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#246 Frankie Bridge: An Open Book Feb 27, 2020

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My guest today is Frankie Bridge, best known as one fifth of 'The Saturdays'. Frankie has been really open about her mental health issues over the years and has been an ambassador for MIND after opening up about her experiences of anxiety, depression and panic attacks, following her hospitalisation in May 2012. Having initially dealt with these issues in silence, Frankie has been keen to support MIND in making sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone. Recently, she's been a key player in helping to launch the MIND partnership with Heads Together, as well as lending her support to Time to Talk Day. Frankie launched her first podcast series OPEN MIND focussing on mental health in 2019 and which debuted in the top ten podcasts upon release. I hope you enjoy this episode and if you did please do leave a rating or review. <3

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#245 Rana Foroohar: The Rise of Big Tech Feb 20, 2020

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Rana Foroohar is an author, Financial Times columnist and CNN analyst, writing and investigating into how today’s biggest tech companies are hijacking our data, our livelihoods, and our minds. I really wanted to do an episode on Big Tech - aka FANG - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google). How tech has changed and how it's changed us. Her book Don't be Evil looks into how big tech has lost it's way over the past two decades. Through her skilled reporting and unparalleled access to these topics—won through nearly 30 years covering business and technology—Foroohar tells the story of how giddy idealism turned to greed, how a world where “information for free” became one in which we, the users, are the product being monetized, and how the “democratized” internet we were promised can threaten the very fabric of our democracy. In her book she lays out a plan for how we can resist and slightly rebel against tech. I wanted to ask that question: can we rebel against tech now or are we just too embedded? I hope you enjoy this fascinating episode. If you enjoyed, please do leave a rate or review!

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#244 Ann Napolitano: From 80 Rejections To A Global Bestseller Feb 13, 2020

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Today's guest is New York Times Bestselling novelist Ann Napolitano. In this episode we are discussing her new novel Dear Edward. Unlike a lot of big new titles publishing in 2020, this isn’t the big debut push. Dear Edward is Ann Napolitano’s third book, her first novel was rejected 80 times, and her second novel hardly sold. And yet Dear Edward is set to be one of 2020’s biggest new novels. I absolutely loved this book. Here's the blurb: one summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 191 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor. Dear Edward depicts Edward's life in the crash's aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and find his place in the world without his family. I really recommend buying this book and loved chatting to Ann about writing fiction. Please do rate and review if you enjoyed :)

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#243 Ruby Warrington: What Does It Mean To Be "Sober Curious"? Feb 06, 2020

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Ruby Warrington is a lifestyle writer and former features editor of the UK's Sunday Times Style. In 2013, she created The Numinous, an online magazine that bridges the gap between the mystical and the mainstream. I wanted to invite Ruby onto the podcast to discuss her bestselling and hugely popular book Sober Curious which has been described as a bold guide to choosing to live hangover-free.

Drawing on research, expert interviews, and personal narrative, Sober Curious is a radical take down of the myths that keep so many of us drinking. Inspiring, timely, and blame free, Sober Curious is both conversation starter and handbook essential reading that empowers readers to transform their relationship with alcohol, so we can lead our most fulfilling lives. As you'll see from our conversation there is a nuance to the sober curious movement, it's not that you can never drink again, nor is it a book necessarily for anyone with a problem, it's really for anyone who wants to be more curious about their drinking habits.

Hope you enjoy this episode and if you did please do rate and review on iTunes!

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#242 Kiley Reid: When Fiction Does What A Thinkpiece Cannot Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

CORRECTION: In the intro I said Kiley Reid has written 'a number of novels and stories'. Such A Fun Age is actually her DEBUT novel. Apologies for this error.

Kiley Reid is a New York Times Bestselling writer, earning her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she won a fellowship award and taught undergraduate creative writing workshops with a focus on race and class. Kiley has written a book of short stories but her DEBUT novel Such a Fun Age is a very big book for 2020. The story is about a babysitter called Emira and her white employer Alix. This book is about race and the messy dynamics of privilege.

Here's some of the press it's picked up already:

Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Pick for January 2020

The Sunday Times One to Watch

A Times Best Book of 2020

A Stylist Best Book of 2020

A New York Times Book to Watch

A Vogue Best Book of Winter

A Marie Claire Best Book of Winter

if you liked the episode please don't forget to rate and review :)

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#241 Gillian Anderson: TV, Time Out & Trying New Things Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

My guest today is the wonderful Gillian Anderson. You might remember my episode from two years ago when Gillian came on the podcas as a guest with her friend and co-author Jennifer Nadel; they wrote the bestselling book We: The uplifting manual for women seeking happiness.

Today, Gillian is back in the Ctrl Alt Delete studio. She doesn't really need an introduction but I will do it anyway! She is the award-winning film, television and theatre actor who achieved international recognition for her role as ‘Special Agent Dana Scully’ on the American

TV series THE X-FILES. Gillian won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for the series.

