Young Again

Kirsty Young asks Paralympic legend Tanni Grey-Thompson what advice she would give her younger self.

With 11 Paralympic gold medals and six London Marathon victories, Grey-Thompson reflects on a childhood in Wales, her extraordinary athletics career and her transition to becoming a campaigner and crossbench peer. She discusses the mindset of a champion, the importance of forward-looking goals, and her advocacy for disability rights.

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Kirsty Young asks BAFTA-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor what advice he would give his younger self.

Known for his iconic performances in 12 Years a Slave and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ejiofor reflects on a tragedy that shaped his childhood, being cast by Steven Spielberg when he was just 19, and making the move into directing. He also discusses the inspiration he found in the works of Shakespeare and learning to stop being a per...

Kirsty Young asks the comedian Sara Pascoe what advice she would give her younger self.

Pascoe found fame soon after moving from acting to stand up comedy in 2007. She has since packed out national tours, starred panel shows and sitcoms, and written three books including her acclaimed recent novel, Weirdo. She discusses drinking on stage, declaring bankruptcy, her first gig in front of just 12 people, becoming a mum in her forties a...

Kirsty Young asks the rock star Pete Doherty what advice he would give his younger self.

Doherty became famous in the 2000s with The Libertines, the band he formed and fronted alongside fellow singer and guitarist Carl Barât. He became notorious as his own drug addictions led to break ups with the band and numerous arrests. He reflects on a childhood spent moving around the world following his father's postings in the British Army, ...

Kirsty Young asks food writer Nigel Slater what advice he would give his younger self.

Nigel Slater began his career working in kitchens across the UK before becoming a food writer, initially for Marie Claire magazine. He has written a regular food column for The Observer newspaper for over three decades in which time he has also written numerous cookbooks. His 2003 autobiography, Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, detailed a diffi...

Kirsty Young asks the writer and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell what advice he would give his younger self.

Gladwell's writing, in books such as The Tipping Point and Outliers, successfully distil complex ideas for a mass audience, and he has worked as a staff writer for The New Yorker. His podcasts include Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood. Gladwell recalls his childhood in a largely Mennon...

Kirsty Young asks the author Irvine Welsh what advice he would give his younger self.

Welsh became a literary sensation when his first novel, Trainspotting, was published in 1993. The film adaptation that followed made him a star. But before that he'd gone from being a punk in London to a turn into administrative work for his local council, via a brush with heroin addiction. He looks back at his childhood in Edinburgh, his parents' ...

Kirsty Young asks the activist and writer Gloria Steinem what advice she would give her younger self.

Through the last seven decades, Steinem has been a singular voice and influential thinker for the causes of feminism and equality in the USA. She discusses her breakthrough as a young journalist going undercover as a Playboy Bunny, founding the hugely successful feminist magazine Ms., and her personal stake in the fight for the lega...

Kirsty Young asks comedian and actor Miranda Hart what advice she would give her younger self.

A decade ago Hart was starring in her own hit BBC sitcom, Miranda, and selling out stadium tours. But then she suffered a collapse and was forced into a career break. She discusses how years of low level illness built up to a major health crisis, and how an overdue diagnosis and writing her new book helped on her journey back towards fitne...

Kirsty Young asks physician Gabor Maté what advice he would give his younger self.

Maté was born to Jewish parents in terrible circumstances in Hungary in 1943. His grandparents were killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp, his father was in forced labour and his mother was suffering from jaundice. He reveals how his own understanding of the long-term affects of childhood trauma connects to this personal history. He also discusse...

Kirsty Young asks actor Minnie Driver what advice she would give her younger self.

Driver has fashioned a 30-year career in the entertainment industry since becoming a Hollywood star in movies including Circle of Friends and Grosse Pointe Blank. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Good Will Hunting, and she revisits that famous Oscar night with Kirsty. Driver also discusses her unconventional childhood, being left...

Kirsty Young talks to the author Philip Pullman about what he’s learned from his life so far. Pullman is the acclaimed novelist behind global bestsellers like His Dark Materials. He recounts the story of his own childhood, how he still contemplates the mystery of his father’s death, and why he owes his literary success to hard work.

If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you tell them? In Young Again Ki...

Kirsty Young talks to the pop star Melanie Brown about what she’s learned from her life so far.

Mel B is the girl from Leeds who became a global superstar with the Spice Girls. Glamour, fortune, drugs, violence, redemption and healing, her life has an air of make believe - except, of course, she has actually lived it.

If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you tell them? In Young Again Kirsty takes her...

Kirsty Young talks to the former spin doctor Alastair Campbell about what he’s learned from his life so far. From the bagpipes to New Labour, geopolitics to Burnley FC, Alastair Campbell is passionate about his interests and deeply tribal in his allegiances. But does he ever allow these passions to cloud his judgement? Having been a key figure in Tony Blair’s government and now the co-host of a hit podcast, Alastair explores how ev...

Kirsty Young talks to the artist Sir Grayson Perry about what he’s learned from his life so far. Once cross-dressing punk rebel, now ennobled member of the British establishment, Grayson Perry’s extraordinary life has given him plenty of material to inspire his art. He reflects on how his traumatic childhood resulted in him retreating into a rich fantasy world and considers whether he would have been given the freedom to explore it...

Kirsty Young talks to philanthropist Melinda French Gates about what she’s learned from her life so far. A computer scientist by training, she dated her boss and became one half of one of the world’s most famous power couples. But as she travelled a road paved with gold, French Gates describes the tough lessons she learned along the way, the danger of untrustworthy acquaintances and how she had to dig deep to not lose herself in th...

Kirsty Young talks to the actor Peter Capaldi about what he’s learned from his life so far. Celebrated for iconic TV roles as Doctor Who and as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It, Capaldi’s 40-year career also includes an Oscar in 1995 for work behind the camera. He reflects on his journey from a Glasgow tenement block, how he owes his career to a lot of luck and why early failures have made him a better actor.

If you could have a c...