Every success story you've ever been told is incomplete. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is the part they leave out.
Each week, Sunday Times #1 bestselling author Elizabeth Day sits down with someone extraordinary - and asks them about the moments that didn’t go according to plan and how these failures shaped them.
Kate Winslet on body image. Malala Yousafzai on rewriting her story. Pamela Anderson on refuting shame. Phoebe Waller-Bridge on creativity. Salman Rushdie on survival. Emilia Clarke on fame. What happens when the people you most admire stop performing and start telling the truth? Five hundred episodes in, we're still finding out.
With sold-out nights at the London Palladium and Sydney Opera House, millions of listeners worldwide, and a British Podcast Award to its name, How To Fail is one of the UK's most successful podcasts. And yes, we're aware of the irony.
Pick an episode. Start anywhere.
An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment production.
All guest booking is managed from an official Sony Music email address.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow @sonypodcastsTo bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]
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Nikita Gill - Everyone Wants to Be Heard But No One Wants to Listen29 Jul 2026 · 54mMiquita Oliver - I Drank Half a Bottle of Wine Every Morning22 Jul 2026 · 57mRichard Bacon - ‘I Was Betrayed By My Best Friend’15 Jul 2026 · 57mRemembering Bonnie Tyler9 Jul 2026 · 49mCharlie Mackesy – ‘Grief propelled me into work that saved me’8 Jul 2026 · 53mAnastacia – All My Songs Have Been Good Therapy1 Jul 2026 · 54mMel Giedroyc and AJ Odudu on Body Confidence, Midlife Reinvention and Female Friendship29 Jun 2026 · 45mKristin Scott Thomas – ‘Having children allowed me to see where I’d gone wrong’24 Jun 2026 · 52mPatrick Radden Keefe - ‘Lying Is More Prevalent Than People Think’17 Jun 2026 · 56mNatalie Imbruglia - ‘I love the wisdom of being in my 50s’10 Jun 2026 · 52mHannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’3 Jun 2026 · 1h 1mEmily Atack - ‘I’ve forgiven people for unforgivable things’27 May 2026 · 1h 0mKatherine Parkinson – ‘I’m Still Learning How to Be Me’20 May 2026 · 48mEmilia Clarke - ‘I’m A Bad Celebrity’13 May 2026 · 54mAline Brosh McKenna - The Rom Com Queen Who Wrote The Devil Wears Prada6 May 2026 · 51mRichard Gadd - On Shame, Sexuality and Success29 Apr 2026 · 49mRita Wilson - ‘I’m 69. I’m At My Most Unfiltered.’22 Apr 2026 · 51mEmma Grede - ‘Ambition Is Something I Am Entitled to’15 Apr 2026 · 54mSophie Habboo - I Wish I Had More Boundaries8 Apr 2026 · 47mElizabeth's New Show: History’s Greatest Fails7 Apr 2026 · 33mAmy Jackson Westwick - I Was A Magnet For Narcissists1 Apr 2026 · 55mON FINDING THE ONE… With Miranda Hart, Celeste Barber and Glennon Doyle29 Mar 2026 · 24mChris Appleton - ‘I Felt Shame Before I Felt Love’25 Mar 2026 · 45mMel Schilling - ‘She was the embodiment of vibrant life’24 Mar 2026 · 1h 19mON STARTING OVER AFTER GRIEF… With Stanley Tucci and Geri Halliwell-Horner23 Mar 2026 · 20mAtomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton - ‘We were young and working-class. We were dismissed.’18 Mar 2026 · 1h 0mON MOTHERHOOD… with Jessie Ware and Francesca Segal16 Mar 2026 · 19mRosamund Pike - ‘Failure