How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
PodcastCulture et sociétéAnglaisE

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

NouveauBill Bailey - ‘Rejection Made Me A Better Performer’21 octobre 2026 · 49 min
Épisodes
409
Parution
hebdomadaire
Dernier épisode
21 Oct 2026

À propos du podcast

Every success story you've ever been told is incomplete. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is the part they leave out. Each week, Sunday Times #1 bestselling author Elizabeth Day sits down with someone extraordinary - and asks them about the moments that didn’t go according to plan and how these failures shaped them.  Kate Winslet on body image. Malala Yousafzai on rewriting her story. Pamela Anderson on refuting shame. Phoebe Waller-Bridge on creativity. Salman Rushdie on survival. Emilia Clarke on fame. What happens when the people you most admire stop performing and start telling the truth? Five hundred episodes in, we're still finding out. With sold-out nights at the London Palladium and Sydney Opera House, millions of listeners worldwide, and a British Podcast Award to its name, How To Fail is one of the UK's most successful podcasts. And yes, we're aware of the irony.  Pick an episode. Start anywhere. An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment production. All guest booking is managed from an official Sony Music email address. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow @sonypodcastsTo bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

Épisodes 409

  1. Bill Bailey - ‘Rejection Made Me A Better Performer’

    49 minSaison 20 · Épisode 191

    Bill Bailey is a comedian, musician, writer, actor, director and presenter, known for his brilliant live tours and panel appearances on shows including Never Mind the Buzzcocks and QI. In this episode, Bill …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Bill Bailey is a comedian, musician, writer, actor, director and presenter, known for his brilliant live tours and panel appearances on shows including Never Mind the Buzzcocks and QI.

    In this episode, Bill discusses being rejected from drama school, an Edinburgh Fringe show which flopped and the death of his best friend Sean Lock. Plus: the moment he decided to cut off his legendary hair (after it got stuck in some train doors).

    Now, Bill is back on the road with his new UK arena tour, Bill Bailey: Vaudevillian, culminating in a two-month residency at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket.

    IN THIS EPISODE

    00:00 Introduction

    03:05 Live Shows vs Screens

    06:30 Love Letters and Marriage

    10:24 Drama School Rejection

    15:30 Music Teacher and Confidence

    19:49 Haircut and Next Failure

    22:51 Comeback Rocker Concept

    23:20 Bill Best Backstory

    24:28 Props Songs and Craft

    25:16 Great Reviews No Crowd

    25:46 One Person Audience Night

    28:06 Friendship and Grief

    34:22 Leaving Academia Behind

    41:51 Animals Curiosity and Wallace



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Being on stage in front of an audience - there's nothing quite like it. There isn't really anything that replicates that experience.


    You have to cherish every moment. Cherish those friendships that you have. Cultivate them. Cultivate relationships with everyone that you feel a bond with, because you never know when they're not gonna be around.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Get tickets for Bill’s tour, Vaudevillean, here: www.billbailey.co.uk/live

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stephen Merchant - swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2

    Miranda Hart - swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Bill answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. Bella Mackie - ‘I Will Never “Fix” My Mental Health’

    50 minSaison 20 · Épisode 190

    Bella Mackie began her career as a journalist, writing for publications including the Guardian, Vice and Vogue, before writing her bestselling debut, Jog On. The book explored how running helped her rebuild her …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Bella Mackie began her career as a journalist, writing for publications including the Guardian, Vice and Vogue, before writing her bestselling debut, Jog On. The book explored how running helped her rebuild her life after the end of her first marriage triggered debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.

    She followed it with How To Kill Your Family, a darkly comic novel about a young woman methodically murdering her wealthy relatives. It spent 47 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list and is now being adapted for Netflix, starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Two more novels followed, including her latest, Claws Out - another bestseller, this time taking aim at the absurdities of North London’s liberal elite.

    It’s a world Mackie knows well. She grew up in North London, the daughter of journalist and campaigner Lindsay Mackie and former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, and still lives there today with her husband, Radio 1 DJ Greg James.

    In this episode we cover her OCD, how she feels she hasn’t ‘fixed’ her mental health - and perhaps never will, her ‘failure’ to leave home and what it’s like to be married to someone painfully level-headed. 


    This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.


    IN THIS EPISODE

    00:00 Intro

    02:51 True Crime Origins

    04:11 Rewriting Crime Tropes

    07:17 Funny Draft Fail

    10:37 Success Fuels Anxiety

    14:57 Living With OCD

    22:02 Childfree Choice Backlash

    30:41 Cozy Season Sponsor Break

    31:35 Failure to Launch Confession

    32:15 Living Near Mum and Dad

    33:48 Therapy Rejection and Detachment

    34:43 Anxiety and Codependency Roots

    37:31 Privilege Nepotism and Validation

    39:26 Tony Blair as the Adult

    44:01 Driving Cycling and Creative Life




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Anyone else’s mental health is an island you can’t get to. 

    OCD is like Pokemon, you can catch them all. 

    Greg [my husband] lies down on me when I have an intrusive thought and does a chicken dance on me to make me laugh. 




    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:




    📚 WANT MORE?

    Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR 

    Caitlin Moran - swap.fm/l/CaitlinMoran 




    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    • Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts
    • Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories




    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    • Instagram: @elizabday
    • TikTok: @howtofailpod
    • Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod
    • Website: www.elizabethday.org




    Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR 


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com  


    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan  

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless


    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.  

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. Anthony Scaramucci - My Biggest Failure? Working For Donald Trump

    1 h 7 minSaison 20 · Épisode 189

    Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as the White House Communications Chief under President Donald Trump’s first term ended in a blaze of recrimination. Scaramucci was advised by a PR consultant to disappear for five …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as the White House Communications Chief under President Donald Trump’s first term ended in a blaze of recrimination. Scaramucci was advised by a PR consultant to disappear for five years. He refused - and reinvented his career.

    Now, he is the co-host of the US version of The Rest is Politics podcast alongside British journalist Katty Kay.

    After Harvard Law School, he joined Goldman Sachs and built a career in finance, eventually founding the investment firm SkyBridge Capital.

    In this revealing conversation we discuss what working on Wall Street in the 80s was like, getting fired from Goldman Sachs, his failed first marriage, not being there for his son’s birth, getting fired from The White House and rebuilding his current marriage.

    His book, All the Wrong Moves, looks at how three catastrophic decisions and years of ‘sh*tshow politics’ led to Trump.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction montage

    03:22 Learning optimism and pronoia

    05:02 Self forgiveness after failure

    06:40 Growing up and getting to Tufts

    11:58 Why he wrote the book

    14:03 Fired then rehired at Goldman

    25:23 Money mindset and marriage cracks

    30:48 Work Taxes Burnout

    31:26 Marriage Neglect Regrets

    34:07 Conflict Avoidance Trap

    34:55 Affair Self Forgiveness

    37:46 Fatherhood After Divorce

    40:44 Trump Ego Decision

    45:00 Firing from The Whitehouse

    57:03 Rebuilding and Looking Ahead


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    When bad things happen, take a step back, and get into a channel that is the adult channel. Act in a rational way.


    I trained my brain to be optimistic.


    If you’re not careful, wealth can make you very depressed and lonely.


    Trump's bullying reminded me of my dad… but I was better prepared for it.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Anthony’s book, All the Wrong Moves, is available to buy now: www.penguin.co.uk/books/476667/all-the-wrong-moves-by-scaramucci-anthony/9781847929235

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Bernie Sanders - swap.fm/l/pH8V6cBejDnhH47ega6D

    Andy Burnham - swap.fm/l/IpwatiJ5cM1h0UfcyFiA


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Anthony answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. Luke Evans, Sarah Solemani & Elizabeth Day: The Making of The Party

    38 minSaison 20 · Épisode 188

    Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani join Elizabeth to talk about the journey of Elizabeth’s 2017 novel The Party to its new five-part ITV adaptation. Luke stars as the show’s protagonist, Martin Gilmour, and Sarah …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani join Elizabeth to talk about the journey of Elizabeth’s 2017 novel The Party to its new five-part ITV adaptation. 

