Relatively

Ever wondered what it's really like to grow up competing for a billionaire media or music empire? Or how the "perfect" family sitcoms of the 90s shaped our real-world sibling expectations?
 Welcome back to the second part of Catherine Carr’s conversation with Kemi Alemoru, acclaimed journalist and Head of Editorial Content at Glamour UK.  They are still unpacking the siblings we’ve watched on TV,...

Hands up if you've learnt all about families from the Kardashians? Ross and Monica on Friends? This week on Relatively, Catherine Carr is joined by acclaimed journalist and Head of Editorial Content at Glamour UK, Kemi Alemoru, to unpack the siblings we’ve watched on TV, in films, and seen in popular culture. Kemi, the youngest of three girls (and self-proclaimed "baby"), shares hilarious stories...

Have you ever realised a blazing row with your partner might actually have nothing to do with them… and everything to do with your sibling dynamic growing up? This week on Relatively, Catherine Carr is joined by therapist Lisa Bruton to unpack the huge, and often subconscious, impact our brothers and sisters have on every aspect of adult life. Lisa, the youngest of three girls (still known by her...

Imagine being left out of your mother’s will. Do you fight for what you think is yours, or protect the relationship with the siblings who inherited everything? Acclaimed TV producer, screenwriter, and novelist Daisy Goodwin, creator of Victoria and producer of Grand Designs, joins Catherine Carr for one of the most open and emotionally honest conversations of the series. Daisy is the eldest of fiv...

What happens when the interviewer becomes the interviewee? To kick off the return of Relatively, the tables are turned as author, poet, and presenter Salma El-Wardany takes over the host's chair momentarily from Catherine Carr. In a special twist, Salma interviews Catherine about her brand new book, Who's the Favourite?, exploring Catherine's own experiences as a middle child separated from her si...

After 60 episodes recorded hunched over a pile of laundry in a spare room, Relatively is heading to Spotify HQ with the HERA network, and Catherine Carr is back, this time digging into some of the longest, messiest, and most meaningful relationships we have: the ones with our siblings. This special four-part mini-series ties in with Catherine’s new book Who’s the Favourite? and gets into all those...

What better way to celebrate International Siblings Day than with the news that Relatively is coming back! All new content, all new guests, all new nostalgia, stories and memories. More nicknames, silly words and childhood squabbles revisisted. More interviews with adult siblings reflecting on their relationships - as adult as well as what it was like growing up together. The first four new episod...

Actor Stephen Mangan and his little sister - the illustrator Anita Mangan - had an Irish upbringing in London, with Uncle Paddy and the cousins always just around the corner. Along with their other sister, Lisa, the trio navigated separation and - later in life - the grief of losing both of their parents. They remained a close knit gang who love and support one another still. We talk about: the sm...

Tatty and India Macleod are two of four sisters. Standup comedian Tatty describes their happy childhood as like " little women with emotional volatility and periods." Their mother moved them to rural Brittany when Tatty was 4 and India was 12. Big disruption for big sister India, while Tatty couldn't really remember England at all. "It all began in France." 'Les Anglaises' as the Macleod sisters w...

JJ Chalmers is a former Royal Marine who was profoundly wounded by and IED during a tour of Afghanistan in 2011. His older sister Ruth is a nurse and knew too much when he was flown back to start his gruelling recovery which would take years. Now registered disabled, JJ works as a TV presenter and has won medals in cycling and sprinting at the Invictus Games. It's a crazy whirlwind of an existence...

Benjamin Zephaniah describes himself as a "Poet, writer, lyricist, musician and naughty boy." He is the son of a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse and was born in Handsworth the 'Jamaican capital of England'. Benjamin attended over 15 schools as a child, moving regularly with his mother to evade his father, who was abusive. Unusually, Benjamin grew up separately from his siblings, who stayed...

Pastor Mick Fleming ("aka El Bish") runs the Church on the Street in Burnley, which does incredible work helping those living in poverty. But it's a far cry from where Mick began. In this episode, Mick and his sister Sarah (collectively known as 'Flembos') talk about their sibling journey from playing out happily on the backstreets, to sudden tragedy and trauma to a life marred by violence and cri...

