Best Isabel Franke Podcasts (2024)

1
Deborah Harkness on witches, wising & the cancer diagnosis that upended her life 56:57

31m ago56:57

56:57

My guest today is the creator of the global bestseller and smash hit TV adaptation, The Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness. Now, I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I’m a bit obsessed with all things witchy, and I’ve been a devotee ever since the proof of the first book landed on my desk and I tumbled headlong into the world of Diana Bi…

1
Fearne Cotton on the joy of embracing her second chapter 1:01:05

7d ago1:01:05

1:01:05

Today’s guest is the queen of embracing the second chapter. Fearne Cotton started young. She became a children’s TV presenter at 15, presented Top of The Pops at 19 and took over Jo Whiley’s mid morning show on Radio One at just 27. But it’s what she’s achieved since turning her back on live radio and TV that’s really remarkable. In 2018 she launch…

1
Lindsay Nicholson on resilience, recovery and the pursuit of perfection 1:02:24

7d ago1:02:24

1:02:24

I have known today’s guest for quite some time. Decades in fact. To begin with she didn’t really know me, because she was close friends with my first ever boss. During the time I sat on the sidelines of Lindsay Nicholson’s life, the unimaginable happened and her husband and then daughter both died of a rare form of leukaemia. Then she picked hersel…

1
Taffy Brodesser-Akner: "Everyone taught me to be afraid of middle age - I wish I could have started in it!" 51:56

14d ago51:56

51:56

If there’s anything more daunting than interviewing a professional interviewer it’s interviewing an award-winning professional interviewer. Today’s guest Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff-writer on the New York Times and a legend amongst journalists who often find themselves on the monosyllabic side of a celebrity. (Her interview with Bradley Cooper…

1
Zandra Rhodes: the legendary fashion designer on ageing uncompromisingly 51:48

21d ago51:48

51:48

I can’t be cool about today’s guest, so I’m not even going to try. Ever since I started The Shift I have had a Wishlist and high up on it from day one was Dame Zandra Rhodes. Yes, that Zandra Rhodes. There can only be one after all. For over 50 years, Zandra has been a leading figure in the British fashion industry, renowned for her prints and her …

1
Terri White on work, class and mental health - FROM THE ARCHIVES 49:59

29d ago49:59

49:59

In the last of our FROM THE ARCHIVES episodes, I'm revisiting one of the most important conversations I think I've had on this podcast (not to mention one of my favourites) - with Terri White, the brains behind the award-winning podcast, Finding Britain's Ghost Children, which explored why so many children are missing from Britain's class rooms. Ea…

1
BONUS EPISODE! Katie Price on taking back control of her own life at 46 41:08

1M ago41:08

41:08

There are plenty of famous women who we think we know all there is to know without ever having met them. Women we judge based on some random unsubstantiated headline, but there are few women that applies to quite so much as Katie Price. Katie has been in the public eye for thirty years. She started as the glamour model Jordan at just 17 years old a…

1
Kate Mosse: Why caring is a feminist issue - FROM THE ARCHIVES 44:31

1M ago44:31

44:31

I'm not sure there's anyone quite like Kate Mosse. The driving power behind the Women's Prize for Fiction which is now in its 27th year (the winner was VV Ganeshananthan's Brotherless Night) and now the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction (whose inaugural winner was Doppleganger by Naomi Klein), she also manages to write a book a year (and they're not sm…

1
Gabby Logan on resilience, reclaiming middle age and why equality begins at home - FROM THE ARCHIVES 49:50

1M ago49:50

49:50

It's Gabby Logan's summer. First there's the Euros and then the Paris Olympics are hot on their heels. Plus, she has a new book, The Midpoint Plan, out so it seemed like a fine time to revisit my conversation with her from a couple of years ago... My guest this week has hosted everything from Final Score to the Six Nations to the Olympics. Formerly…

1
Kathy Lette’s midlife mantra: if it doesn’t spark joy, it’s time to toss it away! 46:05

2M ago46:05

46:05

It's season finale time! And my guest today is the whirlwind also known as Kathy Lette. Australian Kathy smashed her way into the global bestseller lists at the age of 17 with the novel Puberty Blues. Since then she has turned her irreverent, en pointe pen on the peaks and troughs, triumphs and total BS of female existence. I first read her with Gi…

1
Molly Roden-Winter on becoming an ambassador for polyamory in your 50s 1:03:24

2M ago1:03:24

1:03:24

My guest today is the teacher, musician and writer Molly Roden Winter. Molly hit the headlines earlier this year when her memoir More was published in the United States and caused… let’s just call it “a storm”. Why? Because Molly’s book is an incredibly candid account of her open marriage. Which, lets face it, shouldn’t be that big of a deal in 202…

1
Liz Jensen on learning to love life again after devastating loss 54:48

2M ago54:48

54:48

CONTENT WARNING: There are many moments of joy in this conversation, but please be aware that Liz talks candidly about grief and the sudden death of her son, which some listeners may find upsetting. My guest today is the writer and climate activist Liz Jensen. Half Danish and half-anglo Moroccan, Liz started out as a journalist, working in radio be…

1
Emily Nagoski: what happens when a sex expert loses her sex drive? 56:59

2M ago56:59

56:59

I first came across today’s guest, Dr Emily Nagoski, on this very podcast, when my then guest Sarah Knight (creator of the NoFucks Given franchise) raved about the transformational power of her runaway bestseller, Come As You Are. I hunted it down and, like millions of women the world over, I was blown away. A sex expert speaking our language? Taki…

