Ctrl Alt Delete

This episode of Ctrl Alt Delete is all about travel and self-discovery. Anna Hart is my guest today, who is one of my favourite travel writers, and she has just written a book called Departures. Anna Hart writes for The Telegraph, Grazia, GQ, The Guardian and Conde Nast Traveller, Sunday Times Travel and is contributing travel editor of Stylist magazine. Her book Departures, is published by Little Brown this year exploring the world as a traveller, drawing on 10 years experience of travel writing, and she writes about the highs and lows travelling alone as a woman, showing that even the experts get it wrong (sometimes) and advice on how to get it right. I love this episode. We talk about the importance of unfiltered, non-airbrushed travel stories in a world of glossy travel on Instagram. The truth is travel arrangements can go horribly wrong, things might not go to plan, it can be scary on your own, especially a young woman with a backpack. We talk about the responsibility in only promoting brilliant places: "there's a special place in hell for people that send readers on the wrong holidays". How she wrote her book on paper, to get away from a screen, tips for overcoming travel anxiety if you're a nervous flyer and why luxury is NOT everything. I loved this quote from Anna too: "Your career in your 20s is about what you say yes to, your career in your 30s is really about what you say no to." Hope you ENJOY! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Sheridan is the World's first and only "Comparison Coach". She came on the podcast last year to talk about a book she co-authored with fellow lifecoach Jo Westwood. This time, we discuss the dreaded act on social media comparison in all it's ugliness.Lucy is a Hay House author and life coach who specialises in her helping her clients get over the compare and despair that can be heightened via social media. She uses the #comparisonfree hashtag online spreading awareness of how to find the tools to live a comparison free life. She coaches her clients with unique, specialist coaching experiences and events. The Times' calls Lucy "one of the UK's most successful coaches", she was also recently listed in the Sunday Times Style in an article called "Meet The New Wellbeing Coaches", and she’s been featured on Oprah's 'Life Class' series multiple times.I wanted to release this episode about comparison around Christmas time as I think it's a time when we have more time to play around online and maybe part of that means looking at what other people are doing, imagining their perfect lives and scrutinising ourselves. In this episode Lucy and I discuss what our own personal comparison triggers are, what to do when *you're* the trigger for someone else's comparison, online mental health, and setting your own personal and professional boundaries. I’m proud to be sharing this very honest episode on comparison, and I hope you enjoy it! You can find Lucy Sheridan here http://www.proofcoaching.com/ or on Instagram @lucysheridan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Chatfield is a leading writer, thinker and speak on technology and digital culture. We sat on a panel together a few years back and I loved what he had to say. He’s consulted for firms ranging from Google, Coca Cola to Time Out, he is interested in improving our experiences of digital culture, with a special interest in A.I., the psychology of human-machine interactions and the ethics of tech.He’s a TED Global speaker (with ver 1 million of his talk “7 Ways Games Reward the Brain”) and a prolific author. Tom’s 7th book CRITICAL THINKING has just come out with Sage publishing and it's a brilliant book full of tools on how to think more clearly in this age of digital overwhelm. He is a columnist for BBC’s worldwide technology site and BBC Future and guest lectures at universities in the UK and all over Europe. He has written for the Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Sunday Times, New Statesman, New Scientist and Wired. He took his doctorate at St John’s College, Oxford, and was named one of the world’s 100 leading thinkers by think tank LSDP. He knows his stuff. We talk about the word ‘expert’ and what that actually means, how to sniff out bullshit online, the future of tech and how to deal with incessant emails. Hope you enjoy this one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So excited to have Lauren Laverne on the podcast today! Lauren Laverne is a radio DJ, television presenter, author and co-founder of the award-winning digital platform The Pool. She has presented TV shows including 10 O'Clock Live for Channel 4, and The Culture Show and coverage of the Glastonbury Festival for the BBC. She currently presents a radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music and also Late Night Woman's Hour. We discuss the fact that Late Night Woman's Hour podcast has it's own dedicated podcast (very exciting), why she started the award-winning digital platform The Pool, some advice for young women, the evolution of audio, the joy of radio and why privacy matters in the social media age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I did a live podcast recording of Ctrl Alt Delete at Starling Bank offices where we spoke about the awkwardness of money and the taboo that surrounds it. How often do you check your bank account? What keeps you up at night? Why don't we talk about these things?It's a weird, emotional, vulnerable topic. We all have our own personal relationship with money and we all keep a lot hidden in the depths of our own minds. For this very special one-off live recording of Ctrl Alt Delete, hosted at Starling Bank offices, I wanted the whole episode to be around this topic and open up a wider conversation.We spoke about all sorts of different areas of money awkwardness: asking for it, not having it, having a lot of it, social sitchs when you have more than your friends, or less than your partner, or wanting a raise at work, or saving for a child, or late-night worries in bed and wtf is an ISA and oh shit moments when you realise you don't have a pension. We covered a lot and the aim of the night wasn't to financially advise but to get us simply *talking* about money in an open