S14, BONUS EPISODE! How To Fail: Kit de Waal

S14, BONUS EPISODE! How To Fail: Kit de Waal

Our extra-special bonus guest today is the author Kit de Waal. Her debut 2016 novel, My Name Is Leon, told the story of a mixed-race nine-year-old boy and his quest to reunite his family after being taken into care. It won the Irish Book of the Year Award and has recently been adapted for TV starring Lenny Henry. Her second novel, The Trick to Time was longlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize. A short story collection followed, and now de Waal has turned her gaze onto her own life. Her memoir, Without Warning and Only Sometimes, is out next month and tells the moving story of being raised by a Caribbean father and an Irish Jehovah's Witness mother who believed Armageddon was coming.Kit joins me to talk about how reading became her salvation, the experiences of being mixed race and working class, her failure to read enough women and her failure to adopt a child. Plus - and here's the big one - her failure to ride a bicycle.--Without Warning and Only Sometimes by Kit de Waal is available for pre-order here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/without-warning-and-only-sometimes/kit-de-waal/9781472284839--How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com--Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayHow To Fail @howtofailpod Kit de Waal @KitdeWaal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(377)

Nicole Scherzinger - ‘I’ve never felt I’m enough’

Nicole Scherzinger - ‘I’ve never felt I’m enough’

Nicole Scherzinger became famous as part of The Pussycat Dolls - one of the biggest selling female groups of all time - but it almost didn’t work out that way. For years, she was a jobbing singer and ...

20 Mar 202439min

Jon Ronson on truth-telling and the culture wars

Jon Ronson on truth-telling and the culture wars

Jon Ronson is a journalistic hero of mine, as he is to many. He was one of the first people to write about the culture wars, well before the phrase became commonplace in our news cycles. His two audio...

13 Mar 202458min

AJ Odudu - ‘Living to tell the tale is the joyful thing’

AJ Odudu - ‘Living to tell the tale is the joyful thing’

Big Brother host, Strictly Come Dancing finalist and the woman who, by her own admission, ‘puts black into Blackburn’, AJ Odudu is a force to be reckoned with. Growing up in Lancashire, no one ever kn...

6 Mar 202441min

Mel B - ‘I was a Spice Girl shouting about girl power, but I was girl powerless.’

Mel B - ‘I was a Spice Girl shouting about girl power, but I was girl powerless.’

TW: coercive / controlling relationships Mel B has a story that everyone needs to hear. It’s a story of resilience in the face of severe adversity - and how we can conquer our biggest fears if we put...

28 Feb 202457min

Sabrina Dhowre Elba… I thought ‘this is how I’m going to die’

Sabrina Dhowre Elba… I thought ‘this is how I’m going to die’

Spoiler alert: I’m low-key obsessed with this woman. Sabrina Dhowre Elba is a UN Goodwill ambassador, a skincare maven, an actor, producer and all-round good egg. She is, then, *so* much more than som...

21 Feb 202448min

Paloma Faith… ‘I overshare by whose standards? Not mine.’

Paloma Faith… ‘I overshare by whose standards? Not mine.’

TW: miscarriage Paloma Faith’s teachers used to ask her why she ‘acted stupid’, which is ironic given that she’s now one of the smartest, sharpest guests I’ve ever had on this podcast. A global singi...

14 Feb 202453min

Sathnam Sanghera on why books can save us and how to understand Empire

Sathnam Sanghera on why books can save us and how to understand Empire

Full disclosure - Sathnam is a dear friend of mine. He was a guest on the first ever season of How To Fail and there’s a very good reason why I’m chatting to him again. A lot has shifted in both our ...

7 Feb 202448min

Joe Wicks on addiction, homeschooling and body image

Joe Wicks on addiction, homeschooling and body image

TW: addiction The popularity of Joe Wicks’s online workouts and meal plans as ‘The Body Coach’ catapulted him into fame during lockdown. He’s a source of endless positive energy for the rest of us,...

31 Jan 202452min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
popradet
aftenpodden-usa
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
wolfgang-wee-uncut
min-barneoppdragelse
grenselos
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
frokostshowet-pa-p5
fladseth
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
alt-fortalt
synnve-og-vanessa
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg