How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

By howtofail

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What's How To Fail With Elizabeth Day about?

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is a podcast that celebrates the things that haven’t gone right. Every week, a new interviewee explores what their failures taught them about how to succeed better.

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S12, Ep4 How to Fail: Ramla...

09.22.2021

[TW: discussion around suicide] This week's guest, Ramla Ali, is the first Somali boxer ever to compete at the Olympic Games. Ramla was born in Mogadishu, shortly before the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After her eldest brother was ...

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day episodes:

09.22.2021 S12, Ep4 How to Fail: Ramla Ali [TW: discussion around suicide] This week's guest, Ramla Ali, is the first Somali boxer ever to compete at the Olympic Games. Ramla was born in Mogadishu, shortly before the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After her eldest brother was ...
09.15.2021 S12, Ep3 How to Fail: Phil Wang Today my guest is the excellent Phil Wang, stand-up comedian and soon-to-be published author. As a comic, Wang has appeared on a host of comedy panel shows including Would I Lie To You? and 8 out of 10 Cats. During ...
09.08.2021 S12, Ep2 How to Fail: Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson is the beloved children’s author of over 100 books and the creator of one of the most memorable characters of all time: Tracy Beaker. But it wasn’t until her 40s that Jacqueline became a bestseller. Now, at ...
09.02.2021 BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Tanya Reynolds Today, to mark the publication of my new novel Magpie, I bring you an EXTRA-SPECIAL TREAT in the form of the wonderful Tanya Reynolds. Tanya is a brilliant actress who plays Lily in the hit Netflix show Sex Education and ...
09.01.2021 S12, Ep1 How to Fail: Derren Brown My first guest for Season 12 is mind-blowing in the truest sense of the word. Derren Brown has had a 20-year television and stage career, during which he has deployed magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship with extraordinary - and ...
07.28.2021 S11, BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie When I started this podcast, I had a list of dream guests.* At the top was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her third novel, Americanah, is one of my favourite books of all time. I can remember exactly where I was when ...
07.14.2021 S11, Ep8 How to Fail: Maggie O'Farrell For our season finale, I bring you the glorious Maggie O'Farrell. She is one of my favourite authors, and her books include the highly acclaimed novels After You'd Gone, The Hand That First Held Mine, Instructions for a Heatwave and ...
07.11.2021 BONUS EPISODE: HEERRREE'S DOLLY! SHE'S BAAAAAACK! To mark the third anniversary of How To Fail, I invite back the one and only Dolly Alderton. Dolly was one of my first ever guests in the debut season of How To Fail, way back in the ...
07.07.2021 S11, Ep7 How to Fail: Martine Wright Martine Wright is a survivor of the 7/7 London terrorist bombings. Sixteen years ago today, she was travelling on a Circle Line tube to Aldgate station on the morning of 7th July 2005, when a suicide bomber sitting three feet ...
06.30.2021 S11, Ep6 How to Fail: Paris Lees [TW: sexual abuse] Today, my guest is the absolute PEACH of a human that is Paris Lees. Paris is an award-winning journalist and a Contributing Editor for British Vogue. She was the first trans woman to present on BBC Radio ...
06.23.2021 S11, Ep5 How to Fail: Christie Watson Christie Watson is a nurse turned bestselling author who went back to frontline nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic. But if you were to call her a 'hero' she would refuse the label - and during the course of this interview, ...
06.16.2021 S11, Ep4 How to Fail: Guvna B My guest today is Guvna B, the MOBO-award winning rapper, author and broadcaster. He grew up on a council estate in East London and went on to study at the University of Hertfordshire before forging a full-time career in music. ...
06.09.2021 S11, Ep3 How to Fail: Ed Miliband I absolutely loved this interview. Whatever your preconceptions about politicians, please set them aside, because you're about to meet Ed Miliband: former leader of the Labour Party, current shadow business secretary, fellow podcaster and author of a new book, Go ...
06.02.2021 S11, Ep2 How to Fail: Jessica Ennis-Hill Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is an Olympic heptathlon gold medallist and a three-time world champion. This is a woman who knows what it takes to succeed at the very highest levels, and who has learned to process failure when she doesn't ...
05.26.2021 S11, Ep1 How to Fail: Graham Norton What better way to kick off a new season of interviews by interviewing one of the very best interviewers? INTIMIDATED, ME? Pahahahahaha. We open Season 11 of How To Fail with the peerless, hilarious and warm Graham Norton. Chat show ...