    Luke stars as the show’s protagonist, Martin Gilmour, and Sarah stars as his wife, Lucy… oh and she also brilliantly adapted the novel for screen. 

    The trio discuss the making of this exciting new drama for TV, how Luke discovered the book and kick-started the process and what the show is about. They discuss themes including: sexuality, the class system in the UK, shame, women leading production, culture on sets in today’s world and friendship. 

    This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.


    IN THIS EPISODE

    00:00 Introduction

    01:42 Luke Discovers the Novel

    02:51 Finding the Screenwriter

    04:45 Adapting Into Five Episodes

    07:13 What The Party Is About

    09:44 Casting Lucy and Onscreen Marriage

    13:04 Collaboration and Set Rewrites

    18:09 Women Leading the Production

    19:35 Set Culture and Final Day Speech

    21:15 Author Visits Set and Craft Details

    22:26 Friendship, Desire and Identity

    25:08 Class, Shame and Final Takeaways

    WANT MORE?

    Luke Evans - swap.fm/l/2AAJhVeDNGdKIJGdznR9 

     LINKS + MENTIONS:

    • The Party starts Sunday 11th October 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The series airs for three consecutive nights: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, concluding with the fourth and final episode the following Sunday 18th and Monday 19th. Or you can binge all five episodes on ITVX. 

    • Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    • Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com



    • Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    • Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories



    • Instagram: @elizabday

    • TikTok: @howtofailpod

    • Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    • Website: www.elizabethday.org



    Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR 


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com  


    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan  

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless


    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.  

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    LOVE THIS EPISODE? Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. Bonnie Garmus - ‘Adoption Gave Us A Family’

    59 minSaison 20 · Épisode 187

    Bonnie Garmus was 64 when her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was published. It went on to sell more than eight million copies, spend almost two years on the New York Times bestseller list, was translated …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Bonnie Garmus was 64 when her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was published. It went on to sell more than eight million copies, spend almost two years on the New York Times bestseller list, was translated into more than 40 languages and become an eight-part Apple TV+ series. At its centre was Elizabeth Zott, a fiercely intelligent, forthright chemist turned 1950s TV cooking star.

    Bonnie and I talk about the misogyny that inspired Lessons in Chemistry, her love of dogs, working through a stutter, adopting her two daughters from China and what it took to overcome years of rejection.

    Her new novel, Peck & Peck, is out in the UK on 13 October.

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:41 Arts Versus Science

    05:44 Sexism Sparks Novel

    08:58 Greed And AI Warning

    12:19 Dogs Behind Characters

    16:30 Childhood Failures

    30:26 Living With A Stutter

    31:50 Letters And Workarounds

    32:53 Adoption Journey To China

    36:10 What Adoption Really Means

    37:23 Family Bonds And Fate

    39:17 Jeopardy Husband Spotlight

    40:10 98 Rejections And Resilience

    47:05 Finding An Agent And Writing Life


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life, and not a single one has disappointed me.

    I never look back on my career and think I have regrets.

    I had a therapist who was a stutterer… he gave me the courage to embrace it, and then I got better.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Bonnie’s new novel Peck & Peck is available to pre-order now: www.waterstones.com/book/peck-and-peck/bonnie-garmus/9781786588975

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Alain De Botton - swap.fm/l/dnU4ieYPW7eCbesQFNSf

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - swap.fm/l/YiA3DPR1awzdCrHfEMfPv


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Bonnie answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. Russell T Davies - On Dr Who, Grief and Gay Representation on TV

    57 minSaison 20 · Épisode 186

    Russell T Davies has spent decades creating some of Britain’s most beloved and groundbreaking television. After studying English at Oxford, he went from writing for children’s programmes and Coronation Street …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Russell T Davies has spent decades creating some of Britain’s most beloved and groundbreaking television. After studying English at Oxford, he went from writing for children’s programmes and Coronation Street to creating Queer As Folk in 1999 - a show that changed the conversation around gay representation on TV. Since then, he’s written hit after hit, from Bob & Rose and A Very English Scandal to Years and Years, It’s A Sin and his hugely successful revival of Doctor Who. He’s won four BAFTAs and was awarded an OBE in 2008.

    In this episode we talk about where his obsession and passion for TV came from, how his exceptionally busy mind works, losing his husband to a brain tumour, his love of Dr Who and…finding love again.


    His new memoir, The Queerest of Folk, is out on 8th October.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    02:35 TV Obsession Origins

    03:24 Memoir and Andrew

    08:35 AIDS and Its a Sin

    10:36 Queer as Folk Shockwaves

    12:37 Failure to Drive

    16:45 Writing in Images

    28:05 Early Illustration Gigs

    28:54 Obsessed With Drawing

    30:20 Losing the Habit

    31:52 Comics and Story Beats

    33:54 Writing Geniuses Doctor Who

    37:13 Staying a Fan

    41:41 Legacy and Family Roots

    49:59 Aging Love and Goodbye




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    When I dream I invent people who don’t exist.

    I’ve saved for decades, I saved for a rainy day, and then one day it rained.

    Please never get rid of the Tardis.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Russell’s memoir, The Queerest Of Folk is available to buy now: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-queerest-of-folk-a-life-in-television-russell-t-davies/a290496f474a1f8c

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge - swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa

    Bernardine Evaristo - swap.fm/l/EH5cvO3uPdNCQN9tYyiJ


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Russell answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. Sir Paul Smith - ‘People In Fashion Are Insecure’

    52 minSaison 20 · Épisode 185

    Sir Paul Smith is one of Britain’s most iconic fashion designers, renowned for his sharp tailoring and his sartorial flair. His clothes have an innate sense of mischief: brightly coloured linings, unexpected …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Sir Paul Smith is one of Britain’s most iconic fashion designers, renowned for his sharp tailoring and his sartorial flair. His clothes have an innate sense of mischief: brightly coloured linings, unexpected stripes and a determination never to take themselves too seriously. His devoted clients include Gary Oldman, Bill Nighy and Matty Healy, who wore a Paul Smith suit for his recent wedding.

    Behind the stripes and the suits is a man with a simple life philosophy: stay humble, work hard, be kind. On this episode we talk about the cycling accident that set him on a path to fashion and how he’s kept his global business independent for 56 years. Plus, the secret to a long marriage, what tailoring teaches him about people’s insecurities - and why he wore a suit every day during the Covid lockdowns.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:40 Tailoring for Everyone

    06:48 The Pink Wall Story

    08:31 Stripes and Reinvention

    10:20 Turning 80

    11:33 Cycling Freedom and Family

    18:20 Crash That Changed Everything

    24:20 Pauline Sets The Standard

    25:19 Keeping Love And Work Balanced

    26:19 Step Parenting And Playfulness

    27:28 The Trap Of Comparison

    32:43 Brexit COVID And Staying Independent

    36:02 Choosing The Right Collaborations

    37:21 Believing Your Own Hype

    42:47 Creativity Legacy And Farewell




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Pauline [my wife] set the standard - it’s been very important for longevity.


    A successful relationship is about balance. Knowing when to talk, when to listen… and have both feet on the ground.


    The danger is losing your focus, and worrying too much about ‘them’.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Sir Paul Smith’s Memoir ‘Threads’ is available to buy now: www.paulsmith.com/uk/threads-by-sir-paul-smith-special-edition-book

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Edward Enninful - swap.fm/l/NOAt5NDZeBTgX6qZUWpB

    Bella Freud - swap.fm/l/mQntNELQPRhZ9CjFQO77


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Sir Paul answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. Louise O’Neill - ‘Full Recovery Is Possible’

    59 minSaison 20 · Épisode 184

    This episode contains references to and descriptions of eating disorders. Louise O’Neill is a bestselling, award-winning Irish author whose fearless writing has helped shape modern feminism. Her fiction is …

    Notes de l’épisode

    This episode contains references to and descriptions of eating disorders.


    Louise O’Neill is a bestselling, award-winning Irish author whose fearless writing has helped shape modern feminism. Her fiction is taught on the Irish curriculum and Paul Mescal starred in a critically acclaimed stage adaptation of her work. Her second novel, Asking For It, catapulted her into the public eye in 2015.

