Miquita Oliver - I Drank Half a Bottle of Wine Every Morning

Miquita Oliver - I Drank Half a Bottle of Wine Every Morning

Miquita Oliver is a podcaster, TV presenter and all-round brilliant woman. She was just 16 when she burst onto our screens co-hosting Channel 4’s cult music show Popworld alongside Simon Amstell. Twenty-five years later, she’s still one of Britain’s most distinctive broadcasters and interviewers. She co-created Miss Me?, with Lily Allen, and now co-hosts it with musician Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks. You may also know Miquita from the acclaimed BBC series The Caribbean with Andi and Miquita, in which she and her mother, Andi Oliver, travelled to Antigua to reconnect with their family, heritage and identity. We talk about Miquita surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, the shame she associates with going bankrupt, her struggle with alcoholism in her thirties, love, family, and why she still can't quite conquer her driving theory test. She even opens up about her hopes and fears around motherhood. This is an essential conversation for any one who survived the noughties diet culture or who has grappled with financial hardship. Frank, funny and unexpectedly moving: just like Miquita herself. IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 02:42 Heritage and Caribbean Roots 04:19 Tsunami Trauma and Healing 07:04 Iconic Co-Hosts and Craft 10:51 Losing Home 13:03 Miss Me Origins and Honesty 15:26 Bankruptcy Shame and Survival 30:58 Weight and Work Comeback 32:02 Second Reinvention Switch 33:01 Money Lessons After Bankruptcy 34:21 Why Aren’t We Taught Tax 35:50 Alcoholism 39:19 Leaving Richmond and Getting Clear 43:12 Motherhood Without Shame 48:03 Driving Test Fail LINKS + MENTIONS: Listen to Miss Me? wherever you get your podcasts Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com WANT MORE? Andi Oliver - swap.fm/l/kcBWNXdPsg7LhgcGhvoF Lily Allen - swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ Neneh Cherry - swap.fm/l/r5YD9vNivp5t6yw1gN1U Mabel - swap.fm/l/bfOzGVjFFpo13LK7MHUu LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Elizabeth and Miquita answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Richard Bacon - ‘I Was Betrayed By My Best Friend’

What connects Barack Obama, a tabloid sting and Love Islander Alex George? Have a Blue Peter badge if you were thinking of Richard Bacon... While the broadcaster and producer is perhaps best known for the time his Blue Peter contract was terminated - following a tabloid reveal of his cocaine use - there is so much more to the man. His storied time in television led to him founding a production company and creating numerous TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic. He credits this restless creativity to his ADHD, a diagnosis he only received later in life. We discuss how neurodivergence fuels him; how the cocaine exposé in the 90s impacted who he is; his relationship with his parents; his failed move to America, landing an interview with Barack Obama... and being tracked by the Secret Service. Richard talks movingly about being an addict, going to AA, his failure to quit drinking and a near-death experience that could have been averted by a certain doctor on Love Island. Trust me, an hour with Richard Bacon is quite the ride - strap in! IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 03:57 Defining Success Today 04:15 Botox Water And Moisturizer 05:32 Parents And Upbringing 10:05 ADHD Intelligence 11:38 Blue Peter Cocaine Exposé 21:06 Fallout Press And Shame 25:42 Dad Crying in Secret 26:35 Public Humiliation to Resilience 29:01 Trust After Betrayal 30:05 America Move 32:37 Woody Harrelson 33:30 Obama Interview Whiplash 35:36 Work as Identity and Failure 37:53 Addiction Coma and Gratitude LINKS + MENTIONS: Richard’s podcast ‘Why Are You More Successful Than Me?’ is available now Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com WANT MORE? Claudia Winkleman – swap.fm/l/Q65AatVGMWgB27BoS0g2 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Elizabeth and Richard answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Remembering Bonnie Tyler

It was a privilege to have Bonnie Tyler on How to Fail back in 2024 - and we are heartbroken to hear of her passing today.    Bonnie was open, funny and moving when she joined me on How to Fail. Total Eclipse of the Heart made her a global star, and at the time of this recording, she managed to squeeze in an hour on How to Fail between gigs and the release of her new album, In Berlin. It was also her first ever podcast interview.  You might want to bring the tissues for this one, as we have a bit of a weep when Bonnie talks about losing her amazing mum.  We also touched on miscarriage and a childfree life. Plus her failure at elocution lessons, the fascinating story behind her friendship with Tina Turner, performing for Putin (no, really), being a bit of a hoarder and the secret to a 50-year marriage. We love you Bonnie Tyler, rest in peace.  Production & Post Production Coordinator: Lily Hambly Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts [https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsonymusic.com%2Fpodcasts&data=05%7C02%7Cselina.ream%40sonymusic.com%7Cdd135e6134ee46dda37d08dd30946d82%7Cf0aff3b791a54aaeaf71c63e1dda2049%7C0%7C0%7C638720136262176868%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Lz%2FmHpu%2BB9nDllDXAbNEQ3y%2F0EBw1NOYL33v7QSnD4U%3D&reserved=0] To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com [podcastadsales@sonymusic.com] Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Charlie Mackesy – ‘Grief propelled me into work that saved me’