1
Anna Cascarina: you’re never too old to wear what the hell you want 1:02:03

3M ago1:02:03

1:02:03

My guest today is a fashion editor on a mission to improve the representation of all women over 40 - not just the thin white ones with a ton of spare cash! Anna Cascarina has worked in the fashion industry for over 25 years, first as a fashion editor and stylist, then as a teacher. But as she got older and so did her body, something rankled. Yep - …

1
Jackie Kay on absence, adoption & the art of living together apart 1:00:06

3M ago1:00:06

1:00:06

My guest today has blazed a trail through the British poetry scene ever since her work was first published in 1991. Born in Edinburgh, Jackie Kay MBE was brought up in Glasgow by her adoptive parents, Helen and John Kay, of whom much more later. She has had countless poetry collections, short stories and novels published to acclaim, as well as her …

1
Helen Lederer on anxiety, failure & living an “alarmingly truthful” life 54:31

3M ago54:31

54:31

My guest today is the writer, actress and comedian Helen Lederer. Helen began as a stand-up comedian in the “comedy swamp” of the 1980s, where women were like hen’s teeth and rose to fame with her sloaney girl at the bar in the BBC Comedy ‘Naked video’. Then came Saturday Night Live, The Young Ones, French and Saunders and Bottom with Rik Mayall. B…

1
Miranda July on the unexpected wildness of ageing 49:59

3M ago49:59

49:59

Every so often you get the chance to interview someone whose work has fascinated you for, well, forever. And today is one of those days. Miranda July is an artist, performer, film maker and writer who has been doing it her own way since she was in her teens. She has made three films - The Future, Me and You and Everyone We Know and Kajillionaire, h…

1
Kate Muir on the menopause experience that turned her into an activist 58:17

4M ago58:17

58:17

My guest today is the writer, film-maker and women’s health campaigner Kate Muir. Until perimenopause struck, Kate was the chief film critic of The Times, then all hell broke lose (as anyone who’s found themselves in the midst of the peri-maelstrom will understand). Her life and her job underwent massive turmoil. Now out the other side, she has pro…

1
Amanda de Cadenet on reframing ambition and success in midlife 50:55

4M ago50:55

50:55

My guest today has lived a lot of lives in her 50 years. If you were knocking around in 1990, Amanda de Cadenet burst into your world when she became presenter on the seminal late night TV show, The Word, at 18 and appeared most days on the front of the British tabloids. Like many young women trapped in the public gaze, she has spent the rest of he…

1
Minnie Driver on ageing, expectation and creased Brad Pitt! - THE SHIFT REVISITED 43:42

4M ago43:42

43:42

My guest this week is one of the most enduring movie actresses of our (by which I mean my!) generation. Minnie Driver made her first film, Circle of Friends in 1995, and went on to follow that with a lead role in Stanley Tucci’s gorgeous ode to Italian food, Big Night, an Oscar nominated turn in Goodwill Hunting. And my personal favourite Grosse Po…

1
Mariella Frostrup on refusing to be "scrap-heaped" at 50 - THE SHIFT REVISITED 47:15

4M ago47:15

47:15

A couple of weeks ago, journalist and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup stepped down from her presenting role at Times Radio so she could concentrate full-time on the women's health advocacy that has become her life's work. Seemed like a good time to look back at our episode from two and a half years ago when she discussed why she was on a mission to m…

1
[184] How to be more activist with Clover Hogan 1:05:39

4M ago1:05:39

1:05:39

Hello and welcome to episode 184, and as it turns out, the last episode of the Sustainable(ish) podcast! I wanted to try and get to 200, and I’m annoyed not even to be ending on a nice round number like 185, but often in life things aren’t tied up in a nice neat bow. Long term listeners will know that at times the podcast has been very stop start, …

1
Marian Keyes on HRT, Botox and learning to be shameless - THE SHIFT REVISITED 45:54

5M ago45:54

45:54

This week, Marian Keyes celebrates the publication of her 16th novel, My Favourite Mistake. So it seemed like as good a time as any to revisit the second ever episode of The Shift podcast. Yes, the goddess Marian Keyes was one of the first people to say, "Sure, why not?" when I told her I was starting a podcast that celebrated women in midlife and …

1
[183] Climate Comms that Lead to Action with Frank Holleman from Fork Ranger 1:05:23

4M ago1:05:23

1:05:23

In the spirit of London buses, ie nothing for ages and then two come along in close succession, this week’s episode is another foodie one, hot on the heels of Episode 180 - Food and climate change without the hot air with Professor Sarah Bridle. I’m chatting to Frank Holleman who is the co-founder of Fork Ranger, a platform and app that aims to hel…

1
Cathy Newman: "turning 50 feels like a superpower" 52:09

5M ago52:09

52:09

My guest this week is the first female main presenter of Channel 4 news, Cathy Newman. Cathy joined Channel 4 News as political correspondent in 2006 after more than a decade working in newspapers, including The Independent, Financial Times and Washington Post. She is an award-winning investigative journalist whose scoops include the sexual harassm…

1
[182] The Climate and Nature Bill (and how to make your voice heard in a crucial election year) with Zero Hour 1:00:15

5M ago1:00:15

1:00:15

One of the things that frustrates many people, is a lack of action from governments around the world to protect nature and mitigate the worst impacts of the a warming and rapidly changing climate. The UK government was one of the first to come up with a Net Zero target back in 2019, and declared a ‘climate emergency’ that same year. However the pro…

1
Helen Garner on marriage, divorce and why she couldn't give a monkey's about the erotic gaze 49:23

5M ago49:23

49:23

My guest today is the writer Helen Garner. I’m pretty sure that right now you are either going, wow I LOVE her, or looking a bit vague. Because despite being one of Australia’s greatest living writers she is surprisingly little known here. But not for much longer because, at the age of 81, she is finally about to see almost all her books in print i…

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Isabel Franke Podcasts

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