The F-Word Miniseries: Gabor Maté on Feelings

In this searingly funny and deeply affecting live conversation, Elizabeth speaks to stand-up comedian, author and Taskmaster favourite Fern Brady about her autism diagnosis, her working-class roots, and the failures that shaped her award-winning memoir Strong Female Character. Fern opens up about late diagnosis, social masking, and stripping to fund her education - all delivered with the brutal honesty and whip-smart humour that’s made her one of the most exciting voices in comedy today. A powerful exploration of identity, feminism, and finding your voice. What stood out for you in this episode? Leave us a comment.  ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 01:58 Autism Diagnosis and Masking 04:40 Experiences on Taskmaster 11:40 University Struggles and Stripping 17:33 Challenges of Writing a Memoir 20:03 Reflections on Edinburgh 21:49 Struggles with Mental Health and Misdiagnosis 22:35 University Challenges and Autistic Shutdowns 23:25 Extreme Stress and Physical Symptoms 24:34 Breaking into Comedy and Facing Limitations 26:05 Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs 27:55 Navigating the Comedy Industry 34:02 Rejecting Mainstream Entertainment 37:21 Celebrity Bakeoff Experience 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: “Even when people don’t know you’re autistic, they know you’re autistic. They pick up on something different about you.”“Comedy radicalised me as a feminist. And so did working in a strip club.”“I was told I had the wrong energy for QI. I think that was a coded way to say I was too common.”“Autistic people are always learning to speak neurotypical. All we’re asking is for a bit of that in return.” 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Fern’s memoir Strong Female Character is out now! @fernfrombathgate Fern is a the Edinburgh Fringe: fernbrady.co.uk/gigs Elizabeth’s upcoming one-off show at Cadogan Hall on 21 Sep for her new novel One of Us: ⁠https://www.fane.co.uk/elizabeth-day  Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content 📚 WANT MORE? Christine McGuinness on autism, calm and self-acceptance Caitlin Moran on feminism, girls and mental health Miriam Margolyes on difference, defiance and not caring what people think 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories Share with someone exploring neurodiversity or recovering their voice 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ Elizabeth and Fern answer YOUR questions live in Edinburgh in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here:  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   Live Show Engineer: Will Kontargyris Sound Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali 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 To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when the life you thought you’d built - the one with love, money, recognition - seems to slip away? This week, Elizabeth speaks to Dorinda Medley, author, TV personality and iconic former Real Housewife of New York, about reinvention, resilience and learning to be okay with not being liked by everyone. Dorinda opens up about the loss of her husband, the loneliness that followed fame, and why her departure from Housewives was both painful and necessary. This is a raw, funny, emotional conversation with a woman who’s lived many lives - and isn’t afraid to talk about all the ways they’ve fallen apart. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 02:12 Life After Reality TV 03:30 Authenticity and Public Perception 06:37 Dealing with Grief and Loss 14:06 Finding Strength in Vulnerability 19:14 The Impact of Fame 21:56 Housewives' First Visit to Blue Stone Manor 23:03 Behind the Scenes Drama 23:32 Staying Connected with Castmates 25:36 Dealing with Trolls and Haters 29:00 Coping with On-Screen Conflicts 31:19 Reflecting on the Housewives Experience 32:48 Blue Stone Manor Tag Sale 35:57 Life Lessons and Moving Forward 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: “A lot of people mourn by crying. I was angry. I was lost. I felt like I got cheated.” “If you want to love me, great. If you don’t, I’m okay with that.” “There’s a difference between missing Housewives and wanting to do it again.” 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Join our community of subscribers here: https://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  Join Elizabeth at an upcoming one-off show at Cadogan Hall on 21 Sep for her new novel One of Us: ⁠https://www.fane.co.uk/elizabeth-day  Watch How To Fail on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HowToFailPodcast  Instagram: @howtofailpod / @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod / @elizabday Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe to How To Fail on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave us a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these conversations Share this episode with someone navigating grief or reinvention 📚 WANT MORE? Stanley Tucci on grief, identity and the taste of memory https://listen.sonymusic-podcasts.link/pbegMUD1?at=1010l396Y Miriam Margolyes on fame, failure and finally giving fewer f*cks https://listen.sonymusic-podcasts.link/PJdd42Bp?at=1010l396Y Mo Gawdat on how to solve for happiness https://listen.sonymusic-podcasts.link/RhEwJYA2?at=1010l396Y Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan   