How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

By Elizabeth Day and Sony Music EntertainmentSociety & Culture
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day episodes

  • Bill Bailey - ‘Rejection Made Me A Better Performer’

    Bill Bailey is a comedian, musician, writer, actor, director and presenter, known for his brilliant live tours and panel appearances on shows including Never Mind the Buzzcocks and QI.

    In this episode, Bill discusses being rejected from drama school, an Edinburgh Fringe show which flopped and the death of his best friend Sean Lock. Plus: the moment he decided to cut off his legendary hair (after it got stuck in some train doors).

    Now, Bill is back on the road with his new UK arena tour, Bill Bailey: Vaudevillian, culminating in a two-month residency at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket.

    IN THIS EPISODE

    00:00 Introduction

    03:05 Live Shows vs Screens

    06:30 Love Letters and Marriage

    10:24 Drama School Rejection

    15:30 Music Teacher and Confidence

    19:49 Haircut and Next Failure

    22:51 Comeback Rocker Concept

    23:20 Bill Best Backstory

    24:28 Props Songs and Craft

    25:16 Great Reviews No Crowd

    25:46 One Person Audience Night

    28:06 Friendship and Grief

    34:22 Leaving Academia Behind

    41:51 Animals Curiosity and Wallace



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Being on stage in front of an audience - there's nothing quite like it. There isn't really anything that replicates that experience.


    You have to cherish every moment. Cherish those friendships that you have. Cultivate them. Cultivate relationships with everyone that you feel a bond with, because you never know when they're not gonna be around.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Get tickets for Bill’s tour, Vaudevillean, here: www.billbailey.co.uk/live

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

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


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stephen Merchant - swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2

    Miranda Hart - 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


    Elizabeth and Bill answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

    50 min
  • Bella Mackie - ‘I Will Never “Fix” My Mental Health’

    Bella Mackie began her career as a journalist, writing for publications including the Guardian, Vice and Vogue, before writing her bestselling debut, Jog On. The book explored how running helped her rebuild her life after the end of her first marriage triggered debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.

    She followed it with How To Kill Your Family, a darkly comic novel about a young woman methodically murdering her wealthy relatives. It spent 47 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list and is now being adapted for Netflix, starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Two more novels followed, including her latest, Claws Out - another bestseller, this time taking aim at the absurdities of North London’s liberal elite.

    It’s a world Mackie knows well. She grew up in North London, the daughter of journalist and campaigner Lindsay Mackie and former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, and still lives there today with her husband, Radio 1 DJ Greg James.

    In this episode we cover her OCD, how she feels she hasn’t ‘fixed’ her mental health - and perhaps never will, her ‘failure’ to leave home and what it’s like to be married to someone painfully level-headed. 


    This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.


    IN THIS EPISODE

    00:00 Intro

    02:51 True Crime Origins

    04:11 Rewriting Crime Tropes

    07:17 Funny Draft Fail

    10:37 Success Fuels Anxiety

    14:57 Living With OCD

    22:02 Childfree Choice Backlash

    30:41 Cozy Season Sponsor Break

    31:35 Failure to Launch Confession

    32:15 Living Near Mum and Dad

    33:48 Therapy Rejection and Detachment

    34:43 Anxiety and Codependency Roots

    37:31 Privilege Nepotism and Validation

    39:26 Tony Blair as the Adult

    44:01 Driving Cycling and Creative Life




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Anyone else’s mental health is an island you can’t get to. 

    OCD is like Pokemon, you can catch them all. 

    Greg [my husband] lies down on me when I have an intrusive thought and does a chicken dance on me to make me laugh. 




    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    • Bella’s novel, Claws Out, is available to buy now: harpercollins.co.uk/products/claws-out-bella-mackie?variant=56397858537851 
    • Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content
    • Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    • 📚 WANT MORE?

      Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR 

      Caitlin Moran - swap.fm/l/CaitlinMoran 




      💌 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



        • Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR 


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

          50 min
        • Anthony Scaramucci - My Biggest Failure? Working For Donald Trump

          Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as the White House Communications Chief under President Donald Trump’s first term ended in a blaze of recrimination. Scaramucci was advised by a PR consultant to disappear for five years. He refused - and reinvented his career.

          Now, he is the co-host of the US version of The Rest is Politics podcast alongside British journalist Katty Kay.

          After Harvard Law School, he joined Goldman Sachs and built a career in finance, eventually founding the investment firm SkyBridge Capital.

          In this revealing conversation we discuss what working on Wall Street in the 80s was like, getting fired from Goldman Sachs, his failed first marriage, not being there for his son’s birth, getting fired from The White House and rebuilding his current marriage.

          His book, All the Wrong Moves, looks at how three catastrophic decisions and years of ‘sh*tshow politics’ led to Trump.


