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. Click here to get in touch. 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 Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails.

Episodes

Natalie Imbruglia - ‘I love the wisdom of being in my 50s’

June 10, 2026 • 52 mins

*triggers: This episode includes discussion of depression and mental health crises. In 1997 Natalie Imbruglia released her first single, Torn, which sold more than 4 million physical copies worldwide. In her homeland of Australia, it became the most played song on the radio, being played an average of 75 times a day over the two decades following its release. She landed a part in Neighbours in 1985, when she was just 16 years o...

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Hannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’

June 3, 2026 • 61 mins

Hannah Murray found fame when she was just 17, playing the self-destructive Cassie in E4’s Skins. She juggled an English degree at Cambridge University alongside playing Gilly in HBO’s Game Of Thrones and went on to film Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. When the physical and mental stress required from these roles began to take its toll, Murray sought treatment from a reiki healer. From there, her life began to sp...

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Emily Atack - ‘I’ve forgiven people for unforgivable things’

May 27, 2026 • 60 mins

*triggers: contains description of physical assault Emily Atack left school at 16, confident she wouldn’t need a GCSE for what she wanted to do: act. It turns out, she was correct. She starred as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the smash-hit comedy The Inbetweeners when she was just 17 and is currently on our screens as Sarah Stratton in Disney+’s hit drama Rivals, as well as co-hosting a new ITV game show, Nobody’s ...

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Katherine Parkinson – ‘I’m Still Learning How to Be Me’

May 20, 2026 • 48 mins

*triggers: contains description of physical assault Katherine Parkinson is the two‑time BAFTA‑winning actor beloved for The IT Crowd, Doc Martin, Humans and most recently, Rivals, the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation that became an international Emmy winner. Fresh from her latest BAFTA win, she joins Elizabeth to reflect on the unexpected turns that shaped her life – from Surbiton to Oxford, from comedy to chaos, and from self...

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Emilia Clarke - ‘I’m A Bad Celebrity’

May 13, 2026 • 54 mins

Emilia Clarke is the Emmy‑nominated actor who became a global cultural icon as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, a role that catapulted her from fresh drama‑school graduate to one of the most recognisable faces on the planet. Since then she’s starred in everything from Me Before You to Solo: A Star Wars Story, won acclaim on the West End and now leads Ponies, a Cold War spy thriller she also produces. In this episode, w...

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Aline Brosh McKenna - The Rom Com Queen Who Wrote The Devil Wears Prada

May 6, 2026 • 51 mins

Aline Brosh McKenna is the brilliant writer behind some of the most iconic films and TV of our time: The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now, she’s back with The Devil Wears Prada 2. Before Hollywood, Aline studied literature at Harvard and worked as a freelance magazine writer in New York. She was 38 when everything changed with the release of The Devil Wears Prada - and she’s bee...

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Richard Gadd - On Shame, Sexuality and Success

April 29, 2026 • 49 mins

Richard Gadd is the creative talent behind Baby Reindeer - the Netflix show which won six Primetime Emmys, two Golden Globes and garnered 84.5 million views within its first 45 days. Gadd began in stand-up, and by 2016 he’d won a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. His work became known for its compulsive storytelling, blending dark comedy with a kind of philosophical kink for asking audiences the most uncomfortable qu...

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Rita Wilson - ‘I’m 69. I’m At My Most Unfiltered.’

April 22, 2026 • 51 mins

The acclaimed actor, singer and producer was born in Los Angeles to a Greek mother and a Bulgarian father who emigrated to the United States in 1949. You might know her from early roles like Bosom Buddies, where she met her future husband Tom Hanks, and from standout turns in films including Runaway Bride, It's Complicated and her unforgettable scene-stealing in Sleepless in Seattle. Behind the camera, she helped bring My Big Fa...

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Emma Grede - ‘Ambition Is Something I Am Entitled to’

April 15, 2026 • 54 mins

Today’s guest is a female billionaire: the co-founder and CEO of the Good American inclusive fashion brand and a founding partner of SKIMS, the shapewear and loungewear company. Emma Grede’s close working partnerships with the Kardashian family have led her to become an advocate for empowering women through business. Now, she’s publishing her first book, Start With Yourself, in which she explores everything from...

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Sophie Habboo - I Wish I Had More Boundaries

April 8, 2026 • 47 mins

This week we are joined by podcasting royalty, Sophie Habboo! Habboo found fame on Made In Chelsea, E4’s structured-reality show following the lives of affluent 20-something Londoners where she met fellow cast-mate Jamie Laing in 2017. The two began dating - and then launched a media empire. Their podcast, NearlyWeds was an instant hit and was rebranded as NewlyWeds when they got married in 2023. Habboo now runs the huge...

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Elizabeth's New Show: History’s Greatest Fails

April 7, 2026 • 33 mins

In this debut preview episode of History’s Greatest Fails, Elizabeth Day and Dan Jones argue that the story of Richard’s rise and fall (and rise again) is much more modern that you’d first believe. Not least because of the reality-TV-style discovery of his remains under a Leicester council car park in 2022. To listen to the full mini-series, head to This is History: History’s Greatest Fails wherever yo...

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Amy Jackson Westwick - I Was A Magnet For Narcissists

April 1, 2026 • 55 mins

Amy Jackson Westwick is a major Bollywood film star with some 14 million followers on social media. Yet she grew up in a working class family in Liverpool. So how did a teenager from Merseyside become one of the most recognisable British actors working in Bollywood? Today on How To Fail, she tells us her story. We discuss growing up too fast, how she broke free from a cycle of narcissistic relationships and how she now manages...

