How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Bella Mackie began her career as a journalist, writing for publications including the Guardian, Vice and Vogue, before writing her bestselling debut, Jog On. The book explored how running helped her rebuild her life after the end of her first marriage triggered debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.

She followed it with How To Kill Your Family, a darkly comic novel about a young woman methodically murdering her wealthy relatives. It spent 47 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list and is now being adapted for Netflix, starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Two more novels followed, including her latest, Claws Out - another bestseller, this time taking aim at the absurdities of North London’s liberal elite.

It’s a world Mackie knows well. She grew up in North London, the daughter of journalist and campaigner Lindsay Mackie and former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, and still lives there today with her husband, Radio 1 DJ Greg James.

In this episode we cover her OCD, how she feels she hasn’t ‘fixed’ her mental health - and perhaps never will, her ‘failure’ to leave home and what it’s like to be married to someone painfully level-headed.

This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Intro

02:51 True Crime Origins

04:11 Rewriting Crime Tropes

07:17 Funny Draft Fail

10:37 Success Fuels Anxiety

14:57 Living With OCD

22:02 Childfree Choice Backlash

30:41 Cozy Season Sponsor Break

31:35 Failure to Launch Confession

32:15 Living Near Mum and Dad

33:48 Therapy Rejection and Detachment

34:43 Anxiety and Codependency Roots

37:31 Privilege Nepotism and Validation

39:26 Tony Blair as the Adult

44:01 Driving Cycling and Creative Life

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

Anyone else’s mental health is an island you can’t get to.

OCD is like Pokemon, you can catch them all.

Greg [my husband] lies down on me when I have an intrusive thought and does a chicken dance on me to make me laugh.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Bella’s novel, Claws Out, is available to buy now: harpercollins.co.uk/products/claws-out-bella-mackie?variant=56397858537851

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Dolly Alderton - swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR

Caitlin Moran - swap.fm/l/CaitlinMoran

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👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

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

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Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as the White House Communications Chief under President Donald Trump’s first term ended in a blaze of recrimination. Scaramucci was advised by a PR consultant to disappear for five years. He refused - and reinvented his career.

Now, he is the co-host of the US version of The Rest is Politics podcast alongside British journalist Katty Kay.

After Harvard Law School, he joined Goldman Sachs and built a career in finance, eventually founding the investment firm SkyBridge Capital.

In this revealing conversation we discuss what working on Wall Street in the 80s was like, getting fired from Goldman Sachs, his failed first marriage, not being there for his son’s birth, getting fired from The White House and rebuilding his current marriage.

His book, All the Wrong Moves, looks at how three catastrophic decisions and years of ‘sh*tshow politics’ led to Trump.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Introduction montage

03:22 Learning optimism and pronoia

05:02 Self forgiveness after failure

06:40 Growing up and getting to Tufts

11:58 Why he wrote the book

14:03 Fired then rehired at Goldman

25:23 Money mindset and marriage cracks

30:48 Work Taxes Burnout

31:26 Marriage Neglect Regrets

34:07 Conflict Avoidance Trap

34:55 Affair Self Forgiveness

37:46 Fatherhood After Divorce

40:44 Trump Ego Decision

45:00 Firing from The Whitehouse

57:03 Rebuilding and Looking Ahead

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

When bad things happen, take a step back, and get into a channel that is the adult channel. Act in a rational way.

I trained my brain to be optimistic.

If you’re not careful, wealth can make you very depressed and lonely.

Trump's bullying reminded me of my dad… but I was better prepared for it.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Anthony’s book, All the Wrong Moves, is available to buy now: www.penguin.co.uk/books/476667/all-the-wrong-moves-by-scaramucci-anthony/9781847929235

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Bernie Sanders - swap.fm/l/pH8V6cBejDnhH47ega6D

Andy Burnham - swap.fm/l/IpwatiJ5cM1h0UfcyFiA

💌 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

Elizabeth and Anthony answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

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

Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani join Elizabeth to talk about the journey of Elizabeth’s 2017 novel The Party to its new five-part ITV adaptation.

Luke stars as the show’s protagonist, Martin Gilmour, and Sarah stars as his wife, Lucy… oh and she also brilliantly adapted the novel for screen.

The trio discuss the making of this exciting new drama for TV, how Luke discovered the book and kick-started the process and what the show is about. They discuss themes including: sexuality, the class system in the UK, shame, women leading production, culture on sets in today’s world and friendship.

