Caitlin Moran: “I Thought My Brain Had Broken” Becoming Hopeful After A Life Of Anxiety

How do we find hope when the world feels increasingly overwhelming?

In this episode of Begin Again, Caitlin Moran joins Davina McCall for a funny, moving and hopeful conversation about love, anxiety, feminism, loneliness and finding your way back to joy.

Caitlin opens up about experiencing her first panic attack at 13, after revealing her family were living on benefits, and how anxiety became the fuel that drove her extraordinary career. 

Decades later, she reached breaking point and realised: “I can’t be this scared anymore.” She shares how she finally broke up with anxiety and why she wishes she had done it 30 years earlier.

She and Davina also explore the growing crisis facing men, why loneliness and social media are leaving us disconnected, and the simple changes Caitlin believes can help us feel hopeful again, from putting down our phones to reconnecting with our communities.

Caitlin also reflects on growing up poor, writing her first novel as a teenager, her 33-year relationship with husband Pete, and the extraordinary night she went clubbing with Lady Gaga.

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Buy ‘How to be Hopeful - A Year of Attempting to Feel Less Awful About the World’ by Caitlin Moran, Ebury Press, £22

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(00:00) Intro

(01:11) Caitlin's New Book

(03:22) The Impact Of "How To Be A Woman"

(06:09) Foreseeing The Masculinity Crisis

(09:15) Being An Enthusiast vs. A Critic

(12:01) Writing About Hope

(13:00) The Value Of In-Person Connection

(18:56) Monzo GBL Ad

(20:27) Developing Anxiety At 13

(24:50) Learning To Write

(27:03) The Journey Out Of Poverty

(31:57) Her First Publishing Deal

(35:14) Monzo 90 Days Ad

(36:23) Caitlin's 'How To Be Hopeful' List

(43:11) Do This To Improve Your Own Happiness

(52:05) Clubbing In Berlin With Lady Gaga

(57:37) Finally Getting Over Anxiety

(01:02:49) Her 26 Year Marriage

(01:08:40) Inclusive Forms Of Feminism

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