non-awk way. Sarah who works at Starling shows her colleagues her bank balance most days as they work on the live app. That level of transparency scares me, but I also want to be more open, with myself and others.The panelists for this event were Michelle Kennedy from Peanut app, Serena Guen the founder of SUITCASE, Otegha Uwagba founder of Women Who and best-selling author of The Little Black Book and Sarah Guha from Starling Bank. Thank you to my amazing panellists for for wearing your hearts on your sleeve for the recording. Think it was the most vulnerable live recording I've personally done. And the questions from the audience were ace. And thank you to those that came and people who listen to the podcast. I started it at home with minimal DIY tools and so to partner with brands I respect and admire is just amazing. I frigging love this community. PHOTO CREDIT: Marcus Hessenberg / Audio producer: Shola Aleje Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to my exciting episode with the incredible June Sarpong. We discuss her new book Diversify backstage at Stylist Live. I've wanted to meet June for ages, so this is a VERY exciting episode! June has enjoyed a 20-year career which has already seen her become one of the most recognisable faces of British television, as well as being one of the UK’s most intelligent and dynamic young hosts. June has also taken on the world’s most challenging live audiences, hosting 2005’s major Make Poverty History event in London’s Trafalgar Square and presenting at the UK leg of Live Earth in 2007. In 2008 alongside Will Smith she also hosted Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday celebrations in front of 30,000 people in London’s Hyde Park.June has worked extensively with HRH Prince Charles for ten years as an ambassador for his charity the Prince's Trust. June was awarded an MBE on the Queens 2007 new years honours list for her services to broadcasting and charity, making her along with Princess Anne’s daughter Zarah Phillips one of the youngest people to receive an MBE.We talk about how to lead a more inclusive lifestyle, why it's important to have difficult conversations and how to get out of your own 'bubble'. Hope you enjoy this episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Jewell is a pop culture host at The Washington Post, and a former senior writer at BuzzFeed, where she became known for her humour writing - she presented BuzzFeed's live 2016 election night show, which was watched by nearly 7 million people.She has also now written a book called 100 Nasty Women of History. All about brilliant, badass and completely fearless women everyone should know.The book is about women in history who were deemed too nasty for their times. When you learn about (the very few) women in history, it's hard not to wonder: why do they seem so prim and proper? The truth is, (mostly male) historians keep glossing over the real details, or leaving out the women who threatened their idea of what a woman should be like. They’re intelligent, ahead of their time, some overthrew empires, and some just wanted to have a good time – obviously none of which were acceptable at the time.It’s sort of history the way you’d tell it to your friends at the pub – full of the salacious, the mind boggling and downright brutal happenings, as well as plenty of modern day judgement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today my 100th episode has gone live! That’s 100 guests, 100 locations, 100 different topics, over 1 million downloads and whole load of listening, from me as the host, and listeners all around the world. I think this calls for a digital celebration and some trip-down-memory-lane reflection. I wasn’t really going to do anything for my 100th episode, until I realised that no-one is responsible for shouting about anything for you – it’s up to you! If you want to say “WOO HOO” about something then do it. And hey, that’s what having a blog is for. This 100th episode is a compilation-style medley of some of my favourite interviews and some behind-the-scenes chat in between each clip about what I’ve learned and enjoyed along the way, including snippets from Lena Dunham, Gillian Anderson, Will Young, Deborah Frances-White and Nimko Ali. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is with Will Storr, journalist and author of many books including his most recent work of non-fiction called SELFIE. We talk about his new book Selfie: how we became so self-obsessed and what it’s doing to us. He unpicks our society’s longing for self-esteem and where this came from – and how we are products of our own environment. Why do we have to be confident extroverts to be successful? Truth is, we don’t. He writes that the perfect self is propaganda and doesn’t actually exist. It’s rather liberating to hear Will’s thoughts on how you don’t have to be the person the media wants you be. We also chatted a bit about the future of work, we have a friendly conversational debate and seeing it from each other’s perspectives. We live in a world where people are so one-sided most of the time, and Will gives some tips at the end on how to spot if you are holding an idea too sacred and how to be more self-aware. Hope you enjoy this one! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is with Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank. I’m proud to have partnered with Starling to talk more about money, a topic I don't think we talk enough about. Starling is a mobile-only bank, and they believe everyone should be able to enjoy a healthy financial life. I love that Starling is spear-headed by a woman and Anne’s passion for helping me manage their money better. I feel its important we talk about money more, especially when pay gaps still exist and money is such an emotional subject that is often felt like a taboo. I am working with Starling on some exciting things coming up - keep an eye on my Twitter or Instagram for more news. You can get it on Android and Apple and just visit Starlingbank.com for more info and to download it. Can I also recommend their blog post called Women in Finance Charter talking all about how to get more women into senior tech positions. As CEO Anne overseas everything at Starling. After