How to have Extraordinary Relationships

A laid back pre-Christmas chat with a brilliantly interesting woman... Vanessa Voegele-Downing is a British fashion professional whose journey in style spans decades and continents. She began her career as an international fashion model, walking catwalks and shooting editorial work for major designers and publications. Her early years took her from London to Paris, where she worked with prestigiou...

Sam McAlister is a British journalist, producer, and author best known for her work as the interview booker for BBC Newsnight . Over more than a decade at the BBC, she secured many of the programme’s most high-profile and challenging interviews, including the landmark 2019 interview with Prince Andrew about his association with Jeffrey Epstein. A former criminal defence barrister, McAlister moved...

Monique Roffey (born 1965 in Port of Spain, Trinidad) is a Trinidadian-British writer and memoirist whose work spans novels, essays and literary journalism.  She studied English & Film at the University of East Anglia and earned a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.  Her novels often explore themes such as identity, colonial legacy, sexual awakening, otherness, and the relations...

Lucy Easthope - The UK's Number One Disaster Recovery Expert! Easthope is one of the UK’s foremost experts on disaster recovery, emergency planning and the long-term aftermath of major incidents.  Among her roles, she has been: Professor-in-Practice of Risk & Hazard at Durham University.  Visiting Professor (Mass Fatalities & Pandemics) at the Centre for Death & Society, Universit...

Jane Thynne is a British novelist and journalist, best known for her historical fiction set in pre-war and wartime Germany. Born in Venezuela and educated at St Anne’s College, Oxford, she worked as a journalist for publications including The Sunday Times , The Daily Telegraph , and the BBC . Her acclaimed Clara Vine series — beginning with Black Roses (2013) — follows an Anglo-German actress draw...

Advantages of Age is a UK-based social enterprise and community platform founded by Rose Rouse and Suzanne Noble . Created to challenge the negative stereotypes surrounding ageing, the initiative celebrates the creativity, vitality, and entrepreneurial spirit of people over 50. Through its online magazine, workshops, and community network, Advantages of Age promotes a positive, empowered view of l...

Hannah Betts is an award-winning feature writer, interviewer and columnist across a range of subjects for an array of British newspapers and magazines, principally The Times and The Telegraph. She has been a journalist for almost three decades. After a career as a junior Oxford academic, Betts spent nine years at The Times, writing and editing in a number of guises, including op-ed columnist and D...

Jo Elvin is an Australian-born journalist and editor best known for her influential role as the founding editor of the British edition of Glamour magazine. Born in Sydney, Elvin began her career in journalism in Australia, working for publications such as TV Week and Cleo . She later moved to London, where she established herself in the UK media industry. In 2001, Elvin launched Glamour UK, pionee...

Melinda McDougall is a registered Medical Herbalist (MSc, MNIMH) specialising in women’s health, based in London.  She holds a Master of Science degree in Herbal Medicine, where her training included anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmaceutical medicine, botany, biochemistry, diagnostic skills, and traditional herbal knowledge.  Melinda is particularly passionate about supporting women through k...

Imogen Edwards-Jones (born June 1968) is a British author, journalist, and broadcaster best known for her sharp, witty exposés of hidden worlds and her bestselling Babylon series. Born in Birmingham, Edwards-Jones grew up in the Midlands and was educated at Malvern Girls’ College before going on to study Russian at the University of Bristol. Her fascination with language and culture led her to spe...

Key points of the episode: Her big news announcement! How the environment affects the child in their future relationships. How all have the conflicts and disagreement, but tools to help and heal. Unconscious unspoken agreements. A surprising health statistic. And an even more surprising relationship statistic. How therapy is not an easy fix, but when stuck with will lead to stronger bonds eventual...

Miss Erica Storm, formerly Madam Storm, is a former International Dominatrix.  Her infamous Mistress training was featured in a Louis Theroux documentary on channel 4, “Sex Actually” with Alice Levine, where she showcased her teaching and coaching of female empowerment using the art of BDSM to help women find their voice and be sexually liberated.  Miss Erica has recently launched her Power of the...

