Episódios
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Rob Brydon has done pretty much everything you can. From radio DJ & Voice over artists, hosting one of the UKs most loved panel shows to being the star of Gavin & Stacey and acting alongside Margot Robbie in smash-hit Barbie.
Rob is a comic that has never lacked ambition, but his success came later in life, during one of his darkest personal moments.
In this episode, James O'Brien goes back in time to Rob's school days, charting his self-taping and repeated rejection from acting agents and discovering how he teamed up with Steve Coogan to finally land his big break.
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Shaun Keaveny is one of the UKs most beloved broadcasters, having spent 11 years presenting one of the countries biggest music breakfast radio shows.
His journey began upon leaving college, where he knew he wanted to work in a creative industry with a passion for writing skits, listening to the radio and playing music.
Shaun soon got his first break at XFM London, presenting overnights to a miniscule audience where he could flex his creative flair before moving with the times and fronting a digital only breakfast show at the newly formed 6 Music.
In this episode James sits down to explore Shaun's childhood and the close bond he has with his family, his late diagnosis of ADD, how Terry Wogan took him under his wing and how leaving the BBC had a heavy impact on him.
You can listen to Shaun's excellent Community Garden Radio show and become a fully fledged member here
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Alex James is the bass player in one of Britain's biggest bands, Blur.
With millions of record sales and 2 sold-out nights at Wembley in 2023, he sits down with James O'Brien to discuss his early childhood, the emergence of Blur, cheese making and his brilliant new book 'Over the Rainbow'.
With a self-confessed short attention span, Alex failed his A-Levels and was worrying what was next to for him. All that changed when he met his soon to be bandmates. From touring America to going on a health kick after lockdown, in this episode we find out what Alex's gateway to music was? How he kept the secret of Blur's comeback from his own kids? And what's in store for him in the future.
'Over the Rainbow' is out now.
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"As I grew up, I realised I had to look after myself because no one else was going to do it for me."
Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey joined the House of Lords in 2004, becoming one of its first Black female members. But from the age of eight weeks old to eighteen years old, she moved between foster care placements and care homes in north London. In this episode, she tells James about her upbringing and her recent journey to discover more about her childhood.
Eight Weeks: Looking Back, Moving Forwards, Defying the Odds by Lola Young is out now.
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Dan Snow makes history exciting. Whether it’s through his award-winning documentaries, bestselling books, or popular podcast History Hit, he has a gift for bringing the past to life and showing us why it still matters today.
Coming from a family of celebrated journalists—his father is broadcaster Peter Snow and his mother is Canadian journalist Ann MacMillan - Dan was immersed in storytelling from an early age. But what sets him apart isn’t just his passion for history, it’s his ability to look ahead. Spotting how storytelling and broadcasting were changing, he launched History Hit, a streaming platform that’s redefined how we engage with history.
In this episode, Dan talks about growing up in a journalist household, his dad’s attempt to steer him away from broadcasting and why he decided to break away from traditional media. Dan’s new book The Story of England: The Making of a Nation is out now.
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For thirty-six year, James has been chasing this interview and now, he's finally secured it. Actor, writer and director Rupert Everett joins him to talk about the highs and lows of his extraordinary 40-year career in show business.
Rupert discovered performing when he was a young boy and got a thrill from showing off in school plays at Ampleforth College - so much so, that he left school at 15 to pursue a career in acting. His breakout role came in 1981 when he was cast as Guy Bennett in Another Country. He went on to find fame in Hollywood, starring opposite Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding.
Despite his success, Rupert admits he lacked the confidence to fully embrace Hollywood. He continued working in films and theatre but started to concentrate more on his writing. After a decade in the making, he released his first screenplay The Happy Prince in 2018 - a deeply personal project which he also directed and starred in.
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Growing up on a Lake District farm that had been in his family for centuries, James Rebanks always knew his place in the world. School wasn't for him - he felt his teachers looked down on farming and his grandparents worried education might lure him away from the land. By the age of 15, he had left school with just two O-Levels to work full-time on the family farm. But in the evenings, a new world opened up to him as he read through the books on his mum's bookshelves.
