How To Be...Books Podcast

The representation of LGBTQ+ community in media, politics, and other areas of society can have both positive and negative impacts, which is why I spoke to Gender Euphoria author and editor Laura Kate Dale on the "How To Be Books Podcast" in a bid to understand the importance of joy. Please hit subscribe to hear the whole series on life skills and social change! It should be short and sweet. I look...

There are many challenges of motherhood that are not always widely discussed or acknowledged in society. As a result we spoke to Don't Forget To Scream author Marianne Levy about her experiences on the "How To Be Books Podcast". So why don't we hear about the challenges of motherhood? Please hit subscribe to hear the whole series on life skills and social change! It should be short and sweet. I lo...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. It is the last episode of the season and we're looking at reflecting at the beginning of the new year through journaling. Journaling is one of the cheapest forms of self-care. It can help you make sense of how you're feeling about a certain person or situation that is troubli...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Growth is a natural part of human evolution, and the desire of most people is to expand in awareness as well as achievement. As a human being we grow through distress, boredom and a need to solve the issues that we are facing. You may want to take matters into your own hands...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Imagine a task you must do today which you are really dreading. Now imagine putting it off until tomorrow. Feel that surge of relief and pleasure? Research shows that in habitual behaviour there is a surge of dopamine-related pleasure in the reward system of the brain when an...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Financial anxiety is a real thing. It's an obsessive fear of things related to money that can often be debilitating and can be triggered by any number of things, not just a lack of money. We’re brought up by our parents not to discuss money, and despite death and taxes being...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. It may be awkward because sex is taboo to talk about in our culture. People generally have shame around bodies and sexuality, so talking openly about sex and sexuality may bring up feelings of awkwardness. Many adults are afraid or uncomfortable when teenagers talk about sexu...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. In modern society, busyness is often equated with success. Busyness used to be a virtue back in the old days before mobile phones and information overload appeared in our palms and began to fill every single idle void. Now it’s become a joy-sucking, and frankly unhealthy habi...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. The body is political. Our body can represent our identity, our past, our race, gender and status, and be a symbol for our society. However, how our bodies are viewed and categorised is not always in the power of the body’s inhabiter, many of these definitions are imposed upo...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Our achievement-oriented culture urges us to push through adversity, overcome all obstacles, and strive for success. Yet, quitting — like failure — is a normal part of life. There will be times in our jobs, relationships, friendships, business ventures, sports, and pastimes,...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Desire is instinctual. It lives deep in our animal selves. Desire wants what it wants, without rationale, often without full awareness. Most of us wrestle throughout our lives with the desires we’ve denied ourselves in order to fit into the “good” box and to be accepted in ou...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. A stressful situation — whether something environmental, such as a looming work deadline, or psychological, such as persistent worry about losing a job — can trigger a cascade of stress hormones that produce well-orchestrated physiological changes. A stressful incident can ma...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. As social media has proliferated worldwide—Facebook has 2.85 billion users—so too have concerns over how the platforms are affecting individual and collective wellbeing. So why is social media potentially harmful and are we aware about it? Hence, I spoke to Channel 4 News cor...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. The reality is when it comes to dreams, is that the majority of people give up on them. The most common reasons as to why they give up, are actually all in their head, and it's terribly sad that people end up living unsatisfying lives as a result. So why do we give up on our...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Regardless of your fame, fortune, or abilities, life is filled with difficulties. You get to choose how you will react to those difficulties though. Learning to deal with them in healthy, productive ways results in personal growth and peace of mind. So how do we deal with com...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. The human body converts the food it consumes into energy in order to function and stay alive. This energy supply enables the body to do a number of things vital to its survival. But its not just food that you need to live day-to-day. Stress, poor diet, and living a meaningles...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Identity politics has played an important role in advancing civil rights, but some say the term itself is problematic. It is the tendency for people of a particular background to form political alliances, while moving away from traditional broad-coalition party politics. So w...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. They say well-behaved women seldom make history. Being called a 'nasty woman', 'difficult', or 'dangerous' - even a ‘bloody difficult woman’ is something most women are likely to experience in their lifetimes. But is it such a bad thing to be a dangerous woman? Hence, I spoke...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Selective amnesia has allowed deep misunderstandings about nations to become embedded in the public imagination, enabling large proportions of the population. So why is it important to learn an accurate version of history? Hence, I spoke to poet and These Bodies of Water auth...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. In democratic societies, we are governed by consent. Hence, it is our job to become responsible citizens before voting or electing those in office (or placed to appointments), to represent our interests and create a better world for all of humanity. So how do we become politi...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. The human body is everything that makes up, well, you. It is your home. Caring for your body makes sense. So why is it important to learn about your body? Hence, I spoke to neuroscientist, TV presenter and co-author of Sort Your Brain Out Dr Jack Lewis on why it is important...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Deepak Chopra says starting over is the knowledge that there is something better out there for you—even if you don’t know what it is yet. It's about learning from the past and using it to propel you forward in a way you had never considered before. So how do you transform and...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Disobedience is needed, and without it social progress would not continue. Disobedience is important because it can save lives, and it starts the conversation, but it can also cause conflict. There are both good disobedience and bad disobedience. So why is it important and ho...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Representation burnout refers to the stress, fatigue, and exhaustion of being the only person of a particular identity within a certain environment, and to add, the only person defending that identity from discriminatory attitudes. Hence, I spoke to award-winning author Nikes...

Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. Safety is a concept that includes all measures and practices taken to preserve the life, health, and bodily integrity of individuals. However, not everyone has that guarantee sadly. Hence, I spoke to Ten Thousand Aftershocks author Michelle Tom on feeling safe, as well as loo...