Ctrl Alt Delete

*FYI don't think there are spoilers, but if there are, it's in the second half of the interview.* My guest today is Meg Mason, author of several books including the recent instant Sunday Times bestseller Sorrow and Bliss. She began her career at the Financial Times and The Times of London and has been a regular columnist for GQ, ELLE and Vogue. I absolutely loved Sorrow & Bliss and reached out to Meg's team as soon as I finished reading it. The quote on the cover from Anne Patchett says: ‘'I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realised that I wanted to send it to everyone I know’ which is how I feel having gifted it to a few friends because I just want everyone to read it so I can talk more about it. It’s a Gen X coming of age, mental health love story that will rip you apart and piece you back together. This was a real treat getting to chat to Meg, I hope you enjoy this chat! xoOrder your copy of Sorrow & Bliss: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781474622974Order your cop

Dr Tom Chatfield is a writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher. He is a columnist for the BBC and TED Global speaker, he has worked as a writer and consultant with some of the world's leading technology firms. His books exploring digital culture have been published in over two dozen languages. I first read Tom’s work when his book How To Thrive In the Digital Age published by The School Of Life back in 2012 and have followed his work ever since. His latest non-fiction book, Critical Thinking, is a bestselling textbook in its field; and he’s back with a new textbook called How to Think which I thoroughly enjoyed and we discuss in this episode. (The Oliver Burkeman article we discuss: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/so/14NZw7Z67?languageTag=en&cid=51b6978e-c2af-4d65-a12e-82fc8941cc96#/main)Order Tom’s book How To Think here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781529727418  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Apologies for the sound quality of this one you guys! We had a bit of a 'mare but I'm so excited to share this conversation with you! Jenn Romolini is an award-winning editor, writer, speaker, and thinker on the topic of modern work. Her 2017 book "Weird in a World That's Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F*ckups, and Failures" was named one of the best leadership books of the year by Fast Company. I loved it, a really refreshing read about being yourself and being good at your job. She has had a really interesting career and has been the former Chief Content Officer of Shondaland.com, a digital content site created by producer Shonda Rhimes. She was the Vice President of Content for Zooey Deschanel's HelloGiggles website and the deputy editor of Lucky Magazine. Her recent work has appeared in The New York Times, Audible for Business, Catapult, ELLE, and many others.  Her recent appearance on the “Everything Is Fine” podcast was named one of Spotify’s “Best of the Week and excitingly she is also

Excitement alert! Tara Brach is an internationally known teacher of mindfulness, meditation, emotional healing, and spiritual awakening. I'm a huge fan. She is the author of Radical Acceptance, Radial Compassion and True Refuge, and her weekly podcast and meditation is listened to by over 1.5 million people each month. We discuss her new book Trusting The Gold: Learning to Nurture Your Inner Light. Her work has had a profound impact on me and I really recommend checking out her work if you are interested in letting more calm and compassion into your life! Enjoy.Order your copy of Trusting The Gold here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781846046995  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My guest today is Poppy Jamie, entrepreneur, author and presenter. She is a leading voice in the mental wellbeing and mindfulness space, and she’s on a mission to democratise conversation and provide accessible tools for emotional and mental health. She is the founder of the award winning Happy Not Perfect app, host of the chart topping Not Perfect podcast and author of the new book that’s out now Happy Not Perfect: Upgrade Your Mind, Challenge Your Thoughts and Free Yourself From Anxiety. The Happy Not Perfect brand was created to help the stress and anxiety levels of young people. With her mum being a neurotherapist, Poppy decided something needed to be created to help everyone manage their mental wellbeing better. I really enjoyed this conversation all about flexible thinking! xoOrder Poppy's book from an independent bookstore today! https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781529339161  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eric Zimmer is a behaviour coach, author and hosts the award-winning podcast, The One You Feed, one of my favourite podcasts, based on an old parable about two wolves at battle within us. With over 300 episodes and over 13 million downloads, the show features conversations with experts across many different topics, authors, psychotherapists, doctors, teachers, really fascinating people who know a lot about their field about how to create a life that has less suffering and more fulfilment and meaning.  His story of finding a way to recover from addiction and build a life worth living for himself is incredibly inspiring, and has been featured in the media including TedX, Mind Body Green, the BBC and Brain Pickings. I am so grateful to Eric for coming on Ctrl Alt Delete - hope you enjoy our conversation!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My guest today is Mo Gawdat, serial entrepreneur and former chief business officer of Google [X]. Through his twelve-year research on the topic of happiness, he created an algorithm for happiness, regardless of circumstance in life. He is the author of Solve For Happy - a book about his mission to deliver his happiness message to one billion people around the world. We also talk about his upcoming new book in this episode so you’ll hear some of what’s next and it was so great to talk to him about his work, his career to date and his perspective on how we can all live a life we enjoy and genuinely helpful tips for dealing with life overwhelm. He also has a brilliant podcast called Slo Mo which I recently guested on, I recommend checking it out! Here is the conversation. <3Check out Solve For Happy here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781509809950Pre-order Scary Smart here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781529077186  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My guest today is Caroline O’Donoghue, an Irish author, journalist and host of the award-winning Sentimental Garbage - a brilliant podcast where she talk to authors, fans and cultural critics about the chick-lit books that are often overlooked. I’m sure listeners of this podcast will also have been hooked on the recent Sentimental Garbage mini series with Dolly Alderton called Sentimental In The City where they unpick every season of Sex And The City 'for the great American novel it truly is'. Caroline has contributed to Grazia, The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, Buzzfeed, Vice and The Times. Her first novel, Promising Young Women came out in 2018 she was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards’ Newcomer of the Year and other awards. Her second adult novel, Scenes of a Graphic Nature, was published in 2020 and today we are discussing All Our Hidden Gifts, a novel for young adults out now, a story of tarot, magic and teen friendship. Hope you enjoy our conversation. <3Buy Scenes Of A Graphic Natur