          IN THIS EPISODE:

          00:00 Introduction montage

          03:22 Learning optimism and pronoia

          05:02 Self forgiveness after failure

          06:40 Growing up and getting to Tufts

          11:58 Why he wrote the book

          14:03 Fired then rehired at Goldman

          25:23 Money mindset and marriage cracks

          30:48 Work Taxes Burnout

          31:26 Marriage Neglect Regrets

          34:07 Conflict Avoidance Trap

          34:55 Affair Self Forgiveness

          37:46 Fatherhood After Divorce

          40:44 Trump Ego Decision

          45:00 Firing from The Whitehouse

          57:03 Rebuilding and Looking Ahead


          💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

          When bad things happen, take a step back, and get into a channel that is the adult channel. Act in a rational way.


          I trained my brain to be optimistic.


          If you’re not careful, wealth can make you very depressed and lonely.


          Trump's bullying reminded me of my dad… but I was better prepared for it.


          🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

          Anthony’s book, All the Wrong Moves, is available to buy now: www.penguin.co.uk/books/476667/all-the-wrong-moves-by-scaramucci-anthony/9781847929235

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

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


          📚 WANT MORE?

          Bernie Sanders - swap.fm/l/pH8V6cBejDnhH47ega6D

          Andy Burnham - swap.fm/l/IpwatiJ5cM1h0UfcyFiA


          💌 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 Anthony answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

          1 hr 8 min
        • Luke Evans, Sarah Solemani & Elizabeth Day: The Making of The Party

          Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani join Elizabeth to talk about the journey of Elizabeth’s 2017 novel The Party to its new five-part ITV adaptation. 

          Luke stars as the show’s protagonist, Martin Gilmour, and Sarah stars as his wife, Lucy… oh and she also brilliantly adapted the novel for screen. 

          The trio discuss the making of this exciting new drama for TV, how Luke discovered the book and kick-started the process and what the show is about. They discuss themes including: sexuality, the class system in the UK, shame, women leading production, culture on sets in today’s world and friendship. 

          This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.


          IN THIS EPISODE

          00:00 Introduction

          01:42 Luke Discovers the Novel

          02:51 Finding the Screenwriter

          04:45 Adapting Into Five Episodes

          07:13 What The Party Is About

          09:44 Casting Lucy and Onscreen Marriage

          13:04 Collaboration and Set Rewrites

          18:09 Women Leading the Production

          19:35 Set Culture and Final Day Speech

          21:15 Author Visits Set and Craft Details

          22:26 Friendship, Desire and Identity

          25:08 Class, Shame and Final Takeaways

          WANT MORE?

          Luke Evans - swap.fm/l/2AAJhVeDNGdKIJGdznR9 

           LINKS + MENTIONS:

          • The Party starts Sunday 11th October 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The series airs for three consecutive nights: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, concluding with the fourth and final episode the following Sunday 18th and Monday 19th. Or you can binge all five episodes on ITVX. 

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

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



            • Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

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



              • Instagram: @elizabday

              • TikTok: @howtofailpod

              • Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

              • Website: www.elizabethday.org



              • Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR 


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


                LOVE THIS EPISODE? Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

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

                39 min
              • Bonnie Garmus - ‘Adoption Gave Us A Family’

                Bonnie Garmus was 64 when her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was published. It went on to sell more than eight million copies, spend almost two years on the New York Times bestseller list, was translated into more than 40 languages and become an eight-part Apple TV+ series. At its centre was Elizabeth Zott, a fiercely intelligent, forthright chemist turned 1950s TV cooking star.

                Bonnie and I talk about the misogyny that inspired Lessons in Chemistry, her love of dogs, working through a stutter, adopting her two daughters from China and what it took to overcome years of rejection.

                Her new novel, Peck & Peck, is out in the UK on 13 October.

                IN THIS EPISODE:

                00:00 Intro

                03:41 Arts Versus Science

                05:44 Sexism Sparks Novel

                08:58 Greed And AI Warning

                12:19 Dogs Behind Characters

                16:30 Childhood Failures

                30:26 Living With A Stutter

                31:50 Letters And Workarounds

                32:53 Adoption Journey To China

                36:10 What Adoption Really Means

                37:23 Family Bonds And Fate

                39:17 Jeopardy Husband Spotlight

                40:10 98 Rejections And Resilience

                47:05 Finding An Agent And Writing Life


                💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

                I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life, and not a single one has disappointed me.

                I never look back on my career and think I have regrets.

                I had a therapist who was a stutterer… he gave me the courage to embrace it, and then I got better.


                🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

                Bonnie’s new novel Peck & Peck is available to pre-order now: www.waterstones.com/book/peck-and-peck/bonnie-garmus/9781786588975

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

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


                📚 WANT MORE?

