Best Gabby Thorne Podcasts (2024)

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

1h 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

19m 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

4d 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

9d 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

23d 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

18d 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

25d 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

1M 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

1M 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

2M 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

2M 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

3M 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

3M 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

3M 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

3M 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
Marian Keyes on HRT, Botox and learning to be shameless - THE SHIFT REVISITED 45:54

4M 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
Cathy Newman: "turning 50 feels like a superpower" 52:09

4M 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
Helen Garner on marriage, divorce and why she couldn't give a monkey's about the erotic gaze 49:23

4M 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…

1
Leslie Jamison on divorce, ambition & discovering the parts of ourselves we don't yet know 49:35

5M ago49:35

49:35

My guest today is the American author and essayist, Leslie Jamison. Leslie has the kind of CV that makes other writers weep with envy: the memoir of her alcoholism, The Recovering was an NYT bestseller as was her essay collection The Empathy Exams. That’s the tip of the iceberg, but we only have so much time! Often compared to such legends as Joan …

1
Lyn Slater (aka Accidental Icon) on writing a new narrative for ageing 53:53

5M ago53:53

53:53

My guest today is a woman who knows all about reinvention. For 45 years, Lyn Slater was a professor of social work with a side-passion for fashion. Feeling burnt out, she started a blog aimed at women like her who wanted to talk about clothes and the way they shape our identity. And, just like that, the phenomenon that was Accidental Icon was born.…

1
Karyn McCluskey on menopause, paying it forward & being the only woman in the room 57:34

5M ago57:34

57:34

By sam baker

1
Annie Macmanus on rebuilding her identity at 45 58:40

5M ago58:40

58:40

By sam baker

1
Lucinda Chambers: the former Vogue fashion director gives us a midlife style masterclass 48:56

6M ago48:56

48:56

My guest today is a woman whose style I have admired for a very long time. To quote the fashion journalist Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion director, stylist and curator Lucinda Chambers has the kind of style you just can’t buy. And, like many other women, I’ve certainly tried. Lucinda has worked in the fashion industry for more than three decades. For…

1
Bryony Gordon on burnout, binge eating and perimenopause 49:03

6M ago49:03

49:03

Today I’m delighted to welcome back one of The Shift’s very first guests, journalist and mental health campaigner Bryony Gordon. Bryony has been a columnist on the Telegraph for over 20 years and for ten of those she has been writing candidly about her own experiences of addiction and mental illness. She is the best selling author of Mad Girl and T…

1
Jennifer Clement on women, art, creativity & why we love Frida Kahlo 43:36

6M ago43:36

43:36

My guest today has lived, well, a life like no other. The writer Jennifer Clement grew up in 1960s Mexico, at the tail end of the Mexican Golden Age, next door to the former home and extended family of seminal artist Frida Kahlo. As a teenager she moved to New York, where she inhabited the artistic downtown world of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Hari…

1
DJ paulette: how perimeno knocked her sideways at 39 (39!) 48:07

6M ago48:07

48:07

My guest today is a true trailblazer. If you’ve ever been a clubber, DJ Paulette will need zero introduction. If you haven’t, well, all you really need to know is she has been breaking barriers since day one. One of the Hacienda’s first female DJs, she became a stalwart of the Manchester music scene in the 90s, before being catapulted to stardom pl…

1
Delia Ephron on getting a second chance at love in your 70s - THE SHIFT REVISITED 46:26

7M ago46:26

46:26

For the last of our January archive episodes, we're revisiting an emotional and uplifting chat with screenwriter Delia Ephron. Next week, we're back with a brand new season of The Shift with Sam Baker. --- My final guest of the season is the acclaimed screenwriter and bestselling author, Delia Ephron. Unfailingly wise, warm and witty, Delia is perh…

1
Julia Cameron believes creativity is the answer, whatever the question - THE SHIFT REVISITED 38:21

7M ago38:21

38:21

Been meaning to get going on those Morning Pages since forever? Well, as part of our January motivation series, this week we're revisiting my fascinating conversation with the woman who brought us The Artist's Way. --- My guest today is the author of the cult bestseller The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron. Part book, part tool-kit, part spiritual guide…