    Now, with her eighth book, A Bigger Life, O’Neill turns that same unflinching gaze on herself. Her memoir follows the extraordinary dating experiment she embarked on in her late 30s after the end of a long-term relationship: dating a different man every night, across three cities - Paris, London and New York. What began as a challenge, inspired by something her father said, became an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

    In this episode we discuss topics covered in her memoir, A Bigger Life, including: finding hope after heartbreak, pressure on women, extraordinary dating experiences and recovering from a debilitating two-decade-long eating disorder.

    A Bigger Life is out this month.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:24 Writing Her First Memoir

    04:58 Roots in West Cork

    08:21 Dating for a Bigger Life

    09:26 Choosing Hope After Heartbreak

    13:22 Marriage Expectations and Milestones

    16:57 Beauty Pressure and Aging Fears

    27:12 Fear of Vulnerability

    28:48 Aging and Shame

    30:34 Trusting Your Instincts

    33:35 The Millionaire Date

    36:40 Recovery After 17 Years

    42:57 Rewiring the Mind

    48:35 Good Girl Burnout

    52:07 Redefining Success


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I didn’t want the break-up to define me.

    Life falls apart around us, and then we have to rebuild. The trick is to keep your heart soft.

    If I’m setting the narrative, I want it to be hopeful .

    I had to rewire my brain - I had to become an entirely new person. Then it became second nature.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Louise O’Neill’s memoir A Bigger Life is out now: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/a-bigger-life-louise-oneill?variant=55970156118395

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR

    Caitlin Moran - swap.fm/l/CaitlinMoran


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Louise answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  9. Nish Kumar - Failure Is Information. Comedians Call It Material.

    57 minSaison 20 · Épisode 183

    Nish Kumar is one of the UK’s best-known comedians, known for his impassioned political progressiveness. You might remember him as the host of the topical BBC comedy show, The Mash Report, which ran to great …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Nish Kumar is one of the UK’s best-known comedians, known for his impassioned political progressiveness.


    You might remember him as the host of the topical BBC comedy show, The Mash Report, which ran to great acclaim until it was abruptly cancelled in 2021 - one of his failures addresses this head-on. Kumar now co-hosts the popular podcast, Pod Save The UK and his 2026 tour, Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy tackles the existential angst and political disquiet of a 40-year-old man.


    We talk through his failed Edinburgh show, the fact he would never consume Huel, ‘the whole bread roll Mash Report thing’, his people pleasing tendencies, how his experiences of racism led to therapy and a PTSD diagnosis…and how his friendship with Ed Gamble has changed over the years. It’s not one to miss.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    02:29 Immigrant Parents and Fear

    04:41 Comedy Obsessed Teen

    08:22 Nice Guy Angry Comic

    11:31 Rage as Fuel

    13:04 Edinburgh Show Failure

    23:31 Bread Roll Fallout

    27:20 Empathy and Comedy

    27:53 The Bread Roll Incident

    28:29 Clips, Context, and Backlash

    29:49 Turning Failure into Material

    31:24 Therapy and PTSD

    34:28 Racism and Political Architecture

    39:52 Progress, Parents and Politics

    46:14 Friendship and Growing Up




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Intellectual intelligence is useless without emotional intelligence


    2013 was the most important year because I learnt everything about what I didn’t want to do in stand-up


    My partner said I should seek therapy, but at the time that felt like an indulgence. I don’t feel that now.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Nish Kumar is touring across the UK with Angry Humour from a Really Nice Guy until the end of November. Tickets are available from www.nishkumar.co.uk/gigs

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stephen Merchant - swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2

    John Bishop - swap.fm/l/wRGKwuonJFQoujFlmDHI


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and Nish answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  10. Remembering Gloria Steinem

    58 minSaison 20 · Épisode 182

    It was a privilege to have one of my all-time heroes, the feminist activist, writer and icon Gloria Steinem on How to Fail back in 2020 and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing at the age of 92. To …

    Notes de l’épisode

    It was a privilege to have one of my all-time heroes, the feminist activist, writer and icon Gloria Steinem on How to Fail back in 2020 and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing at the age of 92. To celebrate her life, we’re re-releasing this very special episode.



    We talked about her failure to understand her mother, her failure to be at her father's deathbed and her failure to learn lessons quickly enough - yes, we go deep... She also talked to me about how (then) at the age of 86, she is joyfully outliving society's expectations of her; of how fear can often be a sign of growth (let that sink in), about how 'anger is an energy cell', about how we are 'linked not ranked', about not having children, about spending a lifetime combatting misogyny and racism and sexism and injustice, and about the counteracting forces of love and compassion and friendship which keep her going.



    Whoever said never meet your heroes clearly never met Gloria Steinem.



    We love you Gloria Steinem, rest in power.


    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  11. David Sedaris - ‘My Father Said I Was A Bad Influence Because I Was Gay’

    53 minSaison 20 · Épisode 181

    David Sedaris is one of America’s best-loved humorists, famous for turning the absurdities of everyday life into razor-sharp, deeply human essays. He joins Elizabeth Day on How to Fail to talk about the moments …

    Notes de l’épisode

    David Sedaris is one of America’s best-loved humorists, famous for turning the absurdities of everyday life into razor-sharp, deeply human essays. He joins Elizabeth Day on How to Fail to talk about the moments that have shaped him: from dropping out of university and ending up in his parents’ basement at 20, to being thrown out by his father and growing up with a parent who seemed to actively invest in his failure.

    He talks candidly about heartbreak after a breakup at 32, the fear of being alone, grief at losing the people we love and his past crystal meth addiction and sobriety.

    We also hear about the embarrassment of dropping out of Japanese school in Tokyo at 50…and the possibility of a cameo on The Archers.



    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:39 How His Writing Evolved

    04:27 Train Music Confrontation

    07:03 Failure One: Dropping Out

    10:38 A Father Rooting Against Him

    13:16 Money Promises and Betrayal

    18:03 Thrown Out and Self Worth

    20:31 Friendship and Grief

    23:22 Failure Two: Breakup at 32

    27:38 Writing Love And Routine

    28:46 Sharon The Practical Mom

    33:08 Heartbreak Versus Grief

    35:54 Crystal Meth And Fear

    38:59 Conceptual Art On Fire

    40:24 Tokyo Japanese School Quit

    46:08 The Archers Cameo


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    “I just took every bit of advice [my father] ever gave me and did the opposite, and it was a really good strategy.”

    “Fear kept me drinking. Fear kept me smoking. Fear kept me from leaving.”

    “You’re never going to get what you want if you don’t work for it.”

    “Every day is a new beginning.”


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    The Land and Its People by David Sedaris is widely available across both online retailers and physical bookstores in the US and the UK.

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Dawn French - on fertility, friendship and being an anti-perfectionist http://swap.fm/l/NJDrzxLKhyi6icOrxmHT

    Simon Cowell - on judgement, power and the uncomfortable responsibility of shaping someone’s future http://swap.fm/l/hSwuCNEuZNgnaG20v0yB


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org


    Elizabeth and David answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  12. Failure Throwback: Mo Gawdat

    1 h 2 minSaison 20 · Épisode 180

    This episode with Mo Gawdat originally went out in 2019, but its message feels as relevant as ever. We’re re-releasing it to celebrate the 500th episode of How to Fail. Just occasionally, you meet someone who …

    Notes de l’épisode

    This episode with Mo Gawdat originally went out in 2019, but its message feels as relevant as ever. We’re re-releasing it to celebrate the 500th episode of How to Fail.

    Just occasionally, you meet someone who changes the way you think about the world. That’s what happened when Elizabeth met Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at Google X, who spent years trying to solve a problem that seemed impossible to quantify: how can one individual be happy?

    After 12 years of research, Gawdat developed an algorithm for happiness: happiness is greater than or equal to your perception of the events in your life, minus your expectations of how life should be. He wrote about it in his international bestseller Solve for Happy.

    But that algorithm was put to the ultimate test when his beloved 21-year-old son, Ali, died in tragic circumstances. Mo joins me to talk about grief and depression, happiness as a form of fitness, coping with break-ups, the isolating effects of social media, why life is like a computer game, the illusion of time - and why we should always be polite to Siri.