Studio Engineer: Sam Bair  Sound Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali 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 To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a recording artist, Vanessa Williams has earned 13 Grammy nominations and racked up over 212 million digital streams over the course of her eight albums. Her most popular hit, Save The Best For Last, was Number 1 for five weeks in 1992. She is also a highly successful stage and screen actor, appearing in Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. She is currently starring on the West End stage as Miranda Priestly in the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. It’s all a long way from her historic crowning as the first African-American Miss America in 1983 - she was later forced to resign after unauthorised photos taken when she was a student were leaked without her consent.  Vanessa joins us for an honest, hilarious and no-holds-barred conversation about her childhood, her romantic relationships, and - in a How To Fail first - why she regrets sending her daughter to boarding school. Elizabeth and Vanessa answer YOUR questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content 00:00 Intro 02:47 Overcoming Scandal and Achieving Success 06:24 The Joys and Challenges of Stage Performance 10:31 Reflecting on Miss America 18:30 Family and Personal Reflections 23:40 Looking at Transparency and Shared Struggles 24:11 The Impact of Losing a Mother 26:00 A Mother's Influence on Trust and Relationships 28:51 Navigating High School Friendships and Trust Issues 30:07 Romantic Relationships and Parental Approval 34:58 Coping with Parental Loss and Family Dynamics 43:41 Musical Legacy and Family Bonds Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com  I have an upcoming one-off show at Cadogan Hall on 21 Sep for my new novel One of Us. Full show details here: ⁠https://www.fane.co.uk/elizabeth-day Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan   Studio & Sound Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali 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 To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this special live edition of How to Fail, Elizabeth is joined by comedian Suzi Ruffell. Suzi has performed five sellout runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as appearing on live at the Apollo and filming an Amazon special of her show ‘Dance Like Everyone Is Watching’. She was nominated for Best standup show in the National Comedy Awards and has just written her first book Am I Having Fun Now?’, an instant Sunday Times Bestseller.  Suzi opens up about her sexuality, her Kate Winslet obsession and talks about her totally relatable failures in this entertaining and hilarious, but moving episode.  Elizabeth and Suzi answer YOUR questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends from a live audience in Cardiff. Join our community of subscribers here: https://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  I have an upcoming one-off show at Cadogan Hall on 21 Sep for my new novel One of Us. Full show details here: https://www.fane.co.uk/elizabeth-day Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan   Live Sound Engineer: Will Kontargyris Studio & Sound Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali 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 To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I can’t believe I get to say this but…PAMELA ANDERSON! ON HOW TO FAIL! The one and only!  A woman I grew up watching on TV, Pamela was an icon of a generation…But the second act of her career has been the most powerful and Anderson joins me for a  vulnerable chat about her long journey of embracing beauty on her own terms, understand her self-worth, embracing self-acceptance and how it was never about being pretty for her - it was always about being brave.    Together, we unpack the beauty ideals of early 2000s that continue to shape how women view themselves today. Backed by Dove’s Self Esteem Project body confidence science and exercises, this episode dives deep into Pamela reflecting on being the poster girl of an era and shares how she’s reclaimed her image, her narrative and what beauty means to her.  ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 02:08 Second Act and Self-Discovery 06:01 Embracing Natural Beauty and Challenging Norms 13:11 Reflections on Beauty and Self-Worth 18:41 Journey to Self-Acceptance 23:16 Relationship with Her Parents and Personal Growth 27:54 The Early Days of Styling 28:35 Creating Iconic Looks 29:10 Rockstar Wife Persona 32:05 Impact of Y2K and Social Media 33:07 Body Image and Self-Acceptance 35:36 The Dove Self-Esteem Project 38:54 Embracing Natural Beauty 42:01 Reflections on Fame and Identity   Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com    If you want more support, Dove has created a journal designed to help you reflect, reset, and take control of how you engage with beauty and your body. You can find it at dove.com/why2k. Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan   Mix Engineer: Matias Torres Studio Engineer: Gulliver Tickell Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali 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 To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices