A special episode to announcement to let you guys know that we have written a book! It's called Blank: Why it's Fine to Falter and Fail, And How To Pick Yourself Up Again and it's out on March 18th, 2021. We are joined by Celine Hughes, our fantastic Senior Commissioning Editor from Quadrille Publishing, who have published out book to talk about why they acquired the book and the process of how a book goes from an idea to a fully formed thing. Our book explores many of the themes that crop up on...
Nov 06, 2020•1 hr 13 min
Mark Kermode is a writer, broadcaster, film critic and musician. As well as being chief film critic for The Observer, Mark is known for his broadcast work for BBC, Radio 5Live's 'Kermode and Mayo's Film Review' alongside Simon Mayo and his documentaries 'Mark Kermode's Secret Cinema'. More recently Mark present's his own own podcast 'Kermode On Film' and a music soundtrack show on Scala Radio. He has written several books including How Does It Feel?: A Life of Musical Misadventures We caught up ...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 88
Jenny Seagrove a legend of stage and screen, Jenny has been in films such as Local Hero, The Guardian, and most recently Off the Rails alongside Dame Judi Dench. We started by asking Jenny about her early life in Malaysia, and her first forays into acting during her time in boarding school. Jenny tells us some wonderful anecdotes from being on stage when going blank often turn into giggles and we talk about how giving yourself a bit of time and calm can really help in difficult moments. Get BLAN...
Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 87
Kayleigh-Paige Rees is an actress best known for her role as Julia Beaufort in ITV's Primetime period drama 'Sanditon'. Kayleigh-Paige started her career in successful independent films most notably, Ann in Ann Rolls Green currently on Amazon Prime and Mona in Skinny World, an award-winning short film taking a closer look at eating disorders. She spoke to Giles and Jim about awkward auditions, the stress of working in the entertainment industry and opens up about her eating disorder. Get BLANK P...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 86
Prof Kate Williams is a British historian, author, and television presenter, she regularly appears on Television and Radio and has a role as Professor of Public Engagement with History at the University of Reading. We caught up with Kate as children were returning to schools and we discussed whether having more time at home had helped Kate dedicate more time to writing. We talked about diary writing and its vital role in Historical research and how we all need to look far deeper into our own soc...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 85
We have something exciting to tell you so we hope you'll indulge us this special, short, mini episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 06, 2020•15 min
Lorraine Kelly OBE is a Scottish broadcaster, interviewer and journalist, for over 36 years she has been a stalwart of ITV's Breakfast television coverage, including her own show Lorraine, which is live every weekday morning. We started our chat by talking to Lorraine about adapting to working during lockdown and the challenges, but also the positive aspects this has brought to broadcasting. Lorraine tells us about growing up in Glasgow and making her way into journalism in local news, before ap...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 84
Maddy Anholt is an actress, comedian and writer, having spent a number of years on the UK stand-up circuit, Maddy has regularly performed at Edinburgh Fringe, her latest show being How to Train Your Psychopath, and show she is now adapting into a book and several other projects. She Appeared and co-write the award nominated short film 'Kelly' and has made numerous TV appearances on This Morning, various panel shows and has written for BBC Radio 4, BBC Three and also Warner Bros. We spoke to Madd...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 83
Suzi Ruffell is a comedian, actor and writer. She began her stand-up[ career in 2006 and has been touring extensively ever since. Suzi has regularly appeared on many panel shows including Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and The Last Leg. Since October 2015,she has co-hosted the podcast Like Minded Friends with comedian Tom Allen and this year she started the podcast Out with Suzi Ruffell. We began by talking about school and how at times is was extremely challenging for Suzi because of her dysle...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 82
Dr Radha Modgil is a medical doctor broadcaster and writer, she has appeared on many shows including The Sex Education Show on Channel 4 and Feeling Better on Cbeebies. She also co-hosts Radio 1's Life Hacks podcast. We started the conversation talking about love and kindness and how we all need to consider these things more when we converse and connect, particularly online and on social media. Radha tell us about her time at Cambridge University and the realisation that she didn't want or need ...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 81
