This week’s episode is going to be a little different. It’s a more detailed story of how I became quite so preoccupied with what it means to be a good person.  It’s the same format as usual so no need to worry about getting lost, but I’ll be answering the questions instead of asking them. 

I don’t profess to be good but I think if I’ve learnt anything over this series it’s nobody else does either. We’re all trying our best. We mostly just want to get better.

There was no doubt in my mind when deciding who I was going to ask to have this conversation with me. Rachel Thompson was the first person I told this story to in any detail. She is the reason I sought professional help to talk about it. She’s the first person I pitched this podcast to. She is truly one of the world’s best and I’d not have this chat with anybody else. 

Some warnings. In this episode I discuss sexual assault, abortion and suicide. If you find any of those upsetting the entire episode will probably be a difficult listen. 

A note to anybody listening to this who knows me now for whom this is the first time they have heard this story including my incredible editor Connor who will have heard far more than you are about to. I am so sorry that I haven’t shared this with you yet and that I am choosing to talk publicly before I talk to you privately. It is not for lack of love nor trust I just haven’t been ready and I’m ready now.

20% of women will experience sexual violence. That’s three girls in my primary school class. Or twenty girls in my year at my school. If you are a victim or a survivor of sexual assault and would like help with anything from pursuing a legal claim to a friendly ear I throughly recommend contacting Rape Crisis Centre on 08088029999 or using their live chat feature on their website.

Women deserve access to safe abortion care even when they haven’t been raped. My assault shouldn’t make my decisions more palatable. A massive thank you to BPAS and all of their friendly kind and frankly funny nurses who looked after me that day. Thank you to Marie Stopes who provide that same life-saving care to women around the world every day.

Sam’s Mother, Gill, has written a beautiful book detailing Sam’s life and eventual death. It is called A Song Inside and it is available on Amazon. It’s a tale of love and loss and of a funny and infuriating young man. 

Thank you to Rachel and all my guests this series. Thank you to Connor for your beautiful twinkly edits. I have loved exploring what it means to be good and what we can all be doing to be better.

Back when the world was a little more normal I booked myself in for a hair appointment as, and this may come as a shock to some, I’m not in fact a natural blonde. I had been feeling some conflict lately, whether to continue to colour my hair after giving up makeup in a bit to eschew vanity. 

So when my colourist told me that she had given up colouring hers it opened up one of the most rewarding conversations I’ve ever had. We dissected the beauty and cosmetic industries, we discussed women and ageing, we mulled over how to make ethics a priority when we buy products. Bridget embodies everything I want to, she recognises the conflict between wanting to live up to beauty standards and wanting to dismantle them. She sits with that conflict and says with her New Zealand practicality, it is what it is.

This episode is almost a recreation of that conversation we had in the salon, but over a glass of vegan wine in my flat. 

Bridget can be found at @bridgetkearneyethicalbeauty and I can not recommend her salon The Rabbit Hole enough @veganhairsalon.

Edited by Connor Hughes

This week’s episode is with a woman who I can only describe as my kindred spirit. Tara lives a life that prioritises sustainability without compromise. She wants to look good, feel stylish and not contribute to fast fashion. She wants to travel and see the world but minimise her impact. She is genius at finding sustainable solutions as living the life she wants to.

In this episode I pick Tara’s brain about her ‘why’, a passion for marine biology. I was interested in how that had begun for her, how did a little girl in Birmingham become so in love with turtles. I also knew that Tara would have some easy, accessible tips for people. She is practical and straight talking and I am so lucky to have found my kindred spirit in her. 

Tara can be found on Instagram at @taralouiseroberts and at @thisoutfitcost.

This week’s episode took me to Liverpool where I found myself in the pouring rain knocking on the door of an old school friend. Tobias has just finished a night shift where he works as an NHS doctor. When I arrived he described his shift to me, one that involved bedside after bedside of COVID patients. Tobias is doing the most thoroughly good work that I could imagine and that alone was worthy of a podcast episode. 

But, knowing Tobi in our teens I wouldn’t have predicted any of this. Teenage Tobi Fox was good *at* many things, he was a prefect, a talented athlete with the most beautiful date to grad ball. But I don’t know if I’d have called him *good*. 

Tobias and I take a deep dive into self-improvement and self-awareness in this episode. He explores that he may not have come to this profession with angelic intentions but doing good has become a motivator for him. We see how the little boy he once was influenced the young man I knew and the man he would eventually become. He is a person consciously improving himself in every way every day and this conversation reflects that. We also discuss his exciting new venture, a health and wellness app called Lyfe. 

I knew that I wanted to do this episode before I knew who I wanted to do it with. The waters of financial planning can be murky and lead to dark places so I wanted somebody to shine a light. To give practical advice on how we can best be spending our money, and ensuring that people aren’t spending it for us against our wishes. 