graduating in computer science and chemistry, she started her career at Lloyds Bank, where she helped implement the UK’s first real-time payments system. She worked at UBS, before becoming Head of EMEA for RBS across 34 countries. After the financial crisis, Anne spoke to people around the world about the changes in banking and technology and works to find solutions to the restrictions still imposed by outdated technology. in 2014 Starling was founded and Anne’s vision for Starling is to build the best bank account in the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Viv Groskop is a writer, broadcaster and stand-up comedian. Viv’s brand new 2017 show ANCHORWOMAN: WHEN THE NEWS GETS TOO MUCH was performed at Edinburgh Fringe this year and featured on: BBC R2 and BBC R4. We chat about Viv’s new book, acquired by Penguin The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature. Viv is also a Columnist and agony aunt called Dear Viv at The Pool. She reviews TV for the Guardian and is the author of “stand-up meets mid-life crisis memoir” I Laughed, I Cried. AND she was shortlisted Glamour Woman of the Year: Columnist of the Year 2014, 2015, 2016. We talk about how you shouldn't rush creative projects, how trolling isn’t new, how her new book was in the works for 15 years and how to many projects on the go at the same. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rae Earl is a brilliant author. Her books My Mad Fat Diary & My Madder Fatter Diary have been made into a TV show that is shown in over 50 countries worldwide including the USA, Brazil, South Korea & Morocco. My Mad Fat Diary has been nominated for 2 BAFTAS, 2 RTS awards, an international Emmy award and has won 2 MIND Media awards. Her mental heath guide It’s All in Your Head is out now – and it is a hug in a book. Rae has written articles for The Guardian, Marie Claire, Elle, Elle Australia and Sarah Millican’s The Standard Issue online magazine and has featured in The Telegraph, Heat, Grazia and The Times. In this episode with talk about mental health, the term “snowflakes”, how to have an argument online and how to know what to share online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giovanna Fletcher is a Sunday Times bestselling author, actress and vlogger.Her first book, Billy and Me was released in May 2013, and a year later she returned with a second title, You’re the One That I Want, in 2014. Then another book in 2015, and another one in 2016! I was so excited to talk to Giovanna about her writing and creative processes and where she gets all her ideas from. We also chatted about friendship, motherhood and living life online as a parent in the public eye. Hope you enjoy this episode. Her podcast Happy Mum Happy Baby is released on September 5th, make sure you subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m so excited to bring you this episode with Will Young. Obviously I know Will from his Pop Idol success back in the noughties - I was a fan then and I am now too, but for a different reason: his new podcast with his friend Chris Sweeney called HOMO SAPIENS is brilliant. They describe it as “two gay guys talking to people we think are interesting” and were heavily inspired by BBC's Woman's Hour. Episode 1 was released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the start of decriminalisation of homosexuality. Each weekly episode tackles a diverse mix of LGBTQ+ subjects. Of course we all know Will for his pop classics and right now Will is continuing Summer Jazz Sessions with performances at music festivals and BBC’s I Feel Love concert. He is doing a series of talks about mental health at Latitude, Wilderness and Soul Circus and has an upcoming UK tour of the musical ‘Cabaret’. He's been nominated for an Olivier Award and was also nominated for the Guardian Pride Power List 2017. Subscribe to Homo Sapiens on iTunes or Acast. Hope you enjoy this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebecca Holman is the editor of The Debrief and the author of BETA: Quiet Girls Can Run The World. Rebecca was also my boss when I worked at The Debrief years ago, and so it was nice to catch up with her, especially as she also featured me in her book (which you should all read). Rebecca’s book BETA is published on 24th August '17 and takes a look at the two stereotypes of women in the workplace: the Alpha boss, or the Beta secretary or assistant. Rebecca is self-defined as a straight up Beta and she describes the differences between the two terms on the podcast. Obviously being reduced to two stereotypes isn’t massively helpful and of course there is a sliding scale. What if you’re a Beta who wants to lead and be the boss in the workplace - like Rebecca? Can you be a successful boss who is also quiet, reserved and likes going home on time? BETA celebrates the collaborators and the people who believe that being nice works and getting your own way isn't always the most important thing. It is a call-to-arms that explores the unsung workforce of BETA women who are being great bosses, great leaders and are still living their own lives: having relationships, making time for friends, having families. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle Kennedy is the CEO and co-founder of Peanut, an app for Mums who want to make new friends. She started Peanut after struggling to meet other mums she could relate to while also working. After finding herself trawling blogs for baby advice at 2am while her friends were still hanging out in clubs, she decided to create a product to make being a mum a little less lonely. Michelle started her career as a lawyer at leading international law firm, she later joined dating app, Badoo, where she transformed the internal legal offering within Badoo, and eventually rose to the role of Deputy CEO. During her tenure at Badoo, Michelle was integral to the the launch of Bumble.                     