1
Dr Sharon Blackie wants you to embrace your inner hag - THE SHIFT REVISITED 47:23

7M ago47:23

47:23

Yes, it's still January! And this week we're revisiting an episode with psychologist, folklorist, mythologist and all-round one-woman campaigner for us to embrace our inner crone! --- How do I want to age? What does the rest of my life look like? Those are questions I know many of you have given A LOT of thought. Well, my guest today has some answe…

1
Raynor Winn on the power of hope & becoming a public person at 60 - THE SHIFT REVISITED 50:07

7M ago50:07

50:07

It's January (Again! So soon!) so, rather than give up everything, this month we're revisiting a host of episodes that are all about a little inspiration. First up the one and only Raynor Winn... --- One hundred episodes... how did that happen?! The little podcast that started on a whim and a prayer (and no, that's not a typo!) is still here and so…

1
Lindsey Hilsum on menopause in a warzone and why going grey is NOT brave - THE SHIFT REVISITED 40:56

8M ago40:56

40:56

This week we're revisiting one of my favourite episodes from one of the first series. It was back in the day when it was still taboo to talk about menopause, so getting a so-called hardened war reporter to do just that was, well a bit of a coup. Here's Lindsey Hilsum admitting to hiding behind a tank! --- You know when people say you’re “brave” bec…

1
Nina Stibbe on menopause, middle age and midlife sex scenes - THE SHIFT REVISITED 33:42

8M ago33:42

33:42

Last week, Nina Stibbe joined me on The Shift bookclub (if you're not a member, I've taken the "lock" off for a week or so, so you can check it out on Youtube) to talk about her new memoir, Went to London, Took The Dog - what happens when a 60-year-old menopausal woman does a runner. So now seemed like a good time to revisit the episode of The Shif…

1
Miriam Margolyes on the power of living a life with no secrets 50:32

8M ago50:32

50:32

It’s the final episode of the season and all my podcasting dreams have come true. Because my guest this week - by popular demand and a whole ton of begging - is the one, the only, the legend that is Miriam Margolyes. Miriam started her career in theatre and radio, voiced some of the best known ads of the late 20th century (hello Cadburys Caramel bu…

1
Bee Wilson on how cooking helped her heal after divorce 52:06

8M ago52:06

52:06

My guest today is a food writer’s food writer. Beloved by such luminaries as Nigella Lawson, Diana Henry and Yotam Ottolenghi, Bee Wilson may be a bestselling food writer and newspaper columnist (she has published seven books and currently writes the popular Table Talk column for the Wall Street Journal), but she is also a home cook with her own fa…

1
Patricia Cornwell on how writing helped her take back control of her life 44:50

9M ago44:50

44:50

My guest this week is the crime writing legend, Patricia Cornwell. Patricia wrote her first novel about forensic pathologist kay scarpetta in 1990. Called Postmortem, it was such a hit it became the first book ever to win all four major crime awards on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year. (It also scared the bejesus out of me.) But Kay Scar…

1
Lindsey Kelk on grief, gynae hell and why she's had enough of ageism in romcoms 56:15

9M ago56:15

56:15

Anyone else feel in serious need a romcom right now? I know I do. And my guest today has your back. Lindsey Kelk’s unashamedly feel good fiction has won her a legion of fans from the queen Marian Keyes and Jane Fallon to Emily Henry and Mhairi McFarlane. Born in Doncaster and now living in LA by way of New York, Lindsey has written 19 novels and so…

1
Dr Gladys McGarey: a 102-year-old shares their life lessons 44:30

9M ago44:30

44:30

A few months ago I read an article that took my breath away. The author was 102 years old and in it she wrote candidly about losing her partner in life and work after 46 years. Not because he passed away, but because he handed her divorce papers! That would have floored most of us, but despite being sideswiped, Dr Gladys McGarey, picked herself up,…

