How To Academy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Dolly Jones - How to Combine a Career and Family Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

When high-flying journalist Dolly Jones had her children, the idea of returning to work felt daunting. She struggled to find material to galvanise and reassure her, and to make her feel that anything was possible.

She set out to change all of that, gathering practical advice, life-hacks and guilt-avoidance strategies from a diverse range of women in a wide variety of industries – fashion designers, taxi drivers, journalists, actors, employment lawyers, doctors, bankers, health specialists, entrepreneurs and restaurateurs.

In this empowering episode, Dolly acts as a ‘ladder down’ to the next generation of working women from a generation who have experimented their way to making it work.

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Historian of Science Thomas Levenson — How Humans Discovered Germs Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

Today, you are far more likely to die of heart disease, cancer, or accident than you are to die of an illness caused by a germ: but for most of human history, microorganisms were our greatest nemesis. As recently as 1900, pnuemonia, influenza, tuberculosis, and gut infections accounted for half of all deaths in the United States. And yet, humans had known of the existence of germs since the invention of the microscope and the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century - to precious little advantage. Thomas Levenson joins the podcast to tell the epic story of how we finally came to grasp the role of germs as a cause of disease and develop a powerful arsenal to fight them.

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Jeremy Hunt - Can Britain Be Great Again? Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt shares a thought-provoking vision of our place in the world in the century ahead.

Is Britain a minor player, marginalised by our departure from the EU and dwarfed by the rise of new economies? Or is there a major role for us to play in a rapidly changing international order?

With the election of President Trump, the answer to that question matters. A world that was already becoming more dangerous has also become more unpredictable. As competition increases between economic and military superpowers, others must make choices. If the UK really is a busted flush, it would be reasonable to stand back, go with the flow and focus on defending our more narrow interests. But if we aren’t, now more than ever is a moment to try and defend the huge progress in freedom and democracy we have seen over the last century.

Looking back at his time as this country’s global ambassador, and drawing on two decades of experience at the highest echelons of political life, Jeremy Hunt gives us his answer.

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Robin Ince - Journeys in Neurodiversity Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Tracing his journey through his diagnosis with ADHD, Robin Ince explores his own insecurities and discoveries along the way, from the importance of vulnerability, to finding greater meaning and happiness, to the beauty of connecting with others through shared neurodiversity. Illuminating how diagnosis can help individuals find and understand their best selves, Robin also reveals how society—from individuals to wider school systems—can change to create a more welcoming world.

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Afua Hirsch In Conversation with Caroline Darian, Daughter of Dominique Pelicot Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

Caroline Darian, daughter of Dominique Pelicot, shares with Afua Hirsch a rallying cry for change, and confronts the hidden violence that too many endure in silence.

The Pelicot mass rape trial was unprecedented in scope and nature, captivating France and the world. Dominique’s daughter, Caroline Darian, shares with journalist Afua Hirsch her family’s strength and resilience in the face of Dominique’s horrific crimes and turns the tables on the abusers, placing the blame squarely at their feet and shining a spotlight on chemical submission.

She tells us the complex story of her father Dominique’s ‘Machiavellian’ nature, the childhood memories that hint at a darker truth, and the most devastating day of her life; while calling for urgent attention to the overlooked crisis of chemical submission.

Caroline could have chosen silence, letting the public trial speak for her. Instead, she steps forward, sharing her own story as an everyday working woman and mother, confronting unfathomable abuse at the hands of her father.

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Jon Watts - The Life and Assassination of Dom Philips and the Mission to Save the Amazon Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

On 5 June 2022, award-winning journalist Dom Phillips was working on a book about the Amazon rainforest, alongside the indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, when they were both shot dead. They are believed to have been assassinated by one of the criminal networks whose ecological exploitation they were working to expose.

A team of expert writers took up his partially completed manuscript, committed to his mission of uncovering the truth about deforestation and searching for solutions. This team was led by Jonathan Watts, Global Environment Editor for The Guardian, who tells How To Academy this remarkable story. It is a story of fires, land grabs and 400 billion trees; of corruption, crime and murder; and of friendship, compassion and dedication.

Jon speaks with award-winning journalist Edie Lush as they grapple with the questions: why is the Amazon so important to life on earth, how can we save it, and how many more of its defenders must die before we do?

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Isabel Allende - On the Power of Story, Resistance, and Humanity Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

Isabel Allende shares the story of Emilia del Valle, her unforgettable new heroine on a treacherous, life-changing journey during the Chilean Civil war of 1891. Past and present merge in this conversation, as Isabel explores how her new heroine—who reminds us of Isabel herself— confronts the tyranny and injustice of her time. As tyranny and injustice bleeds into the present, Isabel shares her convictions on today's oppressions, and illuminates how the power of storytelling gives voice to the silenced, the innocent, and to our common humanity.

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Daniel Davis - The Real Science of Immune Health Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

We are surrounded by bold claims and quick fixes for ‘boosting’ our immune health. But one thing the science is clear on is that everyone’s immune system is unique – what is good for one person may not work well for another. So how do we separate the bogus claims from the useful advice? Head of Life Sciences and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College, Daniel Davis, helps us sort the facts from the fiction.

From the genetics of immune health to the myth of Vitamin C, from evidence-backed studies on chronic stress to the gaps in knowledge on sleep and microbiome health, Daniel reveals what scientists do know for certain—and what still needs more answers—to help us make informed choices for ourselves.

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Glennon Doyle, Amanda Doyle, and Abby Wambach — We Can Do Hard Things Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

The hosts of the blockbuster podcast We Can Do Hard Things share a fresh guide to being alive and answer life's most difficult questions.

Every day, Glennon Doyle spirals around the same questions: Why am I like this? How do I figure out what I want? How do I know what to do? Why can’t I be happy? Am I doing this right?

The harder life gets, the less likely she is to remember the answers she’s spent her life learning.

In a particularly difficult year, Glennon was diagnosed with anorexia, her sister Amanda was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her wife Abby’s beloved brother died. For the first time, they were all lost at the same time. So they asked each other, their dearest friends, and 118 of the world’s most brilliant wayfinders, among them, Jane Fonda, Brandi Carlile, Esther Perel and Ocean Vuong what wisdom might help others find their way. Now they share their discoveries.

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Geoff Dyer - A Life in Writing Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

A louche slacker and a restless wanderer, an Englishman most at home abroad, a comic genius and a whip smart critic of art and culture: Geoff Dyer is a literary colossus, an original voice whose writings circulate around his favourite themes – sex, death, drugs, spirituality, travel, and boredom – while also being utterly different to one another. Now he joins Fat White Family's Lias Saoudi to reflect on his own coming of age, from discovering his early love for reading to his years spent at grammar school, and tracing his enduring dedication to literature through the years.

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