Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

James has been looking back at some of his all-time favourite guests on Full Disclosure. He's dug deep into the vault and plucked out an episode that really stands out. It's a classic with one of his very first guests, the comedian and actor Steve Coogan. Steve Coogan is such a private individual for someone who's so incredibly well-known. He rarely does interviews. James waited 25 years to get on...

In 2008, Tim Peake answered an advert from the European Space Agency looking for astronauts. Six years later he became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station and carry out a spacewalk. But Tim didn't always want to be an astronaut. As a child, he fell in love with flying and pursued a career in aviation. He progressed from the school Cadet Corps to the Royal Military...

Arguably the world’s most famous classicist, Mary Beard has an incredible talent for making ancient history engaging for everyone. Her fascination with the past began at the age of five. During a visit to the British Museum, she saw a slice of ancient Egyptian cake on display and was thrilled when a curator opened the case and got it out for her. For nearly forty years, she was a Professor of Clas...

Lexicographer, etymologist and Queen of Countdown’s Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent has always been fascinated by words. As a child, she would read the labels of shampoo bottles at bath time, marvelling at the fact they were written in a different language. She studied modern languages at Oxford University before getting a job at Oxford University Press. She made her first appearance on Channel 4’s...

Over the past twenty-five years, Naomi Klein has charted and documented our politics and culture with a series of bestselling-books from No Logo to The Shock Doctrine. She’s known as one of the most influential left-wing voices of our time. But she wasn’t always this politically active. As a teenager, she resented being dragged along to demonstrations by her activist parents and rebelled by being...

Broadcasting legend, podcaster and former gymnast for Wales and Great Britain, Gabby Logan is a force to be reckoned with. She started her broadcasting career as a student at Metro Radio in Newcastle. She's gone on to become one of Britain's best loved sports presenters, hosting high-profile events including the Olympics, Premiership football and the most recently, the FIFA Women's World Cup. Gabb...

He's one of the most recognisable faces on British television, covering some of the biggest stories of our time. BBC News presenter and Mastermind host, Clive Myrie grew up in Bolton - the son of Windrush generation parents - with dreams of becoming a journalist. He studied law at university but ended up accepting a position on the BBC's journalism trainee scheme. He's gone on report from more tha...

Novelist Sebastian Faulks has the rare quality of being both literary and popular. He’s best known for his historical novels set in France, and in particular, Birdsong, adapted for the screen and starring Eddie Redmayne. Now for the first time Faulks has ventured into the future - but not very far - setting his latest novel from 2030, beginning with an experiment at an IVF clinic which challenges...

Few of us realise the dreams we have as 8-year-olds, but actor, screenwriter and director Mark Gatiss, obsessed with horror, Dr Who and Sherlock Holmes as a child, has managed to incorporate his early passions into his professional life. Now a grown-up with an astonishing catalogue of work, Gatiss no longer pursues the macabre with adolescent fervour, but a darkness continues to run through even t...

Dawn Butler was the first black woman to speak at the despatch box in the House of Commons. But as a young person it had not once occurred to her to go into politics. In this episode, Dawn explains how an injustice she experienced at primary school triggered a series of events, encouraging her to confront wrongs where she sees them, even within her own ranks. Her book, A Purposeful Life is out now...

When Polly Toynbee arrived at The Observer in the late 1960s, she quickly concluded that she'd make a poor news reporter. Hailing from a long line of well-heeled and highly educated liberals and social reformers, Polly surmised that she didn't know enough about the country she'd grown up in. Since then, Polly has worked in factories, hospitals and care homes, shedding light on the n...

Environmentalist Dale Vince was appalled to learn, as a child, that many adults don't enjoy going to work. Rejecting convention, he decided to hit the road, becoming a New Age traveller - living off the land in alternative communities around England. It's not the obvious starting point for somebody who'd go on to build a company worth £100m.

After a brief summer hiatus, James brings you some of the most extraordinary moments you might not have heard from Full Disclosure. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode featuring a fascinating guest James has always wanted to speak to.

Comedian and author Shaparak Khorsandi speaks to James about being diagnosed with ADHD in her forties, her Iranian background and ambitions to become a psychotherapist. Her book, Scatter Brain, is out now.

He's one of the nation's favourite broadcasters, but when Alan Titchmarsh was a young lad, his parents worried about him. Disliking secondary school and leaving with one O-Level in art, Titchmarsh, to his father's dismay, journeyed closer towards his first love: gardening. He speaks to James about his lengthy career in television, radio and print and describes the surreality of bein...

Broadcaster, criminal barrister, columnist and now novelist, Rob Rinder is too curious a person to stay in one place for long. He speaks to James about how he fell out of love with the law as well his first novel, The Trial, which draws upon his real life experience of the British legal system and the cases he's worked on.

Wendell Pierce was on the verge of quitting acting after he graduated from Juilliard - but decided to "give it a year". Four decades on, he's one of the most celebrated character actors working today. Wendell speaks to James about his childhood in New Orleans, his big break in The Wire and the new series of his hit thriller series, Jack Ryan. Please be advised that this episode contains a highly o...

After 50 years in TV, film and theatre, James O'Brien sits down with one of his heroes, actor turned big-time director, Dexter Fletcher to discuss the lows and soaring highs of his life and career.

She was made a peer in 2011, but Dame Joan Bakewell regards herself first and foremost as a journalist and writer. From a very young age, Joan developed a passion for reading, leading to a discovery of 'an internal life'. She speaks to James about her disciplinarian mother, the enormous freedom she had making television in the 1970s and her philosophy.

A master at throwing interviewers off his own scent, comedian Mark Steel got so bored of being asked the same questions that he started making things up. Swerving his traps, James speaks to Mark about his totally real but fantastical sounding family background and new tour.

Self-confessed workaholic Alastair Campbell can't help but feel that he's not doing enough. He's written 18 books, is editor at large of The New European newspaper and his podcast, The Rest is Politics, co-hosted with Rory Stewart, is usually ranked top of the UK charts. But Alastair promised his mum that he'd never go back to the political front line. Alastair's latest tome, But What Can I Do?, s...

Evie Meg, AKA thistrippyhippie has over 16 million followers on TikTok, making her one of the most prominent online disability advocates. Conversely, one of Evie's conditions, PANDAS, is little-known and often misunderstood. For Mental Health Awareness Week, Evie speaks to James about how her life is impacted by PANDAS and Tourette's syndrome, shedding light on how the boundaries between physical...

Brexit, Covid, Partygate, lockdowns, leaks, the war in Ukraine, a cost-of-living crisis and the scandals that plagued our politics. Guto Harri was in the room when the big decisions were made. In this podcast, expect unprecedented access behind the shiny black door of Number 10 Downing Street, during one of the most chaotic periods in British political history.   Guto was Boris John...

His first stand-up gig was at the tender age of 16. It was not critically well received. But Jack Whitehall quickly became a firm favourite on our screens, dominating the television comedy circuit and starring in shows such as Fresh Meat and Bad Education. But his early success also had its problems. Jack speaks to James about how challenging it was finding his voice as well as his new UK tour, Se...

At 34 years old he's the SNP's youngest ever leader in Westminster, moving at breakneck speed from supermarket checkout boy to Rishi Sunak's political adversary at PMQs. With Nicola Sturgeon's shock resignation and continuing investigation into the party's finances, he picks up the mantle during a turbulent time for the independence movement. But Flynn seems cool and collected about the...