Angela Scanlon is an Irish television presenter and broadcaster for RTÉ and the BBC having worked on a variety of different shows. Since 2016, she appeared as a reporter on The One Show, and presented in the absence of Alex Jones having had her first major British show role as a co-host of Robot Wars with Dara Ó Briain. More recently she has been the host on Your Home Made Perfect and her amazing podcast Thanks a Million. Angela talks to Giles and Jim about her career, the ups and downs and why ...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 80
Arguably the greatest sportsman of all time, snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan, joins us to talk about how he navigated an incredible career and all the ups and downs that came with it. Now 44 and recently crowned World Champion for the sixth time he also holds a record seven Masters titles, and a record seven UK Championships for a record total of 20 titles in Triple Crown tournaments. He is one of 11 players to win a career Triple Crown, O'Sullivan holds the all-time record for the most ranking...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 79
David Harewood MBE is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in Homeland and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl. David spoke openly to Giles and Jim about his career, the ups and downs, racism he has suffered and the effect filming his BAFTA nominated documentary Pyschosis and Me had on him. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for pr...
Aug 17, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 77
Dubbed 'The Iceman', Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He has set Guinness world records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and still holds the record for a barefoot half-marathon on ice and snow. In short, he is superhuman. He attributes many of his feats to his Wim Hof Method, a combination of frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation. On this episode of BLANK Wim talks to Giles and Jim a...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 76
James Felton is a writer and journalist, whose articles regularly appear in the Guardian, Independent, Daily Mash and IFL Science, he hasn't also written for comedy panel shows and has two books published 52 Times Britain was a Bellend and SunBurn. Giles and Jim discussed with James his move into writing following his degree in sociology at Warwick University, his rise in notoriety through Twitter and his interest in politics Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast. See acas...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 75
Grace Blakeley is a political commentator, writer and activist, she has been a staff writer for The Tribune and economics commentator for The New Statesman. We caught up with Grace to talk about her life in politics, which awaken in her early 20's but has probably been her destiny from a young age. We discuss the state of international and community politics, something Grace has been able to look at during her time as an activist and her time in the states while touring with her book 'Stolen' an...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 74
The multi-talented actress who is appearing in the upcoming Wonder Woman sequel 1984, Sarah Barlondo joins Giles and Jim over Zoom to chat about her eventful career that started off as a professional tennis player before incorporating acting before a horrific car crash took her down a completely different path that saw her study architecture and then return to acting but face many challenges along the way. This is a brutally honest, open and uplifting interview with a brilliant guest who has so ...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 73
Evanna Lynch is an actress, podcaster and writer. Born in County Lough, Ireland, Evanna first acting job was starring as Luna Lovegood in the last four Harry Potter movies, a character which has developed a huge cult following. She has appeared in many stage productions and has a her own podcast about veganism and animal rights called The ChickPeeps. We spoke to Evanna at the end of May and started our conversation by discussing some of the interests she has been pursuing in recent months which ...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 72
Blake Harrison is a British actor, writer and director, best known for his portrayal of Neil in Channel 4 comedy series The Inbetweeners, Blake has also been in Films such as Dad's Army, BBC hit drama A Very English Scandal and has also written with his wife Kerry Keenan Lynch and directed an award short film Hooves of Clay. We spoke to Blake about his early life in Peckham before he went to creative arts school BRIT and how he felt more at home there among peers who were into the same things. B...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 71
Carrie Hope Fletcher is an English singer, songwriter, actress, author and YouTube sensation. Carrie Started her musical theatre career at the age of 7 appearing on the West End in Les Miserables. She has appeared in many productions since including, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins and in recent years Heathers. She is also a bestselling author and has 652,000 Subscribers on her Youtube channel. We caught up with Carrie during lockdown and started our conversation by discussing the merits o...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 70
