The Goldster Conversations Podcast

If you are alive and breathing, you are growing no matter what you believe or what is happening. Embracing yourself as who you are is a key factor in being able to move anything forward, an empowered manifestation of the honest YOU. Such is the Goldster Conversation we will be having with the great Glenda Benevides, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who has now written a book called Courage:...

Jane Corry is a writer and journalist who has spent time working as the writer in residence of a high security prison for men - an experience that helped inspire her Sunday Times bestselling novels. Before taking up the post, Jane had never been inside a prison and says that the experience “really opened up my eyes. Initially I was terrified about doing the job but as soon as I started, I was hook...

What does it mean to be human?  Here is a question many of us ask ourselves and from it comes thoughts about morality, freedom, good and evil, ambition, passion, religion and more. Peter Hacker is a leading philosopher, unafraid at slaying myths. He has written four books about human nature, looking deeply into the neuroscience of how we all think and live.   They deal with many of these issues th...

All of us, at some stage, find ourselves faced with impossible choices or in some form of conflict from which there seems no way out. The choices we make affect our families, the  people we love and our lives. Rebecca Tinsley understands these challenges first-hand from her life helping others in the developing world. Her passion for fairness and her personal mission to end suffering began as a te...

We all see news headlines and wonder about our future -- war in Europe and the Middle East and the rise of China.  Many worry or don’t watch it. But what can each of us do to help keep us as safe as can be. Sir Julian Brazier is a former government minister and a scholar in Maths and Philosophy from Oxford. He served for thirteen years as an officer in the Territorial Army, including five with the...

Dr James Ray is Emergency Medicine Consultant at Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Governance Lead for NHS 111 in Oxfordshire. His main current interest is to improve the urgent care pathway by making it as accessible as possible without compromising safety and effectiveness to improve the patient experience. His aim is to spread out the workload across services, encoura...

Being understood is a basic human need. We all have a right to express our voice.  But conscious efforts are often needed to put over our viewpoint. Kendra Dodd specialises in removing barriers that divide us. In these current troubling times, we need to understand better our own inner core and perspective, as well as that of others who may think very differently. We need to work on unifying and l...

Exposing the Hospital Myth: NHS Boss on True Health. Insights from Lord Nigel Crisp, Former Head of the NHS Are you feeling trapped in a cycle of hospital visits? Join us for a candid discussion with Lord Nigel Crisp, the former head of the NHS, as he sheds light on what it truly means to achieve optimal health. In this episode, we uncover the limitations of hospital-centric care and delve into of...

A very special Inside Story brings together Goldster Conversations’ two founding hosts Lucinda and Humphrey Hawksley in both a Zoom and in-person audience event at Kingfisher Wharf, Riverstone, Fulham. Three years ago, at the height of the pandemic, with millions isolated and alone, Goldster founder Mike Reid had a vision: What if he could deliver activities, social interaction, community and stim...

High-stakes casinos, black market gambling, Formula One racing, drug trade espionage, shipping piracy, sports fixing and a cast of intriguing characters created by Doug Stewart . One of the most compelling is Insp. Todd “Ratso” Holtom, whose latest adventure Deadly Hush is published at the end of February; a serial killer on the loose leaving a playing card with each victim. All of the above comes...

Join Lucinda Hawksley for the final Inside Story, with special guest Karim Alrawi, who will be joining us very early in the morning his time, from Canada. Karim grew up in both of his parents’ countries: England and Egypt. His experiences of both countries’ literary heritages have made him a superb writer, able to master several genres.  Karim’s first produced work was a radio play submitted, when...

Juliet Campbell was the first of Britain’s pioneering female ambassadors -- ‘An inspiration for those with ambition to make a difference in the world’, says diplomat, Karen Pierce, Britain’s current ambassador to the United States. In Playing Britannia Juliet tells her story through letters and diaries she kept at the time. Besieged in a chateau with the Queen, looping the loop in a jet and meetin...

Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie, and Sylvia Plath are three of our most famous authors. In her new book, Rachel Trethewey tells the story of the remarkable mothers who shaped these amazing women, through first-hand testimony and rigorous research. Julia Stephen, Clara Miller, and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional...

