A little Summer surprise! I had a wonderful chat with Oli Higginson, who you might recognise from his appearances in The Pursuit of Love, Bridgerton and The Last Five Years to name a few. We talk about a myriad of things to brighten up the week, including Icelandic music, love, the Olympics and some exciting things on the horizon. Hope you enjoy!

You can find Oli on Instagram and Twitter @oli_higginson. He is soon to return as Jamie in The Last Five Years at The Garrick Theatre from September 17th, and will be gracing our screens in various programmes over the next year.

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Keep sending in your happy news to [email protected], and feel free to rate, review and subscribe.  

It's the last episode of the series and the one year anniversary of the podcast! 

My co-producer, Fionn, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to reflect on the series. We discuss our top 3 moments, good news from guests, and what's to come in the future. There are lots of laughs and stories, including a heated conversation about the great scone debate... Hope you enjoy - thank you so much for listening and for your support throughout the series!

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN (@fonnmusic). 

Episode 7 is here with Shadow and Bone star Kit Young. Kit is filming for another Netflix series at the moment so we talk about everything from filming on set to managing to do laundry and speeding up voice notes. There's good news from Kirsty and Molly, and we discuss some of the happy things in the news including cinema success and the power of dogs!

You can find Kit @kittheyounger on Instagram and Twitter. Hope you enjoy the episode and please do rate, review and subscribe.

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Keep sending in your happy news to [email protected], and have a lovely week!

This week I spoke to comedian and freestyle rapper Chris Turner. Chris has amassed over 30 million views on YouTube for his talents, and he has a very exciting UK and European Tour coming up this Summer. We chat about all manner of things from table tennis to cats on leads to a 10 year old chess champion. Make sure to stay to the end to hear an amazing freestyle rap of the week's news!

You can find Chris @ChrisPJTurner on Twitter or @christurnercomedy on Instagram, and head to his website christurnercomedy.com for information about his tour and for more incredible raps. 

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Keep sending in your happy news to [email protected], and check us out over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehappyhalf

Episode 5 is with the lovely Sophie Ross! Sophie is co-founder of The DigiCreative and creator of the book ‘Dear Audience’, a theatrical coffee table photo-book celebrating and showcasing the Arts Industry. We chat about spicy food, photoshoots and early mornings, and there's good news from Lili and Holly. We also talk about the joy of hugs and society making a return!

You can find Sophie on social media @sophross and we talk about the mental health charity @applauseforthought, who you should go and check out for their amazing work. 

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Keep sending in your happy news to [email protected], and check us out over on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/thehappyhalf

This week I had a wonderful conversation with Piripa, an Oxford based singer-songwriter who is releasing her debut single on 28th May! The episode features chats about Star Wars, outdoor heaters and the beautiful origin of the name Piripa. There's good news from Harry and Ross, and a lot of positive things in the news for a welcome change. As well as happy medical developments, we discuss sustainable shopping news and some very heartwarming stories from Disney. 

You can find Piripa on Twitter and Instagram @piripamusic, and stay tuned for her single release later in the month. Have a lovely week!

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Keep sending in your happy news to [email protected], and check us out over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehappyhalf

This week I was very excited to speak to Kevin Clifton, a Strictly Come Dancing icon and musical theatre performer extraordinaire. He has had many exciting announcements recently and will be starring in the UK Arena Tour of The War of The Worlds in 2022, along with his own tour Burn The Floor and Strictly Ballroom The Musical. We chat about his happy news, the tree in his garden which is bringing him joy, the importance of representation and lots of joyful theatre news. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

You can find Kevin on Instagram and Twitter @keviclifton and he has his own podcast called ‘The Kevin Clifton Show’.

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Go and check us out over on Patreon and go and listen to @fonnmusic’s new single out on Friday!

For today's episode I had the pleasure to chat with the wonderful Natalie Jamieson. Nat is a popular culture journalist, broadcaster and writer; from broadcasting on the radio and interviewing A-Listers, to writing her own novel and producing her own podcasts, she is a very busy woman full of heart and many happy stories. We discuss excitements such as going to the hairdressers, going to the pub and having the vaccine, and there's good news from Frankie and a newly engaged couple. We also talk about Earth Day and some of the more positive environmental stories surrounding how we can look after our planet.

You can find Natalie on Twitter @Nat_Jamieson, and she has her own podcast called 'Bestsellers'. 

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN. Please do leave a review and rate & subscribe, and check out The Happy Half on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehappyhalf

We're back for Series 2, with new jingles, a slightly new format and new exciting guests. In this episode I chat to Fionn Connolly, a very talented musician and my new co-producer! We chat about what has made us smile this week, featuring a range of things from mini eggs to peppermint beard oil. There's good news from Becky and exciting plans on the horizon for FONN, and we discuss some news stories, including what we refer to as the 'lido revolution'. Hope you enjoy and please do rate, review and subscribe. 

The Happy Half was created by Heather Conder with help from FONN (@fonnmusic). Go and check out his amazing work and his latest single, 'Good Light In'.

*This episode was recorded remotely over Zoom to raise money for Crisis this Christmas*

It's the last Christmas Countdown episode ahead of the big day itself! For Christmas Eve, we thought we'd interview the wonderful Philip Joel. Philip is a renowned choreographer, with his work being seen worldwide, choreographing musicals, pantos, cruises and even events at the O2. Most recently he is known for bringing us much laughter through his 'Fosse Forrest Ballet' sketches and TV Pilot; hopefully this episode will also help to spread some cheer in what is going to be a very different and unusual Christmas. 

The Happy Half is created by Heather Conder, and this series was recorded remotely over Zoom during the second lockdown. Thank you so much for listening to the countdown episodes; for every download we have donated money to help Crisis this Christmas, and we have really enjoyed having an excuse to get festive and fun at this challenging time. Merry Christmas and sending best wishes for a better 2021!