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:23 Success Yet Depressed

    06:14 Chasing Stuff for Joy

    07:22 Engineering Happiness Reset

    11:37 Six Modern Illusions

    15:17 Happiness as Equation

    20:35 Taming Your Inner Voice

    28:51 Useful vs Joyful Thoughts

    29:55 Grief Without Suffering

    31:02 Ali Lived Reframing

    32:47 Life as a Video Game

    35:02 Halo Lessons on Purpose

    40:13 Preventable Death and Resentment

    45:09 Tech Promise and AI Risk

    55:26 1 Billion Happy Mission


    LINKS + MENTIONS:


    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Mo Gawdat’s episode from 2025 -

    Dr Gabor Maté -


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  13. Failure Throwback: Phoebe Waller Bridge

    52 minSaison 20 · Épisode 179

    To mark 500 episodes of How to Fail! To we’re re-releasing the first ever episode with Phoebe Waller Bridge, which originally went out in July 2018. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator and star of Fleabag, writer of …

    Notes de l’épisode

    To mark 500 episodes of How to Fail! To we’re re-releasing the first ever episode with Phoebe Waller Bridge, which originally went out in July 2018.

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator and star of Fleabag, writer of Killing Eve, superstar feminist and human embodiment of a Star Wars droid, joins How To Fail to talk about how she failed at her 20s (but got lots of brilliant material from the terrible dates she endured), failing at drama school, terrible auditions (including one for Downton Abbey) and how her female best friend is quite possibly the love of her life.

    She also talks about emotional vulnerability, why women fail at anger and about finding glory in one’s mistakes. There’s a great exchange about whether women should be open about whether or not they want children and a whole segue into the desirability of alabaster foreheads. Oh, and we cover the time Phoebe met Meryl Streep and embarrassed herself horribly, in what might be one of the greatest celebrity anecdotes of all time involving apple crumble.

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    02:04 Sudden Fame Reality

    04:33 RADA And Early Rejection

    07:50 Emotional Acting Truth

    08:41 Love Life Failures

    13:14 Fleabag And Female Voice

    18:05 Auditions Power And Ambition

    25:37 Creative Lifeline Friendship

    26:21 How They Met Vicky

    27:40 Muses Not Mistresses

    29:15 Women And Anger

    30:55 Female Killers Fascination

    33:20 The Babies Question

    40:54 Feminism And Body Image

    44:40 Celebrity Encounters Finale


    LINKS + MENTIONS:


    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR

    Miranda Hart - swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  14. Mel Giedroyc - I Lost My Biggest Fan When Mum Died

    58 minSaison 20 · Épisode 178

    Mel Giedroyc is a comedian, writer and TV presenter who has been entertaining the nation for over 30 years. Hired in 1996 as a writer for French and Saunders (alongside best friend Sue Perkins), Mel’s career …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Mel Giedroyc is a comedian, writer and TV presenter who has been entertaining the nation for over 30 years.

    Hired in 1996 as a writer for French and Saunders (alongside best friend Sue Perkins), Mel’s career took off and she went on to co-present hit Channel 4 series Light Lunch and Late Lunch, and then the Great British Bake Off.

    Since then, Giedoryc has written a Sunday Times bestselling novel and fronts the podcast, Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake. Now she returns with a new book, The Comeback, a funny, big-hearted novel about second chances set in a community.

    In this hilarious and moving episode, we talk about how she feels she is always ‘getting away with it’, life post-Bake Off, having children, not making it to her mother’s deathbed due to a big night out, and the recurring nightmare that she has never been able to shake…


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    02:55 Getting Away With It

    05:43 Bake Off

    08:43 Life After Bake Off

    09:45 The Comeback Novel

    10:21 Theatre And Family Roots

    17:18 Cambridge Degree Disaster

    28:49 Mums Deathbed Regret

    30:46 Strokes And Stolen Years

    32:05 Boozy Night Missed Call

    36:10 Work As Grief Shelter

    39:36 Remembering Rosemary

    43:50 VHS Shame Spiral

    52:00 Goodbyes And Final Thoughts


    LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Listen to Mel’s podcast, Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake here: swap.fm/l/ZuaKfvomuCzS7P3cLJzx and watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@WhereTheresAWillTheresAWake

    The Comeback is available to pre-order now: www.hachette.co.uk/titles/mel-giedroyc/the-comeback/9781472256263/

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Miranda Hart - swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu

    Celeste Barber - swap.fm/l/qLmwfjyeSolWuFeaHGdt

    Stephen Merchant - swap.fm/l/Lta5mlFbVnPHyFb8R1n2


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan and Jen Mistri

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  15. Prime Minister Andy Burnham - ‘I’m a better politician for having failed.’

    49 minSaison 20 · Épisode 177

    Andy Burnham is the first Prime Minister on How to Fail. Past leaders have run scared of doing a podcast with ‘fail’ in the title - but not this one. As he says in this conversation: ‘if you’ve not succeeded …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Andy Burnham is the first Prime Minister on How to Fail. Past leaders have run scared of doing a podcast with ‘fail’ in the title - but not this one. As he says in this conversation: ‘if you’ve not succeeded, you have to understand why it happened, and what you’re going to do about it.’ Wise words from a global leader.

    Burnham is now our 7th Prime Minister in 10 years, having won a decisive by-election in Makerfield and having received nominations from 94% of Labour MPs in an unopposed leadership contest.

    In this exclusive episode, recorded at No. 10 North, Andy talks about growing up, how his Catholic faith has shaped his outlook (and whether or not he snuck some communion wine as an altar boy). Plus: imposter syndrome, what he learned from his past failed leadership bids, friendships within politics, how his wife responded to his desire to run for PM, the meaning of ‘home’ and whether or not his dad, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, knows his son has become Prime Minister.

    A must-listen, even if we do say so ourselves.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:12 Imposter Syndrome and Authenticity

    06:13 Faith and Catholic Roots

    08:32 English Degree and Power of Words

    10:19 Failed Leadership Bids

    16:50 Politics Friendships and Family

    21:07 Post Cambridge Job Hunt

    25:06 What Home Means

    26:26 Hillsborough and Two Britains

    27:36 Number 10 North Vision

    28:43 Building Safety and Hope

    32:49 Radical Yet Sensible Politics

    35:35 Fixing Social Care

    38:16 Roy and Alzheimer’s

    43:10 Faith Power and Farewell


    LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Ed Miliband - swap.fm/l/YTnZMo8h78DZNf7ZmKnF

    Sadiq Khan - swap.fm/l/FcuzDh396Ul76Sc46KRb

    Jess Phillips - swap.fm/l/EHHLbfGCH6oBDbOaMhbX


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan and Jen Mistri

    Sound Engineer: Ed Gill

    DOP: Keith Gubbins

    Assistant Camera Op: Charlie Painter

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  16. Nikita Gill - Everyone Wants to Be Heard But No One Wants to Listen

    55 minSaison 20 · Épisode 176

    Before becoming a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most widely read poets on Instagram, Nikita worked as a cleaner and carer while sharing her poetry online. She moved from New Delhi to …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Before becoming a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most widely read poets on Instagram, Nikita worked as a cleaner and carer while sharing her poetry online. She moved from New Delhi to Britain in her early twenties to study for a master's degree at the University for the Creative Arts, and felt she ‘disappointed’ her parents and faced repeated rejection and misogyny in the process.