We talk about friendship, motherhood, competitiveness and being kinder to ourselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a slightly different episode. I interview artist and activist Lily Cole and British fashion designer Henry Holland and a handful of other people who are all behind BRITA’S #SWAPFORGOOD campaign. This campaign is to raise awareness of the 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles that end up in seas and landfill every year and the fact that by 2050 there is a good chance there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Pretty horrifying stats. Henry Holland and BRITA have teamed up to create two powerful slogan tees that were made using plastic that might otherwise have ended up in the sea and landfill. The limited edition t-shirts will be sold on HouseofHolland.co.uk from 20th July, at £30, with profits donated to the Marine Conservation Society (@MCS). In this episode we talk tips on how live more consciously, how plastic waste is harming our planet and how something as simple as having a refillable water bottle means you aren’t just using plastic bottles once and then binning them. Hope you find this episode interesting and maybe even some food for thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathy Rentzenbrink is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling memoir The Last Act of Love. She was born in Cornwall, grew up in Yorkshire and she now lives in London, where she works as a writer and journalist. She is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling memoir The Last Act of Love, which was shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize and one of my personal favourite memoirs of last year. It tells the story of Cathy and her family coming to terms with a horrific accident involving her younger brother Matty and the heartbreaking aftermath of what happened. It deals with grief, heartbreak, family and the human experience of dealing with something awful that changes your life forever. Her second book is out now, called A Manual for Heartache. It’s taking her experiences told in her first book and giving practical tips to readers. She describes how she learnt to live with grief and loss and find joy in the world again. She explores how to cope with life at its most difficult and overwhelming. It's a book that will help to soothe an aching heart and assure its readers that they're not alone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Vine is a freelance journalist based in London, who regularly writes and edits for the likes of Grazia, Heat, Cosmo, Stylist and Marie Claire. She also writes a weekly newsy column for Grazia Daily. She was fed up of seeing the happily-ever-afters in films, so she decided to write her own story and her debut Hot Mess is the result. Hot Mess has been described as the hilarious laugh-out-loud Bridget Jones for a new generation. We talk about female friendship, "Cool Girls", being single, external life pressures, turning 30 and the horrors of 21st century dating. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Haig is a brilliant author who writes for both children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller last year, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children's book A Boy Called Christmas was a huge hit recently, translated in over 25 languages and being made into a film by Studio Canal. The Guardian called it an 'instant classic' and his fans include Neil Gaiman. His novels for adults include the award-winning The Radleys and The Humans. His newest book How To Stop Time is out now - the main protagonist Tom has a secret - he may look like an ordinary forty-one-year-old, but he was born in 1581, this rare condition means he’s been alive for centuries. It’s also being made into a film with Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom - so it’s all been kicking off for Matt Haig, things are very exciting indeed. We talk about his new novel, his relationship with time, how to deal when your memoir is a viral hit and you become a meme, and realistic writing tips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Excited to bring you today’s episode with the amazing Tavi Gevinson. I’ve followed her career for years, her fashion blog Style Rookie was one of the first blogs I ever read which she founded when she was 11. I also really enjoyed her TED talk she did back in 2012 all about being a teen and figuring stuff out. Tavi Gevinson is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the Rookie Magazine shifting her focus to pop culture and feminist discussion - it broke one-million page views within five days of launching in September 2011 when she was only 15 years old. She wanted to create a space for teen girls as she "couldn't find a publication for young people that respected its readers' intelligence, honestly addressed what they were going through, and had actual teens writing for it". She has also recently launched the Rookie Podcast in collaboration with MTV where she interviews artists who also answer advice and talk through Rookie type subjects. We chat about growing up online, accepting our past online selves and managing multiple different platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Otegha Uwagba is the author of The Little Black Book and founder of Women Who.Women Who is a London-based platform she created to connect, support and and inspire creative working women. Besides running Women Who, she is also a freelance writer for places like ELLE and an occasional brand consultant, having spent years working at Vice and huge creative agencies.So in this episode we talk about her first book, Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women which I read last year when she first self-published it on her own. I’m so happy for Otegha that it’s been published this year by the incredible publishers 4th Estate. We talk about design, building your own brand, how to set high standards but how to not let being a perfectionist hold you back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chloe Brotheridge is a fully qualified hypnotherapist, nutritionist and the author of The Anxiety Solution, which was published by Penguin earlier this year. She likes to help people with anxiety, confidence, public speaking, stress and sleep issues, and her hypnotherapy sessions helping make changes to people’s thoughts, feelings, habits or behaviours. She aims to get you the best results in the shortest amount of time, using around 3-5 sessions. In this episode, we discuss how anxiety is on the rise, how