She has tons of other brilliant television credits and earlier this year Gillian starred in Netflix’s hit series SEX EDUCATION and will return to play sex therapist, Jean Milburn in the second series out now. Gillian is currently filming THE CROWN, where she will join the cast in season 4 as UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

Gillian has also collaborated with WINSER. After a successful first collection last Autumn, she has collaborated again with Winser London’s design team again to create her second womenswear capsule collection for the brand, which includes a unique fundraiser jumper featuring a design of her lips with 20 percent of sales going o Gillian's chosen charity, @womenforwomen which helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives. Gillian’s collection is now live online at winserlondon.com.

We spoke about turning fan art into charity merchandise, dipping a toe into another industry, trying new things, being a homebody, how TV has changed since the 90s, mental health anxiety, living with chronic pain and the joy of being in bed by 9. I love this quote from the episode:

'It should be become so natural for people to talk freely [about mental health] without it making headlines. It's still in the press slightly mocked in headlining it. Ultimately, it should be discussed as easily as what we eat for breakfast. The majority of human beings on this planet do struggle with some form of fear, anxiety, depression and there are constant contributors in our world that are making those numbers grow."

I hope you enjoy this episode, I absolutely loved recording it!

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#240 Sarah Ellis (Part 2): Confidence Gremlins & Squiggly Motherhood Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

Today's guest is Sarah Ellis who spent the first part of her career working in Marketing & Corporate Responsibility for brands including Boots, Barclays and Sainsbury's. She co-founded Amazing If - as a side-hustle - with her friend Helen Tupper. They describe their path as being accidental entrepreneurs and they recognise that the world of linear and predictable career ladders are disappearing. Instead, careers are now much more 'squiggly', where changing roles, industries and careers frequently and fluidly is becoming the new normal. Together they wanted to help everyone to develop the skills to succeed in a squiggly career in a way that is useful and relevant for today's world of work. Sarah has an MBA with distinction from Warwick Business School and has studied at both London and Harvard business schools.

In this episode we discuss confidence gremlins, getting comfortable with disagreements, and the highs and lows of motherhood.

This is part two of our Squiggly Career conversation, check out part one if you haven't already!

I deffo recommend getting a copy of the Squiggly Career! It's a fantastically helpful book. You can also listen to their weekly podcast 'Squiggly Careers' - I've also been on as a guest recently. If you liked this episode please do rate or review so others can find it :)

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#239 Sarah Ellis (Part 1): Embrace The Squiggly Career Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

This part one of our Squiggly Career conversation, check out part two next week!

I deffo recommend getting a copy of the Squiggly Career! It's a fantastically helpful book. You can also listen to their weekly podcast 'Squiggly Careers'. If you liked this episode please do rate or review so others can find it :)

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#238 Lucy Sheridan: The Comparison Cure: Be Less ‘Them’, More You Jan 02, 2020

Show notes

Today's guest is with Lucy Sheridan, the world's first and only comparison coach. She has helped thousands of people go from compare and despair to #ComparisonFree, and now she has condensed all of that insight and knowledge into her new book The Comparison Cure. Lucy came on Ctrl Alt Delete a few years back to talk about her passion in breaking down comparison triggers and it was so great to catch up again and to promote her brilliant book. The book is for anyone who has struggled with comparing yourself to others, which of course it a totally human thing, but sometimes it needs a bit of attention if/when it starts to take over your life. Lucy has a three-step tried and tested methodology to help you improve your self-worth and self-confidence (#1 recognise the symptoms; #2 start practising the remedies; and #3 keep your good new habits going), you will soon be able to let go of procrastination and start living a comparison-free life. Packed full of tips, examples and exercises to help you take back control of who you are and what you want, this positive and empowering book is the timely and necessary antidote we all need to the toxic comparison culture we're living in.

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#237 Emma Forrest: Writing & Transcendental Meditation Dec 26, 2019

Show notes

Today's guest is with Emma Forrest, one of my favourite writers of all time. She has published three novels, an essay collection and the memoir Your Voice In My Head, one of my favourite memoirs on mental health ever. She also recently wrote and directed her feature debut, Untogether. Today we're here to discuss Emma's new novel ROYALS which out now - which was a Radio 2 Book Club Pick and A Grazia Book of the Year.

Royals has been described asdevastating, dazzling, queer and radical, and a love story between unlikely friends from completely different worlds. It's about the power of art to transform lives and the power of families to destroy them. It's about working out who you are and what you want. It's a tale of giddy happiness, crushing lows and, ultimately, the fragility of lives lived too fast.

I loved chatting to Emma about her career and creativity - if you like this episode please do leave a rating or a review!

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