Is Pretending To Be Someone You’re Not’11 Mar 2026 · 57mSPECIAL EP: On Fertility and Finding Your Family… with Rebecca Coxon9 Mar 2026 · 41mToni Laites - Love Island Healed My Toxic Dating Patterns4 Mar 2026 · 54mON AMBITION… With Gillian Anderson and Munroe Bergdorf2 Mar 2026 · 12mBaz Luhrmann - ‘I self-medicate with creativity’25 Feb 2026 · 50mON SELF ACCEPTANCE... With Pamela Anderson and Rylan Clark23 Feb 2026 · 23mJennette McCurdy on Reclaiming Her Voice18 Feb 2026 · 57mON FAMILY DYNAMICS… With Bella Freud and Danny Dyer16 Feb 2026 · 21mMo Gilligan - Fatherhood Is A Gift I Didn’t Know I Needed11 Feb 2026 · 52mON FINDING LOVE AT ANY AGE… With Luke Evans and Dolly Alderton9 Feb 2026 · 28mShabaz Ali - ‘I’ll be a diversity quota as long as I get paid’4 Feb 2026 · 49mON FINDING HOPE IN ADVERSITY… With Sir Chris Hoy and Michael Rosen2 Feb 2026 · 19mGolda Rosheuvel - ‘I don’t see my dyslexia as a failure anymore’28 Jan 2026 · 53mON THE IMPACT OF EARLY FAME… With Shania Twain and Charlotte Church26 Jan 2026 · 32mMartin Freeman - ‘We should be saying no to our kids’21 Jan 2026 · 53mON PANIC ATTACKS… With Jamie Laing and Fearne Cotton19 Jan 2026 · 16mMarisa Abela - ‘You never expect to be told you have cancer at 23’14 Jan 2026 · 53mON MEDITATION… With Kirsty Young and Yuval Noah Harari12 Jan 2026 · 15mMargaret Cho - They Told Me I Was Too Fat To Play Myself7 Jan 2026 · 54mON MONEY WORRIES… With Fern Brady and Simon Cowell5 Jan 2026 · 14mFailure Throwback: Bear Grylls31 Dec 2025 · 57mSophie Willan - From Foster Care to Alma’s Not Normal24 Dec 2025 · 48mBella Freud - Learning To Trust Herself17 Dec 2025 · 52mON FRIENDSHIP… With Dawn French and Vogue Williams15 Dec 2025 · 24mAlex Hassell - Rivals, Rejection and Taking Acid at Alton Towers10 Dec 2025 · 45mON PERSPECTIVE… With Adeel Akhtar and Pat Cummins8 Dec 2025 · 12mMo Gawdat - The 3 BIGGEST Mistakes We Make In Finding Love3 Dec 2025 · 1h 2mON IVF… With Jessel Taank and Paloma Faith1 Dec 2025 · 35mRuth Wilson - Be Challenged By What Disgusts You26 Nov 2025 · 44mON REJECTION… With Mel B and Nicole Scherzinger24 Nov 2025 · 19mMichelle Yeoh - On typecasting, fertility and THAT Oscars speech19 Nov 2025 · 53mON PARENTING…with Andy Cohen and Caitlin Moran17 Nov 2025 · 13mKelly Brook - I’m In My Don’t Give A Damn Era!12 Nov 2025 · 52mON REALITY TV… With Dorinda Medley and Captain Sandy10 Nov 2025 · 14mMalala Yousafzai - I Am Not Who You Think I Am5 Nov 2025 · 52mON EMBARRASSING MOMENTS… With Dan Levy and Phoebe Waller-Bridge3 Nov 2025 · 11mJon Bon Jovi - Fame is a liar and a thief29 Oct 2025 · 52mON BODY IMAGE… With Martine Wright and Paloma Faith27 Oct 2025 · 18mDenise Welch - I Got Sober For Love22 Oct 2025 · 59mON SCHOOL… With Jamie Dornan and Bernie Sanders19 Oct 2025 · 18mCharlotte Church - ‘I was totally exploited. I was a commodity’15 Oct 2025 · 45mON BABY LOSS… With Sara Pascoe and Trinny Woodall12 Oct 2025 · 28mStephen Grosz - ‘Real love is going to hurt’8 Oct 2025 · 52mJilly Cooper: On Failure, Love and Literature6 Oct 2025 · 38mON NAVIGATING YOUR 20s... With Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Lily Allen5 Oct 2025 · 17mJane Goodall on Optimism, Hope and Conservation2 Oct 2025 · 1h 0mLetitia Wright - ‘I was bullied… now I’m Black Panther’1 Oct 2025 · 52mON ADDICTION... With Mae Martin and Marian Keyes28 Sept 2025 · 16mJoe Locke - ‘At 20, I Felt Like I Was Already 35’24 Sept 2025 · 46mON WRITING... With Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro21 Sept 2025 · 24mMark Ronson - The Stories Behind ‘Uptown Funk,’ Amy Winehouse & ‘I’m Just Ken’17 Sept 2025 · 50mON GRIEF… With Mo Gawdat and Bonnie Tyler14 Sept 2025 · 13mRobin Wright on ageing, confidence and the myth of being ‘too late’10 Sept 2025 · 49mON HEARTBREAK... With Alain de Botton and Jay Shetty7 Sept 2025 · 15mTom Ellis - Fatherhood, Surrogacy and Years of Therapy3 Sept 2025 · 49mFailure Throwback: Jameela Jamil27 Aug 2025 · 58mFailure Throwback: Glennon Doyle20 Aug 2025 · 1h 7mFailure Throwback: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie13 Aug 2025 · 1h 8mSir Tony Robinson - ‘I learned comedy as a defence mechanism’6 Aug 2025 · 49mFern Brady - ‘I make more money in comedy than I ever did from stripping‘30 Jul 2025 · 44mDorinda Medley on Grief, Identity and The Real Housewives: ‘I was angry. I was lost. I felt like I got cheated.’23 Jul 2025 · 43mVanessa Williams - ‘It would be hard to be married to me!’16 Jul 2025 · 50mSuzi Ruffell - ‘I didn’t know I was gay until I saw Titanic’10 Jul 2025 · 47mPamela Anderson - ‘It wasn’t about being pretty, it was about being brave’7 Jul 2025 · 52mMelinda French Gates - ‘Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re wise’2 Jul 2025 · 50mMonica Lewinsky - ‘I would have liked a more normal life’25 Jun 2025 · 47mAJ Tracey - ‘Buying my mum a house will always be my proudest achievement’18 Jun 2025 · 50mHow To Cope With A Friendship Break-Up - with Cynthia Nixon - Special Release12 Jun 2025 · 27mCynthia Nixon - ‘Being brave is feeling scared and doing it anyway’11 Jun 2025 · 51mChristine McGuinness - ‘I don’t want to hold back anymore - I date women! So what?’4 Jun 2025 · 50mVicky Pattison - ‘You don't become old and wise if you haven't been young and daft’2 Jun 2025 · 55mDannii Minogue - ‘I hit low points where I thought: “I just can’t take this any more.”28 May 2025 · 56mJulia Stiles - ‘I ran in the other direction from fame’21 May 2025 · 53mJohn Bishop - ‘I’ve always wanted someone to say: you’re good enough’14 May 2025 · 54mSimon Cowell - ‘I often think: what gives me the right to judge people?’7 May 2025 · 59mCeleste Barber: the FUNNIEST woman on the internet30 Apr 2025 · 51mEmma Dabiri - ‘We are still so obsessed with how we look’23 Apr 2025 · 43mSally Phillips - ‘I saw Colin Firth and thought - he’s mine!’16 Apr 2025 · 50mMae Martin - 'Everything I do is about proving those high school bullies wrong.'9 Apr 2025 · 51mJonathan Van Ness - 'I was one wrong thing away from losing everything'2 Apr 2025 · 48mHow To Date: BONUS EPISODE - Your dating questions answered…31 Mar 2025 · 39mSam Ryder - ‘Fame is like giving a dog a treat every single day. You get used to it.’26 Mar 2025 · 53mHow To Date: The most important relationship you’ll ever have24 Mar 2025 · 57mOlivia Attwood - ‘It’s either vodka and a gay club until 5am, or hyperbaric oxygen’19 Mar 2025 · 48mHow To Date: How to cope with heartbreak and rejection17 Mar 2025 · 44mErin Doherty - ‘Lean Into Your Truth’12 Mar 2025 · 45mHow To Date: Taking it to the next level10 Mar 2025 · 49mGugu Mbatha-Raw - ‘Have I ever worked with an awful co-star? Maybe one or two’5 Mar 2025 · 46mHow To Date: Red and Green Flags3 Mar 