Ctrl Alt Delete

My guest today is author and novelist Matt Bell! Today we’re chatting about his latest book Refuse To Be Done , a guide to novel writing, rewriting and revision. He is also the author of multiple novels included Appleseed which was A New York Times Notable Book and he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University. I absolutely loved this latest book on how to write and rewrite a novel in th...

My guest today is Donna Lancaster and you are in for a treat. Donna’s work has been recommended to me by so many people, through work of mouth, she is incredible and has worked as a coach and therapist for more than 25 years. She was formerly the head of teaching at the Hoffman Institute UK and she might be perhaps most well known for co-creating The Bridge Retreat, a six-day personal development...

This is a replay episode with Jamie Bartlett recorded back in 2019, he is the bestselling author of multiple books including The Dark Net and People vs Tech. In this episode we are discussing his podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen, a BBC Sounds podcast described by The Telegraph as ‘the most gripping podcast since Serial’: the podcast uncovers the mysterious story of Dr Ruja Ignatova who persuaded mi...

My guest today is the author Louise O’Neill – today we are discussing her brilliant new book IDOL – a riveting darkly delicious story that interrogates our relationship with our internet heroes  asking how well we can ever really know the gurus we look up to and their carefully curated profiles. It is written with Louise’s signature style, reminding me of her much applauded book Asking F...

My guest today is Vicky Spratt, the author of TENANTS: The People on the Frontline of Britain's Housing Emergency and journalist whose work regularly shapes public policy. She is also currently the iPaper's Housing Correspondent.  Her 2016 campaign Make Renting Fair got letting fees in England and Wales banned, and she has spoken at political conferences, appeared on BBC News, Newsnight, Woma...

My guest today is  Francesca Specter, author of Alonement: How to be alone and absolutely own it , and the creator of the Alonement podcast . You guessed it, today we are discussing how to be alone - something I’m really passionate about as someone who values alone time, takes myself on solo trips and loves Julia Cameron’s suggestion of The Artist Date, where you take yourself on a date. Fran...

My guest today is Clemmie Telford, Creative Director, podcaster and author But Why: How to answer tricky questions from kids and have an honest conversation with yourself and a podcast with the same name. She is also the founder of the blog Mother of All Lists which hit over 1 million reads in 2018 she uses her social channels to enable frank, open and honest conversations, some of her most recent...

My guest today is the brilliant Sheila Heti, author of Motherhood and How Should a Person Be? In this episode we discuss her latest book Pure Colour, a new novel l about art, love, loss and time. It has been described as a galaxy of a novel: explosive, bright, huge and streaked with beauty. Sheila Heti has also been described as philosopher of modern experience - and I really enjoyed this conversa...

Does happiness even exist? Dr Rafa Euba doesn't think so. He is a consultant psychiatrist, based in London, born in the Bask Country, Spain and after qualifying in Medicine, he became a psychiatrist in England. He has worked in many different settings, from exclusive clinics to slums, and his work on depression moved him to write a book on how we are not designed to be happy, called "You are not m...

My guest today is Delia Ephron: bestselling author, screenwriter and playwright. Her movies include You've Got Mail (starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks) and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, she has written novels and non-fiction, and her journalism has appeared in the New York Times, Oprah magazine and Vogue. She collaborated with her sister, Nora Ephron, on a play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore...

My guest today is Josh Roberts, author of Anxious Man and Generation Drift (Why We’re Up Career Creek and How to Paddle Home). He is a mental health writer, speaker and consultant; and cohost of the Voicemale podcast with Jamie Laing. He started his career as a Strategy Consultant at Deloitte, before moving into advertising. Three years ago, he experienced a rather intense mental breakdown which c...

Welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete. My guest today is Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author and consultant devoted to helping companies and individuals harness the power of rest to shorten our workdays, while staying focused and productive. He is the author of four books, including SHORTER, REST and The Distraction Addiction. He speaks so brilliant on the topic of the 4-day week and future of work, and how d...

Clemmie Burton Hill on the podcast today. I became friends with Clemmie years ago now when she interviewed me at Hay festival about my book and ever since then we spoke about books, work, life and everything in between. Clemmie is a broadcaster, author, novelist, journalist, violinist and a lover of arts and music. On the morning of January the 20th 2020, only weeks before the pandemic turned the...