Key points of the episode: The root of the "Burned Haystack" method How women think online dating is going to be bad - and it's worse! Her lightbulb moment. How she is helping women. The science and application of "rhetorical patterns" How to mainly spot the toxic patterns, and avoiding self gaslighting. The "test and apologise" technique. How pre burned haystack...

Barbara Ayozie Fu Safira is a remarkable Italian-Nigerian creative powerhouse based in London. She is celebrated as a creative director, art director, costume designer, and fashion stylist , whose work spans across editorial, commercial, film, music, and more.   Her styling and creative direction have appeared in prestigious publications, including Vogue Italia , GQ , Elle , Glassbook , Metal , an...

Wendy Holden, also sometimes known as Taylor Holden, is an experienced author and novelist with more than thirty books published, fifteen of which are bestsellers. She has also had numerous works transferred to radio and television, and four of her books have been optioned for film.   A journalist for eighteen years, her first novel THE SENSE OF PAPER was published by Random House, New York, to wi...

From her website: I don't just study longevity — I've lived the cost of ignoring it. After 25 years in medicine, leadership, and entrepreneurship, I've seen firsthand what relentless drive can do to a body. But I’ve also seen what precision, strategy, and lifestyle mastery can rebuild. My journey began at the University of London, Guys and St Thomas’, where I earned my MBBS in medic...

Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954 is a British comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona. In 2015, her comedy novel Losing It was published by Pan Macmillan It was nomin...

From her website: Since I could first hold a pencil I have been writing stories. It was my most enjoyable hobby and one I never expected would become a career in adulthood. I am so lucky to do something I adore and luckier still that you, my readers, enable me to do it. For that I am incredibly grateful. Over the last four decades my love of storytelling has never changed, the only thing that has...

From the website: My determination to reduce my dementia risk grew out of my personal story. I spent 12 years caring for my mum, who had severe dementia. When she was diagnosed, I was 36 years old with a toddler, new born and a full-time job. My world was turned upside down – not only was I mum, wife, boss, I was now a carer too. What made this even harder to bear was that, as a teenager, I’d watc...

From her website:  Anne Sebba Historian Welcome to 2025! Worries about Covid may have receded but war, brutality and uncertainty are still with us four years on. So it has seemed fitting that I have been researching a new book about a grim subject for grim times… the extraordinary story of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. It’s about female solidarity and the redemptive power of music as well as...

WELCOME TO SEASON 3! Sarah Rosemary Vine was born in Swansea, Wales on 16 April 1967. When she was five, the family moved to Italy, initially staying in Rome before moving to Frascati.  After graduation, Vine worked in customer services for the retailer Hobbs Ltd. She then worked in a series of jobs within journalism, including TV listings sub at the Daily Mirror and features editor for the magazi...

In this anonymous episode we talk to "Mary" who shares her experience of coercive control. **TRIGGER WARNING** How coercive control is hard to notice until you are out of it. How it tends to happen slowly. How, 30 years ago, the words "Coercive Control" wew not even in our lexicon. The stages of coercive control and how red flags can be innocently and easily missed. How she hat...

Since studying at Central Saint Martin’s in the 90s, she has been farming, and planting, and growing, and mothering, but always, at heart, painting. She sees myself as someone who watches, quietly, but also as someone who gets on and does, so I’ve grown multiple biodiverse wildlife corridors around her home in Oxfordshire, and painted magical and challenging moments.  She is surrounded by plants a...

Her therapeutic experience Her struggles and philosophy on relationships. How she cares much less about how she looks WHIPS- What is that? (not what you think!) Her current interesting and fun philosophy. Reach out to Bibi and see her work here: www.bibilynch.com Support the show Has this podcast inspired you and would you like to learn more? You can reach out to Lucy, love coach, relationship cou...

Lindsay Nicholson has worked Editor-in-Chief of Good Housekeeping magazine and is now Editorial Director of the National Magazine Company. Her articles have appeared in many leading newspapers and magazines including the Guardian and the Observer.  From her website: It’s natural to fear it - but to be alive is to experience loss. The only way to avoid loss is to die first. (Not recommended!) I am...