05.12.2021 BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Dr Alex George TW: discussions about suicide For Mental Health Awareness Week, we have a very special bonus episode with Dr Alex George. A former Love Island contestant who after exiting the villa, returned to his job as an A&E; doctor. Throughout the ...
04.07.2021 S10, BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Adrian Dunbar I'm almost too excited to write this but..for this extra-special bonus episode, I bring you none other than Adrian Dunbar: the man, the myth, the legend who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings in one of my favourite ever TV shows Line ...
03.24.2021 S10, Ep8 How to Fail: Kazuo Ishiguro It's the season finale, so obviously I insisted our last guest be a Nobel Prize winner and...HERE HE IS! Kazuo Ishiguro, arguably one of our greatest writers of contemporary fiction, and a very lovely man to boot. His most famous ...
03.17.2021 S10, Ep7 How to Fail: Emma Reed Turrell On an excitement scale of 1-10 I am currently at a 15 because this week's guest...is my best friend. As well as being my bff (arguably her most important qualification, I'm sure you'll agree) Emma Reed Turrell is also a ...
03.10.2021 S10, Ep6 How to Fail: Jim Down Today's episode is an important one. Jim Down is an ICU doctor on the frontline of the Covid crisis. He is a consultant in critical care and anaesthesia at University College London Hospital, running the intensive care unit at one ...
03.03.2021 S10, Ep5 How to Fail: Dr Nicole LePera, The Holistic Psychologist This week, Dr Nicole LePera is here to blow your mind. Better known to many as The Holistic Psychologist on Instagram, where she has over 3.4 million followers, Le Pera has gained huge popularity by breaking down complex but helpful ...
02.24.2021 S10, Ep4 How to Fail: Emma Barnett Emma Barnett is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, a gifted broadcaster whose forensic interviewing style has reduced politicians to gibbering wrecks and whose compassion and insight can move listeners to tears. She's also the author of Period: ...
02.17.2021 S10, Ep3 How to Fail: Alexandra Burke Alexandra Burke shot to fame as the 2008 winner of The X Factor. She became the first British female solo artist to have a million-selling single and went on to have a successful career as both a recording artist and ...
02.10.2021 S10, Ep2 How to Fail: Matt Haig Today, I invite you to listen to one of my most-requested guests. I've lost count of the number of messages I've received begging me to get Matt Haig on the podcast, and now here he is: the man, the myth, ...
02.03.2021 S10, Ep1 How to Fail: Jameela Jamil [TW: contains discussion of eating disorders, including references to calorie-counting and body dysmorphia] We're back, baby! So much has changed hasn't it? Last year, I released a new series in the grip of a national lockdown and a global pandemic. ...
12.30.2020 SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Leanne Hainsby It's the weirdest time of the year, when all the days become a formless sludge and we start to miss getting emails. Navigating the days between Christmas and New Year can be tricky at the best of times, but in ...
12.25.2020 How to Fail: A Christmas Message An alternative Christmas message for anyone who needs it.
12.16.2020 A How to Fail Miniseries: Rebecca Anderton-Davies For this four week miniseries, we've been introducing you to four 'ordinary' people with extraordinary stories as part of a one-off How To Fail miniseries in partnership with Grey Goose. My final guest is Rebecca Anderton-Davies, a woman with a ...
12.09.2020 A How to Fail Miniseries: Bassel Deeb For this four week miniseries, we'll be introducing you to four 'ordinary' people with extraordinary stories as part of a one-off How To Fail miniseries in partnership with Grey Goose. Today, my guest is Bassel Deeb. Bassel was born in ...
12.02.2020 A How to Fail Miniseries: Ross Barr For this four week miniseries, we'll be introducing you to four 'ordinary' people with extraordinary stories as part of a one-off How To Fail miniseries in partnership with Grey Goose. Today, my guest is Ross Barr. When Ross was 20, ...
11.25.2020 A How to Fail Miniseries: Yinka Bokinni For the next four weeks, we'll be introducing you to four 'ordinary' people with four extraordinary stories as part of a one-off How To Fail miniseries in partnership with Grey Goose. First up: Yinka Bokinni, a radio DJ who grew ...
11.24.2020 S9, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Jamie Dornan For our second and final bonus episode this season, I bring you the dulcet tones of actor Jamie Dornan. Most recently seen in The Fall (currently on Netflix and BBC iPlayer) playing a serial killer with an incongruously happy family ...
10.28.2020 S9, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Claudia Rankine It is such an honour to welcome the extraordinary Claudia Rankine to the podcast. She is a poet, playwright and essayist, a woman who's life's work has been devoted to the interrogation of race and white supremacy and to the ...
