Brighton Beach Special

Publisher, successful author and a Swiftie, Harriet Evans joins us from Bath to tell us about the origins of her literary life and how being a catastrophist has helped her tell the stories that have earned her awards and legions of loyal readers. Regaling us with stories from the heyday of publishing in the 90’s, Harriet talks candidly about her love of books, her total lack of snobbery when it comes to a good story and how it feels to have insights as both a publisher and a writer.

Meet Lee Cooper who says it’s great to be a slashie and describes himself as a- fashion art director - slash- filmmaker - slash screenwriter slash author. Lee says he’s always been a story teller, and as a fashion marketeer has opened stores for many famous brands including Jigsaw and The White Stuff. After a film making course, Lee has pivoted into film making. His documentary ‘Maisie’ follows the oldest performing drag queen in the UK. Drawn to his long, colourful life, Lee says Maisie was still performing into his 80’s and Lee had unprecedented behind the scenes access and make a beautiful, powerfully honest film about a man dealing with cognitive decline and ageing. HIs latest project is ‘Backstairs Billy’ - another project Lee describes about being as another saucy old queen. It tells the story of the late Queen Mother’s most trusted servant. Lee regales us with some great stories about what actually went on in Clarence House.Lee says he’s a collector of stuff - or a ‘curated hoarder’ - but brought some fascinating pieces to show us including pictures of Bonnie and Bo his beloved Lhasa Apso dogs. The second caught Alice’s attention - a rubber replica of Salacious Crumb, the space monkey from the Star Wars films. Since seeing the first Star Wars film as a child, Lee says he’s been a secret Star Wars nerd. His loft is crammed with figurines that he hopes to use in a future film project. Lee says his great love is the ceremony of breakfast, done properly hotel-style, with a tea pot, china and toast rack - only eaten at midday. He brought his treasured old butter knife picked up in a vintage store and a little pot of jam.He says living in a post truth world, story if more important than ever. It’s so easy to get caught up in the everyday, so his mantra is to not sweat the small stuff. Find Lee on Instagram @leecoopercreative. To view our guests' special bits, please follow us on Instagram @showusyourbitspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Career guru, Sunday Times bestselling author and podcast host Helen Topper says that she was always so independent that she didn’t even tell her Mum she was leaving for Uni until the morning she went.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously - with Mia Drennan

It's Season 11 and Alice and Josie are embracing that fresh start September back-to-school feeling they both love. They have a lovely catch up after their summer breaks. Josie describes her chilled-out summer in the heat of the Spanish countryside, whilst Alice has been flat on her back after a bad back injury on holiday. She's feeling grateful to be back on her feet after a stint in a wheelchair - although being parked in a garden centre was not her favourite moment of the summer. Apart from the pain, Alice says it was good to slow down and to take stock, although her Vinted habit got a bit out of hand! Josie says that for the first time she's learnt the power of being still and 'being' rather than 'doing'. However, they're both raring to go and happy to be back in the studio. They have a season full of exciting guests and new surprises, so tune in every Friday wherever you get your podcasts and follow us @showusyourbitspodcast on Instagram. There's also extra show notes and pictures on our Show Us Your Bits Substack. To view our guests' special bits, please follow us on Instagram @showusyourbitspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.