we deal with it, what to do when we feel overwhelmed, our relationship with social media and we discuss some of the practical advice in her brilliant book The Anxiety Solution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanessa Van Edwards is an author, Huffington Post columnist and behavioural investigator. Sheconsults Fortune 500 companies and is a professional people watcher—speaking, researching and cracking the code of interesting human behaviour for audiences around the world. Vanessa’s groundbreaking workshops and courses teach individuals how to succeed in business and life by understanding the hidden dynamics of people. She has been featured on the Wall Street Journal, the Today Show, CNN, Fast Company and Forbes. In her own words she loves inappropriately intimate questions and eavesdropping on strangers conversations in coffee shops. she loves to figure people out. Vanessa doesn’t believe there are boring people—just individuals afraid to expose who the really are. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reni Eddo-Lodge is an award winning writer and author of the forthcoming Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. Her new book Why I'm published by Bloomsbury Books in the UK, Australia & New Zealand on 1st June 2017, and the United States on 5th December 2017. 2015 Man Booker Prize-winner Marlon James writing that it was 'essential'. Her book explores issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race, she offers a timely and essential new framework for how to see, acknowledge and counter racism. It is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary exploration of what it is to be a person of colour in Britain today. Her writing can be found at The New York Times, British Vogue, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, Stylist Magazine, The Pool and many more. Her writing achieved a high commendation from Channel 4's Best Young Blogger competition in 2010; she was also listed in the Daily Telegraph’s "Women to Follow on Twitter" in December 2013. In January 2014, The Voice newspaper named her in their list of Ones to Watch. Reni has appeared on Sky News, BBC Radio 4's Woman’s Hour, and BBC Radio 3’s Night Waves, discussing feminist issues. In April 2014, she was a judge in the BBC Woman's Hour Power List 2014. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Juno Dawson is the multi award-winning author of ten books. In 2014 Juno became a School Role Model for the charity STONEWALL. In 2016, she authored the best-selling World Book Day title: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. Her latest novel is the beautiful and emotive MARGOT & ME (which came out in January in 2017) and her memoir THE GENDER GAMES is out now. In 2015, Juno announced her intention to undergo gender transition and live as a woman. On the cover of The Gender Games it says "the problem with men and woman - from someone who has been both." This book isn't just about how the conversation around gender is screwing over trans people (which it certainly is), it's messing with everyone. Little girls who are told they can't be doctors, men who can't cry because they feel they shouldn't, exclusionist feminism and the alt-right. Juno is a regular contributor to Attitude Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The Guardian and has been on BBC Woman’s Hour, ITV News, This Morning and Newsnight concerning sexuality, identity and education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sali Hughes is an author, broadcaster, Guardian columnist and founder of the award-winning salihughesbeauty.com. She is a former magazine editor, has written extensively for Grazia, The Observer, Elle, Stylist, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and is Contributing Editor at Red magazine. She has also written a beauty column for The Guardian for many years. Sali has appeared frequently on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Sky News, BBC2’s Newsnight and This Morning and Lorraine. Her YouTube series of “In The Bathroom With…” interviews won two major beauty industry awards in 2014. Sali’s first book, Pretty Honest: The Straight Talking Beauty Companion, was published in September 2014 by Fourth Estate (Harper Collins) and her second book is called Pretty Iconic: A Personal Look At The Beauty Products That Changed The World. Both are brilliant. We talk beauty and self-care, keeping your integrity, how your career is long so don’t be a dick - and how to cope when social media is too overwhelming to handle sometimes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen Sincero is a #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, life coach and motivational speaker. She has helped countless people transform their personal and professional lives via her seminars, public appearances and books. Before this, Jen Sincero worked at CBS Records. In her words she “played in several failed rockbands, she had a string of loser boyfriends and never any money in her bank account.” Then she decided something had to change. Jen’s book YOU ARE A BADASS was a No.1 New York Times bestseller staying in the chart for 55 weeks. YOU ARE A BADASS has sold over 1 million copies globally and hit over 10 bestseller lists in 2016. It was published in the UK in autumn 2016 and it immediately sold out 50k copies. You are a Badass at Making Money is the follow up to this crazy successful first book and so this whole episode is about money — our relationship with it, giving our self permission to make money, our fear of it, why it’s still seems like a taboo to talk about it. Hope you enjoy this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deborah Frances-White is the host of podcast The Guilty Feminist, a founding member of The Spontaneity Shop, co-author of The Improv Handbook, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, corporate speaker and executive coach and is passionate about helping women in business to unlock their personal power. On May 22nd Deborah is running a Guilty Feminist ‘Include Yourself’ leadership day at Kings Place, where she’ll be encouraging women to learn how to be more visible and audible and have less apology and self-doubt. To buy tickets, go to