app_store_button

google_play_button

DK - Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Nyd den ubegrænsede adgang til tusindvis af spændende e- og lydbøger - helt gratis

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment

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

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

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 the global spotlight as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. From there came a string of unforgettable movies: Pride & Prejudice, Jack Reacher, A Private War and Saltburn. Her chilling performance in Gone Girl earned her an Oscar nomination and she took home a Golden Globe for I Care a Lot. In 2025, she returned to the stage for the first time in 15 years in the National Theatre’s production of Inter Alia.

In this episode, she talks about her ‘failure’ to get married, the realities of raising two sons and her decision not to read a single review of her work for the past 25 years. Plus why she’s ‘constantly in battle’ with her own fear, her failure to be an action movie hero, her miserable attempt to cook a rabbit and whether or not she’s ‘cool’.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Intro

03:18 No reviews rule

06:57 Early perfectionism and stage craft

07:58 Inter Alia and modern womanhood

10:09 Luminate meditation mask

12:42 Failure to learn Chinese

19:09 Onstage mishaps and acting roles

28:59 What Cool Really Means

29:26 Cool Girl vs Amy

32:21 Failing at Being An Action Star

36:52 Failure to Get Married

45:17 Mothering Two Boys

47:28 Smells and Teen Hygiene

48:44 Rabbit Dinner and Being Enough

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

Failure is usually pretending to be someone you’re not. 

I don’t think you ever regret having a big love affair - even if goes to shit. 

I’m quite a coward. I like to play brave people because I’m not. I’m constantly in battle with my own fear. 

Cool means that you can go your own way. You don't give too many, f***s... you can think originally. 

 I didn’t want to be the sex symbol.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Inter Alia is on at the Wyndham’s Theatre: 19 March - 20 June 2026 

Rosamund’s Meditation App is: www.lumenate.co 

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Glennon Doyle - on wildness, the end of people-pleasing and why we can all do hard things swap.fm/l/Nd3ZzVy73FXUMupJ4i1q 

Phoebe Waller Bridge - on creative control, perfectionism and the fear of being misunderstood swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Elizabeth and Rosamund answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

_________________________________________________________________________

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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. Rebecca writes with clarity and compassion about being a donor‑conceived IVF triplet, later donating her own eggs and facing fertility treatment herself – a story of family secrets, shame, resilience and deep love.

You don’t need personal experience of IVF or DNA surprises to be moved by this conversation. Rebecca is thoughtful, emotionally perceptive and quietly courageous. She speaks about having her identity reshaped overnight, the coexistence of gratitude and grief, and the invisible threads that bind us across generations.

This is a discussion about truth, belonging and the ethics and emotions of creating new life – and about redefining family not by biology alone, but through love, choice and understanding.

A deeply honest, intimate and ultimately hopeful discussion – and a very special moment for How to Fail.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Intro

01:15 Donor Conceived Truth

02:52 Test Results Moment

05:26 Endometriosis Reality

07:57 Choosing Egg Donation

08:36 US Donor Market

10:26 Recipient Letter Impact

13:58 Dating And Time Pressure

15:53 James And IVF Collapse

20:50 Meeting Donor Rodney

30:47 Pregnancy After Book

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

The experience of watching your friends have babies. Every milestone in their lives feels like a splinter in mine.

I'm still on the shoreline waiting for my time, and I'm standing alongside people who are struggling." — Rebecca describes the mindset she had while finishing her book, just before discovering she was pregnant.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Rebecca’s new book Inconceivable is available to buy now: www.bigdaybooks.co.uk/inconceivable 

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

_________________________________________________________________________

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Toni Laites made history last year as the first American to win Love Island, but her journey to the villa was anything but ordinary.

Discovered in Las Vegas working as a cabana girl by the show’s creative director, Toni was persuaded to fly 6,000 miles to Mallorca. The rest, as they say, is history.

But you don’t need to be a Love Island superfan to love this episode. Toni is funny, emotionally intelligent and disarmingly honest. She opens up about living with the chronic illness Ulcerative Colitis, her pattern of choosing the wrong men in the past, working through anxious attachment and the hard-won strength it takes to forgive yourself. 