Inspired, James began reading everything he could. In his twenties, he went to night school and then got a place at Oxford University where he graduated with a double first in history. Today, James is a bestselling author, telling the stories of the "nobodies" - ordinary people living extraordinary lives, who like him, are deeply rooted in the land. A farmer and a writer, James has managed to carve out a unique space as both a man of letters and man of the soil.
His latest book, The Place of Tides is available now.
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"I really need a future. What happened to me is so dark and so depressing that I've got to believe in something."
On Boxing Day 2022, Hanif Kureishi's life changed forever. The acclaimed novelist and playwright had a fall that left him paralysed, a single, shattering moment that split his life in two. In this episode, Hanif tells James about the life he lived before the accident and what's happened since.
Hanif has written about this extraordinary experience in his new book, Shattered, a deeply personal account of the accident and its profound aftermath. Shattered is available to buy now.
This episode contains offensive language and sensitive topic discussions including racism. Listener discretion is advised.
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One of Britain’s most celebrated French chefs, Michel Roux Jr is restaurant royalty. Born into the legendary Roux family, his father and uncle, Albert and Michel Roux Snr founded Le Gavroche, the first British restaurant to earn three Michelin stars.
Determined to follow in their footsteps, Michel left school at 16 to begin a pastry apprenticeship in Paris and later trained under the legendary Alain Chapel. Despite his father’s attempts to bring him into the family business, Michel initially resisted working at Le Gavroche. When he finally joined, it proved to be extremely tough but rewarding. In this episode, Michel talks about growing up at Fairlawne - grand country estate, the pressures of living up to his family's legacy and why he's left behind his "angry chef" persona.
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"I wasn’t driven by being famous, I was driven by being successful. I wanted to be recognised by my peers, people who I considered ‘posh actors’”.
Award-winning actor and bestselling author, Sir David White, is better known by his stage name David Jason. His career has spanned over 50 years, and is best known for his iconic roles Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost.
His childhood dream of becoming an actor was ‘crushed’ by his father, who couldn’t afford to support his acting career after his brother was accepted to RADA. David spent years as an electrician, whilst learning his craft in amateur theatre. In this episode David talks about his passion for performance, the heartbreak of losing a role in Dad’s Army and why he’s addicted to making audiences laugh.
His latest memoir This Time Next Year is out now.
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"I'm that lucky guy who found his hobby and was able to turn it into a job."
William Dalrymple is a multi-award winning and bestselling historian. Growing up on the Dalrymple family estate in North Berwick, with an almost Edwardian childhood, William was sent off to Ampleforth College at just eight years old. It was there that his passion for history grew and he spent his free time on archaeological digs and getting lost in history books.
William has gone on to turn that childhood fascination into an incredible career. He has written numerous bestselling books including White Mughals and The Last Mughals. His latest book The Golden Road is out now.
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Graeme Park is a legendary DJ and one of the founders of the UK's house music movement. Best known for his nine-year residency at Manchester's iconic superclub, The Hacienda, Graeme's journey into DJing was far from planned. In fact, he stumbled into it almost by accident. However, his passion for sharing the music he loved had a huge impact on the dance scene of the 80s and 90s, influencing a generation of club-goers, including sixteen year old James O'Brien.
Today, Graeme continues to perform to fans old and new around the world. He also DJs alongside the Manchester Camerata Orchestra as part of the Hacienda Classical shows, which have been touring the UK since 2016 and even opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2017.
You can find out more details about Graeme's upcoming gigs on thisisgraemepark.com
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"Britain is nowhere near as bad as America but let's not get complacent about the risk."
Jon Sopel is a journalist, broadcaster and author who launched the hugely successful The News Agents podcast with Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall in August 2022. Previously, he was the BBC’s North America Editor, covering U.S. elections including Donald Trump’s presidency. He is the author of several books including: If Only They Didn’t Speak English and A Year at the Circus: Inside Trump’s White House. His latest book: Strangeland is out now.
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James is back with another incredible guest from the Full Disclosure vault. Angela Rayner is a politician you simply can’t ignore, Her story is as inspiring as it is unlikely. She grew up in poverty in Stockport, left school at 16, pregnant and without a single qualification to her name. And yet through sheer grit, she’s fought her way up to become Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
Angela joined James on Full Disclosure back in 2021. She talks about everything from her chaotic childhood to how she raised her own children out of poverty and her remarkable rise in politics. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s a brilliant conversation with one of the most vibrant voices in British politics and if you have, it’s well worth another listen…
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James revisits one of the most memorable episodes of Full Disclosure with none other than the current Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
Sir Keir’s journey to Downing Street was far from straightforward. In fact, for a long time his life was headed in a completely different direction. He joined James for a live recording of Full Disclosure back in 2022, when he was still Leader of the Opposition.