guiltyfeminist.com and click on "Include Yourself" section. We talk more about it on the podcast as well as Deborah’s extremely interesting multi-faceted career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded live at Waterstones, London on May 11th, 2017. Emily Reynolds is a writer and author, based in London, specialising in features and opinion on mental health, tech, science and gender. She has bylines at NY Mag, the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, BBC and many more. She has appeared on Newstalk, the FiveThirtyEight podcast, Radio 4's Today Programme and Woman's Hour. Her first book, A Beginner's Guide To Losing Your Mind, was released in February 2017. In 2016 she co-founded the Words by Women Awards, the only general UK awards for women journalists. It received thousands of nominations and had press coverage on Radio 4 and in the Telegraph, Guardian, Spectator and more. The Society of Editors formed an advisory group to deal with diversity following the success of the awards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I interviewed Daisy Buchanan for episode #71 and we also did a Twitter Q&A around her book How To Be A Grown-Up which is out NOW. So, enjoy this bonus extra episode from that interview! We talk about the phrase "real women", femvertising, activism as a trend, male feminism, freelancing advice and more. Daisy Buchanan is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Last year she won the Words by Women Lifestyle Journalist award and Dating Journalist of the Year at the UK Dating Awards. She was Grazia’s agony aunt and is the author of How To Be A Grown Up which is out now with Headline. She writes regularly for the Debrief, Esquire, the Guardian, the Sunday Times and The Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was audio produced by Shola Aleje and Marcus Hessenberg. In this episode, I sat with Gemma Cairney in the basement of Tottenham Court Road Waterstones and we talked about the ups and downs of *life* and all the important themes in Gemma's new book. We discuss how to deal with toxic friendships, how to work professionally with friends, how to deal with life and work "overwhelm", how to create boundaries, GIRL POWER, period leaks, heart-ache and heartbreak, mental health, empathy, anger management, how we can look after our bodies, teens, activism...THE LOT. Hope you enjoy the episode. It was a big open-hearted chat and I loved it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seth Godin is a legend. The author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He is something spreads ideas and writes about marketing, leadership and change. Some of his most well-known books are Linchpin, Tribes, and Purple Cow which I mention on this podcast in conversation. It's a book that has really inspired me - it's all about how to be remarkable and stand out. His blog (which you can find by typing "seth" into Google) is one of the most popular in the world. Seth is well-known in the publishing industry, mainly since launching a series of four books via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its goal after three hours and ended up becoming the most successful book project ever done this way. His newest book, What To Do When It's Your Turn, is already a bestseller. We talk about personal branding, fear, education, making decisions and teaching yourself. I hope you enjoy this episode. He's a real hero of mine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lilly Singh is an extremely popular and talented entertainer who has found worldwide fame through her YouTube channel which currently has over 11 million subscribers. She has interviewed everyone from Michelle Obama to Bill Gates and makes amazing weekly videos. She was featured in Forbes' 2016 30 Under 30 and in 2016 was named the top earning female YouTuber in the world. Lilly’s book teaches readers how to be their own bawse, a person who exudes confidence and reaches goals. Inspired by hilarious and honest stories from Lilly's own experiences and life achievements, this book proves that becoming a bawse requires hard work and dedication – and that there are no shortcuts to success. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Victoria is one of the top bloggers and YouTubers in the luxury fashion space - her blog In The Frow is an award-winning blog which has a huge global audience. Victoria has a PHD in fashion, started her career as a Fashion Marketing Lecturer at the University of Manchester and is now a L’Oreal Paris hair ambassador. She was also in a huge Princes Trust L’Oreal campaign alongside people such as Helen Mirren, Katie Piper and Cheryl Cole. In 2016, Victoria was also nominated for a Glamour Woman of the Year Award and won Best UK Fashion Blog in the Vuelio Blog Awards. Victoria has worked with a huge number of established fashion and beauty brands, including Burberry, Dior, Armani, Coach, Clarins, Net-A-Porter, Selfridges. In this episode we break some YouTuber myths, talk work life balance, self doubt and how having your own platform can give you so much opportunity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daisy Buchanan is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Last year she won the Words by Women Lifestyle Journalist award and Dating Journalist of the Year at the UK Dating Awards. She was Grazia's agony aunt and is the author of How To Be A Grown Up which is out now with Headline. She writes regularly for the Debrief, Esquire, the Guardian, the Sunday Times and The Telegraph. We talk about book writing, jealousy, creating boundaries, why quitting can be a good thing and whether or not any of us ever feel like a grown-up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melissa is a food lover and one half of the Hemsley+Hemsley sisters.She is a cookbook author with a London cafe ‘HEMSLEY + HEMSLEY at Selfridges’ and a Channel 4 TV series that celebrates great ingredients and easy home cooking.Melissa’s new book ‘EAT HAPPY: 30 minute Feelgood Food’ is out Jan 2018 and she is committed to bold, simple, healthy food based around accessible ingredients and innovative recipes that everyone can cook. Melissa is passionate about cutting down on food waste, transforming leftovers and spreading love through food and is proud to have worked with CookforSyria.com, Headtalks.com a place where you can find inspiring talks on mental health and wellbeing and is a judge for the YBFs (Young British Foodies). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bryony Gordon is a writer and columnist at the Telegraph and a Sunday Times bestselling author of two memoirs, The Wrong Knickers and Mad Girl. The Wrong Knickers came out in 2014, a memoir of "hedonistic antics" during her single life and Mad Girl picked in the most recent Richard and Judy Book Club is an honest account of life living a mental illness specifically OCD. Last year, Bryony founded Mental Health Mates a regular meet-up for people with mental health issues, where they could walk and talk without fear of judgement. It’s grown hugely and is now situated in several locations around the UK and in America. We talk about how running has helped Bryony’s mental health, how she works and writes, what it means to have a book about mental health in mainstream book clubs, and why it’s OK to have bad days, weeks or years sometimes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I met Lena Dunham in 2014 when I interviewed her for an online magazine about her book and since then we’ve kept in touch. She has been a huge supportive influence, also having generously given me a quote for my book. She needs no introduction really but here it is. It is safe to say she is one of the most successful women in the biz right now. Lena Dunham is a Golden Globe winner, best known for writing, directing, producing and acting in Girls HBO. Her first big break was in 2010, when her film Tiny Furniture and won the South by Southwest Film Festival's best narrative feature award. In 2014 she released her book Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned which went on to be a New York Times Bestseller (no surprises there.) In 2015 she founded the online feminist Lenny Letter with her creative partner Jenni Konner. They have an advertising partnership with Hearst and they now have their own imprint at Penguin Random House. Her podcast Women of the Hour is also one of my favourites which you should definitely go and listen to. She is an outspoken advocate for Planned Parenthood and speaks honestly and openly about her struggles with endometriosis. It was an absolute treat getting to hang out with Lena on a fun sunny Friday morning in London in her hotel room. Love this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice Lowe is a director, actress and writer, mainly in comedy. She is best known for her roles in the Garth Marenghi series and as the lead and co-writer of the 2012 film Sightseers. Her new film is out NOW (in UK and now America) called Prevenge, a comedy-slasher film about a pregnant woman seeking revenge. Alice appeared in the action comedy film Hot Fuzz, and took a lead role in the 2012 film Sightseers, the third production from director Ben Wheatley. Sightseers was written by Alice with Steve Oram, with additional material by Amy Jump. Alice also had a role in the Edgar Wright-directed film The World’s End. We recorded this podcast at the BFI with a live audience which was so much fun. It’s a little longer than my usual episodes. We LOVED recording it with a crowd and thank you to the BFI for hosting Ctrl Alt Delete. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imrie Morgan is the Co-Founder and CEO of the ShoutOut Network and the Co-host of the Melanin Millennials podcast. This podcast is one of the first UK podcasts to be made by and for black British women - it’s been covered by places like The Debrief and Refinery 29 and is expanding into live events and sponsorship with big brands. All the podcasts on the Shout Out next work are hosted by people from underrepresented backgrounds - it now has 5 podcasts on the roster, covering pop-culture, history, books, comedy, philosophy, theatre, film and music and it’s growing. The books podcast is called Mostly Lit and was one of iTunes best podcasts of 2016. I really love and respect what Imrie is doing and wanted to talk to her about how she founded the network, the power of podcasting, the challenges along the way and why it’s so important to have a platform and a voice online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is with Gilllian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel. Gillian is an actress, activist and writer, probably best known for her iconic roles in the X Files and The Fall. Jennifer is a qualified barrister who, after reporting for the BBC and Channel 4 News, became ITN’s Home Affairs Editor. She has also written a non-fiction book which was made into a channel 4 documentary and a novel called Pretty Thing. They’ve together written a book called WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere. Gillian and Jennifer are two good friends who for the last decade have stumbled along together, figuring stuff out, learning, failing, crying, laughing and trying – WE is a not a big heavy theoretical read but instead a rallying cry to create a life that has greater meaning and purpose. It combines tools which are practical, psychological and spiritual, to find a more fulfilling way of living life. It’s a really wonderful book which lots of advice that I feel the authors are passing on to their selves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elan has worked in the film industry for years and is best known for writing the award-winning screenplay for What If? starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver. All Our Wrong Todays is Elan’s debut novel and the film rights for the adaptation have been secured by Paramount and producer Amy Pascal (who produced the female Ghostbusters). Elan is currently writing the screenplay for film development. So the premise of the book? It’s 2016 and in Tom’s world, technology has solved all of humanity’s problems – there’s no war, no poverty, no under-ripe avocados. Unfortunately, Tom isn’t happy. He’s lost the girl of his dreams. And what do you do when you’re heartbroken and have access to a time machine? Something very stupid indeed. Want to know more - you'll have to buy the book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liv