2025 · 57mKate Hudson - ‘Fame is a tumultuous machine’26 Feb 2025 · 59mHow To Date: Communication - dating dos and don’ts25 Feb 2025 · 53mSimon Callow: ‘Scottish reeling almost killed me.’19 Feb 2025 · 41mHow To Date: The first date17 Feb 2025 · 52mJessel Taank - ‘Real Housewives? It’s like Game of Thrones’12 Feb 2025 · 50mHow To Date: How to meet someone10 Feb 2025 · 51mNick Grimshaw - 'I told The Guardian I was gay before I told my parents'5 Feb 2025 · 50mIntroducing How To Date: Am I ready to date?3 Feb 2025 · 50mDame Harriet Walter - ‘I wish I’d had all this attention when I was 40’29 Jan 2025 · 53mSharon Horgan - ‘My marriage failed but it had such a positive impact on my life’22 Jan 2025 · 46mStephen Merchant: ‘Most famous people are f**cked up’15 Jan 2025 · 48mFailure Throwback: Geena Davis8 Jan 2025 · 59mFailure Throwback: Jamie Dornan1 Jan 2025 · 1h 8mFailure Throwback: Phoebe Waller-Bridge25 Dec 2024 · 59mSir Chris Hoy - ‘There’s no cure but I still find hope’18 Dec 2024 · 54mKirsty Young - ‘The great benefit of age? You give less of a f**k.’11 Dec 2024 · 49mLuke Evans - ‘If I didn’t have to take my top off on a movie set, I’d let myself go’27 Nov 2024 · 55mAndy Cohen - ‘Madonna says I’m a trouble-making queen’20 Nov 2024 · 50mElla Purnell - ‘Therapy changed my life’13 Nov 2024 · 41mLashana Lynch - ‘I didn’t know when I was auditioning that I was going to be 007’6 Nov 2024 · 47mJilly Cooper - ‘What’s a dick pic?’30 Oct 2024 · 37mJames Blunt - ‘The Iraq war lost me my GRAMMYS’23 Oct 2024 · 49mMiranda Hart - 'I always knew I’d get married at 51'16 Oct 2024 · 56mNeneh Cherry - ‘My mother’s death undid me.’9 Oct 2024 · 43mRupert Everett - 'Everyone is my Professional Nemesis'2 Oct 2024 · 49mYuval Noah Harari - ‘AI doesn't have to end badly for humankind’25 Sept 2024 · 54mDiane Abbott - ‘I’ve never had a nice chat with Keir Starmer’18 Sept 2024 · 50mKate Winslet - ‘I remember thinking: I do not want to be famous’11 Sept 2024 · 55mAgony Uncle Salman Rushdie – ‘I walked into a glass door and fell in love’4 Sept 2024 · 23mEllie Simmonds - Being different is a superpower.28 Aug 2024 · 43mGuenther Steiner - F1 made me an absent father21 Aug 2024 · 44mAde Adepitan - ‘At 16 I’d seen more violence than anyone should ever see’14 Aug 2024 · 51mPat Cummins - 'My mother’s death taught me cricket isn’t as important as family'7 Aug 2024 · 41mElif Shafak - ‘There’s only one thing that scares me - and that’s indifference’31 Jul 2024 · 44mDanny O Donoghue - ‘I’m finished drinking, I’m finished smoking, everything’24 Jul 2024 · 44mIntroducing How To Write a Book: Episode 1 - The Idea (Part 1)22 Jul 2024 · 34mSara Cox - ‘it made me feel a bit of a failed mum’17 Jul 2024 · 49mDanny Dyer - 'I’m a f**king legend or I’m a f**king disgrace. I suppose I divide people'10 Jul 2024 · 50mJesse Tyler Ferguson - ‘I was caught stealing gay porn'3 Jul 2024 · 49mSadiq Khan - ‘Had I known what it involved, I can’t say I’d have gone into politics’26 Jun 2024 · 53mVogue Williams - ‘I love therapy’19 Jun 2024 · 49mAngel Strawbridge - No Regrets12 Jun 2024 · 39mSalman Rushdie - ‘I’d rather have had a different life’5 Jun 2024 · 53mLouise Thompson - ‘I asked myself: Am I alive?’29 May 2024 · 58mShania Twain - ‘There is no man that intimidates me’22 May 2024 · 50mDame Arlene Phillips - ‘I know the power of love’15 