Sir Keir talks about his childhood, the values that shaped him, his time as a human rights lawyer and how he handles the intense pressure and scrutiny of life in the public eye. Whether you're listening for the first time or revisiting the episode, this is a chance to gain real insight into the man now leading the country.
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Radio legend Tony Blackburn has spent the past 60 years entertaining listeners with his cheeky charm and passion for soul music.
His journey in broadcasting began in 1964 on the offshore pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. Just three years later, he made history as the first DJ to be heard on BBC Radio 1, launching the station with his exciting new music show.
Tony quickly became a household name, hosting iconic shows like Top of the Pops, the Top 40 and Capital Gold's award-winning Breakfast Show. In 2015 he made history again, becoming the first person to receive two Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Radio Academy. Still going strong, he continues to entertain on the airwaves, with no plans to hang up his headphones just yet...
Tickets for his UK tour, Sounds of the Sixties, are available here.
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Jordan Stephens is a writer, musician and actor, best-known as one half of the hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks. His late teens and early twenties were a whirlwind of hit records, sold-out shows and wild parties, fuelled by a heady cocktail of drugs, drink, sex and chaos. It was fun until is wasn't.
In 2017, everything fell apart when Jordan cheated on his then-girlfriend, leading to a painful break up that left him heartbroken for the first time. Desperate to make sense of it all, Jordan set out on a journey of self-discovery, facing his emotions and slowly pieced himself back together. He opens up to James about his experience of heartbreak and why love is such an important, yet misunderstood, topic for young men today.
His new book, Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs is out now.
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"When I signed up to the police my friends said, 'Why on earth are you joining a corrupt and racist organisation?'"
Neil Basu joined the police force as uniformed officer in 1992. He rose through the ranks to become an assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2015, a role he held until 2021. Alongside this, he served as the UK's head of counter terrorism policing and Met assistant commissioner of specialist operations, working closely with MI5. During that time, he led investigations into 12 terror attacks, foiled 29 plots and charged three Russian state assassins in connection with the Salisbury Novichok poisonings.
In this rare and candid conversation, Neil doesn't hold back. He talks about the racism he's faced, the barriers he's had to break down and the tough leadership lessons he's learned throughout his career. But perhaps most powerfully, he explains why he firmly believes the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist and why police chiefs must acknowledge it and apologise.
This episode is not suitable to those under 18 and contains sensitive topic discussions including racism and violence. If you are affected by anything you hear in this episode and need support, please see the suggested website links below.
HOPE not hate
SARI
Stop Hate UK
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Paul Sinha never really had a life plan and yet, somehow he's ended up with a career that's way beyond anything he could have imagined. He originally pursued a career in medicine, largely to keep his parents happy. But, whilst working as a junior doctor, he decided to give stand-up comedy a try. Now, he's not just a successful comedian but also a professional quizzer, best-known as one of the six Chasers on the ITV quiz show, The Chase.
He tells James what it was like to hide his sexuality at school, his unexpected break into comedy and the overwhelming sense of relief he felt when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019.
Paul's memoir One Sinha Lifetime is out now.
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Raised in an Irish Catholic family as one of nine siblings, Martin O'Neill was brought up with Gaelic football but he dreamt of becoming a professional English footballer. At 18, he was scouted by Nottingham Forest and quit his law degree to sign for the club. He went on to become an integral part of Brian Clough's legendary Nottingham Forest squad, winning back-to-back European Cups, and made history as the first Catholic player to captain Northern Ireland's national team.
After hanging up his boots, Martin achieved remarkable success as a manager, leading Celtic and Leicester City to major titles and taking the Republic of Ireland to the knockout stages of the 2016 Euros. He is now the chairman of the League Managers Association and co-hosts the Global podcast The Football Authorities with Clive Tyldesley. You can listen to The Football Authorities here: https://the-football-authorities.captivate.fm/
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