the campaign to change the broadband advertising rules visit www.coppersaurus.com. #ad

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Fearne Cotton is a TV presenter, podcast host and author. Fearne has been presenting live TV since the age of 15 when she was spotted by ITV’s ‘Disney Club’ Her warmth, natural interview skills and ability to make presenting live TV seem effortless and has given her the opportunity to present a variety of shows over the years.

In 2005 she joined Radio 1 where she spent 10 incredible years, initially co-hosting morning shows with Reggie Yates and then moving onto the UK Top 40 show before taking over the prestigious weekday morning slot in 2009; here she mixed big celebrity interviews with exclusive acoustic performances in the Live Lounge. The show attracted over 4 million listeners and in 2012 she won a Sony Gold Award for the show.

An enthusiastic cook, Fearne released her first cookbook in June 2016. She is also the author of Calm, Happy, Yoga Babies and Hungry Babies.

Fearne is a mother of two and continues to find time to support a range of charities with seemingly no challenge too big for her, whether it be climbing Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, or trekking the Inca Trail for Breast Cancer Care. Fearne is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and also a patron for Post Pals, Tyler’s Trust and Coppafeel!, the latter of which she curates the charity’s music festival, FESTIFEEL.

In this episode we talk about Fearne's multi-hyphenate career, being a mum, mental health, writing and how social media can help further positive conversations.

Favourite quotes from the episode:

"There are less taboo subjects these days and if there are taboos there's definitely someone out there trying to break them."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm nailing it, and other times it's all falling apart." On juggling multiple projects and being a mum.

"in my twenties [success] was purely work-based - that's all I cared about. It was about being on a big TV show and being seen. Whereas now, that really doesn't factor into what I'm doing."

"When I left Radio 1, I'd had a second child and literally had no work lined up, I was quite scared at that point."

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Yasmin Khan is an award-winning author, campaigner and cook.

In 2013, after suffering a debilitating burnout and having to step back from her human rights work, Yasmin switched careers and turned to food as a tool through which to share people’s stories. She ran a Kickstarter to write a book that would offer a window into Iran, the result of which is her best-selling debut book The Saffron Tales: Recipes From the Persian Kitchen (Bloomsbury, 2016). The book was chosen by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC Food Programme as one of the best cookbooks of 2016.

Yasmin’s second book, Zaitoun: Recipes and Stories from the Palestinian Kitchen was published in July 2018 and immediately became a number 1 best-seller on Amazon. The book is a collection of recipes and stories gathered from her travels through Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and was heralded by the late, great, Anthony Bourdain as “A moving, hugely knowledgeable and utterly delicious book”.

In this episode we talk burn-out, Kickstarter, career changes, micro-communities and how to manage multiple projects.

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Justin Myers is a journalist who for a long time wrote under his pseudonym The Guyliner.​ I first started reading his hilarious writing back in 2012 when his blog posts started getting published on the Huffington Post.​ He has written for Gay Times, GQ and the Guardian. His first novel, The Last Romeo, was published by Little, Brown in Spring this year. 

We talk about writing non fiction and how his fiction has some similarities to his journalistic career.

His book The Last Romeo tells a story of the character James -  his long relationship with Adam ends, decides to try out the dating scene for the first time, writing about his exploits for a small, loyal audience under a secret identity: the Last Romeo. An account of a date with a closeted celebrity boosts the blog’s popularity, not to mention its notoriety, and soon James finds himself reluctantly internet-famous, and dealing with the associated perks and pitfalls; the fans, trolls, and haters, who all want to know one thing: who the hell is Romeo?

We talk about what it's like coming out as your real self from behind an anonymous blog and how to use your experiences for a novel. We also talk about age and I like this quote from Justin: "There is no new rule that once you hit 35 or 40, you are suddenly no longer interested in new things around you or new stuff."

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Sharmadean Reid founded WAH Nails as a side project in 2009 – now it is a huge global well-known business.

In this episode I chat to Sharmadean about productivity and distraction. She has a brilliant Guardian column called Bossing It where she answers modern work questions.

She wrote two WAH nails books, delivered global pop up nail salons for 100s of brands, created a product line with Walgreen Boots Alliance and was awarded an MBE for services to Beauty.

So now she is building a new way to book beauty online with her new company Beauty Stack.

We talk about what she’d learned from starting businesses. Sharmadean’s also working on a new campaign with NatWest which is all about helping small businesses be the best they can be. A big focus is on helping small businesses do more with less and improve their productivity through the NatWest Productivity Blueprint.

The medium article I reference in the opening section of the interview is called “Growing Up Too Fast — Or Why I Closed WAH Nails Topshop”.

Soundbites I love from this episode:

“Why not write a completely new rule for how we determine success?”

“Create your own pic ‘n’ mix from other people’s successful bios”

“You can’t copy someone else’s path”

“Being productive doesn’t mean being chained your desk the whole time.”

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Charly Cox is a 22-year-old writer, producer, poet and author of She Must Be Mad.