May 2024 · 54mHenry Winkler - The Fonz, Getting Fired and Listening To Your Gut8 May 2024 · 36mBonnie Tyler - Her first ever podcast interview1 May 2024 · 50mWill Young - ‘I like to talk about it because I survived it’24 Apr 2024 · 56mRichard Osman on cats, crime and c**ts17 Apr 2024 · 57mDr. Jen Gunter - Patriarchy, periods and penile failure10 Apr 2024 · 52mAdeel Akhtar - The importance of staying true to yourself3 Apr 2024 · 46mKatie Price - ‘Everything bad that’s ever happened to me is because of men’27 Mar 2024 · 48mNicole Scherzinger - ‘I’ve never felt I’m enough’20 Mar 2024 · 39mJon Ronson on truth-telling and the culture wars13 Mar 2024 · 58mAJ Odudu - ‘Living to tell the tale is the joyful thing’6 Mar 2024 · 41mMel B - ‘I was a Spice Girl shouting about girl power, but I was girl powerless.’28 Feb 2024 · 57mSabrina Dhowre Elba… I thought ‘this is how I’m going to die’21 Feb 2024 · 48mPaloma Faith… ‘I overshare by whose standards? Not mine.’14 Feb 2024 · 53mSathnam Sanghera on why books can save us and how to understand Empire7 Feb 2024 · 48mJoe Wicks on addiction, homeschooling and body image31 Jan 2024 · 52mDan Levy on overcoming rejection and harnessing grief24 Jan 2024 · 46mWho’s ready for Season 20?19 Jan 2024 · 2mHAPPY HIGH BETTER FAIL: The Ultimate Podcast Mash-Up with Fearne Cotton, Rangan Chatterjee, Jake Humphrey & Damian Hughes15 Dec 2023 · 1h 1mS18, Ep10 Claudia Winkleman on the joy of imperfection1 Nov 2023 · 1h 0mS18 BONUS EPISODE: Georgia Harrison on taking back her power26 Oct 2023 · 1h 3mS18, Ep9 Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock: one of Britain's foremost space scientists on belonging and the meaning of life25 Oct 2023 · 55mS18, Ep8 Dawn French on fertility, friendship and being an anti-perfectionist20 Oct 2023 · 1h 2mS18, Ep7 Gillian Anderson on sex, body image and rebellion18 Oct 2023 · 40mS18 MIDSEASON BONUS! Captain Sandy from Below Deck on surviving addiction, pirates - and reality TV13 Oct 2023 · 56mS18, Ep6 Marina Abramovic: one of the greatest living artists on performance, passion and power11 Oct 2023 · 1h 1mS18, Ep5 Geri Halliwell-Horner on writing, grief - and what the Spice Girls taught her4 Oct 2023 · 51mS18, Ep4 Arlo Parks on the impossibility of perfection27 Sept 2023 · 57mS18, Ep3 Rory Stewart on why politics is broken - and what to do about it20 Sept 2023 · 53mS18, Ep2 Sara Pascoe on fertility, fear and what success really means13 Sept 2023 · 1h 1mS18, Ep1 Miriam Margolyes on not marrying a nice Jewish doctor6 Sept 2023 · 51mThe F-Word Miniseries: Mo Gawdat and Elizabeth Day on Friendship17 Aug 2023 · 1h 21mThe F-Word Miniseries: Nigel Morris on leaving school at 15 and becoming a billionaire16 Aug 2023 · 53mThe F-Word Miniseries: Gabor Maté on Feelings15 Aug 2023 · 58mS17, BONUS EPISODE: Lucy Spraggan on survival, sobriety and staying true to herself19 Jul 2023 · 1h 17mS17 BONUS EPISODE! Dan Carter: one of the greatest rugby players of all time on what failure taught him about winning14 Jul 2023 · 1h 6mS17, Ep10 Elliot Page on the transcendence of showing up as himself5 Jul 2023 · 45mS17, Ep9 Mae Muller on failing to win Eurovision - but finding her voice28 Jun 2023 · 51mS17, Ep8 Yomi Adegoke on social media, mental health and reality TV21 Jun 2023 · 59m
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