Natalie Anderson is an English actress, singer and model. She is best known for her roles as Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 2010 to 2015 and Stella Davenport inThe Royal from 2005 to 2008. She also played the role of Nessarose in the West End production Wicked from May 2009 to March 2010. She talks to Giles and Jim over Zoom (because that's how we all communicate these days) about her acting journey including Emmerdale and The Royal as well as how nerves became a part of he...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 69
Louisa Connolly-Burnham is an actor who is best known for her performances as Shannon Kelly in Bafta-nominated Wolfblood, Willow Jenks in Bafta-nominated House of Anubis and Avril Fox in Bafta-nominated Call The Midwife. She has also appeared in the multi-award winning short film Beneath Water for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the Queens World Film Festival , ITV's Midsomer Murders, Sky1's Little Crackers, BBC's Holby City, Doctors and Outbumbered. She spoke to Giles and Jim about ...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 68
Professor David Wilson is a former prison governor, known for his work as a criminologist specialising in serial killers through his work with various British police forces, academic publications, books, and media appearances. He is professor of criminology at Birmingham City University has published widely on the criminal justice system generally and prisons specifically, and was the Editor of the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice (2000–2015), and is the author of more than 15 books. Prof Davi...
Jun 08, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 67
John Sweeney is a British investigative journalist and author. During his time at the BBC he worked on shows such as Panorama and Newsnight where his combative and bold style have seen him doorstep Putin, go undercover in North Korea, challenge Trump on his association to the mob and most infamously the time he yelled at scientologists. We caught up with John on what was VE Day and started our conversation by discussing the new normal, what we miss and what things we like about lockdown in the U...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 66
It's the Spring break, so we though we'd put together a little selection of clips from some of our favourite episodes from last year to keep you going till we return in a few weeks time with some amazing new episodes. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 23, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 65
Fiona Murden is a leadership psychologist and author of several books, including Defining You, that looks at the process of psychological profiling and fulfilling your potential. We've been wanting to speak to Fiona for quite some time to look at a bit deeper at some of the science behind what Blank moments occur and what is most effective in combatting them. We started off by chatting about the full out from the coronavirus pandemic and how it will affect people's mental health in the longterm....
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 64
Paul Pilot aka Paul Wilkinson is musician, composer and producer from Northern Ireland. Best known for his band The Amazing Pilots and his recent film scores on documentaries like Finding Oscar and Netflix production The Final Cut for Orson, Paul has been a producer and sound engineer on works by Duke Special, Athlete, Rue Royale and All the Luck in the World. He is also the composer of our very own Blank Podcast title music. Paul is based in Berlin and so meeting up to record had always been di...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 63
In a special bonus episode (which we've been thinking of doing for quite sometime) Giles and Jim chat with each other about all number of subjects from minecraft and cult novels to creativity, daily stress, and of course the current news around coronavirus and how we are both dealing with isolation. A special thanks to Dominique White for a beautiful piece she emailed to us which is read out at the end of this episode. We'll resume normal transition next week when our guest is the amazing Paul P...
Apr 09, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 63
Marcus Brigstocke is a comedian, writer and actor. Known for satirical stand-up, musical theatre and radio broadcasting on stations such as Jazz FM. We met up Marcus a couple of months back, to discuss all manner of stuff, starting with all of our passions for the arts, particularly music, each of us talking about our first albums. Marcus tells us about his passion for cheese and the poignant moment in his life this passion stems from. The chat moved on to mental health and how Marcus makes a gr...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 61
Chris Addison is a comedian, actor, writer and director. Starting in Stand-up Chris made his name touring the UK and playing high profile slots at Edinburgh Festival before moving into acting with his role in the multiple award-winning The Thick of It. Further acting roles and regular appearances on panel shows like Mock the Week have propelled Chris to being one of the UK's most loved performers. He has recently taken up directing with his feature debut The Hustle starring Rebel Wilson and Anne...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 60