Her writing focuses on destigmatizing mental health and the coming-of-age of a young woman surviving the modern world. In January 2017, she published her first poem on Instagram, showing her internet followers her poetry for the first time; since then she’s been asked to be Virgin Radio’s poet in residence, she’s been published on Refinery29, hosted poetry nights to raise money and awareness for MQ Mental Health and been named by ELLE magazine as one of their 20 power players to watch out for in 2018. She Must Be Mad is Charly’s first book.

She Must be Mad explores coming-of-age: the pain and beauty of love, the relief and the agony of turning from girl to woman, the isolation of an untethered mind and the power and subjugation of the body.

We discuss writing, success, mental health, how as a poet, people might worry they are "fodder" for your work, the insanity of being alone for long periods of time when writing, crying for two weeks over book covers and the importance of the phrase "I have a mental illness but I have really good mental health". 

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My guest today is the actress Gemma Arterton.

We spoke about the new film she's in called The Escape, which she also executive produced. Her breakthrough role was in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008), playing Bond Girl Strawberry Fields, which won her an Empire Award for Best Newcomer. She played the lead role in the film Their Finest (2017). She was the title star of the film The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009). She is known for her roles in the fantasy films Clash of the Titans (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Byzantium (2013), and as the character Gretel in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013). She played Joan in Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan at Donmar Warehouse, December 2016.

The Escape is an intimate portrait of a married woman who seemingly has it all. Married young, she

has all the trappings of a successful life: a house, a husband, children and a nice lifestyle. But she is unhappy and yearns for more, something that she is unable to put her finger on.

We discuss escapism, acting, social media, relationships, improvising on set and why the topics in this film are close to her heart.

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​So excited to interview ​Rose, a writer & creative director and author of PURE.

​This episode was recorded at the BFI Southbank for my live mini series there called ​From Book to Screen.

I first came across Rose’s work in 2014 when I pledged for the book on Unbound called PURE – about Pure ‘O’ a type of OCD – in Rose’s case she would get intrusive sexual thoughts.

Pure is the true story of her life with intrusive sexual thoughts – a rampant but little-known symptom of the disorder. It tracks her journey from when she was first seized by graphic mental images to her eventual recovery through therapy, acceptance and love.

At its core, Pure is about uncertainty and insecurity- it’s about finding beauty in greyness, and embracing the unfathomable weirdness of the human mind.

I wanted to ask her about the process of how her book PURE is being turned into a TV show as part of this mini series I'm doing called #FromBookToScreen. It is being adapted into Channel 4 adaptation of her memoir on the story of her life with intrusive sexual thoughts. It’s produced by Drama Republic (who have made Mad Fat Diary, The Honourable Woman, Doctor Foster) and adapted by the very talented Kirstie Swain) and airing on Channel 4 soon.

​She has fingers in pies, currently ​writing a film for FKA Twigs. Past projects include the relaunch of Channel 4’s Random Acts; writing the world’s first OCD chatbot; and developing This Girl Can – Phenomenal Women. Rose used to publish under her mother’s maiden name, Bretécher. Hope you enjoy this episode!

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My guests today are authors and best friends Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené​.​ They are the authors of SLAY IN YOUR LANE.

SLAY IN YOUR LANE is the long-awaited, inspirational guide to life for a generation of black British women inspired to make lemonade out of lemons, and find success in every area of their lives.

It was​ included in top Elle’s 12 addictive books of 2018, Metro’s best new books in 2018 and BBC’s hotly anticipated debut authors for 2018.

Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené searched for a book that addressed the​ ​challenges​ ​for young black women and​ ​they realised none existed. So Slay in Your Lane – the lovechild of exasperation and optimism – was born. From education, to work, to dating, to representation, money and health,​ ​this is an ​ ​inspirational, honest and provocative Black Girl Bibl​e​ – the book​ ​offers advice and encouragement​ ​from the authors and​ ​interviews with dozens of the most successful black women in Britain – including Charlene White, Jamelia, Denise Lewis, Malorie Blackman and Dawn Butler MP.

Yomi​ ​is an award-winning journalist and senior writer at The Pool. She writes about race, feminism, popular culture and how they intersect, as well as class and politics.

Elizabeth is a​ ​former​ ​Marketing Manager​ ​and has a degree in​ ​Politics and International relations degree and specialises in creating marketing campaigns that are both culturally progressive and commercially relevant.

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Amika George is an 18-year-old student from North London. She started the #FreePeriods campaign, which calls on the government to give free menstrual products to children from low-income families​.

This episode was recorded at #SheInspiresMe Live, a feminist festival put on by Women For Women International. Sorry that it's a bit echoey, it was a really large room and the mics sadly weren't perfect for podcasting.

Women for Women International are a charity passionate about empowering the world’s most marginalised women. For 25 years, we’ve worked with women in countries affected by conflict, equipping over 472,000 women with skills, confidence and connections to advocate for their rights and make their voices heard.

The first #SheInspiresMe Live Feminist Festival aims to capitalise on recent momentum around women’s rights, and get more people involved and empowered to build a more equal future. Women for Women International is built on solidarity and sisterhood. They are committed to strengthening and connecting this global movement, and want every woman, everywhere, to know she can be a part of it.

I hope you enjoy this episode, we talk digital activism, how to maintain a campaign online, how to use your voice and how to juggle multiple projects.

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