                Alain De Botton - swap.fm/l/dnU4ieYPW7eCbesQFNSf

                Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - swap.fm/l/YiA3DPR1awzdCrHfEMfPv


                💌 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 Bonnie answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

                59 min
              • Russell T Davies - On Dr Who, Grief and Gay Representation on TV

                Russell T Davies has spent decades creating some of Britain’s most beloved and groundbreaking television. After studying English at Oxford, he went from writing for children’s programmes and Coronation Street to creating Queer As Folk in 1999 - a show that changed the conversation around gay representation on TV. Since then, he’s written hit after hit, from Bob & Rose and A Very English Scandal to Years and Years, It’s A Sin and his hugely successful revival of Doctor Who. He’s won four BAFTAs and was awarded an OBE in 2008.

                In this episode we talk about where his obsession and passion for TV came from, how his exceptionally busy mind works, losing his husband to a brain tumour, his love of Dr Who and…finding love again.


                His new memoir, The Queerest of Folk, is out on 8th October.


                IN THIS EPISODE:

                00:00 Intro

                02:35 TV Obsession Origins

                03:24 Memoir and Andrew

                08:35 AIDS and Its a Sin

                10:36 Queer as Folk Shockwaves

                12:37 Failure to Drive

                16:45 Writing in Images

                28:05 Early Illustration Gigs

                28:54 Obsessed With Drawing

                30:20 Losing the Habit

                31:52 Comics and Story Beats

                33:54 Writing Geniuses Doctor Who

                37:13 Staying a Fan

                41:41 Legacy and Family Roots

                49:59 Aging Love and Goodbye




                💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

                When I dream I invent people who don’t exist.

                I’ve saved for decades, I saved for a rainy day, and then one day it rained.

                Please never get rid of the Tardis.


                🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

                Russell’s memoir, The Queerest Of Folk is available to buy now: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-queerest-of-folk-a-life-in-television-russell-t-davies/a290496f474a1f8c

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

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


                📚 WANT MORE?

                Phoebe Waller-Bridge - swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa

                Bernardine Evaristo - swap.fm/l/EH5cvO3uPdNCQN9tYyiJ


                💌 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 Russell answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

                57 min
              • Sir Paul Smith - ‘People In Fashion Are Insecure’

                Sir Paul Smith is one of Britain’s most iconic fashion designers, renowned for his sharp tailoring and his sartorial flair. His clothes have an innate sense of mischief: brightly coloured linings, unexpected stripes and a determination never to take themselves too seriously. His devoted clients include Gary Oldman, Bill Nighy and Matty Healy, who wore a Paul Smith suit for his recent wedding.

                Behind the stripes and the suits is a man with a simple life philosophy: stay humble, work hard, be kind. On this episode we talk about the cycling accident that set him on a path to fashion and how he’s kept his global business independent for 56 years. Plus, the secret to a long marriage, what tailoring teaches him about people’s insecurities - and why he wore a suit every day during the Covid lockdowns.


                IN THIS EPISODE:

                00:00 Intro

                03:40 Tailoring for Everyone

                06:48 The Pink Wall Story

                08:31 Stripes and Reinvention

                10:20 Turning 80

                11:33 Cycling Freedom and Family

                18:20 Crash That Changed Everything

                24:20 Pauline Sets The Standard

                25:19 Keeping Love And Work Balanced

                26:19 Step Parenting And Playfulness

                27:28 The Trap Of Comparison

                32:43 Brexit COVID And Staying Independent

                36:02 Choosing The Right Collaborations

                37:21 Believing Your Own Hype

                42:47 Creativity Legacy And Farewell




                💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

                Pauline [my wife] set the standard - it’s been very important for longevity.


                A successful relationship is about balance. Knowing when to talk, when to listen… and have both feet on the ground.


                The danger is losing your focus, and worrying too much about ‘them’.


                🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

                Sir Paul Smith’s Memoir ‘Threads’ is available to buy now: www.paulsmith.com/uk/threads-by-sir-paul-smith-special-edition-book

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

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


                📚 WANT MORE?

                Edward Enninful - swap.fm/l/NOAt5NDZeBTgX6qZUWpB

                Bella Freud - swap.fm/l/mQntNELQPRhZ9CjFQO77


                💌 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 Sir Paul answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

                52 min
              • Louise O’Neill - ‘Full Recovery Is Possible’

                This episode contains references to and descriptions of eating disorders.


                Louise O’Neill is a bestselling, award-winning Irish author whose fearless writing has helped shape modern feminism. Her fiction is taught on the Irish curriculum and Paul Mescal starred in a critically acclaimed stage adaptation of her work. Her second novel, Asking For It, catapulted her into the public eye in 2015.