Ian Leslie is a writer and author of multiple acclaimed books on human behaviour. He writes about psychology, culture, technology and business for the New Statesman, the Economist, the Guardian and the Financial Times. He co-hosted the podcast series Polarised, on the way we do politics today, and created and presented the BBC radio comedy series Before They Were Famous. In today’s episode we are discussing his new book Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together Conflicted draws essential lessons on how to disagree well from world-class experts: interrogators, hostage negotiators, divorce mediators, and many others. It tells inspiring stories of productive disagreements, from the invention of the aeroplane to the success of The Rolling Stones, and combines them with fascinating insights from the science of human communication. I loved this book and found it genuinely helpful in reflecting on how I can disagree better in work and at home. I think you’ll enjoy this convers

(This is a replay of an old episode from 2018. My book The Multi-Hyphen Method had just come out, and Bruce's book The Joy Of Work).Bruce Daisley is the former European Vice-President at Twitter and host of the business podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat.  He has been one of the Evening Standard’s 1,000 Most Influential Londoners for four years and is one of Debrett’s 500 Most Influential People in Britain and according to Campaign magazine Bruce is ‘one of the most talented people in media’. He is the author of 'The Joy Of Work: 30 Ways to Fix Your Work Culture and Fall in Love with Your Job Again' and writes a newsletter on Substack called Eat Sleep Work Repeat.He is obsessed with making work better. He's dedicated his last few years to chatting to the leading experts in workplace culture - and using evidence to find a way to improving it.It's a practical, uplifting, helpful book all about making the workplace a bit better, which is important considering we spend so much time t

Alex Holmes is an award-winning podcaster and writer from London. He has been hosting and producing podcasts since 2016 including Mostly Lit, which was named by the Guardian and the BBC as one of the top podcasts of 2017 and won the Best British Podcast award at the 2018 British Book Awards. He now hosts the Time to Talk podcast, which focuses on mental health. His new book Time To Talk: How Men Think About Love, Belonging and Connection. The book debunks lingering myths around masculinity, love and connection by exploring what causes this sense of loneliness. Sharing his experiences as a young Black British man, Time to Talk is a love letter to all the men who have lost their way and to the women that love them. He encourages us to open up and share, moving from Ignoring to Acknowledging, Being Closed to Opening Up, Avoiding to Embracing. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.Order Alex's book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781789562217  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and

Catherine Gray is the award-winning author of the The Unexpected Joy of books. Catherine's debut book, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, was a hit becoming a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller within a fortnight of publication, she is also the author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Single, and The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary. She’s now back with a brand new book called Sunshine Warm Sober: Unexpected sober joy that lasts. This book is all about her eighth sober year and what she’s learned since the last book. We talk about the power of personal writing, setting boundaries and changing the way you live. I really enjoyed it - I found it raw, reflective and a book about rooting for yourself. Hope you enjoy this conversation!Get your copy of Sunshine Warm Sober: Unexpected sober joy that lasts: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781783253395  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete podcast! This is the third and final in a mini series in partnership with Lenovo! Lenovo provide some of the latest cutting-edge technology, which I've been using myself recently including the ThinkPad X1 Nano (it's extremely light and easy to chuck in a bag which I'll definitely be bringing with me on my next staycation soon!) Over a series of three episodes I've been chatting to someone whose work I really admire and enjoy, Natalie Lue, author, podcaster and host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions. She helps people-pleasers, perfectionists and relationship strugglers become more of who they really are and achieve what they want to achieve. In this episode we are discussing how we can find more time to focus and do our 'deep work', inspired by Cal Newport's brilliant book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and Oliver Burkeman's '3 or 4 hours' rule which you read on his blog here.Throughout the episodes in this mini series, we’