Now, listening back to the interview I could not think of a better guest. Farrell talks of how he fell into a financial world and soon realised that he wanted to find a way to turn that towards doing good. He also manages to be verbose and witty in a way that you might not presume of an accountant. On top of his day job and his own charity work Farrell runs a fan-led podcast about Fulham football club, Fulhamish.

We discuss how being one of seven children shaped him and how experiencing antisemitism informed his compassion toward others. Farrell also shares practical advice on how to trace your banking, your investments and how to make sure you are supporting effective charities.

Farrell can be found on twitter @farrellmonk and keep up with Causeway Education @causeway_edu. I keep about as much track of football as I do Olympic curling but still love tuning in to listen to Farrell on Fulhamish, available wherever you found this podcast.

https://youtu.be/eQrOyf448_k 

Martin Lewis’s talk

www.causeway.education

Causeway education 

This week we are back in my tiny flat for a very moving and vulnerable chat with my first male podcast guest. Jamie weathered district line closures and technical difficulties to come and chat to me and I am so hugely grateful. 

Jamie is the host of Man Down, a podcast and set of vulnerable conversations between men with the explicit aim of destigmatising men’s mental health. In our own chat Jamie describes the mental health journey that led him here and also where it’s taking him as he qualifies to become a breath work instructor. 

I truly believe that honest vulnerable conversations like this could be life saving for men and if Jamie, who spent much of his life in hyper-masculine sport environments, can do it hopefully others can to. I appreciate Jamie’s candid nature in this chat and there is a brief moment where we discuss suicide (32 - 35 min) which could be upsetting for some people.

You can find Jamie on Instagram @jamieclements_ and Man Down wherever you get your podcasts.

Happy 60th birthday to my biggest inspiration to be good. Sue can be found on Instagram at @bohemianmother mostly photographing her garden or the cat but also making snide comments about the people who deliver her fresh cut flowers.

This week’s episode is a lovely chat with Lottie Hanson-Lowe. We sat in the beautiful flat that she shares with her fiancé and their tiny dog, Pickle, who I attached myself to for most of my visit. 

Lottie is first and foremost a designer but one who consciously has turned her eye towards improving the world through design. Since graduating Lottie has worked on many incredible projects, many of which we touch on in this episode. She currently works for Hubub, unofficially heading up their sustainable fashion campaigns. Lottie’s work is always beautiful, clear and intelligent.

I wondered what turned her eye towards seeing design as a tool for goodness and quite how she had managed quite so many meaningful projects since university. 

Lottie can be found on Instagram at @slow_fashion_lottie and I would also recommend her depop @lottiehl. As you will hear in the episode Lottie has always had a love for vintage clothing and nowadays that translates into a beautiful eye for items. 

Lottie’s work, and other incredible creative campaigns in the realm of greener living, can be found at @hellohubbub. 

Edited by Connor Hughes

Original artwork by Oliver Rosser

In this week’s conversation I sit down with one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to climate activism. Though her first masters was in astrophysics her focus is now on activism, about climate change, human rights and the space where the two intersect. 

Helena and I discuss how she was shaped by having teachers for parents and she muses how some teasing at school opened her eyes to the suffering of others. We also chat about her work now and the simple ways everyone can and should be engaging in conversations around climate change.

Helena can be found on Instagram at @earthbyhelena.

To keep up to date with new episodes of For Goodness Sake please subscribe and follow us at @goodness_sake_

Edited by Connor Hughes 
Original Artwork by Oliver Rosser

This week’s episode is with my former boss and one of my best friends, Louise Wilkinson.

One day, when I was sulking over a breakup Louise gave me the single greatest piece of advice that I have ever received. This podcast was born of this advice, not to mention every other passion I have decided to pursue outside of my career. She told me ‘life is so long and in it you can be so many different people’. 

With so many strings to her bow and a life so well-lived, Lou personifies this advice. In this episode we go over a few of the people she has been along the way to becoming who she is now. She talks of how she went from dyslexic little girl to head girl of the same school. How she went from professional skier to art student, from restaurant manager to nurse. Today she is a mother, a business owner and an environmental advocate. 

Little Eco Eats provides a solution to the notoriously wasteful business of children’s party food. During lockdown Louise and her business partner Lottie also launched Little Eco Society which produces environmentally conscious children’s activity boxes. Louise talks so passionately about raising her two daughters, my beautiful goddaughters, to be kind conscious consumers and her businesses showcase that passion.

To keep up to date with new episodes of For Goodness Sake please subscribe and follow us at @goodness_sake_

Edited by Connor Hughes 
Original Artwork by Oliver Rosser