In this episode, I sit down with bestselling author‑illustrator Charlie Mackesy, whose work – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – has become a global touchstone for kindness, vulnerability and hope. Yet Charlie’s path was anything but straightforward: he grew up feeling inherently at fault, shaped by the pressures of competitive schooling and the emotional weight of carrying the painful stories readers now share with him. He talks about failing his driving test four times and the devastating loss of his best friend, Jamie, in a car crash – a grief that propelled him to London and sparked the first moment he began drawing compulsively, with music as solace. Charlie reflects on not achieving what he calls “conventional success” through marriage or children, the underrated importance of friendship and the power of kindness and self‑compassion. We also explore his years of not earning a living as an artist – a period he now sees not as failure, but as an essential process. Charlie urges us to create without fear, to let go of perfection and to live fully in the imperfect present. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 03:44 Feeling at Fault 04:30 Outsider and School Years 05:55 Carrying Others Stories 13:57 Animals and Ducklings 17:08 Driving Test Failure 18:06 Loss and Aftermath 20:05 Grief Fuels Art 23:14 Bottling Emotions 25:07 Remember Mothers Word 28:28 Mum’s Tactile Reading 29:44 Dementia and Story Comfort 33:21 Redefining Success 37:46 Friendship Essentials 40:37 Kindness and Self Talk 46:09 Failing as an Artist 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: “When people tell you their weight, their sadness, anything, their failings, whatever it is they tell you, treat it like they’re giving you gold.” “I just wrote a book about a mole who likes cake and friends who are journeying in a difficult way with each other… but I think people just want to be heard and seen.” “None of us get out of here alive, so why not try? What have you got to lose?” 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Charlie’s latest book, Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm, is available from all major UK booksellers. Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com 📚 WANT MORE? Jacqueline Wilson - this episode explores how Jacqueline Wilson’s life and career never followed a predictable path. She didn’t become a bestseller until her 40s and the setbacks she faced helped shape the writer she became. It reflects on the imagination and resilience behind unforgettable characters like Tracy Beaker, her ability to reinvent herself, most recently with The Primrose Railway Children and the creativity and determination that have sustained a career spanning more than 100 books. Ultimately, it’s about a woman interrogating creativity, perseverance and the determination required to keep going: swap.fm/l/PawxjS1dFBaohoKZXfpL 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Elizabeth and Charlie answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Anastacia – All My Songs Have Been Good Therapy

Anastacia has released eight albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has collected a total of 227 gold and platinum certifications and counts Elton John as one of her biggest fans. In 2000, she released "I'm Outta Love", her debut single, which quickly topped charts worldwide and paved the way for her first album, Not That Kind. This year sees her embark on a major arena tour to celebrate that album’s 25th anniversary. In this episode we talk about her experience with breast cancer - she underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 after being diagnosed for the second time, dealing with sexism in the music industry and being a mother beyond the traditional sense. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 02:32 Brodie Joins the Studio 03:15 Day Jobs Before Fame 04:16 Not That Kind at 25 05:31 Finding Her Sound 08:25 Celebrity Gig Stories 11:34 Failures Tech and Glasses 26:04 Dream Glasses Partnership 26:57 Tinted Lenses Origin Story 28:31 Sexism and Image Pressure 31:45 Redefining Femininity 32:32 Cancer Advocacy Fire 37:40 Self Care Birthday Hack 41:44 Writing Singable Songs 44:22 Mothering Beyond Biology 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: Give yourself a self-care birthday - go and get a mammogram There are so many different ways to be a mother  So the word cancer, I didn't like it, but I looked at the first three letters 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Anastacia is celebrating 25 years since the release of her debut album ‘Not That Kind’ and is taking her #NTK2026 on the road Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com 📚 WANT MORE? Shania Twain - took us back to her childhood, where she felt she grew up too fast, singing in smoke-filled bars at a young age. There are some real similarities between these two episodes - see what you think: swap.fm/l/JyU54nvq2muyBpNFq3B9 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Elizabeth and Anastacia answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]