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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

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 podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Copyright: © Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment

Latest Episodes:

S17, Ep10 Elliot Page on the transcendence of showing up as himself Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

This is one of those encounters that felt profoundly special because, no matter how much preparation I might have done, I truly don't think anything could have fully prepared me for the powerful honesty of Elliot Page.
In his only UK podcast interview to mark the publication of his bestselling memoir, Pageboy, Elliot joins me in our season finale to talk about his self-perceived failure at living a 'closeted' life, his failures in friendship and his inabilty to reach out for help when he needed it. He talks about the abusive homophobia in Hollywood, his battles to connect with the truth of his truest self and the euphoria he now feels when he is able to present physically as he really is.
Elliot moved me so deeply and I know anyone who listens to this will be meaningfully changed by it.
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You can order Elliot's memoir, Pageboy, here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Elliot Page @elliotpage

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S17, Ep9 Mae Muller on failing to win Eurovision - but finding her voice Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

Mae Muller is a queen, icon and a legend and I won't hear anyone say differently. At 25, she is one of the hottest new talents in music. She was Great Britain's 2023 Eurovision entry with her own track, I Wrote A Song, and sure she came second last, but that didn't dim her shine for one single second. Her debut album, Sorry I'm Late, is released in September.
She joins me to chat about failing to win Eurovision and the pressure she felt in the run-up to the competition; failing in school exams and failling to recognise toxic relationships in her teens. She is funny, feisty, smart and wholly without pretension and I adored this conversation with her. Listen now to feel more joyful about life.
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Pre-order Mae's debut studio album, I'm Sorry I'm Late, here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Mae Muller @maemuller

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S17, Ep8 Yomi Adegoke on social media, mental health and reality TV Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

This week's guest is the journalist and author Yomi Adegoke. You might know her from her column in the Guardian or as the co-author of the brilliant 2018 non-fiction book, Slay In Your Lane or you might follow her on Instagram for her glamorous serving of LEWKS. And even if you don't know her, you should because she's the definition of good energy and you will love this episode.
Yomi joins me to talk about her failures in hodling down a 9-to-5, her experiences with depression while at university and her debut novel, The List, which has already been snapped up by HBO Max for TV adaptation.
In this episode, we touch on issues of race, gender and cultural influence and, thrillingly, I get to chat about reality TV with someone who takes it as seriously as I do. Lol.
Enjoy!
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Signed copies of The List by Yomi Adegoke are available to pre-order here.
Yomi will be in conversation with Bernardine Evaristo at the Southbank Centre in London on 20th July. Tickets are available here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Yomi Adegoke @yomi.adegoke

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S17, Ep7 Sir Ranulph Fiennes on adventure, fertility and living up to his father's memory Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

TW: infertility
You wait years for one globally renowned adventurer to come onto How To Fail, and then two appear in the same season! First it was Bear Grylls and now it's the turn of his mentor, Sir Ranulph Fiennes. I spoil you, I really do.
Sir Ranulph is one of the greatest British explorers - a man who has raised millions of pounds for charity through his exploits, which include the first north-south surface circumnavigation of the world, crossing Antarctica on foot and running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents despite suffering a heart attack and undergoing a double coronary artery bypass just four months before. He is also the oldest Briton ever to summit Mount Everest.
He joins me to talk about failing to follow in his late father's footsteps by flunking the Sandurst admission, his competitive drive, the dangers of solo expeditions and - in one especially memorable passage - the time he sawed off his own frostbitten fingers (those of a squeamish disposition may want to skip that bit). And, in a particularly moving exchange, we talk about his inability to have a child with his late wife, Ginny despite several rounds of IVF and a desire to adopt. Regular listeners will know how passionate I am about bringing converstaions around fertility to the fore. It is very rare to hear men talk about it and I'm so grateful to Ranulph for opening up to me. Spoiler alert - there is a happy ending in that Ranulph now has a teenage daughter with his second wife.
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Ranulph Fiennes' latest book, Climb Your Mountain: Everyday Lessons from an Extraordinary Life, is out now and available to purchase here.
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You can donate to one of Sir Ranulph's favourite charities, Marie Curie, here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod

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S17, Ep6 Diana Evans: the bestselling author on writing routines, dealing with her inner critic and living life to the fullest Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

TW: Suicide
Diana Evans is the award-winning, bestselling author of A House for Alice, Ordinary People, The Wonder and 26a. Her third novel, Ordinary People, was one of my favourites of the year when it was published in 2018 - and it was shortlisted for the Women's Prize.
Now, she's written a critically acclaimed follow-up, A House for Alice, set against the backdrop of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Diana joins me to discuss how she writes (and manages failure in her writing), the curse of perfectionism, the importance of tackling social justice in fiction and her abject inability to complete her list of '10 Things To Do Before I'm 50' in time. She also talks movingly about the death of her twin sister by suicide and how this forever shapes the life she now lives.
Thank you Diana, for opening up to me and for the magical words you put on the page.
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A House for Alice by Diana Evans is out now.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Diana Evans @dianaevansop

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S17, Ep5 Bear Grylls on turning fear into courage May 31, 2023

