Advertise on podcast: Past Imperfect

Richard Coles has been both a chart-topping pop star and a Church of England vicar. He had a number one hit single with The Communards in the 1980s and now Richard Coles is a successful broadcaster and author who has just published his debut novel Murder Before Evensong. He is as his beloved husband David, who died in 2019, used to say a  “borderline national trinket”.   But his life hasn’t always been so rosy. Rachel and Alice sit down with Richard to talk about his father’s business collapsing when he was 13, his “mental crisis” after coming out to his mother at the age of 16 and how he was never allowed to have a church wedding to the man he loved.      Cruse: www.cruse.org.uk NAT: www.nat.org.uk Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk   This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org   Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont   Series producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Henry Marsh is the world’s best-known neurosurgeon who has spent the last forty years doing some of the most technical and delicate operations in the world on the brain. Rachel and Alice sit down with Henry to discuss his story of saving lives under intense pressure from Nepal to Ukraine as well as in the UK. And how he is now navigating his own journey of living with cancer after witnessing a vast amount of dying and death, grief and bereavement in his career. MUCH LOVED: www.muchloved.com The National Brain Appeal: www.nationalbrainappeal.org DEC: www.dec.org.uk   This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org   Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont   Series producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nadhim Zahawi is an Iraqi-born British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education since September 2021. Rachel and Alice sit down with Nadhim to talk about his turbulent childhood where he fled to the UK at age 11 during Saddam Hussein's early years in power, his father’s bankruptcy and how this left his family penniless and on benefits, and how his drive and charisma led him to establishing a firm place within parliament.     CARE: www.careinternational.org.uk SARI: www.saricharity.org.uk Barnardos: www.barnardos.org.uk   This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org   Producers: Anya Pearce and Lucy Dichmont   Series producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tom Kerridge is a broadcaster and multiple Michelin star winning chef. Rachel and Alice travel to his pub The Coach in Marlow to talk about his parents divorce, his father's death after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and turning his own life around after years of overindulgence of food and alcohol whilst working 100 hour weeks as a young chef. HOOP: www.hoopuk.org.uk FareShare: www.fareshare.org.uk Drink Aware: www.drinkaware.co.uk This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Minnie Driver is an actor and musician who has released three studio albums and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Good Will Hunting. Rachel and Alice meet Minnie in a south London apartment to talk to her about her new memoir "Managing Expectations", her unconventional unconventional childhood, the shock of coming to terms with fame and overcoming sexism in the industry from Harvey Weinstein. Fawcett: www.fawcettsociety.org.uk Gingerbread: www.gingerbread.org.uk Acting for Others: www.actingforothers.co.uk This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is a 16 time Paralympic medallist and now sits as a Cross Bench Independent Peer in the House of Lords. Rachel and Alice visit Tanni in the Palace of Westminster to talk to her about growing up with spina bifida and overcoming derogatory comments from strangers in the street as a child to become one of Team GB's most decorated Paralympians. Scope: www.scope.org.uk Shine: www.shinecharity.org.uk WheelPower: www.wheelpower.org.uk This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Justin Webb is a broadcaster who has spent almost four decades at the BBC; from North American Correspondent to co-presenter on Radio 4's Today programme. He joins Rachel and Alice in the studio to talk about the impact never meeting his father had on him, the mental health struggles that he experienced his step-father suffer from, and the bullying he faced at boarding school. Mind: www.mind.org.uk NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk Kidscape: www.kidscape.org.uk This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ugo Monye is a broadcaster, Question of Sport captain and former England international rugby player. Rachel and Alice welcome Ugo to the studio to talk about his father leaving the family home, being racially abused at nursery and overcoming social class structures at school to succeed on the pitch. NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk Wooden Spoon: www.woodenspoon.org.uk Show Racism the Red Card: www.theredcard.org This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to even more extraordinary people about how they overcome moments in their early lives achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of England and British & Irish Lions star Ugo Monye, Academy Award nominated actor Minnie Driver and Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge. New episodes every Monday. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Kyle MP is a Labour politician and the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland. He sits down with Rachel and Alice to discuss his life-long tussle with dyslexia, growing up as as a gay schoolboy under Section 28, and coming to terms with his mother's departure when he was a child after running away with his father's best friend. NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk British Dyslexia Association: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dame Rose Tremain is the multi award-winning novelist and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Rachel and Alice join Rose in her home to talk about her difficult life at boarding school in France, defying doctors with her cancer treatment and growing up with a mother who she doesn't think ever loved her. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk Action for Children: www.actionforchildren.org.uk Voices in the Middle: www.voicesinthemiddle.com This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Ben Mitchell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rob Rinder MBE is a barrister, broadcaster and host of Judge Rinder. He speaks to Rachel and Alice about how homophobia, anti-Semitism and his grandfather's experiences during the holocaust informed who he is today. Buttle UK: www.buttleuk.org Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk Jewish Blind & Disabled: www.jbd.org This podcast has been produced in association with Speakers for Schools: www.speakersforschools.org Producer: Lucy Ditchmont See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.