How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is a podcast that celebrates the things in life that haven’t gone right and what we might learn from them along the way. Every week, Elizabeth’s guest explores three failures, and what these failures have taught them about how to grow and succeed, better. We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with Elizabeth to share your failures, problems or questions - anonymously or otherwise. She'll go through these each week with the help of her very special guests. And remember: a fail shared is a fail halved. https://forms.sonymusicfans.com/campaign/how-to-fail-uk-2023/ An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Original Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Episodes

April 30, 2025 53 mins
My guest today has been an integral part of my feminist awakening. Celeste Barber’s instagram posts - which parody the unattainable standards of the fashion and beauty industry - are both hilarious and revolutionary. Her work has helped a generation of women to feel better about their bodies - and made her a star in the process. (Plus she’s been blocked by a few celebrities. Lol.) Barber began her account in 2015 as a jobbing acto...
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This episode of How To Fail was recorded in front of a live audience at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy theatre. Emma Dabiri is a broadcaster, historian, and bestselling author whose work delves into the complexities of identity, culture, and race through art history and current affairs. She's now written a number of books - culture shifting works which are a radical re-imagining of what we consider to be beauty. Her first book was an...
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This episode of How To Fail was recorded in front of a live audience at London’s Barbican Theatre. Sally Phillips has appeared in a string of the most influential and hilarious comedy series of all time - from Smack The Pony, Miranda, The Thick of It and Veep. Not forgetting, of course, her star turn as Bridget Jones’s best friend, Shazza, in the hugely popular movie franchise.  Alongside her professional success, Phillips has a...
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Over on Failing with Friends this week, Mae Martin talks about self-care, how to stop pushing people away and we tackle a listener’s failure to be messy in their twenties. To hear Mae Martin's brilliant advice, join our community of subscribers: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Canadian comedian, writer, producer and singer/songwriter Mae Martin joins Elizabeth to talk about making music, the importance of pronouns a...
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Over on Failing with Friends this week, JVN and I get into relationship therapy and the perfect length of shorts on a man. To hear JVN tackling your failures, join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Jonathan Van Ness, one fifth of Netflix’s hit show Queer Eye,  three-times New York Times bestseller, podcaster, business magnate and all-round icon is on the pod this week. JVN joins us t...
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For this bonus episode, Elizabeth and Mel open up the post bag to answer the burning questions YOU have when it comes to dating… And, let’s just say, we cover A LOT of ground. After you’ve listened, you can get all the resources and worksheets discussed at www.thepodclass.co.uk Mel and Elizabeth are on a mission to revolutionise the world of dating! We want to make it a safe, fun and rewarding experience for everyone. If you’...
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Over on Failing with Friends - Sam Ryder talks about panic attacks, how to forgive, and (in a How To Fail first) why he likes to cut his toenails outdoors. To hear Sam tackling your failures join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Sam Ryder is a British singer-songwriter who started posting covers on TikTok during the pandemic that ended up catching the eye of Sia, Elton John and Just...
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For the final episode of How To Date (sob!) Mel and Elizabeth look at the most important relationships any of us can have in our lives: the one with ourselves.  We unpack what this means in practical terms. How do we nurture a healthy sense of self-respect - and why can this sometimes feel so challenging? How can we ensure interdependence rather than co-dependence? We explore why being clear about your own worth is a fundamental...
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Olivia Attwood first appeared on our TV screens in 2017 as a contestant in the third series of Love Island, and instantly became a star due to her dry humour and gobby relatability. You might also know her as a regular panellist on Loose Women or from her hit documentaries for ITV. Last year, she launched her podcast, Olivia Attwood’s So Wrong It’s Right, which promptly went to Number 1 in the UK charts. On today’s episode, we talk...
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Elizabeth and Mel face one of the most challenging parts of dating: heartbreak and rejection. We are joined by life coach and author Michelle Elman who went through a devastating, public break-up after being notified via an Instagram DM that  her fiance of 24-hours had been cheating on her. Michelle, Mel and Elizabeth explore the impact an experience like this can have and how best to cope with it. We discuss surviving rejection...
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To hear more of Erin offering advice on listener failures, join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Erin Doherty’s big break came playing Princess Anne in The Crown. She’s now back on our screens as Mary Carr, the leader of a real-life Victorian female crime gang, in A Thousand Blows (written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight). Erin talks about acting rejections, struggling with ...
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Things are going well… So Elizabeth and Mel are taking it to the next level where they are getting just that little bit more serious. In this episode, Mel and Elizabeth look at exclusivity and commitment and what it takes to build a strong foundation for a lasting relationship. Plus: how a partner’s past plays into your future together. After you’ve listened, you can get all the resources and worksheets discussed at www.thepo...
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Friendship advice: ‘Are you a radiator or a drain?’ To hear more from Gugu tackling your failures join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an actor who firmly resists typecasting: her West End debut was as Ophelia in Hamlet; while on-screen she has tackled everything from Belle, to a victim of sexual assault in the hit drama The Morning Show. Her co-stars have includ...
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March 3, 2025 59 mins
Mel and Elizabeth look at the subtle (and not-so-subtle) signs that can help us understand whether a potential partner is right for us. That’s right, we’re exploring the red flags that should have us running for the hills, the green flags that signpost a healthy relationship and the amber or pink ones that lie somewhere in-between. We are joined by an expert in the field - social worker and bestselling author, LalalaLetMeExplain -...
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Kate Hudson’s comedic turn in How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days made that movie one of the greatest romantic comedies of the noughties, and her performances in everything from Bride Wars to Glass Onion have each been totally scene-stealing. This month, she stars in Running Point, a new Netflix comedy from Mindy Kaling, and she has just released her first album, Glorious. Her failures are open, honest and so very wise. Have something...
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The first date has gone well for Elizabeth and Mel (the chemistry was sizzling, quite frankly) so now we turn our attention to the murky waters of early-stage communication in dating.  Psychotherapist, author and podcaster Emma Reed-Turrell joins Elizabeth and Mel this week to break down how to communicate with clarity and kindness, without ever losing our power. We explore why self-esteem plays a crucial role in shaping the way...
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Simon Callow is a critically acclaimed actor, director, author and star of classic movies such as Room with a View, Shakespeare in Love and Howards End. However, it’s his part as Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral that many took to their hearts. Callow’s failures include a childhood rejection that still haunts him, a play he directed which was savaged by the critics, painting and how he was ‘very annoyed’ not to get the movie p...
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February 17, 2025 54 mins
Mel and Elizabeth continue their dating journey and today, we’ve reached one of the most nerve-wracking, yet potentially thrilling, milestones: the first date.  Our guest is the fabulous Ryan Lanji, cultural producer, winner of Netflix’s Big Flower Fight and all-round icon. Ryan joins us to break down everything from the lead-up to the date, how to navigate the date itself and the immediate aftermath, as well as dating in the qu...
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Jessel Taank is the first South Asian housewife and the breakout star of her debut season of The Real Housewives of New York in 2023. In this episode we speak openly about the challenges of conceiving her twin sons through IVF and the misplaced shame she felt at not being able to have children naturally. Her failures include failing to overcome Indian beauty ideals, a failure to balance motherhood with personal ambition, and a f...
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February 10, 2025 53 mins
Elizabeth and Mel get into the exciting, terrifying and sometimes overwhelming world of how on earth to meet someone. We discuss online dating and IRL encounters and how to navigate it all without losing our self-esteem. Our guest this week is the brilliant Sharmaine Lovegrove, whom many of you might already know as one of the hosts of our previous podclass, How To Write A Book. Sharmaine went through a marital separation in her...
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