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ON FINDING THE ONE… With Miranda Hart, Celeste Barber and Glennon Doyle

March 29, 2026 • 24 mins

This is a special episode, sponsored by Bumble, taking a look at all the different ways we can meet someone: whether you meet young, in your 50s, or post-divorce. The three women in this episode (and four if you count me!) - are here to show us that finding the love of your life isn’t always straight-forwards, or linear. First up, you'll hear from the brilliant and hilarious Miranda Hart, who got married when she was 51, an...

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Chris Appleton - ‘I Felt Shame Before I Felt Love’

March 25, 2026 • 45 mins

Celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton has a slew of devoted clients including Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Martha Stewart, as well as millions of Instagram followers and a regular slot offering advice on The Drew Barrymore Show. His memoir, Your Roots Don’t Define You, is a New York Times bestseller. But growing up was hard on Appleton: he was the middle of five children and struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia at school....

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Mel Schilling - ‘She was the embodiment of vibrant life’

March 24, 2026 • 79 mins

I never thought I would have to write these words, but here we are. In the wake of my dear friend’s passing, I wanted to reflect on the life of one of the most radiant people I’ve ever met: Mel Schilling. I never quite understood the truth of the phrase ‘she lights up a room’ until I met Mel. It wasn’t just the sparkling smile or the sequins she loved wearing or the glittery eyeshadow; it was deeper th...

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ON STARTING OVER AFTER GRIEF… With Stanley Tucci and Geri Halliwell-Horner

March 22, 2026 • 20 mins

Starting over can feel heartbreaking and overwhelming, especially after losing a loved one, and the idea of rebuilding a life can seem impossible. In this episode, Stanley and Geri show us that sometimes moving forward isn’t about letting go of the past, but learning to carry it with you in a way that allows life to continue. Stanley Tucci speaks with brave honesty about the death of his first wife, Kate – the guilt h...

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Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton - ‘We were young and working-class. We were dismissed.’

March 18, 2026 • 60 mins

Natasha Hamilton was 16 when she signed a record deal with the girl band, Atomic Kitten. The group went on to sell over 10 million records and achieve three UK Number One singles including Whole Again and The Tide Is High. But the pressures of fame affected her mental health and made her feel isolated and judged. After five years and the birth of her first son, Hamilton quit the band. Today, Hamilton tells that story - the one ...

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ON MOTHERHOOD… with Jessie Ware and Francesca Segal

March 15, 2026 • 19 mins

Motherhood is often portrayed purely as a joyful, magical chapter of life – and while it certainly can be – we rarely speak openly about the hard, exhausting and deeply challenging truths. In this episode, singer‑songwriter Jessie Ware reflects on becoming a parent while building a career in the public eye. She talks about the pressure she felt to prove she could do everything at once, the exhaustion that followed and ...

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Rosamund Pike - ‘Failure Is Pretending To Be Someone You’re Not’

March 11, 2026 • 57 mins

Rosamund Pike! What a woman. Famed for her portrayals of razor-sharp, morally complex and deliciously unpredictable characters, she brings that same intriguing duality to this conversation. Thoughtful and quietly rebellious, she reflects on a career that has defied neat narratives from the very beginning. After taking a year out from studying English at University of Oxford to pursue acting, she graduated and stepped straight into...

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SPECIAL EP: On Fertility and Finding Your Family… with Rebecca Coxon

March 9, 2026 • 41 mins

In this one‑off special, Elizabeth sits down with author Rebecca Coxon to discuss family, fertility and the secrets that have shaped her life: after uploading her DNA to an ancestry site, Rebecca discovered that the man who raised her was not her biological father – a revelation that sent her on a remarkable search for the truth about her origins. Her memoir Inconceivable launches Elizabeth’s new imprint, Big Day Books...

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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Natalie Imbruglia - ‘I love the wisdom of being in my 50s’

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Hannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’

Emily Atack - ‘I’ve forgiven people for unforgivable things’

Katherine Parkinson – ‘I’m Still Learning How to Be Me’

Emilia Clarke - ‘I’m A Bad Celebrity’

Aline Brosh McKenna - The Rom Com Queen Who Wrote The Devil Wears Prada

Richard Gadd - On Shame, Sexuality and Success

Rita Wilson - ‘I’m 69. I’m At My Most Unfiltered.’

Emma Grede - ‘Ambition Is Something I Am Entitled to’

Sophie Habboo - I Wish I Had More Boundaries

Elizabeth's New Show: History’s Greatest Fails

Amy Jackson Westwick - I Was A Magnet For Narcissists

ON FINDING THE ONE… With Miranda Hart, Celeste Barber and Glennon Doyle

Chris Appleton - ‘I Felt Shame Before I Felt Love’

Mel Schilling - ‘She was the embodiment of vibrant life’

ON STARTING OVER AFTER GRIEF… With Stanley Tucci and Geri Halliwell-Horner

Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton - ‘We were young and working-class. We were dismissed.’

ON MOTHERHOOD… with Jessie Ware and Francesca Segal

Rosamund Pike - ‘Failure Is Pretending To Be Someone You’re Not’

SPECIAL EP: On Fertility and Finding Your Family… with Rebecca Coxon

Popular Podcasts

Natalie Imbruglia - ‘I love the wisdom of being in my 50s’

Hannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’