Trigger warnings for this episode, we discuss Sarah Everard, violence against women, rape and sexual assault in this episode. If you are not in the mood to listen to these topics, please protect yourself and perhaps give this one a miss. My guest today is Jamie Klingler, writer, activist, keynote speaker and campaigner for women’s safety as co-founder of Reclaim These Streets. This is part two of...

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete! (Just a heads up in this one we talk about weight loss, alcohol dependency, mental health and big life changes.) My guest today is Jamie Klingler, born and raised in Philadelphia and has lived in London for almost twenty years working in publishing and events. She is a writer and speaker/campaigner for women’s safety. In December she was named #9 in...

Come and have a look here >>> https://thehyphen.substack.com Introduce yourself here >>> https://thehyphen.substack.com/p/shall-we-introduce-ourselves/comments Hello, listeners of Ctrl Alt Delete!  First of all, thanks so much for being a regular listener of this podcast, I really enjoy making it for you! This podcast gets hundreds of thousands of downloads every month and I...

Fearne Cotton is one of the best-known and most popular broadcasters in the UK and is most recently known as the founder of the wellbeing brand and podcast, Happy Place. This came off the back of her first book Happy in 2017 which was a Sunday Times Bestseller. This was the first in a series of books talking about her own positive, and some of the not so positive, experiences with happiness. ...

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete, my guest today is Jamie Varon: writer, designer, digital course creator, and creative consultant living in California. Today we are talking about her book Radically Content - Being Satifisied in an Endlessly Dissatisfied World. If you enjoy Jamie’s musings, vignettes and writing that she posts on her Instagram to thousands of people you’ll absolutely love...

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete, my guest today is Jamie Varon: writer, designer, digital course creator, and creative consultant living in California. Today we are talking about her book Radically Content - Being Satifisied in an Endlessly Dissatisfied World. If you enjoy Jamie’s musings, vignettes and writing that she posts on her Instagram to thousands of people you’ll absolutely love...

Welcome to part 2 of this conversation with writer and journalist Clover Stroud, as we discuss her third memoir The Red Of My Blood: a brutal, bold and brilliant artistic piece of life writing about family, survival, death and grief. I really felt like I lived this book as opposed to reading it, as Clover really goes deep and invites the reader in to experience it all with her. Just a reminder to...

My guest today is writer and journalist Clover Stroud. I adore her writing and outlook on the world. Her first book, The Wild Other , was shortlisted for The Wainwright Prize. Her second book, My Wild & Sleepless Nights: A Mother's Story was rated one of the 'best books of the year, 2020' by the Observer and the Telegraph and was a Sunday Times bestseller. And her third memoir The Red Of My Bl...

Madeleine Dore is my guest today, a writer and interviewer exploring how we can broaden the definition of a day well spent. Her book I Didn’t Do The Thing Today is  gentle wise and insightful look at letting go of productivity guilt and it is out now. It’s a truly wonderful look at how we unravel the relationship between our output with inner self worth. With Madeleine’s excellent w...

Today's episode is a replay with Sarah Ellis. PART TWO on 'squiggly motherhood' is already live btw! Sarah is the co-founder of Amazing If, an award-winning career development company with an ambition to democratise career development. They are the co-hosts of the UK’s no.1 careers podcast, Squiggly Careers and the book The Squiggly Career out now. In January 2021 they recorded their TEDx talk at...

Come and say hello to Farrah and I on my Substack The Hyphen'! https://thehyphen.substack.com/p/a-conversation-with-farrah-storr?s=w Today we are talking about writing, career changes, magazines and Substack newsletters! Some exciting news also that I have launched my very own SUBSTACK newsletter! Check it out here: https://thehyphen.substack.com/ If you sign up, Every month, you’ll receive my Hyp...

Today I’m replaying one of my favourite episodes with one of my favourite people, Seth Godin! He is like an unofficial mentor to me, I follow his work religiously and he continues to have a huge impact on me. He is the author of 20 books, and his blog, which you’ll find at Seths.blog is one of the most widely read blogs on the Internet and he blogs every single day. He helps people find dignity an...