This is a conversation about resilience, self-awareness and what it really means to back yourself - even when the odds (and the public vote) are against you.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

03:18 Vegas Sales to Villa Casting

05:36 Saying Yes to Love Island

07:21 Life Inside the Villa

08:33 Votes, Outcasts and Forgiveness

10:57 The Big Three Friendship

14:18 Health Scare and Ulcerative Colitis

28:10 Tourist In London

28:43 Toxic Dating Patterns

32:22 Pressure On Her Relationship

34:57 Fame And Social Media

37:34 Family And Attachment

44:28 Self Criticism And Hate

49:44 Plan For The Future

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

There is value in doing nothing and taking a step back and waiting for good things to come.

I always say not all disabilities are visible and people don't really understand what that's like.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

📚 WANT MORE?

Olivia Attwood - on heartbreak, public scrutiny and building a successful career after Love Island.

Jessel Taank - on infertility, identity and The Real Housewives of New York.

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Elizabeth and Toni answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Toni Laites - Love Island Healed My Toxic Dating Patterns

Ambition can be a powerful force: it propels us forward, sharpens our focus and pushes us to dream bigger. But it can also whisper that we are only as good as our latest achievement - and these two brilliant former How to Fail guests explore what it really means to live a driven life.

Gillian Anderson reflects on her lifelong drive to prove herself, the guilt she feels when stepping back from work and the tension between motherhood and a demanding career. 

Munroe Bergdorf shares how rejection and gatekeeping in fashion shaped her ambition. Once treated as a token gesture, she has become a leading voice for representation, speaking openly about resilience, self‑worth and creating space for others to follow.

An episode about striving and self‑belief – and about whether ambition truly supports us, or whether we end up chasing it at our own expense. 

Listen to Gillian’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/7NyZMzkfVOpGyDtlB6k0 

Listen to Munroe’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/tu153m3gHYreWBZSrcY1 

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ 

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabday

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ON AMBITION… With Gillian Anderson and Munroe Bergdorf

Few filmmakers have a style as bold, romantic and unmistakable as Baz Luhrmann. From his breakout debut Strictly Ballroom to the glittering spectacle of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and the fever-dream energy of Elvis, Luhrmann has built a career on transforming familiar stories into cinematic events.

In this episode, he takes us inside one of his most iconic creative decisions: the unforgettable fish tank scene in his 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet - and reveals how that moment came to life.

We also explore his latest project, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a return to Elvis Presley through newly uncovered footage from the legendary Las Vegas residency.

Beyond the films, Luhrmann reflects on the journey that shaped him. Raised in Herons Creek, a tiny rural town in New South Wales, Australia, he grew up surrounded by performance and storytelling: his father ran a quirky petrol station and cinema, while his mother owned a dress shop and taught ballroom dancing. We discuss the setbacks that tested him, his unconventional audition process, his enduring creative partnership with his wife and the viral TikTok moment that sent the internet into a frenzy.

I hope you enjoy this candid, wide-ranging conversation with one of modern cinema’s great showmen.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

02:28 Creativity as Self‑Medication

05:52 Why Elvis?

09:22 The Romeo + Juliet Fish Tank Origin Story

11:01 Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen: The Accidental Hit

13:56 Failure #1: Losing Instincts, Depression and Finding the Way Back

26:16 Casting Without Auditions: Baz’s Workshop Method

27:58 Creating a Fear-Free Room 

28:47 The Big Break That Became a Public Flop

30:56 Rebounding with Strictly Ballroom 

32:19 Choosing Collaborators

33:36 Marriage and Deep Trust

35:42 Criticism and Staying Humble (Plus the Viral TikTok Moment)

40:38 Future-Focused Filmmaking & Final Reflections

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

I see my job as keeping fear out of the room. I take the fear on in the morning when I get up.

I was embarrassed about being this geek from a small country town... I was ashamed that I liked people - and that just didn't seem cool enough.

I always made my films for the future, not to be sort of hip in the moment... I want them to have a universality and I want them to move through time and space.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is in cinemas now 

THAT TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@god_worthy/video/7374740069866884368?lang=en 

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

📚 WANT MORE?

