Angela Rayner MP is the Member or Parliament for Ashton under Lyne and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. She sat down with Rachel and Alice to relive her childhood on a council estate in Stockport where she began caring for her mother at the age of 10 as she couldn't read or write and suffered from Bipolar disorder, became pregnant at 15 and left school a year later at 16 without any qualifications.   Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Bipolar UK:...

Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to even more extraordinary people about how they overcome moments in their early lives achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of the Ru Paul's Drag Race Champion Lawrence Chaney, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas. New episodes every Monday. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect This podcast has been produced in association with...

Mary Portas, aka Mary Queen of Shops, is a retail consultant, broadcaster and was chosen to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets by the then Prime Minister David Cameron. She speaks candidly to Rachel and Alice about the impact that the sudden deaths of both of her parents had on her as a teenager, and what it meant to be part of one of the first gay couples to leagally marry in the UK. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Stonewall:...

Eddie Marsan is one of the UK's best character actors; appearing in films such as Sherlock Holmes, Tyrannosaur and Deadpool 2. He joins Rachel and Alice from his home and opens up about a childhood surrounded by racist, homophobic and domestic violence, coming to terms with his own spirituality, and fighting an internal class war. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Reclaim: www.reclaim.org.uk Acting for Others: www.hactingforothers.co.uk Stand Against Racism...

Sir Damon Buffini is a businessman and Chairman of the National Theatre, Royal Anniversary Trust and the Ryder Cup Committee. Rachel and Alice join him at his home to talk about overcoming the racism he faced at University, chairing the government's Cultural Recovery Fund, and how the work ethic instilled in him as a child drove him to become the most powerful black man in Britain. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org The Prince’s...

Ed Balls is a broadcaster, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and winner of Celebrity Best Home Cook 2021. He talks openly to Rachel and Alice about his time in government, how he overcame the bullying he faced as a child and why he kept his lifelong stammer a secret. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Bullies Out: www.bulliesout.com Young Minds: www.youngminds.org.uk The Brittish Stammering Associtation: www.stamma.org   See acast.com/privacy for privacy...

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE is an actor, playwright and Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss the impact the TV series Roots had on his identity, the racial violence he witnessed as a child in 80's London and how his career has taken him from an ambulance driver in Casualty to leading one of the UK's biggest theatres. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Stop Hate UK: www.stophateuk.org Runnymede: www.runnymedetrust.org Theatre's...

Esther McVey MP is the former Minister of State for Housing has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2017. She joins Rachel and Alice from her office in Westminster to reveal how her life began in the care of Barnardo's, before being returned to her parents and going on to become children's tv presenter and a politician. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect If Chloe Can: ifchloecan.org.uk Barnardo's: www.barnardos.org.uk The Children's...

Douglas Stuart's debut novel, Shuggie Bain, brought him international acclaim after winning the 2020 Booker Prize. One year on from it's publication he joins Rachel and Alice from his home in New York to reveal just how much he and Shuggie have in common, the ways he coped with his mother's alcoholism as a child, and the dangers he faced growing up gay in 1980's Glasgow. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk Scottish Book Trust:...

Nadiya Hussain MBE rose to fame after winning The Great British Bake Off back in 2015. She talks to Rachel and Alice about the way her life has changed since then and how the abuse that she faced as a child inspired her to be a force for change. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Samaritans: www.samaritans.org Blueprint for All: www.blueprintforall.org The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nigel Owens MBE became the first referee to take charge of 100 Rugby Union international games before his retirement last autumn. He joined Rachel and Alice from his farm in Wales, where he opened up about coming to terms with his sexuality, the devastating impact it had on his mental health, and how rugby saved him after he tried to take his own life. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk Samaritans: www.samaritans.org Welsh Rugby...

Andy McNab is one of the UK's most decorated former soldiers and has become a bestselling author of military fiction. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss his childhood in the borstal system and juvenile detention and how creating a story about his daughter in his mind helped him survive torture in Iraq. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Mind: www.mind.org.uk Help for Heroes: www.helpforheroes.org.uk The Armed Forces Charity: www.ssafa.org.uk   See...

Jacqueline Gold is the CEO of Ann Summers, Vice-President of The Children's Trust and one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. She sits down in her home with Rachel and Alice and opens up about her parents divorce, surviving sexal abuse and turning her trauma into a positive by empowering women in both the bedroom and the boardroom. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk The Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org Cruse Bereavement...

Professor Green, Stephen Manderson, is one of the UK's most successful rappers and mental health campaigners. He joins Rachel and Alice to talk candidly about being brought up on an East London council estate by his grandmother, struggling with depression and how his father's suicide made him re-evaluate his own life. Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfect Mind: www.mind.org.uk Samaritans: www.samaritans.org National Suicide Prevention Alliance: www.nspa.org.uk...

Times Journalists Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson return to talk to extraordianry people who have overcome trauma or adversity in their early lives to achieve great success. This series they are joined by the likes of the rapper Professor Green, CEO of Ann Summers Jacqueline Gold CBE and 2020 Booker Prize winning author Douglas Stuart.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ade Adepitan describes how, despite losing the use of one leg due to polio as a toddler in Nigeria, he forged a career encompassing sport, broadcasting and writing, winning many medals for wheelchair basketball, tennis and dance. Which was the biggest challenge: overcoming the racism he faced in East London in the 1970’s, poverty or contemporary attitudes towards disabled people?   Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced...

Lord John Bird, founder of ‘The Big Issue’ Magazine, describes how he overcame poverty, crime and homelessness to become a member of the House of Lords.    Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their lives, on their identities and on their careers? In this frank interview John Bird discusses the harsh realities of urban poverty in...

Can early trauma shape future success?  Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their lives, on their identities and on their careers? Lord Stuart Rose, Baron Rose of Monewden, is a millionaire businessman. He was knighted for his services to the retail industry and has been CEO of many companies including Marks and Spencers, Ocado and Fat Face. But his success is in start...

Can adversity ever be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Tom Daley, the champion British diver, discusses the impact of childhood stardom, bullying and the devastating loss of his father: ‘my biggest cheerleader’. Tom reveals his deeply romantic side, his passion for parenthood...

Can adversity ever be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists,Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they have faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Former chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid talks about growing up with four brothers, children of immigrants from Pakistan, sharing a two bedroom house in one of Bristol's most notorious areas. Sajid describes...

Can early trauma shape future success? Can adversity ever be an advantage? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Today, poet and Booker Prize Judge, Lemn Sissay MBE shares the harrowing but compelling story of his childhood in. Stolen from his birth mother and rejected by foster parents, Lemn endured years of mistreatment with the UK...

Can adversity ever be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Today Baroness Helic, a former  refugee describes fleeing the war in Bosnia, with only her black leather jacket and her extraordinary journey to the Foreign Office and the House of Lords.   See acast.com/privacy for...

Can adversity ever be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Brian Cox, the actor, discusses growing up in poverty in Dundee after his father died when he was 8, and how witnessing his mother’s attempted suicide made him know he could survive anything.  You can now listen to Past...

Can adversity ever be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers? Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, discusses her two near-death experiences and the battles with depression and self-harm that gave her the resilience for politics.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy...

Can adversity ever  be an advantage? Can early trauma shape future success? Times’ columnists, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson interview notable people about the challenges they faced in their lives. What impact did these have on their identities and on their careers. In his fifties, the Nobel Prize winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse made a shocking discovery that revealed that his childhood was based on secrets and lies. No-one in his family was who he thought they were. Paul...