Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett
Experiences that have reshaped lives. Bold questions, unexpected truths, lots of tea... Emma Barnett invites you into her world for deeply human conversations.
Episodes
Endometriosis is a Silent Emergency with Eleanor Thom
Comedian Eleanor Thom struck up a friendship with Emma after they discussed their shared struggles with endometriosis. Eleanor has undergone 12 surgeries for the condition, and the pair have decided to air publicly some of what they say to each other about it in private.Endometriosis is a system-wide inflammatory disease that causes tissues like the lining of the womb make their way around the bod
My Bully Killed His Mum Then Came To My Door with Edd Hedges
Edd Hedges is a stand up comedian. He grew up in a small village, and was bullied throughout his childhood by a neighbour named Brett.Edd had come back to the village one evening to perform a charity gig. After going to bed at his parents’ house, Ed was awoken when someone was banging at the door. That person turned out to be his bully, who had just murdered two people, one of whom was Brett’s mot
They Weren't Ready for a Woman Like Me with Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Pendleton has suffered depression and grief since becoming an Olympic cycling champion. She's come out of it a stronger person, still on the lookout for a challenge.Having won her second Olympic gold medal at her home games in London in 2012, Victoria retired from cycling as a national hero. But she kept chasing sporting challenges, competing in horse racing then trying mountaineering. An
Long Covid Stole My Olympic Dream with Oonagh Cousins
Oonagh Cousins was one of Britain's best rowers, and was awarded a place on Team GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But after having Covid and being unable to fully recover, Oonagh lost her place in the squad.Oonagh now lives with Long Covid, which impacts roughly 2 million people in the UK. Having her Olympic dream taken from her by this illness has made her reflect on her own identity and the experi
News: Are We Really Going To Have That Brexit Fight Again?
As Labour leadership hopeful Wes Streeting vows to bring the UK back into the EU Emma asks - do we really want to have that fight again? Or is it fair enough if many of us have changed our minds?
Would you dob your child in to the police? The Government is bringing in harsher penalties for the parents of children who commit crimes, saying it's time to remove the influence of "parents who can't p
My Ex-Husband Controlled My Life with Ruth Dodsworth
Weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth's ex-husband was jailed in 2021 for coercive control and stalking her. Even though he is now free, he was given a lifetime restraining order stopping him from contacting Ruth or their two children.At times he would contact her up to 200 times a day while she was at work, but Ruth was unable to tell people the truth about her relationship. It took one extreme night
News: Is this chaos worth it?
We’re doing a new thing on Ready to Talk: News – a short series of three episodes where we find the news stories that really pique your interest and get us talking.
On this episode - what the hell is going on in our politics - have we all become addicted to the psychodrama of leadership battles? As headlines ring out about 'basketcase Britain', one of those calling for Sir Keir Starmer to go te
Sobriety, Shame and Singledom with John Robins
Comedian John Robins talks about how he stopped drinking booze and why he’s happiest alone. He had his last drink in 2022 but only accepted he was an alcoholic after he had quit.John is known for his Edinburgh award-winning stand up shows and podcasts like How Do You Cope? and partnership with Elis James. He’s just written a book, Thirst: Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life, which chronicles his li
News: Why is Middle Class Britain on the rob?
We're doing a new thing on Ready to Talk: News - a short series of three episodes where we find the news stories that really pique your interest and get us all talking. On this episode - why are some in middle class Britain swiping things from supermarkets and then bragging about their five-fingered discounts? While the former New York Police Chief tells us crime is crime and should be tackled, th
Coming soon: Ready to Talk News
Emma has some exciting news about a special spin-off series, Ready to Talk News, publishing over the next three weeks on Thursdays.Subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Prescription Drugs Made Me a Shopping Addict with Sally Gardner
Author Sally Gardner’s addiction to shopping has cost her £700k. She has only just discovered this compulsive behaviour is side effect of drugs she’s been prescribed for 20 years.Sally is a Carnegie Medal and Costa Children’s Book Award-winning writer who suffers from a debilitating condition called Restless Legs Syndrome. To combat it she has taken drugs called dopamine agonists for two decades.