is a popular YouTuber, blogger, Instagrammer and is currently nominated for a GLAMOUR Woman Of The Year Award. Her blog ‘What Olivia Did’ has grown into an outlet for everything from personal style, travel, food, music and beauty, as well as interviews with inspiring women who she admires. Mixing ethereal photography with her instinctive style and beautiful attention to detail. Olivia has recently collaborated with Lancôme at the Bafta’s, Boden, Miss Selfridge, Kate Spade, Estee Lauder to name a few and is represented by Storm Models. In this episode we talk about comparing ourselves to other people online and how to deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tiffanie Darke is someone I've admired for years. She was the editor of Sunday Times Style for 12 years, then the creative content director at News UK. She has a new book that has just come out called "This is 40: whatever happened to Generation X", where she has interviewed some of the most iconic Gen X’ers such as Pearl Lowe, Richard Reed and Blur’s bassist Alex James to look at how Gen X live their life in between being young and old. She's also written two novels - her first novel, MARROW, was shortlisted for the WH Smith Fresh Talent award. In this episode we talk about the myth of "having it all", burn-out, the differences between Gen X and Millennials and how to go after the life you want. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace Victory is an award-winning blogger, YouTuber and TV presenter and soon to be author. She was voted best YouTuber for Cosmopolitan Magazine and was awarded Most Inspiring Role Model by InStyle Magazine. Grace is an inspiration to thousands of young people around the world and hailed as the “most inspiring person on the net” and the “Internet's Big Sister”, being one of the only mainstream fashion and beauty bloggers to cover mental health issues. Last year Grace made her BBC 3 documentary debut called Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets. The documentary was one of the most watched shows on BBC Three Online, achieving over 1.5 million views. Grace's second documentary for BBC Three, The Cost of Cute: The Dark Side of The Puppy Trade is a hard hitting look at the designer dogs industry. Grace has exclusively presented London Fashion Week and has worked with brands including Clinique, L'Oreal, ASOS, Rimmel and New Look, the list goes on. She speaks about bullying, anxiety and body image and i respect her hugely and her debut book NO FILTER is out with Headline is out July 27th which you can now pre-order. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Kinsella is an international bestselling author - she has sold 7 million copies of her books worldwide and is a household name after finding fame with her hugely popular Shopaholic series in 2000. Her novels have been translated into 30 languages and her Shopaholic novels were made into films starring Isla Fisher. Last year, she made her first foray into the YA world with Finding Audrey - which was chosen by Zoella in her WHSmith 2017 book club. Her new book, My Not So Perfect Life is about the way that social media makes us feel. The way we look at other people’s Instagram feeds and think ‘god, their life is perfect’ and comparing ourselves to others and have “perfect” role models on the other side of a computer screen. In this episode we talk about our addiction to social media, Sophie’s writing process, how to find and commit to new ideas and the temptation of online comparison. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about campaigning, collaboration and the influence of having parents who are very active in the charity space - the filmmaker Richard Curtis and script-writer Emma Freud - they play a big role in not-for-profit organisations such as Project Everyone and the Global Goals. Although they are many dark corners of the Intenet, we talk about the positives: how communities you create via Internet and blogging can help save your life.Scarlett has launched an initiative recently called Un-Idle Collective. They will be hosting meet ups to discuss political and personal issues affecting the world and this week was the first one, we discussed things such as intersectional feminism, the refugee crisis, sustainability, politics, working parents and lots more. It’s about doing something, however small, and about incorporating activism into your daily life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bridget Minamore is a writer. She has written for the Guardian, The Pool, The Debrief, Pitchfork and others. She writes about pop culture, race, and feminism – and the intersections between them. She is part of the creative team behind Brainchild Festival and works with the charity My Body Back, a project to empower women who have experienced sexual violence. She also a poet and runs poetry workshops – mostly for young people – around the UK. Her poetry book called ‘Titanic‘ came out last year. She has worked with the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House, and read her poems at places including the Roundhouse, Latitude Festival, the Bristol Old Vic and the Southbank Centre. She was chosen as one of The Hospital Club’s Emerging Creatives in 2015. We talk about pitching ourselves, using Twitter to further your career, changing your mind and the importance of forgiving yourself. The title of this episode "How Much Would It Cost To Delete Your Twitter Account?" is inspired by a tweet from @NotAgainBen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Dockrill is a performance poet, author, illustrator and short story writer. She is the author of the Darcy Burdock series and a YA novel, Lorali with a follow up book coming out this year. She has also written a number of adult poetry collections. "My Mum is a Grown Down" is her first poetry collection for children about a wild, hysterical and hilarious Mum, which is coming in July this year. The Independent calls her “A poet for the iPod generation” and Red magazine's “literary girl crush”. We met up at the Hoxton Hotel, lay on a bed chatting about creativity, comparison, finding new ideas, writing and being in love with your work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.