    In this episode, she tells Elizabeth about her unusual childhood at sea, growing up in places marked by contested borders, where bomb scares at school felt routine, and the many obstacles she faced throughout her career. She also reflects on the power of poetry to connect us, why myths still resonate today and how writing became both a form of resistance and survival.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:10 Archivist Heart

    04:33 Unheard Voices

    07:10 Borders Bomb Scares

    09:49 Childhood

    11:30 Mythical Power

    13:52 Rejection To Breakthrough

    25:51 Success Highs and Lows

    26:31 Rejection as Return

    27:45 Dating and Being Returned

    28:11 BuzzFeed Fame Backlash

    33:36 Shame and Misogyny Online

    34:51 Surviving Internet Pile Ons

    39:16 Chronic Pain Finally Named

    48:34 Family Grief and Goodbye


    LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Nikita’s new book, Styx: The River is out this Autumn: www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Styx-The-River/Nikita-Gill/9781398537194

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Michael Rosen - swap.fm/l/TCjvDZaxrZsq4iZRCccm


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Nikita answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  17. Miquita Oliver - I Drank Half a Bottle of Wine Every Morning

    57 minSaison 20 · Épisode 175

    Miquita Oliver is a podcaster, TV presenter and all-round brilliant woman. She was just 16 when she burst onto our screens co-hosting Channel 4’s cult music show Popworld alongside Simon Amstell. Twenty-five …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Miquita Oliver is a podcaster, TV presenter and all-round brilliant woman. She was just 16 when she burst onto our screens co-hosting Channel 4’s cult music show Popworld alongside Simon Amstell. Twenty-five years later, she’s still one of Britain’s most distinctive broadcasters and interviewers. She co-created Miss Me?, with Lily Allen, and now co-hosts it with musician Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks.

    You may also know Miquita from the acclaimed BBC series The Caribbean with Andi and Miquita, in which she and her mother, Andi Oliver, travelled to Antigua to reconnect with their family, heritage and identity.

    We talk about Miquita surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, the shame she associates with going bankrupt, her struggle with alcoholism in her thirties, love, family, and why she still can't quite conquer her driving theory test. She even opens up about her hopes and fears around motherhood. This is an essential conversation for any one who survived the noughties diet culture or who has grappled with financial hardship. Frank, funny and unexpectedly moving: just like Miquita herself.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    02:42 Heritage and Caribbean Roots

    04:19 Tsunami Trauma and Healing

    07:04 Iconic Co-Hosts and Craft

    10:51 Losing Home

    13:03 Miss Me Origins and Honesty

    15:26 Bankruptcy Shame and Survival

    30:58 Weight and Work Comeback

    32:02 Second Reinvention Switch

    33:01 Money Lessons After Bankruptcy

    34:21 Why Aren’t We Taught Tax

    35:50 Alcoholism

    39:19 Leaving Richmond and Getting Clear

    43:12 Motherhood Without Shame

    48:03 Driving Test Fail




    LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Listen to Miss Me? wherever you get your podcasts

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Andi Oliver - swap.fm/l/kcBWNXdPsg7LhgcGhvoF

    Lily Allen - swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ

    Neneh Cherry - swap.fm/l/r5YD9vNivp5t6yw1gN1U

    Mabel - swap.fm/l/bfOzGVjFFpo13LK7MHUu


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Miquita answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  18. Richard Bacon - ‘I Was Betrayed By My Best Friend’

    58 minSaison 20 · Épisode 174

    What connects Barack Obama, a tabloid sting and Love Islander Alex George? Have a Blue Peter badge if you were thinking of Richard Bacon... While the broadcaster and producer is perhaps best known for the time …

    Notes de l’épisode

    What connects Barack Obama, a tabloid sting and Love Islander Alex George? Have a Blue Peter badge if you were thinking of Richard Bacon...

    While the broadcaster and producer is perhaps best known for the time his Blue Peter contract was terminated - following a tabloid reveal of his cocaine use - there is so much more to the man. His storied time in television led to him founding a production company and creating numerous TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic. He credits this restless creativity to his ADHD, a diagnosis he only received later in life.

    We discuss how neurodivergence fuels him; how the cocaine exposé in the 90s impacted who he is; his relationship with his parents; his failed move to America, landing an interview with Barack Obama... and being tracked by the Secret Service.

    Richard talks movingly about being an addict, going to AA, his failure to quit drinking and a near-death experience that could have been averted by a certain doctor on Love Island. Trust me, an hour with Richard Bacon is quite the ride - strap in!

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    03:57 Defining Success Today

    04:15 Botox Water And Moisturizer

    05:32 Parents And Upbringing

    10:05 ADHD Intelligence

    11:38 Blue Peter Cocaine Exposé

    21:06 Fallout Press And Shame

    25:42 Dad Crying in Secret

    26:35 Public Humiliation to Resilience

    29:01 Trust After Betrayal

    30:05 America Move

    32:37 Woody Harrelson

    33:30 Obama Interview Whiplash

    35:36 Work as Identity and Failure

    37:53 Addiction Coma and Gratitude


    LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Richard’s podcast ‘Why Are You More Successful Than Me?’ is available now

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    WANT MORE?

    Claudia Winkleman – swap.fm/l/Q65AatVGMWgB27BoS0g2


    LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Richard answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  19. Remembering Bonnie Tyler

    49 minSaison 20 · Épisode 173

    It was a privilege to have Bonnie Tyler on How to Fail back in 2024 - and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing today. Bonnie was open, funny and moving when she joined me on How to Fail. Total Eclipse of …

    Notes de l’épisode

    It was a privilege to have Bonnie Tyler on How to Fail back in 2024 - and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing today.   


    Bonnie was open, funny and moving when she joined me on How to Fail. Total Eclipse of the Heart made her a global star, and at the time of this recording, she managed to squeeze in an hour on How to Fail between gigs and the release of her new album, In Berlin. It was also her first ever podcast interview. 

    You might want to bring the tissues for this one, as we have a bit of a weep when Bonnie talks about losing her amazing mum.  We also touched on miscarriage and a childfree life. Plus her failure at elocution lessons, the fascinating story behind her friendship with Tina Turner, performing for Putin (no, really), being a bit of a hoarder and the secret to a 50-year marriage.


    We love you Bonnie Tyler, rest in peace. 


    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Lily Hambly

    Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Carly Maile


    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.


    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  20. Charlie Mackesy – ‘Grief propelled me into work that saved me’

    54 minSaison 20 · Épisode 172

    In this episode, I sit down with bestselling author‑illustrator Charlie Mackesy, whose work – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – has become a global touchstone for kindness, vulnerability and hope. Yet …

    Notes de l’épisode

    In this episode, I sit down with bestselling author‑illustrator Charlie Mackesy, whose work – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – has become a global touchstone for kindness, vulnerability and hope.

    Yet Charlie’s path was anything but straightforward: he grew up feeling inherently at fault, shaped by the pressures of competitive schooling and the emotional weight of carrying the painful stories readers now share with him.

    He talks about failing his driving test four times and the devastating loss of his best friend, Jamie, in a car crash – a grief that propelled him to London and sparked the first moment he began drawing compulsively, with music as solace.

    Charlie reflects on not achieving what he calls “conventional success” through marriage or children, the underrated importance of friendship and the power of kindness and self‑compassion.

    We also explore his years of not earning a living as an artist – a period he now sees not as failure, but as an essential process. Charlie urges us to create without fear, to let go of perfection and to live fully in the imperfect present.






    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    00:00 Intro

    03:44 Feeling at Fault

    04:30 Outsider and School Years

    05:55 Carrying Others Stories

    13:57 Animals and Ducklings

    17:08 Driving Test Failure

    18:06 Loss and Aftermath

    20:05 Grief Fuels Art

    23:14 Bottling Emotions

    25:07 Remember Mothers Word

    28:28 Mum’s Tactile Reading

    29:44 Dementia and Story Comfort

    33:21 Redefining Success

    37:46 Friendship Essentials

    40:37 Kindness and Self Talk

    46:09 Failing as an Artist





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    “When people tell you their weight, their sadness, anything, their failings, whatever it is they tell you, treat it like they’re giving you gold.”


    “I just wrote a book about a mole who likes cake and friends who are journeying in a difficult way with each other… but I think people just want to be heard and seen.”


    “None of us get out of here alive, so why not try? What have you got to lose?”


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Charlie’s latest book, Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm, is available from all major UK booksellers.

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jacqueline Wilson - this episode explores how Jacqueline Wilson’s life and career never followed a predictable path. She didn’t become a bestseller until her 40s and the setbacks she faced helped shape the writer she became. It reflects on the imagination and resilience behind unforgettable characters like Tracy Beaker, her ability to reinvent herself, most recently with The Primrose Railway Children and the creativity and determination that have sustained a career spanning more than 100 books. Ultimately, it’s about a woman interrogating creativity, perseverance and the determination required to keep going: swap.fm/l/PawxjS1dFBaohoKZXfpL


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Charlie answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  21. Anastacia – All My Songs Have Been Good Therapy

    54 minSaison 20 · Épisode 171

    Anastacia has released eight albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has collected a total of 227 gold and platinum certifications and counts Elton John as one of her biggest fans. In 2000, she …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Anastacia has released eight albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has collected a total of 227 gold and platinum certifications and counts Elton John as one of her biggest fans.