I Was My Hero Husband’s Carer with Lindsey Burrow
Lindsey Burrow’s husband Rob was her childhood sweetheart before he became an England rugby league star. After he got motor neurone disease she became his carer for the final years of his life.Lindsey continued her work as a physiotherapist in the NHS, and looked after their three children, as Rob's condition deteriorated. She has now written a book, Take Care, chronicling her time caring for the
I Don’t Speak to My Family with Shaheen Hashmat
Shaheen Hashmat left her family home aged 12 feeling she needed to escape, fearing a forced marriage. Initially she kept in touch, until deciding to become totally estranged in her twenties. By cutting contact, she lost the identity and sense of belonging that comes with family. She describes it as the worst kind of break up, one that left her questioning everything. Who am I without them? How do
Life, Love and Sex in an Open Marriage with Deepa Paul
Deepa Paul grew up in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country where she was expected to meet one partner and stay with them for life. She followed that path, entering a monogamous relationship with her husband.
But a small moment shifted everything. While selling furniture on an online directory, Deepa found herself exposed to a world of different sexual preferences and lifestyles. It
Escaping the Manosphere with Will Adolphy
Will Adolphy followed male influencers to figure out how a real man should look, feel and act. Now he helps men and boys escape the influence of the online manosphere.
Throughout his teens Will Adolphy became increasingly isolated from his family, focussing his time on online gaming. Later he became more deeply drawn into the masculine digital culture that has become known as ‘the manosphere’, b
AI Stripped My Clothes Off with Jess Davies
On New Year's Day, Jess Davies woke up to discover an image of her in a clingfilm bikini had been created by Elon Musk's AI tool Grok and posted to X. She discusses how she has gone from working as a glamour model to campaigning against online image abuse.
Jess shares how her first experience as a victim of image abuse occurred when she was just 15 when a private photo of her was shared around h
From Prison to Playwriting with Ric Renton
Ric Renton shares how reading the dictionary in prison aided his writing career.
Following a school life, he describes as “absent” and a violent childhood involving drugs, Ric requested a dictionary to read cover to cover while in prison. Twenty years later, he has written and starred in plays and is a writer and actor in the BBC drama Waiting For The Out.
With the latest reoffending rates sta
My Husband Died Alone at Dignitas with Lottie Clarke
Lottie Clarke shares her husband's story and explains why she thinks UK law on assisted dying should change. The couple were happily married for 19 years, but were apart at the moment he died.
After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, James Clarke wanted to retain control at the end of his life. He eventually travelled to Switzerland where assisted dying is legal. Lottie believes they co
Fatphobia and Weight Loss Jabs with Billie Bhatia
Fashion writer Billie Bhatia talks about her experiences of living in a bigger body, fatphobia and the cultural, social and personal impact of weight loss jabs. Billie talks to Emma about dating, navigating the fashion industry and shares her thoughts on the body positivity movement as well as Serena William’s controversial weight loss drugs advert at Super Bowl 2026.A recent study by University C
Art, Pain, Womanhood with Tracey Emin
Dame Tracey Emin discusses love, feminism, and making art after losing her bladder to cancer, ahead of the opening of her largest ever exhibition.
Emin is one of the UK’s foremost visual artists, having risen to fame in 1990s. In 2020, she was diagnosed with advanced squamous cell carcinoma on her bladder. One specialist gave her six months to live. Four weeks later, a seven-and-a-half-hour surg
My Breast Cancer Surgeon Mutilated Me with Deborah Douglas
Deborah Douglas is one of the many victims of disgraced Birmingham surgeon Ian Paterson, who maimed many of his patients.
After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2003, Deborah thought she was in the best hands possible. But Paterson subjected her to a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, and extensive chemotherapy, all of which were entirely unnecessary. Paterson has been sentenced to 20 years in pris
My Brain Surgery with Maribou State’s Chris Davids
Chris Davids of electronic duo Maribou State discusses suffering from a rare brain condition, how it affected his passion for making music and the surgery and experimental procedure that led to his recovery.
Chris was experiencing extreme headaches while working on the group’s third album, Hallucinating Love, during lockdown. Eventually he was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation, meaning the lo
Postpartum Psychosis with Laura Dockrill
Writer Laura Dockrill discusses the extreme delusions and psychotic breakdown that she suffered after her son's birth. She shares how she got beyond them and how she is today.
Just weeks after becoming a mother, Laura found herself is a desperate state. It took an intervention from her best friend, the singer Adele, to have her admitted to a psychiatric ward. With the support of her husband she
Surviving a Daughter's Death with Jason Watkins
On the morning of New Year's Day 2011, actor Jason Watkins' two-year-old daughter Maude died. He and his wife had taken her to hospital the previous day, but only after an inquest did they come to the realisation that she had been suffering from undiagnosed sepsis. The couple have since campaigned for a better understanding of the condition among healthcare professionals.Watkins has since become k
I was Strip Searched by the Police with Dr Koshka Duff
Dr Koshka Duff was arrested and detained in 2013 after offering a legal advice card to someone being stopped and searched.Dr Duff was then subject to a strip search by Metropolitan police officers, an experience she describes as "terrifying".On CCTV footage, officers were heard laughing about her hair, clothes and talking about her underwear and her smell. The Metropolitan Police have since apolog
I Lost My Voice on Live TV with Polly Evans
After BBC local news anchor Polly Evans found herself unable to speak while doing a live broadcast, she disappeared from screens overnight.
