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We're honoured to have Jung Chang, the celebrated author of the international bestseller Wild Swans, as our Rosebud guest today - and her story will astonish you. In this remarkable episode, Jung tells Gyles the story of her family - and through that, the story of China over the past 100 years. This episode takes us from the tale of her grandmother, who grew up in pre-Communist China and was subjected to the cruel custom of foot binding, to her mother and father, who were committed Communists but who were eventually denounced and imprisoned by the Party, and eventually to Jung's own story, her move to the UK, and her fears for the future - which she tells brilliantly in her new book 'Fly Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China'.

Jung's latest book is out now and available now from here. It is riveting, and highly recommended.

For this week only, Rosebud are collaborating with Project Everyone as part of the "Be Hope" movement - and we've asked Jung a special question about hope at the end of the episode. And you'll definitely want to listen to to the end of this one! Cue the music.

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Julia Bradbury talks to Gyles about her life, upbringing and her new book "Hack Yourself Healthy". As Gyles finds out in this conversation, from the moment she began working her way up through the TV industry, Julia had led a stressful, action-packed and "high cortisol" life. Was this one of the contributing factors in her breast cancer diagnosis of 2021? Understandably, the discovery of her cancer led Julia to reassess her lifestyle, and ultimately to research and write the book she's talking about today. She tells Gyles about the things we can all do to increase our health and longevity: from simple steps such as making sure we spend time in the open air to breathing more deeply, to more radical ideas like walking backwards and using a copper tongue scraper.

This is also a Rosebud chat - so we also hear about Julia's early memories, her family, and her schooldays.

We hope you enjoy this fascinating chat. Julia's book, "Hack Yourself Healthy", is available to buy here.

Rosebud's new Facebook group "Rosebud Reflections" is up and running, you can find it here. It's a place to meet, discuss and digest all things Rosebud. Have fun!

Rosebud's new website is also live and is a thing of beauty - it's www.rosebudpodcast.co.uk - click here to go straight there!

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You might notice that this episode of Rosebud is slightly longer than usual - and that's because this story is so powerful. This conversation with the stand-up, writer, actor and TV star Alan Davies is virtually unedited - because it's unmissable. In it, Alan tells Gyles about the two most significant, and devastating, events of his childhood: the death of his mother when he was only six years old, and the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father after she died. And he tells Gyles about how he has healed and gone on to have his own family, and experience unconditional love with his own children. This is a very sad, at times upsetting, episode, but also one full of hope, laughter and insight. It is well worth your time, and please get in touch with [email protected] with any thoughts you have on the themes Alan and Gyles discuss here.

Alan Davies is on tour in the UK, Australia and elsewhere - get tickets here. His new book, White Male Stand-Up is also available now.

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Our guest today is one of the UK's best known and best loved public intellectuals, the classicist and expert on Roman history Professor Dame Mary Beard. Mary tells Gyles about her country childhood in Shropshire, playing on a disused railway track and trying to memorise Jane Eyre by heart. She talks about her interesting parents - a headmistress and a "raffish" historical buildings architect, and about the alarming visits up ladders into church belfries she made with her dad. She talks about Cambridge, sexism, and discusses interesting questions such as 'how to think' with Gyles. She talks about her early relationships with men and she describes the chain of events which led to her being raped in Italy as a student. She talks about the challenges of being a public intellectual, and about her aversion to risk aversion!

As you can tell, this is a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion. Enjoy this.

NB this episode contains some discussion of a rape, which is not graphic, but you may want to be mindful of this if listening with children.

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It's Rosebud's second birthday, and we're celebrating with another conversation with our very first guest: Dame Judi Dench. This time, it's been recorded in front of an audience, at the Concert Artists' Association in Covent Garden, London. Dame Judi treats us to some more stories from her amazing career. She tells Gyles about working with Tommy Steele, Johnny Depp and Clint Eastwood. She tells Gyles about having Eric Morecambe over for lunch. She talks about Macbeth and Twelfth Night and gives us some speeches from those plays - which will stop you in your tracks.

We're extremely lucky to hear from this legendary actress once more. And we're extremely lucky to have been able to give you Rosebud for the past two years!

Enjoy this.

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To end our second year of Rosebud, we have one of our most charming, talented and brilliant theatrical dames: Dame Eileen Atkins. Dame Eileen is a uniquely talented writer and actor, both on stage and screen - from Cranford, to the RSC, to The Killing of Sister George on Broadway, to Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliot (which she co-created), to Mrs Dalloway (for which she wrote the screenplay). And this is one of our most entertaining interviews yet, with stories from Dame Eileen's long life and career . From her early years in Tottenham, when a gypsy going door-to-door prophesied that the three year-old Eileen would be a world-famous dancer, to her career as a child performer playing the working men's clubs, to her school days in Edmonton - the anecdotes from Eileen's life are brilliantly told. We then hear about her days at drama school, her friendship with Sir Alec Guinness and a couple of very funny stories from her working life.

This is a fitting end to a fabulous two years for our podcast. We're very proud of the show we've created, and of our community of listeners - we're grateful to each and every one of you for your emails, your ears, your reviews, and your time. Thank you so much for being here with us! And thank you to Dame Eileen for this special conversation. Here's to many more years of Rosebud to come. Enjoy this.

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