Show notes

Bear Grylls has achieved worldwide fame as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former SAS soldier, he has climbed Everest, circumnavigated the British Isles on a jet ski, rowed naked in a bathtub along the Thames and once broke his back in a parachuting accident.
But he's most famous for his TV career. He starred in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated Man vs. Wild TV series and hosted Running Wild, which has featured Bear taking President Obama, Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, and Kate Winslet on extreme adventures.
I'm so thrilled to have him on How To Fail because Bear has been talking about the need for bravery to co-exist with fear for as long as he's been in the public eye. He's got a really enlightening take on failure - and our need to learn from it.
He joins me to talk about losing his Dad young, failing SAS selection and the cancellation of his first TV show.
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Never Give Up by Bear Grylls, is out now and available to order here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Bear Grylls @beargrylls

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S17 BONUS EPISODE: Rachel Cargle on reimagining the life we want to live. May 25, 2023

Show notes

TW: A heads-up that we talk about racism in this episode, and that we mention the murder of George Floyd and how this impacted Rachel's anti-racism work.
Rachel Cargle is a public academic, activist and author. Her debut book, A Renaissance of Our Own, is out TODAY and asks us to have the courage to live life according to our own values, rather than the ones we might have inherited or been conditioned to believe in. She joins me to talk about her anti-racism work, the 'weathering' effect such work has on Black bodies and her new-found understanding ease and joy have to form part of the same fight for equity. We also discuss her upbringing as the child of a disabled single mother, her divorce, her decision to be childfree, what happened when she dropped out of conventional academia, as well as her failures in business and what they have ended up teaching her about who she is.
Rachel is one of those people I just want to sit and listen to for hours. I barely had to ask any questions because I realised, very quickly, that the most powerful thing was simply for me to shut up and hear her speak.
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Rachel's book, A Renaissance of Our Own, is out today and available to order here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Rachel Cargle @rachel.cargle

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S17, Ep4 Dr Gladys McGarey: a 102-year-old doctor shares the secret to health and happiness May 24, 2023

Show notes

The word 'inspiration' is bandied about with a bit too much alacrity these days, but Dr Gladys McGarey truly is one of the most inspirational women you'll ever meet.
At 102 years old, she's still a practising doctor - she trained in conventional medicine but her innate curiosity led her to explore alternative healing therapies and she became the first physician ever to use acupuncture in the United States, where she is now known as the Mother of Holistic Medicine.
She joins me to impart her considerable wisdom about how to pursue a well-lived life. We discuss the importance of gratitude, boundaries and being in alignment with our joy. We also discuss her dyslexia and how, as a child, it was left undiagnosed and made her feel that she was stupid. We chat about the long journey to find her voice - as a woman, as a wife and as a mother. She opens up about how she coped with the end of her marriage after 46 years and the shock she experiencdd when her then-husband asked for a divorce. And, in a particularly moving exchange, Dr McGarey talks about surviving the devastating loss of her daughter to breast cancer.
But this is an interview which, overwhelmingly, gives us hope. As Dr McGarey says, we can all strive to live by her own mantra: BE GLAD.
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The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor's Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age by Dr Gladys McGarey is a fantastic read and available to buy here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
--
Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod

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S17, Ep3 Alex Crawford: the legendary war correspondent on staying alive, motherhood and the resilience of hope May 17, 2023

Show notes

If you've ever watched a television news dispatch from a warzone, the chances are you've seen Alex Crawford in a flak jacket and helmet, doing a piece to camera punctuated by the whistle of bullets. For 30 years, she has been the special correspondent for Sky News and has covered conflicts in Libya, Syria and the Ukraine. She has scooped multiple Baftas and Emmys for her work, as well as being the only journalist to have won the Royal Television Society’s Journalist of the Year Award five times.
Today, she joins me in an extraordinary interview to reveal how she does it. We talk about professional failures, imposter syndrome, what happened when she got taken hostage in Afghanistan, the challenge of keeping a sense of optimism about human nature and how she processes the trauma she witnesses. She talks frankly about being a mother-of-four and how this has led to her own personal conflicts while reporting on the global ones. And we discuss how ageism and sexism plays a part in how she's perceived in the notoriously fickle world of television.
I adored this conversation and I adored this woman. An absolute legend.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Alex Crawford @alexcrawfordsky

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S17, Ep2 Jay Shetty on failing to fit in, learning to love and how to survive heartbreak May 10, 2023

Show notes

Jay Shetty is the monk-turned-self-help-guru who grew up in Wood Green, North London and now counts Will Smith among his closest friends. His mission - to make 'wisdom go viral' - has seen him become a number one bestselling New York Times author with over 14 million Instagram followers. His podcast - On Purpose - is the biggest health and wellbeing podcast in the world. His latest book, Eight Rules of Love, is a guide to finding, keeping, and sometimes, letting go of love.
In this interview, Jay talks about how to date, how to cope with rejection and break-ups and how to make compassionate decisions. He discusses his upbringing and his early struggles to fit in and what his time in the monastery taught him, as well as his failure to live up to his own standards of kindness. It's an enlightening listen. Thank you, Jay!
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Jay Shetty's latest book, Eight Rules of Love, is available to buy here.
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Jay Shetty @jayshetty

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