Manni and Reuben (Booba) Coe are two of four brothers. Reuben is the baby of the family and was born with Downs Syndrome (or Up Syndrome as he would like to rebrand it.) The pair lived together for years and are exceptionally close. However, a spell apart during the pandemic was bad for Reuben as you will hear - and he doesn't speak very much at the moment. We talk about all that, about having a s...

The Happy Pear brothers David and Stephen Flynn were joined at the hip until they were 18. Active happy lads, they grew up in Ireland in a culture they described as sporty and masculine - with lots of drinking. As identical twins they played plenty of tricks: sharing teenage jobs and one on occasion trying to nick the other’s girlfriend! Voyages of self discovery taken in their 20s led the boys to...

Writer, broadcaster and journalist Caitlin Moran is one of 8 siblings. Her sister Caz Moran is a comedy writer and together they wrote ‘Raised By Wolves’ about their unconventional childhood in Wolverhampton. In this episode they talk about that and about: feminism, wet towels, boobs, libraries, homeschooling, being cheerful and optimistic when you have no right to be and escaping your home town....

Relatively is BACK for a brand new season. Download and listen over the holidays: the PERFECT excuse to escape from your *own* brothers and sisters..... Relatively is the podcast which takes grown up siblings back to their shared childhood before returning them to their present day relationship. Expect: nostalgia, honesty, teasing and fun. Relatively is in partnership with Find My Past, which is o...

Award winning comedian Tom Ward and his sister Charlie (Char-Lart) share a lot of things: a belief that we should take climate change more seriously; an ability to hold a tune and the traumas that surviving a childhood in a fundamental church (and for a short but damaging time a cult) left behind. The bond created by that experience is a 'gift' of sorts. The pair are incredibly close and despite l...

Dr Nighat Arif and her little brother Irfan Arif came to the UK from Pakistan as children. Now Nighat works as a GP and is the resident doctor on BBC and ITV. Irfan is a criminal barrister. They have 3 younger (equally successful) siblings, too. "We are basically the migrant dream!" In this episode Nighat and Irfan talk about resilience, setting a good example, creating a village, the value of edu...

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK , we present a collection of stories moments and memories from guests on the podcast who talked about their identities with their siblings. Stories from Westminster, the North of England in the 80's, the Millennium Eve and school days under Section 28. Memories of brothers and sisters supporting each other and providing unconditional love, even...

Lewis and Megan grew up in Birmingham in a busy household, where both parents worked shifts and it is fair to say the “ chalk and cheese” duo took a while to form a close relationship. Lewis went to Oxford to university leaving Megan at home to support their mum though some mental health difficulties, which was "tough". In this episode we talk about that and about ace grandads, being a podgy kid,...

Jen Baldwin was introduced to family history when was about 10 and has been obsessed ever since. Inspired by stories told to her by her Grandma, she now has a career in genealogy and loves spending her days "delving into the history of humanity one person at a time". In this episode she picks her three favourite stories from this series of Relatively - from Kit De Waal and Dean O' Loughlin , Sophi...

Poorna and Priya or 'Poobles' and 'Preebles' were born in Kent but spent a chunk of their childhood apart, with Priya in India and Poorna in the UK. the pair are very close and work on being friends as well as sisters - providing support to each other through bereavement, motherhood and their careers. In this episode they talk about sibling separation, manky gym kit, last minute packing and daily...

Shakira and Ashanti Akabusi grew up in the UK and the US, supporting their dad - Kris Akabusi's - stellar athletics career. Encouraged by him and their "tenacious" German mum, they had a very outdoorsy childhood with limited junk food and telly... The weight of expectation which came with their famous name was tough for a time, but both sisters are now incredibly proud to be Akabusis and value the...

Leroy and Hyacinth grew up in North London in the 1960s and 1970s. They inherited their work ethic from their Windrush parents, who came to the UK from Spanish Town in Jamaica. Assaulted by police officers in 1982, Leroy's father struggled to accept his son's decision to join the force. Hyacinth says "I never thought of Leroy as an officer, I still don't. I just wanted him to be safe." Actor John...

Pat and Jean Owtram are believed to be the only living sisters who signed the official secrets act.. and as a result it was not until after WW2 that they were able to tell one another what they had been doing to help the Allies defeat the Germans. Independent, clever and adventurous, the sisters are now a remarkable 98 and 96.  Born in the aftermath of WW1, the girls were (unusually) determined no...