This bonus episode is brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Introduction

01:42 Luke Discovers the Novel

02:51 Finding the Screenwriter

04:45 Adapting Into Five Episodes

07:13 What The Party Is About

09:44 Casting Lucy and Onscreen Marriage

13:04 Collaboration and Set Rewrites

18:09 Women Leading the Production

19:35 Set Culture and Final Day Speech

21:15 Author Visits Set and Craft Details

22:26 Friendship, Desire and Identity

25:08 Class, Shame and Final Takeaways

WANT MORE?

Luke Evans - swap.fm/l/2AAJhVeDNGdKIJGdznR9

LINKS + MENTIONS:

The Party starts Sunday 11th October 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The series airs for three consecutive nights: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, concluding with the fourth and final episode the following Sunday 18th and Monday 19th. Or you can binge all five episodes on ITVX.

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

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

LOVE THIS EPISODE? Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bonnie Garmus was 64 when her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was published. It went on to sell more than eight million copies, spend almost two years on the New York Times bestseller list, was translated into more than 40 languages and become an eight-part Apple TV+ series. At its centre was Elizabeth Zott, a fiercely intelligent, forthright chemist turned 1950s TV cooking star.

Bonnie and I talk about the misogyny that inspired Lessons in Chemistry, her love of dogs, working through a stutter, adopting her two daughters from China and what it took to overcome years of rejection.

Her new novel, Peck & Peck, is out in the UK on 13 October.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Intro

03:41 Arts Versus Science

05:44 Sexism Sparks Novel

08:58 Greed And AI Warning

12:19 Dogs Behind Characters

16:30 Childhood Failures

30:26 Living With A Stutter

31:50 Letters And Workarounds

32:53 Adoption Journey To China

36:10 What Adoption Really Means

37:23 Family Bonds And Fate

39:17 Jeopardy Husband Spotlight

40:10 98 Rejections And Resilience

47:05 Finding An Agent And Writing Life

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life, and not a single one has disappointed me.

I never look back on my career and think I have regrets.

I had a therapist who was a stutterer… he gave me the courage to embrace it, and then I got better.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Bonnie’s new novel Peck & Peck is available to pre-order now: www.waterstones.com/book/peck-and-peck/bonnie-garmus/9781786588975

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Alain De Botton - swap.fm/l/dnU4ieYPW7eCbesQFNSf

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - swap.fm/l/YiA3DPR1awzdCrHfEMfPv

💌 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

Elizabeth and Bonnie answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

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

Russell T Davies has spent decades creating some of Britain’s most beloved and groundbreaking television. After studying English at Oxford, he went from writing for children’s programmes and Coronation Street to creating Queer As Folk in 1999 - a show that changed the conversation around gay representation on TV. Since then, he’s written hit after hit, from Bob & Rose and A Very English Scandal to Years and Years, It’s A Sin and his hugely successful revival of Doctor Who. He’s won four BAFTAs and was awarded an OBE in 2008.

In this episode we talk about where his obsession and passion for TV came from, how his exceptionally busy mind works, losing his husband to a brain tumour, his love of Dr Who and…finding love again.

His new memoir, The Queerest of Folk, is out on 8th October.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Intro

02:35 TV Obsession Origins

03:24 Memoir and Andrew

08:35 AIDS and Its a Sin

10:36 Queer as Folk Shockwaves

12:37 Failure to Drive

16:45 Writing in Images

28:05 Early Illustration Gigs

28:54 Obsessed With Drawing

30:20 Losing the Habit

31:52 Comics and Story Beats

33:54 Writing Geniuses Doctor Who

37:13 Staying a Fan

41:41 Legacy and Family Roots

49:59 Aging Love and Goodbye

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

When I dream I invent people who don’t exist.

I’ve saved for decades, I saved for a rainy day, and then one day it rained.

Please never get rid of the Tardis.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Russell’s memoir, The Queerest Of Folk is available to buy now: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-queerest-of-folk-a-life-in-television-russell-t-davies/a290496f474a1f8c

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge - swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa

Bernardine Evaristo - swap.fm/l/EH5cvO3uPdNCQN9tYyiJ

💌 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

Elizabeth and Russell answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://lnk.to/7i0moR

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: askhowtofail.com

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

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