What I Wish I'd Known

Sir Damon Buffini is a businessman and Chairman of the National Theatre, Royal Anniversary Trust and the Ryder Cup Committee. Rachel and Alice join him at his home to talk about overcoming the racism he faced at University, chairing the government's Cultural Recovery Fund, and how the work ethic instilled in him as a child drove him to become the most powerful black man in Britain.

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Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org

The Prince’s Trust: www.princes-trust.org.uk

Buffini Chao Foundation: www.buffinichao.com

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ed Balls is a broadcaster, former Labour Politician and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and the winner of Celebrity Best Home Cook 2021. He talks openly to Rachel and Alice about his time in government, how he overcame the bullying he faced as a child and why he kept his lifelong stammer a secret.

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Bullies Out: www.bulliesout.com

Young Minds: www.youngminds.org.uk

The Brittish Stammering Associtation: www.stamma.org

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE is an actor, playwright and Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss the impact the TV series Roots had on his identity, the racial violence he witnessed as a child in 80's London and how his career has taken him from an ambulance driver in Casualty to leading one of the UK's biggest theatres.

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Stop Hate UK: www.stophateuk.org

Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org

Theatre's Trust: www.theatrestrust.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Esther McVey MP is the former Minister of State for Housing has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2017. She joins Rachel and Alice from her office in Westminster to reveal how her life began in the care of Barnardo's, before being returned to her parents and going on to become children's tv presenter and a politician.

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If Chloe Can: ifchloecan.org.uk

Barnardo's: www.barnardos.org.uk

The Children's Society: www.childrenssociety.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Douglas Stuart's debut novel, Shuggie Bain, brought him international acclaim after winning the 2020 Booker Prize. One year on from it's publication he joins Rachel and Alice from his home in New York to reveal just how much he and Shuggie have in common, the ways he coped with his mother's alcoholism as a child, and the dangers he faced growing up gay in 1980's Glasgow.

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Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk

Scottish Book Trust: www.scottishbooktrust.com

National Association for Children of Alcoholics: www.nacoa.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nadiya Hussain MBE rose to fame after winning The Great British Bake Off back in 2015. She talks to Rachel and Alice about the way her life has changed since then and how the abuse that she faced as a child inspired her to be a force for change.

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Samaritans: www.samaritans.org

Blueprint for All: www.blueprintforall.org

The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigel Owens MBE became the first referee to take charge of 100 Rugby Union international games before his retirement last autumn. He joined Rachel and Alice from his farm in Wales, where he opened up about coming to terms with his sexuality, the devastating impact it had on his mental health, and how rugby saved him after he tried to take his own life.

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Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk

Samaritans: www.samaritans.org

Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust: www.wrct.co.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy McNab is one of the UK's most decorated former soldiers and has become a bestselling author of military fiction. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss his childhood in the borstal system and juvenile detention and how creating a story about his daughter in his mind helped him survive torture in Iraq.

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Mind: www.mind.org.uk

Help for Heroes: www.helpforheroes.org.uk

The Armed Forces Charity: www.ssafa.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacqueline Gold CBE is the CEO of Ann Summers, Vice-President of The Children's Trust and one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. She sits down in her home with Rachel and Alice and opens up about her parent's divorce, surviving sexual abuse and turning her trauma into a positive by empowering women in both the bedroom and the boardroom.

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NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk

The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org

Cruse Bereavement Care: www.cruse.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Green, Stephen Manderson, is one of the UK's most successful rappers and mental health campaigners. He joins Rachel and Alice to talk candidly about being brought up on an East London council estate by his grandmother, struggling with depression and how his father's suicide made him re-evaluate his own life.

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Mind: www.mind.org.uk

Samaritans: www.samaritans.org

National Suicide Prevention Alliance: www.nspa.org.uk

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.