Stanley Tucci - On grief, cancer…and failing to swim swap.fm/l/WCW054IGNZnSnTzEXPTN 

Phoebe Waller-Bridge - On creative risk-taking, ambition and what happens after a cultural phenomenon like Fleabag swap.fm/l/gTCOCJUmXX9t22mTABSa 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Elizabeth and Baz answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Baz Luhrmann - ‘I self-medicate with creativity’

Welcome back to this How to Fail special where we revisit conversations from the archive to highlight particular themes and tap into the wisdom they contain. 

This week we look at two guests who have learned self acceptance: first, we hear from actress and global icon Pamela Anderson. She reflects on the toll that being in the public eye had on her body image and the long road to self-acceptance. 

Rylan Clark then takes us back to his childhood, where he opens up about growing up feeling different, navigating his sexuality and surviving bullying, which left him with a fractured skull. Rylan’s resilience is a reminder that truly owning who we are not only empowers us, but also shapes the individuals we are meant to become. 

I hope this episode provides understanding, solidarity and light to anyone who may be struggling or supporting someone they love.

Listen to Pamela Anderson’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/zmy4u62s9lEvccugjBY6 

Listen to Rylan Clark’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/GHulEMW6rrAc9o5qEv5O 

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Self Esteem Guidance: www.supportline.org.uk/problems/self-esteem-and-self-confidence

Mental Health Charity: www.mind.org.uk

Elizabeth’s Substack: theelizabethday.substack.com

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabday

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ON SELF ACCEPTANCE... With Pamela Anderson and Rylan Clark

This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia. Listener discretion advised. 

This might be one of the most powerful conversations I’ve ever had on How To Fail. I don’t say that lightly - I’ve had some amazing guests - but there’s something about how Jennette puts the female experience into words that I find truly electrifying. 

Raised Mormon in Orange County, Jennette had a difficult, abusive childhood which she chronicled with unflinching honesty in her 2022 memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died - a book that spent more than 90 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Her new novel, Half His Age, follows 17-year-old Waldo as she embarks on an affair with her 40-year-old creative writing teacher. It’s a startling, powerful story about discomfort, agency and self-determination and it became a Sunday Times Number One bestseller in its first week!

In this episode, we talk about her upbringing, her experience of disordered eating, the writing process and the grounding partner she’s been with for nine years (who I was lucky enough to meet). Plus: setting boundaries, finding your voice, rage, recovery and autonomy.

Recorded in our London studio.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Introduction

03:27 Speaking Up and Setting Boundaries

04:15 Reception of 'Half His Age'

07:22 Exploring Mormonism and Guilt

14:36 Failures and Creative Process

30:09 Calorie Restriction Lessons from My Mother

30:58 First Encounter with Anorexia

32:45 The Turning Point: Mother's Death and Recovery

32:58 Struggles with Bulimia

35:41 Therapy and the Road to Recovery

36:47 Understanding the Value of Eating Disorders

38:59 Healing Through Relationships

42:58 Finding My Voice and Inner Peace

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

I think oftentimes a woman is perceived as difficult if the person around her can't meet her standards.

It’s time that women start speaking up in any capacity - and not worrying about being 'too much'.

There is nothing more powerful than a woman's intuition. I believe our bodies have inherent knowledge... denying our bodies is nothing but a disservice to a better life path for ourselves.

If you feel resentment, it's time to set a boundary.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Jennette’s new book Half His Age is available to buy now

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

📚 WANT MORE?

Dolly Alderton – writing personal truth and navigating public scrutiny swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR 

Matt Haig – mental health and transforming suffering into storytelling swap.fm/l/amHeyBr7x2jg3Isw3JxG 

Jameela Jamil – body image, disordered eating and unlearning harmful conditioning swap.fm/l/D0j8oJQ52OwiJu6W3T4o 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Elizabeth and Jennette (who is a naturally brilliant agony aunt) answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennette McCurdy on Reclaiming Her Voice

Families are fascinating: how those first bonds shape our understanding of love, security and ourselves. In this episode, we revisit episodes with Bella Freud and Danny Dyer, who each open up about the simultaneous beauty and complexity of family life.

Bella Freud, speaks about losing both of her parents to cancer within a week. As the great granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and the eldest sibling, she reflects on a complex childhood, the responsibilities she carried and how grief reshaped her sense of identity.