1
India Knight answers your midlife beauty questions 50:35

9M ago50:35

50:35

Today’s guest is the Sunday Times’ Style’s beauty columnist India Knight. Every week thousands of women turn to her column for beauty advice - not beauty junkies, not trend followers, just regular women like you and me who want to know what works, why it works and what’s worth spending their hard earned cash on. Now India has turned that column int…

1
Tracy-Ann Oberman on the strong women who've shaped her 43:39

9M ago43:39

43:39

Today’s guest, Tracy-Ann Oberman has made a career out of defying expectations. After training as an actor she went straight to the RSC before deciding to study standup so she could switch between comedy and drama. She has starred in Dr Who, Friday Night Dinner, It’s a sin, amongst many others But It was when she got the role of Chrissie Watts (Dir…

1
The Shift LIVE: Trinny Woodall on how she learnt to fear less in her 50s 49:32

10M ago49:32

49:32

My guest for this very special live episode of The Shift is the entrepreneur, CEO, fashion and beauty expert, presenter and author Trinny Woodall. Trinny, as you know, bounded onto our screens in 2001, with her friend Susannah Constantine, when they created What Not To Wear, a groundbreaking TV makeover show that showed women all over - first the c…

1
Dr Louise Newson: I was "told off" for prescribing HRT 1:03:22

10M ago1:03:22

1:03:22

Today we’re celebrating Menopause Awareness month (now there’s a phrase I couldn’t have imagined saying four years ago when I was writing The Shift book and everyone was telling me no-one was interested in menopause or women over 40…) And I’m delighted that my guest is a leading light in the British menopause movement. Dr Louise Newson is a GP and …

1
Agony Aunt Philippa Perry is back! 54:32

10M ago54:32

54:32

I’m delighted to welcome back one of my most popular guests ever, Philippa Perry. Philippa is an artist, psychotherapist, agony aunt and TV presenter, but she has become best known for her smash hit book, The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read which sold over 2million copies and spent 41 weeks in the bestseller lists. Thanks to that book, and her …

1
Grace Dent on balancing a Gen X body image with eating for a living 59:15

10M ago59:15

59:15

Today’s guest and I have lived parallel-ish lives. Growing up “ordinary” her in the north, me in the south, Grace Dent and I both spent our childhood eating baked beans, angel delight and funny coloured school custard, we both “thought we were IT” apparently and we both got our first break on the weekly real life magazine, Chat and somehow wangled …

1
Stacey Duguid on coming back from midlife collapse 1:05:04

11M ago1:05:04

1:05:04

Before I got to know today’s guest, Stacey Duguid, I thought she was a bit scary TBH. Fierce in all the ways. And then I got to know her - when I was editor of Red and she worked on Elle - and discovered she wasn’t. At all. Because Stacey, like so many of us, is just exceptionally good at putting on a front. And that front served her well, until it…

1
Sara Pascoe: what happens when a weirdo grows up! 1:05:02

11M ago1:05:02

1:05:02

This week’s guest is the comedian, writer, and all-round screen hogger, Sara Pascoe. Host of The Great British Sewing Bee, presenter of Last Woman on Earth and ubiquitous panel-show presence. She has written and starred in her own sitcom Out Of Her Mind (before TV realised women could write sitcoms too!) And she’s also the author of two brainy non-…

1
Natasha Walter on being a middle-aged activist 56:49

11M ago56:49

56:49

My guest today is the journalist and human rights activist, Natasha Walter. She is the author of two generation-defining books about feminism - The New Feminism, published in the late 90s and Living Dolls, published just over ten years later, a shocking polemic in which she questioned her own previous beliefs that equality was on the way to being a…

1
Maggie Smith on her midlife reappearing act 53:00

11M ago53:00

53:00

Like most of the rest of the world, I first discovered today’s guest Maggie Smith (no, not the legendary British actress, the American poet) when her poem, Good Bones went viral on social media thrusting her into the news on both sides of the Atlantic, featured on primetime TV and was read at an event by Meryl Streep. It’s the kind of exposure peop…

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