Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett

By BBC SoundsSociety & Culture Personal Journals

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Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett episodes

May 01 Prescription Drugs Made Me a Shopping Addict with Sally Gardner
Author Sally Gardner’s addiction to shopping has cost her £700k. She has only just discovered this compulsive behaviour is side effect of drugs she’s been prescribed for 20 years.
Sally is a Carnegie Medal and Costa Children’s Book Award-winning writer who suffers from a debilitating condition called Restless Legs Syndrome. To combat it she has taken drugs called dopamine agonists for two decades. When her children heard a BBC radio investigation revealing the extent of compulsive behaviour the drugs can induce, they realised her extreme behaviour was linked to these drugs. Sally is talking publicly about her ordeal for the first time.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
53 min
April 24 I Was My Hero Husband’s Carer with Lindsey Burrow
Lindsey Burrow’s husband Rob was her childhood sweetheart before he became an England rugby league star. After he got motor neurone disease she became his carer for the final years of his life.
Lindsey continued her work as a physiotherapist in the NHS, and looked after their three children, as Rob's condition deteriorated. She has now written a book, Take Care, chronicling her time caring for the husband she describes as "a hero".
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
55 min
April 17 I Don’t Speak to My Family with Shaheen Hashmat
Shaheen Hashmat left her family home aged 12 feeling she needed to escape, fearing a forced marriage. Initially she kept in touch, until deciding to become totally estranged in her twenties.
By cutting contact, she lost the identity and sense of belonging that comes with family. She describes it as the worst kind of break up, one that left her questioning everything. Who am I without them? How do I trust my own decisions? And how do you rebuild when the people who shaped your life are no longer there?
Over time, she began to build a life. Piece by piece, she carved out her own identity, focusing on defining her values, her relationships and the life she wanted to lead, on her own terms.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
53 min
April 10 Life, Love and Sex in an Open Marriage with Deepa Paul
Deepa Paul grew up in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country where she was expected to meet one partner and stay with them for life. She followed that path, entering a monogamous relationship with her husband.
But a small moment shifted everything. While selling furniture on an online directory, Deepa found herself exposed to a world of different sexual preferences and lifestyles. It challenged what she had been taught about love and sex.
What followed was a move to the Netherlands, where she became immersed in what she describes as a more liberal culture. Together with her husband, she began to question monogamy and explore what a different kind of relationship might look like.
They navigated jealousy and difficult conversations, working out boundaries along the way. Over time, building an open marriage that works for them, while raising their daughter.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
50 min
April 03 Escaping the Manosphere with Will Adolphy
Will Adolphy followed male influencers to figure out how a real man should look, feel and act. Now he helps men and boys escape the influence of the online manosphere.
Throughout his teens Will Adolphy became increasingly isolated from his family, focussing his time on online gaming. Later he became more deeply drawn into the masculine digital culture that has become known as ‘the manosphere’, becoming so obsessed with one influencer that he hung a painting of him on his wall. But he was also suffering from panic attacks and severe depression. It all came to a head during lockdown when he lost his job and his relationship broke down. He has since retrained as a psychotherapist and now runs workshops to educate men about online harms.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
49 min
March 27 AI Stripped My Clothes Off with Jess Davies
On New Year's Day, Jess Davies woke up to discover an image of her in a clingfilm bikini had been created by Elon Musk's AI tool Grok and posted to X. She discusses how she has gone from working as a glamour model to campaigning against online image abuse.
Jess shares how her first experience as a victim of image abuse occurred when she was just 15 when a private photo of her was shared around her hometown. She explains how this led to her career in modelling. She now works as a writer and presenter, uncovering toxic, misogynist behaviour online.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
48 min
March 20 From Prison to Playwriting with Ric Renton
Ric Renton shares how reading the dictionary in prison aided his writing career.
Following a school life, he describes as “absent” and a violent childhood involving drugs, Ric requested a dictionary to read cover to cover while in prison. Twenty years later, he has written and starred in plays and is a writer and actor in the BBC drama Waiting For The Out.
With the latest reoffending rates stating that over 40% of adult criminals in England and Wales go on to reoffend within a year of being let out of prison, Emma and Ric talk about Ric’s experiences in prison, staying out of prison and establishing a career, and the criminal justice system.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
49 min
March 13 My Husband Died Alone at Dignitas with Lottie Clarke
Lottie Clarke shares her husband's story and explains why she thinks UK law on assisted dying should change. The couple were happily married for 19 years, but were apart at the moment he died.
After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, James Clarke wanted to retain control at the end of his life. He eventually travelled to Switzerland where assisted dying is legal. Lottie believes they could have had a bit more time together, along with their three children, if assisted dying was legal in the UK. James's last wish to her was that she do what she can to stop other couples having to be apart at very end.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
53 min
March 06 Fatphobia and Weight Loss Jabs with Billie Bhatia
Fashion writer Billie Bhatia talks about her experiences of living in a bigger body, fatphobia and the cultural, social and personal impact of weight loss jabs. Billie talks to Emma about dating, navigating the fashion industry and shares her thoughts on the body positivity movement as well as Serena William’s controversial weight loss drugs advert at Super Bowl 2026.
A recent study by University College London researchers, estimated that 1.6 million adults in England, Wales and Scotland used drugs such as Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic to help lose weight between early 2024 and early 2025.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101
55 min
February 27 Art, Pain, Womanhood with Tracey Emin
Dame Tracey Emin discusses love, feminism, and making art after losing her bladder to cancer, ahead of the opening of her largest ever exhibition.
Emin is one of the UK’s foremost visual artists, having risen to fame in 1990s. In 2020, she was diagnosed with advanced squamous cell carcinoma on her bladder. One specialist gave her six months to live. Four weeks later, a seven-and-a-half-hour surgery removed her bladder, uterus, urethra, a portion of her colon, some lymph nodes, and half her vagina. She speaks to Emma Barnett about what has and hasn’t changed in her life and her work.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
53 min

About Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett

From the publisher's feed

Experiences that have reshaped lives. Bold questions, unexpected truths, lots of tea... Emma Barnett invites you into her world for deeply human conversations.