Secondly, we hear from Danny Dyer, who shares what it was like growing up on a council estate with a single mother. He discusses the shock of discovering his father had another family and how the absence of love in his early years shaped the devoted parent he is today. 

Family dynamics can feel messy and taboo, but I hope this episode offers reassurance, validation and insight into the ties that form us first and stay with us for life.

Listen to Bella Freud’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/mQntNELQPRhZ9CjFQO77 

Listen to Danny Dyer's full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/L192dU5DZHQnCUjFWuX8 

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Family Support: www.family-action.org.uk

Elizabeth’s Substack: theelizabethday.substack.com

Join the How To Fail community: howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabday

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ON FAMILY DYNAMICS… With Bella Freud and Danny Dyer

Mo Gilligan started out working in retail (think Jo Malone and Levi’s) but quit in 2018 when his online comedy videos went viral. The leap paid off - sell-out tours across the UK, a late-night entertainment show on Channel 4 and his own breakout format The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, which earned him the first of three BAFTA wins. Netflix specials, world tours, primetime TV and a podcast soon followed.

Now in 2026, Gilligan is launching the biggest year of his career to date with a global tour, a major new partnership with Netflix and a feature documentary which will offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the 37-year-old at the top of his game.

In this episode, Mo opens up about being a dad to his six-month-old daughter and two-year-old son, the pressure of representing the Black British community in stand-up and the debt that shadowed him for years. 

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Introduction 

03:51 Retail Experience and Its Influence

06:11 Audience Interaction and Respect

09:13 School Struggles and Dyslexia

18:14 Family, Fatherhood and Financial Lessons

25:19 The Standup Struggle

26:37 Credit Card Chaos

31:12 The Viral Breakthrough

33:35 Touring Triumphs and Tribulations

36:04 Code Switching and Representation

39:43 Handling Success and Praise

45:51 Family and Future Plans

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

I really wanna make people feel cool. I think it’s the nicest feeling ever.

Knowing that I am my children’s universe... That is such a gift that I didn’t know I needed to have. 

I find it hard to listen to praise about myself. I find it very, very hard... I'm always trying to move on to the next one.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Get Mo’s tour tickets here: mogilligan.com/mo-live

Mo’s new Netflix show is available to watch now: Mo Gilligan - In the Moment

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

📚 WANT MORE?

Ashley Walters - on growing up fast, struggling with self-destruction and how accountability, therapy and fatherhood helped him rebuild his life and career. Fun fact: Ashley and Mo both went to the same school and had the same inspirational drama teacher! swap.fm/l/ksDRiLDV1iOXHRTTsdJ5 

Miranda Hart - on public embarrassment, private anxiety and chronic illness. Plus: how learning to accept herself became her greatest success swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu 

Fern Brady - another stand-up who has experienced the precariousness of the industry and battled debt early in her working life swap.fm/l/cmeompBv7EHK20enmwbS 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod

Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Elizabeth and Mo answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan 

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mo Gilligan - Fatherhood Is A Gift I Didn’t Know I Needed

We’re taught that love should happen early, and if it doesn’t, something’s gone wrong. But what if that’s not true? 

In this episode, we hear from past How to Fail guests who found love later, or in their own time. Luke Evans reflects on meeting his soulmate in his forties and Dolly Alderton talks about heartbreak, celibacy to reassess the role of sex and romance in her life and learning that sitting with uncertainty can be the bravest choice. 

I met my husband in my late thirties and I've found that trusting your own timing is often what leads to real love. I hope this is helpful for those unsure of what’s next. 

Listen to Luke Evan’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/2AAJhVeDNGdKIJGdznR9

Listen to Dolly Alderton’s full episode of How to Fail here: swap.fm/l/XM98joc3GFEMTsLfkEfR

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Elizabeth’s Substack: theelizabethday.substack.com

Join the How To Fail community: howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content 

💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories

👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth:

Instagram: @howtofailpod @elizabday

TikTok: @howtofailpod @elizabday

Website: www.elizabethday.org

Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com 

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ON AMBITION… With Gillian Anderson and Munroe Bergdorf

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

Other podcasts you might like ...