10.14.2020 S9, Ep8 How to Fail: James Acaster Yes, it's the SEASON FINALE - I know, I know, it comes around so quickly doesn't it? But fear not, for we have an excellent guest in the form of James Acaster: comedian, podcaster, author and music enthusiast (specifically enthusiastic ...
10.07.2020 S9, Ep7 How to Fail: Nadiya Hussain [TW: contains discussion of sexual assault] You asked - and we listened. Welcome to one of the most requested podcast guests of all time, the wonderful Nadiya Hussain. Baker, tv presenter, author and all-round good egg, Nadiya joins me to ...
09.30.2020 S9, Ep6 How to Fail: Failosophy Special *SPECIAL EPISODE KLAXON* To mark the publication of my new book, Failosophy, I take a trip down memory lane and share my favourite moments from the How To Fail archive, featuring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mo Gawdat, Alain de Botton and many, ...
09.23.2020 S9, Ep5 How to Fail: Ovie Soko I'VE GOT A TEXT...MESSAGE. This week's guest is Ovie Soko, a man who entered the Love Island villa in 2019 and rapidly became iconic by uttering this phrase. But he's so much more than a reality TV star: famed for ...
09.16.2020 S9, Ep 4 How to Fail: Ruby Wax I've wanted to get this guest on for ages and now - hooray! - here she is: the inimitable Ruby Wax. Ruby started out as an actress at the RSC, took a side-step into comedy and had a hugely successful ...
09.15.2020 S9, Ep3 How to Fail: Annie Nightingale At the age of 80, Annie Nightingale still manages to be one of the most forward-looking and future-facing people I've ever interviewed. She is the legendary Radio 1 DJ - the first woman ever to get a job at the ...
09.02.2020 S9, Ep2 How to Fail: Mohsin Zaidi Mohsin Zaidi's memoir, A Dutiful Boy, is one of the most powerful and emotive books I've read this year. It tells the story of his upbringing in a poor pocket of east London, in a devout Shia Muslim community. His ...
08.26.2020 S9, Ep1 How to Fail: Adam Buxton IT'S SEASON NINE AND I FEEL FINE, BABY! And we open with a humdinger - the podcasting king, comedy legend and all-round thoroughly decent bloke that is...[drum roll + X Factor announcer voice]...ADAM BUXTON. Adam joins me to talk about ...
08.05.2020 S8, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Gloria Steinem GLORIA STEINEM. Gloria ACTUAL Steinem. For this very special bonus episode, I had the absolute honour of interviewing one of my all-time heroes, the feminist activist, writer and icon, Gloria Steinem. And yes, I'm still pinching myself. We talk about ...
07.22.2020 S8, Ep8 How to Fail: Bernardine Evaristo It is the SEASON FINALE, BABY! I know, I know - it goes so quickly doesn't it? But here we are, two months after we started season eight, with a truly phenomenal guest. Bernardine Evaristo was the first black woman ...
07.15.2020 S8, Ep7 How to Fail: Siena Castellon Siena Castellon is my youngest ever guest. She's a 17-year-old activist and mentor. She is autistic, has dyslexia and dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. And she's just published her first book. Her book, The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide: How ...
07.08.2020 S8, Ep6 How to Fail: Glennon Doyle This week, I bring you the utterly sensational Glennon Doyle. She is the author of three books, the latest of which, Untamed, is a memoir that defies easy categorisation - somewhat like the woman herself. Untamed is thrilling, original and ...
07.01.2020 S8, Ep5 How to Fail: Julia Samuel Today's guest is someone I fell in platonic love with by reading her work. Julia Samuel is one of the country's leading psychotherapists but she is also well-known as an author. Her first book, Grief Works, was a Sunday Times ...
06.24.2020 S8, Ep4 How to Fail: Scarlett Moffatt Scarlett Moffatt was working at the checkout in Asda when she and he family got the chance to be on Channel 4's Gogglebox. She rapidly became the show's break-out star with her brilliant one-liners. Television fame followed - she co-presented ...
06.17.2020 S8, Ep3 How to Fail: Matthew Syed Matthew Syed is an acclaimed author, newspaper columnist and broadcaster. He is also, in many ways, is the father of failure. I mean that as a compliment, obviously. Through his seminal, bestselling books - Bounce, Black Box Thinking and his ...
06.10.2020 S8, Ep2 How to Fail: Samantha Irby This episode was recorded before recent tragic events in America. There are links to useful Black Lives Matter resources and ways to help below You know when you read someone's work and feel like you'd be friends in real life, ...
06.03.2020 S8, Ep1 How to Fail: Jessie Ware This episode was recorded before recent tragic events in America. There are links to useful Black Lives Matter resources and ways to help below WE'RE BAAAAAACCCCKKKK just like Backstreet, The Mack, and the toilet roll that's now in stock again ...

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