Michael Muthukrishna is a psychological and behavioural science specialist at the London School of Economics. Drawing on the most recent research across the sciences, humanities, and the emerging field of cultural evolution, Michael paints a panoramic picture of who we are and exactly what makes human beings different from all other forms of life on the planet. He argues that it is our unique abil...

Amanda Craig is the author of nine novels, including her latest book, The Three Graces – which is about three friends in their 80s, who have retired to Tuscany, where they must stop one grandchild from a disaster wedding, redeem another and save a life…  A State-of-the-Nation novelist whose work has been compared to that of Dickens, Trollope, E.M. Forster and Kate Atkinson, Amanda combines strong,...

Many people feel like they’re in the dark when it comes to their finances. Insecurity about money often stems from past experiences and how you grew up. Unfortunately, this can also lead us into some bad habits and feeling like the ability to save money is out of our reach. Sometimes the idea of investing can be overwhelming and in our busy lives, who has the time to learn and really understand wh...

Calling all fans of Jane Austen. On 13 October, Lucinda will be interviewing Ruth Leigh, author of A Great Deal of Ingenuity: A Collection of Pride and Prejudice Stories . The pages of Pride and Prejudice sparkle with household names: proud Darcy and prejudiced Elizabeth, book-loving Mr Bennet, the snobbish Bingley sisters, predatory Mr Wickham and oily Mr Collins. But what about all the other peo...

“Quite early, I came to terms with the fact that I was gay,” explains Goldster Purpose, Passion and Grit guest, Roger Leslie.  “But as a spiritual person, I assumed that my sexual orientation meant that I was fundamentally flawed and would have to live without love.  That terrifying revelation directed me toward an unprecedented journey that opened my life and elevated my destiny. My determination...

Phillipa Ashley was one of the first authors to come onto the Goldster Book Club, and she is making a welcome return to talk about the art of seasonal writing. Phillipa is a Sunday Times, Amazon and Audible best-selling author of uplifting romantic fiction, and on 15 December, she’ll be talking to Lucinda about her Christmas-themed novels. After studying English at Oxford University, Phillipa work...

Lord Richard Dannatt was a soldier for forty years concluding his military career as Chief of the General Staff – the professional head of the British Army. Since retiring from active duty in 2009, he was Constable of the Tower of London until July 2016. In 2011 he became an independent member of the House of Lords. His military career began in 1971 with a first tour of duty in Belfast as a platoo...

Alison Hill’s brand new biography, Pauline Gower, Pioneering Leader of the Spitfire Women , tells the story of the amazing woman who led the 164 Spitfire women during WW2 and left a huge legacy for women in aviation. On 21 October, Alison will be joining Lucinda to talk about Pauline’s life – from convent school ‘glittering figure’ to pioneering pilot and beyond; she set up the first female joyrid...

Goldster Conversation delves into the fascinating world and minds of teenagers and young adults with author K. T. Anglehart. She weaves a captivating blend of witchy fantasy, ancient Irish tales, and real-world intrigue in her debut novel The Wise One and her November 2023 sequel The Twin Flame. Drawing on the imagination of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, she explores landscapes and folklore of Irela...

On 23 November, Lucinda will be talking to lucid dreaming and sleep expert Charlie Morley, about his new book Wake Up to Sleep . Charlie is a best-selling author who, for the past 6 years, has been developing a trauma-sensitive, breath- & body-based approach to stress or trauma-affected sleep. Originally developed for British military veterans, his system has now been adapted for the general p...

Billy Kenber is an award-winning investigative journalist at The Times who has taken the lid of a section of the health care industry. In his explosive book Sick Money, The Truth About the Global Pharmaceutical Industry,  Billy maintains that medicines have become nothing more than financial assets and that how drugs are priced and who has access to them is now dictated by shareholder value. He ci...

Join us, either in person or online, for what promises to be one of our most exciting Goldster Conversations so far. On 16 November, the legendary Bonnie Greer OBE FRSL will be joining Lucinda Hawksley for a Goldster Live event at Riverstone Kensington, London! Bonnie is an author, playwright, journalist, critic and former Deputy Chair of the British Museum. An advocate of free speech and higher e...