    In 2000, she released "I'm Outta Love", her debut single, which quickly topped charts worldwide and paved the way for her first album, Not That Kind. This year sees her embark on a major arena tour to celebrate that album’s 25th anniversary.

    In this episode we talk about her experience with breast cancer - she underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 after being diagnosed for the second time, dealing with sexism in the music industry and being a mother beyond the traditional sense.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    02:32 Brodie Joins the Studio

    03:15 Day Jobs Before Fame

    04:16 Not That Kind at 25

    05:31 Finding Her Sound

    08:25 Celebrity Gig Stories

    11:34 Failures Tech and Glasses

    26:04 Dream Glasses Partnership

    26:57 Tinted Lenses Origin Story

    28:31 Sexism and Image Pressure

    31:45 Redefining Femininity

    32:32 Cancer Advocacy Fire

    37:40 Self Care Birthday Hack

    41:44 Writing Singable Songs

    44:22 Mothering Beyond Biology





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    Give yourself a self-care birthday - go and get a mammogram

    There are so many different ways to be a mother

    So the word cancer, I didn't like it, but I looked at the first three letters


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Anastacia is celebrating 25 years since the release of her debut album ‘Not That Kind’ and is taking her #NTK2026 on the road

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Shania Twain - took us back to her childhood, where she felt she grew up too fast, singing in smoke-filled bars at a young age. There are some real similarities between these two episodes - see what you think: swap.fm/l/JyU54nvq2muyBpNFq3B9


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Anastacia answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  22. Mel Giedroyc and AJ Odudu on Body Confidence, Midlife Reinvention and Female Friendship

    45 minSaison 20 · Épisode 170

    Welcome to the FIRST EVER How To Fail Roundtable - a format we enjoyed so much we might just keep it. Today, Elizabeth is joined by broadcaster, actor, author and comedian Mel Giedroyc, and presenting …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Welcome to the FIRST EVER How To Fail Roundtable - a format we enjoyed so much we might just keep it. Today, Elizabeth is joined by broadcaster, actor, author and comedian Mel Giedroyc, and presenting powerhouse AJ Odudu for a candid conversation about body confidence, midlife reinvention and self-acceptance. Brought to you by Dove Whole Body Deodorant, they discuss navigating public scrutiny, aging, personal experiences of the menopause and the importance of friendship.

    Together, they explore how honesty, resilience and everyday rituals can help us feel more confident and comfortable in our own skin.




    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Intro

    02:39 Mel on body confidence

    05:50 AJ on self appreciation

    06:53 Freshness and shoot day hacks

    09:08 Mel career and live TV

    11:46 Screen scrutiny and representation

    18:05 Midlife reinvention begins

    22:15 The Power of Invisibility

    23:51 Slowing Down to Go Deeper

    24:58 AJ on Reinvention and Grief

    27:32 Daily Rituals as Survival

    28:45 Perimenopause Reality Check

    30:47 HRT and Finding Relief

    33:46 Owning ‘No’ and the Crone Era

    35:42 Women Supporting Women Finale





    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    Mel: Body confidence, to me, is literally getting closer to the mirror.


    AJ: We don't worship ourselves and honour our bodies in the way that we should.


    Elizabeth: Everything is data acquisition about the thing that went wrong… you can do better next time or make different choices.




    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:




    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    • Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts
    • Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories




    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    • Instagram: @elizabday
    • TikTok: @howtofailpod
    • Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod
    • Website: www.elizabethday.org
    • Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails

    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless


    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  23. Kristin Scott Thomas – ‘Having children allowed me to see where I’d gone wrong’

    53 minSaison 20 · Épisode 169

    In a career spanning four decades, Dame Kristin Scott Thomas has become one of Britain’s most celebrated actors: Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, The Horse Whisperer, Tell No One and Slow …

    Notes de l’épisode

    In a career spanning four decades, Dame Kristin Scott Thomas has become one of Britain’s most celebrated actors: Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, The Horse Whisperer, Tell No One and Slow Horses, alongside acclaimed stage work including her Olivier‑winning performance in The Seagull.

    Yet her path was far from straightforward: discouraged at drama school, she moved to Paris as an au pair and rebuilt her training from scratch. Her childhood had already been shaped by profound loss after the deaths of her father and stepfather in near‑identical accidents. She has now channelled these experiences into her directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding, which she also co‑wrote and stars in, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham.

    We talk about her early grief, the emotional armour she built as a teenager, the chaotic experience of filming with Prince, making My Mother’s Wedding, the power of women writing women, her unforgettable Fleabag monologue and the joy and clarity she has found in her 60s.




    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:



    00:00 Intro

    03:15 Reclaiming a Tragic Narrative

    04:59 Joy in her 60s

    06:22 Co Writing With Her Husband

    07:03 Animation and Childhood Memory

    09:07 Casting and Creative Reunions

    12:23 Failure One: Prince Film Debut

    17:06 Fame Theater and Radical Roles

    24:09 Under the Cherry Moon Lessons

    25:28 Failure Two: Teenage Grief

    26:24 Childhood Losses

    27:58 Eldest Sibling Burden

    28:37 Acting Through Sadness

    29:59 English Patient Reflections

    33:19 Four Weddings Role

    36:39 Therapy and Healing

    43:41 Grief Advice and Faith

    45:45 Football and Identity

    49:16 Aging and Gratitude



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    “I wanted to take my past and make it into something positive.”


    “If people enjoy what you do, it’s not bad.”


    “Having children allowed me to see where I’d gone wrong and where I was beating myself up.”


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Kristin’s directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding, is now available in UK cinemas and streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Apple TV

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Rosamund Pike - this episode explores how her career has resisted tidy narratives, how she’s navigated fame without reading reviews for 25 years and how her so‑called “failures” – not getting married, struggling with fear, raising two sons while working, even a disastrous attempt at cooking a rabbit – have shaped her. It’s ultimately about a woman interrogating identity, courage and the stories she tells herself:http://swap.fm/l/tePOA4HZ2PoaBBwudnv7


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Kristin answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  24. Patrick Radden Keefe - ‘Lying Is More Prevalent Than People Think’

    56 minSaison 20 · Épisode 168

    What draws an award-winning writer to the darkest corners of human behaviour? Patrick Radden-Keefe is a New York Times bestselling author and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is known for his acclaimed books …

    Notes de l’épisode

    What draws an award-winning writer to the darkest corners of human behaviour? Patrick Radden-Keefe is a New York Times bestselling author and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is known for his acclaimed books, including Empire of Pain and Say Nothing - the latter was adapted into a BAFTA and Emmy-nominated drama series.

    Radden Keefe’s latest book, London Falling, investigates the life and untimely death of Zac Brettler, a North London teenager drawn into the criminal underworld. In this conversation, Patrick reflects on why he is so fascinated by “the bad guys”, how the extraordinary story behind London Falling unfolded and his unconventional writing process.

    Patrick also talks about the years of rejection that preceded his success and how it has shaped him. I hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the world’s finest narrative journalists (oh, and Patrick). JUST KIDDING.


    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:25 Why He Writes Bad Guys

    05:12 London Falling Origin Story

    08:01 Reinvention and Secret Lives

    10:06 Holocaust Legacy and Lying

    14:58 Carrying Grief and First Failure

    31:47 Parents Read First Drafts

    33:13 Family Themes And Fixations

    34:22 Chasing The New Yorker Dream

    36:49 Rejection Resentment And Drive

    41:14 What To Leave Out

    43:28 Research Outline

    48:13 Screenplays That Never Get Made

    50:51 Growth Outside Comfort Zone




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    I tend to look at people, even people who do pretty monstrous things, as human beings... The question for me is always, how did they get there? And usually they got there by degrees.