Polly had been having trouble with her voice for months following a virus and believed the stresses of a high-pressure workplace and a busy home life were to blame. But unknown to her she had a serious neurological disorder. She explains how coming to terms
Life Without Children with Caroline Stafford
After years of trying to have a baby and unsuccessful IVF treatment, Caroline Stafford and her husband decided to build a future without the thing that they wanted the most.
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After years of trying to have a baby and unsuccessful IVF treatment, Caroline Stafford and her husband decided to build future without the thing that they wanted the most.
Caroline shares the couple’s difficult experi
I Was Dead for 40 Minutes with Patrick Charnley
After a cardiac arrest brought on by a hereditary heart condition and the stress of work, Patrick Charnley was clinically dead. He came back to life a changed man.
Patrick suffered a brain injury that affects his sight and stamina. He is no longer able to work or live as he did before and he cannot remember nearly a year of his life before the heart attack. Despite these impairments, he prefers
My Baby Stopped Breathing with Archie Bland
Journalist Archie Bland talks about his son, Max, who nearly died one night when he was just seven weeks old.
Archie shares the extraordinary ordeal his family went through that night, as his home filled with police and paramedics, and the extreme circumstances of the following weeks. Max survived, but his life was forever changed. Archie now says Max is “more interesting than anyone he’s ever m
I Survived a Witch Hunt with Tulisa Contostavlos
Tulisa Contostavlos spent a decade fighting court battles, from an ex releasing a sex tape to being caught up in an elaborate tabloid sting. She shares what life has taught her.Tulisa rose to fame in UK R&B and hip hop trio N-Dubz and became a judge on The X Factor aged just 23. She talks candidly about some of the desperate lows she has suffered since, how she has processed being targeted by
Shot in the Manchester Synagogue Attack with Yoni Finlay
Yoni Finlay was shot as a synagogue in Manchester was attacked on Yom Kippur, 2 October 2025.The synagogue was Yoni's place of worship, but it had also been Emma's synagogue when she was a child. He talks to her about that day, and how it has affected him, his family, and his community. Yoni was hit by a police bullet which first passed through the attacker and went on to kill Adrian Daulby, one o
My Best Friend Had My Baby with Georgia Barrington and Daisy Hope
When she was 15, Georgia Barrington discovered she has been born without a womb. Then her best friend, Daisy Hope, made her an extraordinary promise that she fulfilled over a decade later.As a child Georgia always dreamt of being a mother, and even after her rare diagnosis she went on to become a midwife. She and Daisy share the story of a surrogacy that changed both their lives and created a uniq
Being Unlikeable with Katherine Ryan
Katherine Ryan has learned not to care about not being liked as she’s risen from single mum on the poverty line to become one of the most successful comedians working in the UK.In a conversation just two and a half weeks after Katherine gave birth to her fourth child, she discusses plastic surgery, working in Hooters, and how she developed her caustic onstage persona. But she also reveals how her
Strictly Changed Me with Chris McCausland
Comedian Chris McCausland discusses how he got past perfectionism and blindness to dance on live TV in front of millions of viewers.Chris explains how a rare condition meant he gradually lost his sight over 25 years, and how he performed his first stand-up comedy as a dare. He talks about appearing on Strictly Come Dancing against all his instincts, calling it the scariest thing he’s done in his l
Perimenopause is a Thief with Kate Thornton
Emma Barnett talks to her friend, journalist and presenter Kate Thornton, about something she’s been experiencing but has never spoken about publicly before.Sometimes a person comes into your life at exactly the right moment to help you through something major. Kate is one of those people for Emma. She’s been guiding her through perimenopause. In the UK, 13 million women are currently experiencing
Introducing… Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett
From presidents to popstars, award-winning broadcaster Emma Barnett has interviewed thousands of fascinating people live on radio and television. But now she’s ready to talk to her guests much more deeply, about the profound experiences that shaped their lives.In this special preview episode, Emma reveals more about the bold, honest conversations coming up in the series. Ready to Talk with Emma Ba