                Now, with her eighth book, A Bigger Life, O’Neill turns that same unflinching gaze on herself. Her memoir follows the extraordinary dating experiment she embarked on in her late 30s after the end of a long-term relationship: dating a different man every night, across three cities - Paris, London and New York. What began as a challenge, inspired by something her father said, became an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

                In this episode we discuss topics covered in her memoir, A Bigger Life, including: finding hope after heartbreak, pressure on women, extraordinary dating experiences and recovering from a debilitating two-decade-long eating disorder.

                A Bigger Life is out this month.


                IN THIS EPISODE:

                00:00 Introduction

                03:24 Writing Her First Memoir

                04:58 Roots in West Cork

                08:21 Dating for a Bigger Life

                09:26 Choosing Hope After Heartbreak

                13:22 Marriage Expectations and Milestones

                16:57 Beauty Pressure and Aging Fears

                27:12 Fear of Vulnerability

                28:48 Aging and Shame

                30:34 Trusting Your Instincts

                33:35 The Millionaire Date

                36:40 Recovery After 17 Years

                42:57 Rewiring the Mind

                48:35 Good Girl Burnout

                52:07 Redefining Success


                💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

                I didn’t want the break-up to define me.

                Life falls apart around us, and then we have to rebuild. The trick is to keep your heart soft.

                If I’m setting the narrative, I want it to be hopeful .

                I had to rewire my brain - I had to become an entirely new person. Then it became second nature.


                🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

                Louise O’Neill’s memoir A Bigger Life is out now: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/a-bigger-life-louise-oneill?variant=55970156118395

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

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


                📚 WANT MORE?

                Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR

                Caitlin Moran - swap.fm/l/CaitlinMoran


                💌 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 Louise answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



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

                59 min
              • Nish Kumar - Failure Is Information. Comedians Call It Material.

                Nish Kumar is one of the UK’s best-known comedians, known for his impassioned political progressiveness.


                You might remember him as the host of the topical BBC comedy show, The Mash Report, which ran to great acclaim until it was abruptly cancelled in 2021 - one of his failures addresses this head-on. Kumar now co-hosts the popular podcast, Pod Save The UK and his 2026 tour, Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy tackles the existential angst and political disquiet of a 40-year-old man.


                We talk through his failed Edinburgh show, the fact he would never consume Huel, ‘the whole bread roll Mash Report thing’, his people pleasing tendencies, how his experiences of racism led to therapy and a PTSD diagnosis…and how his friendship with Ed Gamble has changed over the years. It’s not one to miss.


                IN THIS EPISODE:

                00:00 Intro

                02:29 Immigrant Parents and Fear

                04:41 Comedy Obsessed Teen

                08:22 Nice Guy Angry Comic

                11:31 Rage as Fuel

                13:04 Edinburgh Show Failure

                23:31 Bread Roll Fallout

                27:20 Empathy and Comedy

                27:53 The Bread Roll Incident

                28:29 Clips, Context, and Backlash

                29:49 Turning Failure into Material

                31:24 Therapy and PTSD

                34:28 Racism and Political Architecture

                39:52 Progress, Parents and Politics

                46:14 Friendship and Growing Up




                💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

                Intellectual intelligence is useless without emotional intelligence


                2013 was the most important year because I learnt everything about what I didn’t want to do in stand-up


                My partner said I should seek therapy, but at the time that felt like an indulgence. I don’t feel that now.


                🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

                Nish Kumar is touring across the UK with Angry Humour from a Really Nice Guy until the end of November. Tickets are available from www.nishkumar.co.uk/gigs

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

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


                📚 WANT MORE?

                Stephen Merchant - swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2

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                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

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                58 min
              • Remembering Gloria Steinem

                It was a privilege to have one of my all-time heroes, the feminist activist, writer and icon Gloria Steinem on How to Fail back in 2020 and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing at the age of 92. To celebrate her life, we’re re-releasing this very special episode.



                We talked about her failure to understand her mother, her failure to be at her father's deathbed and her failure to learn lessons quickly enough - yes, we go deep... She also talked to me about how (then) at the age of 86, she is joyfully outliving society's expectations of her; of how fear can often be a sign of growth (let that sink in), about how 'anger is an energy cell', about how we are 'linked not ranked', about not having children, about spending a lifetime combatting misogyny and racism and sexism and injustice, and about the counteracting forces of love and compassion and friendship which keep her going.



                Whoever said never meet your heroes clearly never met Gloria Steinem.



                We love you Gloria Steinem, rest in power.


                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]

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


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                59 min

              About How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

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              Every success story you've ever been told is incomplete. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is the part they leave out.

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