    I'd like to think that the sense of who you are as a person isn't contingent on the dopamine hit of people telling you you've done a good job.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    London Falling is out now: www.patrickraddenkeefe.com

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jon Ronson - another journalistic hero of mine, Jon talked about his love of storytelling, what being bullied at school taught him and why truth-telling is vital: swap.fm/l/3Uwm2GCNCBpHQVZc6dwr

    Malcolm Gladwell - on being mediocre at running, failing to be a friend and whether prejudice can ever be a force for good: swap.fm/l/CxIsEyNtJcyXROPZQCvh


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Patrick answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  25. Natalie Imbruglia - ‘I love the wisdom of being in my 50s’

    52 minSaison 20 · Épisode 167

    *triggers: This episode includes discussion of depression and mental health crises. In 1997 Natalie Imbruglia released her first single, Torn, which sold more than 4 million physical copies worldwide. In her …

    Notes de l’épisode

    *triggers: This episode includes discussion of depression and mental health crises.


    In 1997 Natalie Imbruglia released her first single, Torn, which sold more than 4 million physical copies worldwide. In her homeland of Australia, it became the most played song on the radio, being played an average of 75 times a day over the two decades following its release.

    She landed a part in Neighbours in 1985, when she was just 16 years old, and stayed on the hugely popular soap for two years before moving to London. Her first album, Left Of Middle, went multi-platinum. Five further albums followed but it wasn’t always easy: in 2009 she took a six-year break from music to concentrate on acting, appearing on stage and in film and also as a judge on the Australian X Factor. Since then, she has released further music, become a mother to a son and won The Masked Singer.

    Now she returns with her seventh studio album, Algorithm.

    We talk about how writing this album coincided with the perimenopause, reflect on her time in Neighbours, her experience of dating apps, going through solo IVF to have her son, the sexism she faced in the music industry, plus the wisdom she has found in her 50s.


    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    03:08 Making Natalie’s new album Algorithm

    04:55 Neurodivergence and Menopause

    08:59 Death Scrolling

    10:47 Dropped by Label

    16:07 Neighbors and Rejection

    25:35 Dating in Your 30s

    27:15 Rejection Builds Clarity

    27:37 Choosing Love Over Biology

    30:47 IVF Reality Check

    34:13 Single Mother Headlines

    35:48 Manifesting With Lists

    38:11 Living After Torn

    43:53 Sexism and Aging Power




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    It doesn't matter who it is, never give your power over to another human being. Never think somebody knows you better than you know yourself.


    I'm quite good at being the underdog. I find it much scarier to be at the top, waiting to fall off a pedestal.


    Sometimes the universe is working for you, it just doesn't feel that way at the time.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Natalie’s latest album, ‘Algorithm’ is to be released on 4th September. Pre-order here: republicofmusic.lnk.to/algorithm

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Shania Twain - this episode reflects on a childhood marked by poverty, early fame, loss and self-doubt: swap.fm/l/JyU54nvq2muyBpNFq3B9

    Lily Allen - talks about failing to be famous, body image, children, marital breakdown, addiction and songwriting: swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Natalie answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  26. Hannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’

    1 h 2 minSaison 20 · Épisode 166

    Hannah Murray found fame when she was just 17, playing the self-destructive Cassie in E4’s Skins. She juggled an English degree at Cambridge University alongside playing Gilly in HBO’s Game Of Thrones and went …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Hannah Murray found fame when she was just 17, playing the self-destructive Cassie in E4’s Skins. She juggled an English degree at Cambridge University alongside playing Gilly in HBO’s Game Of Thrones and went on to film Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

    When the physical and mental stress required from these roles began to take its toll, Murray sought treatment from a reiki healer. From there, her life began to spiral as she became heavily involved with a ‘healing’ organisation whose promises of real-life magic and enlightenment were increasingly seductive. She ended up being sectioned after a psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

    Now, she has written her first book. The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness is a deeply personal account of these events, written with compulsive lyricism. It takes readers on a journey to the edges of reality, where magic is possible, and where the liminal space between what is real and what is imagined becomes ever more porous.

    In this episode we delve into Hannah’s breakdown and what it taught her. We discuss living with BPD, her decision to quit acting and why, as a society, it’s so important to talk about severe mental health conditions - even if it makes us uncomfortable. Plus: when does our modern obsession with ‘wellness’ go too far?




    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:


    00:00 Introduction

    04:30 Acting Roles and Emotional Toll

    07:51 The Memoir

    09:17 Traumatic Filming and Aftermath

    11:57 Failure to Be Happy Always

    16:06 Rapture Highs and Bipolar

    18:14 Reiki Rabbit Hole and Cult Questions

    28:50 Wellness as Addiction

    30:25 Hotel Breakdown Begins

    32:17 Exorcism and Delusions

    33:26 Realizing You're Sectioned

    35:18 Medication and Coming Back

    36:12 Shame to Compassion

    42:55 Bipolar Mania Explained

    48:41 Leaving Acting and Moving On




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    On the nature of modern mental health discourse: "What if I want to talk about when I was drinking my own urine on a psychiatric ward? You can’t really say that at a dinner party... there is still a big taboo around psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, and other conditions that are less palatable and less kind of cozy."


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    The Make-Believe by Hannah Murray is available now in hardback and audio, read by Hannah https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/471422/the-make-believe-by-murray-hannah/9781529155211

    Hannah will be in conversation with Jessie Cave at Kings Place on Friday 5th June. Link to tickets here: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/hannah-murray-in-conversation-with-jessie-cave/

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Jennette McCurdy - discusses childhood fame, toxic family dynamics, eating disorders, grief and how reclaiming her own identity after her mother’s death ultimately set her free: swap.fm/l/DqqwmylXlnMvnfOmG53z

    Marian Keyes - the bestselling writer on addiction, creative insecurity and body image: swap.fm/l/3opU8XRCVTQLV4v994U5


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Hannah answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  27. Emily Atack - ‘I’ve forgiven people for unforgivable things’

    1 h 1 minSaison 20 · Épisode 165

    *triggers: contains description of physical assault Emily Atack left school at 16, confident she wouldn’t need a GCSE for what she wanted to do: act. It turns out, she was correct. She starred as Charlotte …

    Notes de l’épisode

    *triggers: contains description of physical assault


    Emily Atack left school at 16, confident she wouldn’t need a GCSE for what she wanted to do: act. It turns out, she was correct. She starred as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the smash-hit comedy The Inbetweeners when she was just 17 and is currently on our screens as Sarah Stratton in Disney+’s hit drama Rivals, as well as co-hosting a new ITV game show, Nobody’s Fool, with Danny Dyer.

    But it hasn’t always been easy: she faced sexual harassment and abuse from the age of 10. We talk about the impact this has had on how she now understands her own capabilities and about how her unbreakable bond with her sister, Martha, has helped her survive the toughest challenges.


    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:


    00:00 Introduction to Emily

    03:19 Learning Boundaries

    05:33 Class and Growing Up

    07:39 Paul McCartney Connection

    10:00 Failing to Believe In Herself

    14:58 Leaving Home at Sixteen

    25:10 Inbetweeners Fame Fallout

    30:18 Praise for Rivals

    31:23 Earning Creative Trust

    32:51 Emotional Regulation Struggles

    35:40 Forgiveness and Loneliness

    37:20 Childhood Trauma and Sex

    41:35 Alistair and Finding Home

    46:52 Motherhood and Body Image

    55:19 Keeping Nice Things and Goodbye




    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:


    So many people don’t take responsibility for their failures…. Which is why this podcast is so great.


