This episode of Gobsmacked features Wendy Boast a woman who left school at 16, when the world of work beckoned brighter than the underwhelm of the classroom. Later discovering she has a remarkable IQ, and went on to build a career in the City with big jobs in complex information systems and major corporate achievements.

Wendy’s journey hasn’t been without heartbreak and betrayal, but she has come through wiser, sharper, and more grounded — the most informed and insightful friend you could ever hope for.

Her worldview is vast and surprising, flipping perspectives a full 180. In this conversation she takes us from the rat race to aliens, from ancient wisdoms to global jitters, from Shakespeare to Plato, with the 2012 Olympics woven in along the way.

Bright, centred, and compelling, Wendy Boast will put your brain in shaker-maker mode. This is an episode that will stretch your thinking, shake your assumptions, and leave you wide awake to possibility.

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Some of us say we’ve got anxiety the way others say they’ve got the flu - when really, it might just be a cold. But for some, that anxiety is life-shattering. Dr Jeanne Retief knows this well.

A South African international human rights expert with a PhD and 15+ years of global work behind her, Jeanne collapsed under what she first thought was a stroke. It was panic disorder and it ended her law career in an instant.

From that breaking point, she rose. She trained in cosmetic chemistry, launched FIGGI Beauty, and built a community called The Anxious Calm - for people who understand that anxiety is more than a buzzword.

Jeanne is bright, wise, and deeply learned. This conversation isn’t just inspiring - it’s a survivor’s manifesto. A must-listen for anyone who’s ever felt their wiring was too much for the world.

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Domestic abuse. Sexual abuse. Exploitation. Serious organised crime. Trafficking. Addiction.

These are not easy topics but they are real, urgent, and happening all around us.

This is one of the most powerful and necessary conversations we’ve ever recorded.

Javina Greene, a rap artist, music producer, and fierce truth-teller, shares her story with raw searing honesty and incredible strength. From model pupil to teenage trauma, from addiction to artistic awakening, Javina lays it all bare.

What you’ll hear is more than survival it’s transformation. Her pain has become her power. Her past fuels her mission to create safe spaces for women and galvanise their recovery through music and creative expression.

If you’ve ever wondered what lived experience really sounds like and what it can teach us - this survivor deserves your attention

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In a Better Place? The mystifying words we use to describe death — and how they can fail the grieving.

Lorna Vyse missed a moment — a child in grief, and she didn’t see it. She chided herself for not being clued in, and that regret stayed with her. Add to that a chance encounter and a promise to a dying woman, and Lorna’s second life purpose was born.

Now an author, grief trainer and speaker, Lorna is on a mission to help us stop sugar-coating death. From “passed” to “gone to sleep” to “in a better place,” the euphemisms we use to avoid talking about death don’t help — especially not for children.

This is a conversation about missed chances, keeping your word, and the healing power of speaking plainly when it matters most.

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The Second Innings is the journey of Andrew Patterson, known to most as Patto, former Irish cricketer, father, and fine fellow, who was diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a rare neurological condition that gradually takes away your ability to walk.

He was told he’d need a wheelchair for life.

Instead, he raised £70,000, travelled to the US for pioneering surgery, and taught himself to walk again. Just months later, he completed a 5K.

This podcast is about what it really takes to come back. It’s about persistence, perspective, and the power of keeping going - one determined step at a time.

Because every step really does tell a story.

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In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Liz Sparkes — a psychologist who has spent years working with pain management, mindfulness, and how we heal.

Liz’s story is a powerful one. After surviving a serious accident, one with haunting echoes of earlier childhood trauma and loss, she made a decision that would challenge most people: she reached out through restorative justice to the individual responsible.

The compassion she showed, and the forgiveness she offered, didn’t just shift something in her — it had a profound effect on the other person too.

Liz’s life hasn’t followed the straight line she once imagined. The ambition she started out with and the work she does now are worlds apart.

This conversation isn’t about easy answers. It asks something harder: when it really matters, are we truly able to forgive?

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In this special episode of Gobsmacked!, I’m joined by my second cousin, Damian Le Bas, author of the acclaimed The Stopping Places and now The Drowned Places, a haunting, lyrical exploration of grief, memory, and the worlds that lie beneath the surface.

Written in the wake of his father's death, the visionary artist Damian Le Bas, the book takes us on a journey through submerged landscapes and the emotional terrain of loss, drawing unexpected parallels with the myth of Atlantis.

We speak about his parents' creative brilliance, including his mother, Turner Prize nominee Delaine Le Bas, his experience of writing through grief, and the grounding arrival of fatherhood with the birth of his daughter, Nina.

My word—this is a profoundly articulate, bright, and thoughtful fellow. Sitting down with him for this conversation about legacy, identity, and resurfacing after loss was a true privilege.

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Kathryn Ellis was a woman who was on it—a yoga devotee, deeply into alternative health, and by all accounts, living her best life. But what happens when being the picture of wellness masks something serious?

In this powerful and eye-opening episode, we hear how Kathryn’s healthy lifestyle ironically delayed a diagnosis of diabetes, allowing the condition to take hold silently. She was, quite literally, disappearing in plain sight.

This conversation offers honest, informative insights into living with and spotting diabetes—a challenging, often life-shortening condition that can go unnoticed for too long.

Tune in—it’s raw, real, and absolutely worth a listen.

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