Desperately Seeking Wisdom
This is a podcast where well-known people talk about what they’ve learned from life - particularly the tough times. Guests have come from the worlds of entertainment, politics, business and journalism, including: Richard Curtis, George Alagiah, Amber Rudd, the Rev. Richard Coles, Lyse Doucet and David Baddiel. It’s a chance to hear their wisdom - and to think about how it might apply to your life…After the Brexit vote, Craig Oliver's high-powered job and privileged position at the heart of the British government came to an abrupt end.In the aftermath of that bruising battle, he despaired at how divided society had become, but also came to realise something fundamental was missing from his own life. Outwardly he was still achieving; but he realised he'd never felt comfortable in his own skin.Life had always felt more of a grind than a gift – he'd always believed that if he only worked harder, he'd find fulfilment. Now he realised that wasn't the case. Like many others, he asked himself why he'd always had a constant feeling of unease and discontent?He wondered what wise people had to say about how we can live better. Craig decided to try a different path to the one he'd travelled before, reading and listening to many people. Some had little to offer, but he found many revelatory.Throughout this podcast series, Craig talks to some extraordinary people about the wisdom they've been able to take from the ups and downs of life - including traumas and triumphs - and finds out what they believe will help others gain peace of mind and heart.
Episodes
Just after we completed the third season a few months ago, Craig began began talking to Jonathan Scott Lee. In 2023, Jonathan's daughter, Caitlyn, took her own life at the exclusive Wickham Abbey School. Her tragic death was covered widely in the media and forced him to confront some hard questions about why Caitlyn did what she did.
As a regular listener to the series, Jonath...
In part two of our conversation, we talk about what Tanni has learnt from moving from being a elite athlete to working in the House of Lords...as well as the wisdom her father gave her, when he told her to think of herself as a 'Venn Diagram'.
This is the last episode of our current season. All of our epis...
In part one of our conversation, we discuss where her positive attitude comes from and explore how she’s achieved such remarkable success throughout her life. We discuss how she has learnt not to react to the steady strea...
In part two of our conversation, Sir Trevor talks in more detail about some of the defining moments of his career, including his reaction to hearing Nelson Mandela’s wisdom when he was released after nearly three full decades in prison.
This episode is produced by Red Bicycle.
He rose from a poor childhood in Trinidad, to cover the biggest stories of our times - and became one of the most famous people in Britain while he was at it. It’s a unique story and in part one of our conversation we talk to Sir Trevor about what his childhood taught him and how an aspirational family environment prepared him for an extra...
In the last couple of years we have had many inspiring conversations with people including Richard Curtis, the late George Alagiah, Amber Rudd, Sian Williams, David Baddiel and many more. You can listen to all of these episodes on our website - www.desperatelyseekingwisdom.com - or whereever you get your podcasts.
But to give y...
Robi’s life was changed forever when her beloved son David was killed by a Palestinian sniper, twenty years ago. Her response was to reject violence and the idea of revenge and...
We recorded Matt's first chat on the series less than a year ago and when we did Matt was about to get married. But soon after the happy day, he was diagnosed with cancer - a spine tumour that required major surgery towards the end of 2023.
A few months on, Matt want...
We recorded Matt's first chat on the series less than a year ago and when we did Matt was about to get married. But soon after the happy day, he was diagnosed with cancer - a spine tumour that required major surgery towards the end of 2023.
That's why this week we're ...
In part two of our conversation, we discuss the horrific cycling accident that James suffered which changed his life forever - how he coped with it and what he's learnt from it. We also discuss his constant desire to tackle new challenges and what that says about who he is.
This episode was produced by Red Bicycle.
He’s faced some extraordinary highs and devastating lows – including being left brain-damaged after being hit by a truck travelling at 65mph.
In part one of our conversation, we discuss how how he bounced back from the agony of having to miss his first Olympics due to illness and was able to use that pain to propel him to win gold four y...
In this part, Clive talks about what he's learnt through his life as a journalist, reporting on some of the most extreme global stories of recent times. Clive also reflects on ho...
In part one of this wide-ranging conversation, he talks about the wisdom behind the title of his bestselling book, 'Everything is Everything'. It means things are more likely to be well if you have a more positive atti...
Rory’s career has seen him write and star in iconic shows like Spitting Image, Whose Line Is It Anyway and Mock the Week, as well as his long-running series Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
This is part two of our conversation during which we talk about what ...
Rory’s career has seen him write and star in iconic shows like Spitting Image, Whose Line Is It Anyway and Mock the Week, as well as his long-running series Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
This is part one of our conversation, during which we talk about many ...
His critically acclaimed plays and scripts – including Ink, Sherwood, Brexit: the Uncivil War, and Dear England, have captured the imagination of critics and audiences. He often takes pivotal moments in our history to show how and why we’ve ended up where we are now.
In an open and frank conversation, James talks about how therapy helped him with workaholism and a...
His critically acclaimed plays and scripts – including Ink, Sherwood, Brexit: the Uncivil War, and Dear England, have captured the imagination of critics and audiences. He often takes pivotal moments in our history to show how and why we’ve ended up where we are now.
In this part, James talks about how he believes story-telling is important for individuals and soc...
More recently she’s become one of the lead presenters of the highly rated podcast, The News Agents.
In this part we find out how challenging people sometimes requi...
More recently she’s become one of the lead presenters of the highly rated podcast, The News Agents.
During our conversation in this part, we discuss Emily's choldh...
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