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete podcast! This is episode 2 in a mini series in partnership with Lenovo! Lenovo provide some of the latest cutting-edge technology, which I've been using myself recently including the ThinkPad X1 Nano (it's extremely light and easy to chuck in a bag which I'll definitely be bringing with me on my next staycation soon!) Over a series of three episodes I've been chatting to someone whose work I really admire and enjoy, Natalie Lue, author, podcaster and host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions. She helps people-pleasers, perfectionists and relationship strugglers become more of who they really are and achieve what they want to achieve. In this episode we are digging into building your own career ladder and questioning what even *is* a career ladder nowadays? Natalie starting doing her own thing 17 years ago, and has continued doing so, and I loved hearing all about her life lessons along the way.Throughout the episodes in this mini series, we’ll discuss how smarter

Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete podcast! This is episode 1 in a mini series in partnership with Lenovo! Lenovo provide some of the latest cutting-edge technology, which I've been using myself recently including the ThinkPad X1 Nano (it's extremely light and easy to chuck in a bag which I'll definitely be bringing with me on my next staycation soon!) Over a series of three episodes I've been chatting to someone whose work I really admire and enjoy, Natalie Lue, author, podcaster and host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions. She helps people-pleasers, perfectionists and relationship strugglers become more of who they really are and achieve what they want to achieve. In this episode we are digging into the topic of how be your own boss and get things done in your own time - including using a pen and paper (shout out to the ThinkPad X1 Titanium which has a pen you can use on the screen) plus how to block out time in the day, how to be more creative and how to prioritise ourselves.  

Welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete! My guest today is Sam Baker: journalist, broadcaster, author and former Editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Red magazine in the UK. She has written for countless publications and co-founded The Pool. Sam has also judged the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Costa Novel award and the British Book Awards. In this episode we are discussing her brilliant book The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 – and you can too (out now in paperback) for any woman staring the second half of their lives in the face and wondering, what the hell is going on? I really enjoyed reading it as Sam peels back the layers on her own life, tackles topics such as perimenopause, sexism and ageism as well as interviewing other brilliant women over 40. She also has a fabulous podcast called The Shift on life over 40 with guests like Phillippa Perry, Emma Freud and Jojo Moyes. Hope you enjoy this conversation! I loved it.Buy your copy of The Shift here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781529329780Listen

Gaby Roslin is one of the country's most popular presenters. She rose to fame as co-presenter with Chris Evans of Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, between 1992 and 1996. Her radio career includes sitting in for Alan Carr on BBC Radio 2, co-hosting BBC London's breakfast show, and her own weekly show on BBC London radio on Sunday afternoons. She also has a new podcast called That Gaby Roslin Podcast – where Gaby’s chats are all about having a good time, celebrating positivity, spreading kindness and being shy. Gaby is a patron of many different charities, and is a real joy to follow online for her uplifting stories and posts. I really enjoyed this conversation about not apologising for your own positivity and finding joy in the smaller moments. Hope you enjoy listening!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today’s guest is with David Speed! He defines himself as a professional graffiti artist, accidental public speaker, creativity ambassador and co-owner of Graffiti Life. He is also the host of the 'Creative Rebels' podcast which debuted at #1 on the iTunes business chart, a fab podcast I’ve been on 3 times now, so really excited to interview David this time about all things art, social media and creativity and how he’s built his projects over the last ten years or so. Hope you enjoy this episode, lots of wisdom and practical advice in this one about maintaining your flow, trying new things, Tik Tok, growing a new social media account and how to stay true to yourself and to the art itself. Enjoy!David's Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/davidspeeduk/?hl=enCreative Rebels podcast: https://www.instagram.com/rebelscreate/?hl=en  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode is a special one brought to you in partnership with Vitality with a focus on their latest report developed with the RSA, all about healthy hybrid working. Vitality is a leading UK health and life insurance and investment business. Their Vitality Programme helps people to live healthy lives through positive behavioural nudges, which not only leads to improved health and tangible benefits for people but it has a positive impact on business and society on the whole. This report explores the impact of successive lockdowns on our health and how we can work towards a healthy hybrid working environment. I'm excited to be talking to Maggie Alphonsi MBE, Director of Vitality Champions Programme, former Rugby World Cup Champion, and Inspirational Speaker. Maggie plays a key role on Vitality’s workplace wellness team with qualifications in areas such as physiotherapy, personal training, positive psychology, and nutrition. As a former England rugby player she understands the challenges around manag

My guest today is Adam Brazier, a photographer, film maker & creative expert who co-hosts the brilliant creative podcast 'Creative Rebels' alongside David Speed. Adam and David had me on their show three times now so it’s great to turn the tables finally. He has co-founded numerous successful creative businesses including The Graffiti Life company and his photography under Adam Brazier Portraits is thriving.  In this episode, we cover how to be more creative, trying new things, how comparing yourself can sometimes be useful, snobbery in art work, getting more confident and Adam gives the most amazing changing lanes analogy.I really enjoyed this chat and hope you do too! Check out Creative Rebels podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/creative-rebels/id1448695774  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.