    Forgiveness is something you have to find in yourself


    I hate being called fat - it hurts my feelings.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Emily hosts ‘Nobody’s Fool’, a brand new strategic quiz show with Danny Dyer, available to stream on ITVX, with the final three episodes airing on 30th, 31st May and the final on 1st June at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Katherine Parkinson - Fresh from her latest BAFTA win, Katherine Parkinson joined Elizabeth to discuss the self-doubt, trauma, humour and resilience that shaped her journey from awkward outsider to one of Britain’s most beloved actors: swap.fm/l/CplscDFzT9oyNGV1Oan0

    Danny Dyer – the actor and national treasure on identity, anger, vulnerability and learning to break the patterns you were born into: swap.fm/l/L192dU5DZHQnCUjFWuX8


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Emily answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  28. Katherine Parkinson – ‘I’m Still Learning How to Be Me’

    49 minSaison 20 · Épisode 164

    *triggers: contains description of physical assault Katherine Parkinson is the two‑time BAFTA‑winning actor beloved for The IT Crowd, Doc Martin, Humans and most recently, Rivals, the hit Jilly Cooper …

    Notes de l’épisode

    *triggers: contains description of physical assault


    Katherine Parkinson is the two‑time BAFTA‑winning actor beloved for The IT Crowd, Doc Martin, Humans and most recently, Rivals, the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation that became an international Emmy winner. Fresh from her latest BAFTA win, she joins Elizabeth to reflect on the unexpected turns that shaped her life – from Surbiton to Oxford, from comedy to chaos, and from self‑doubt to a hard‑won sense of confidence.

    In this episode, we talk about her childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, how her brothers are convinced she’s in MI5 (we will never know), the class anxieties that coloured her university years, her lifelong battle with disorganisation and the pressure she put on herself to “earn her place”. Katherine also opens up – for the first time – about a violent assault she minimised for years, the shame she carried and how motherhood has reframed her understanding of fear, safety and resilience.

    We also explore the joy she found in acting, the liberation of embracing her own contradictions, the friendships that sustained her and the work that goes into rebuilding after trauma.


    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:


    00:00 Intro

    03:48 Northern Ireland Roots

    04:06 Why Rivals Works

    05:34 Class and Oxford

    08:08 Lizzie and Fred Fred

    10:51 Jilly Cooper Loss

    14:03 Failure One Disorganised

    15:46 Exam Breakdown Story

    19:14 Fear of Winning

    20:52 MI5 and Astronaut Dreams

    22:07 Academia vs Acting

    23:07 Pressure and Perfectionism

    23:59 Choosing the Actor Path

    25:23 Facing Unprocessed Trauma

    26:04 Assault

    30:03 Shame and Cultural Context

    33:45 Anxiety and Motherhood

    38:56 Anger and Survival Instincts

    40:08 Oboe Failure and Braces

    42:21 Failing Freely as an Actor

    43:49 Happiness and Goodbye


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    “My mum has always said to me, ‘You’re not afraid to fail’”


    “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a company [as Rivals] where everybody makes me laugh so much, and that is literally all I care about.”


    “I used to want to be an astronaut.”

    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    All episodes of Rivals are now available to stream on Disney+ in the UK and internationally, with new episodes dropping weekly and a second instalment arriving later in the year. In the US, the series is available exclusively on Hulu.

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Danny Dyer – the actor and national treasure on identity, anger, vulnerability and learning to break the patterns you were born into: swap.fm/l/L192dU5DZHQnCUjFWuX8

    Miranda Hart – the beloved comedian and writer on anxiety, belonging, people-pleasing and finding the courage to take up space: swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth answers listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  29. Emilia Clarke - ‘I’m A Bad Celebrity’

    55 minSaison 20 · Épisode 163

    Emilia Clarke is the Emmy‑nominated actor who became a global cultural icon as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, a role that catapulted her from fresh drama‑school graduate to one of the most recognisable …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Emilia Clarke is the Emmy‑nominated actor who became a global cultural icon as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, a role that catapulted her from fresh drama‑school graduate to one of the most recognisable faces on the planet. Since then she’s starred in everything from Me Before You to Solo: A Star Wars Story, won acclaim on the West End and now leads Ponies, a Cold War spy thriller she also produces.

    In this episode, we talk about her childhood love of acting, the imposter syndrome that followed early fame, her failure to master mathematics, the terror and denial surrounding her aneurysms, the shattering grief of losing her Dad, the joy of female friendships and…yes, ok…Game Of Thrones.



    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Cheating Death Opener

    00:14 Emilia Clarke Intro

    02:54 Ponies And Friendship

    03:39 Learning Russian Lines

    06:45 Why Acting Means Failure

    08:33 Failing At Maths

    11:44 Early Acting Spark

    14:10 Losing Her Dad

    21:09 Failure At Recovery

    24:30 Aneurysm In The Gym

    27:10 Misdiagnosed Stroke Scare

    28:01 Second Aneurysm

    29:25 Surgery Goes Wrong

    31:37 Relearning and Emotional Shutdown

    33:30 Back to Work Too Soon

    35:43 Recovery Without Grace

    37:40 Healing and New Diagnoses

    40:12 Bad at Celebrity

    43:01 Game of Thrones Aftermath

    46:08 Body Image and Press

    48:11 Brows and Beauty Culture

    50:40 Self Knowledge and Closing



    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    You spend your 20s and 30s trying to be somebody else, and then your 40s are the moment when you go back to who you actually are.


    I was blessed that after each of my brain injuries, in my mind, there was no other option but to carry on.


    The only good thing about having someone that you love pass away is that every good thing that ever happens, you know it's them.


    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    All episodes of PONIES will be available on Sky and steaming service NOW in the UK & Ireland from 22 May

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Kate Winslet – the Oscar‑winning actor on reinvention, self‑doubt and the power of starting again at any age: swap.fm/l/qrRLW000eyVDrBz3ZtbI

    Gillian Anderson – the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning icon on fame, burnout, womanhood and refusing to shrink herself for anyone: swap.fm/l/7NyZMzkfVOpGyDtlB6k0


    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth answers listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  30. Aline Brosh McKenna - The Rom Com Queen Who Wrote The Devil Wears Prada

    51 minSaison 20 · Épisode 162

    Aline Brosh McKenna is the brilliant writer behind some of the most iconic films and TV of our time: The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now, she’s back with The Devil …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Aline Brosh McKenna is the brilliant writer behind some of the most iconic films and TV of our time: The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now, she’s back with The Devil Wears Prada 2.

    Before Hollywood, Aline studied literature at Harvard and worked as a freelance magazine writer in New York. She was 38 when everything changed with the release of The Devil Wears Prada - and she’s been creating sharp, funny, deeply relatable stories ever since.

    In this episode, we talk about writing for Meryl Streep (no biggie) the acting and magazine career that never happened and what life as an award-winning screenwriter *really* looks like. Plus: the motivating advice every single woman needs to hear.


    ✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:15 27 Dresses and People Pleasing

    04:24 Learning Not to Smallify

    07:09 Writing Bold Characters

    08:11 Devil Wears Prada Two Return

    12:35 ‘Failed’ Acting Dreams

    17:31 Working With Great Actors

    23:20 Writing Meryl’s Big Speech

    25:35 Scrappy Creativity Mindset

    26:34 ‘Failed’ Magazine Career

    29:00 Screenwriting Doors Open

    32:07 Comedy Cred And Awards

    35:23 Nine Pilots No Series

    41:57 Ask For What You Want


    💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

    I wasn't taught to “smallify” myself by my mother, and that's maybe one of her greatest gifts.


    If it becomes necessary to apologise to get what you want, I think that’s okay. As long as you're aware that you're doing it... as a tactic or a strategy.


    Learning to withstand and be amused by failure is so key and so critical.



    🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

    Devil Wears Prada 2 is in cinemas now!

    Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

    Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com


    📚 WANT MORE?

    Stanley Tucci - A DWP cast member no less! The iconic Nigel…sorry, Stanley came on HTF and talked about dealing with the loss of his late wife, surviving cancer, finding love again and…failing to swim: swap.fm/l/WCW054IGNZnSnTzEXPTN

    Dawn French - Another genius comedy writer who talks about heartbreak, humour, adoption and meeting Jennifer Saunders: swap.fm/l/NJDrzxLKhyi6icOrxmHT

    💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

    Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

    Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories


    👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

    Instagram: @elizabday

    TikTok: @howtofailpod

    Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

    Website: www.elizabethday.org

    Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails


    Elizabeth and Aline answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



    Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



    Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

    Engineer: Matias Torres

    Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

    Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

    Executive Producer: Alex Lawless



    How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

    _________________________________________________________________________


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Voici les 100 derniers épisodes sur 409. Les épisodes plus anciens se trouvent dans le flux du podcast.