Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett

Victoria Pendleton has suffered depression and grief since becoming an Olympic cycling champion. She's come out of it a stronger person, still on the lookout for a challenge.
Having won her second Olympic gold medal at her home games in London in 2012, Victoria retired from cycling as a national hero. But she kept chasing sporting challenges, competing in horse racing then trying mountaineering. An unsuccessful attempt to climb Everest in 2019 - her first real failure - sent her into depression, but surviving that gave her the tools to cope with the loss of her twin brother and her father. She has now written a book, The Fear Opportunity, inspired by her experiences.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Oonagh Cousins was one of Britain's best rowers, and was awarded a place on Team GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But after having Covid and being unable to fully recover, Oonagh lost her place in the squad.
Oonagh now lives with Long Covid, which impacts roughly 2 million people in the UK. Having her Olympic dream taken from her by this illness has made her reflect on her own identity and the experience of sufferers of similar conditions.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

As Labour leadership hopeful Wes Streeting vows to bring the UK back into the EU Emma asks - do we really want to have that fight again? Or is it fair enough if many of us have changed our minds?

Would you dob your child in to the police? The Government is bringing in harsher penalties for the parents of children who commit crimes, saying it's time to remove the influence of "parents who can't parent". Is it all the fault of Mum and Dad?

Plus as the makers of Married at First Sight face the consequences of rape allegations on set, do producers need to rethink the format - and have higher standards of care in reality TV?

Ready to Talk News is a Long Form Audio production for BBC Sounds.

Weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth's ex-husband was jailed in 2021 for coercive control and stalking her. Even though he is now free, he was given a lifetime restraining order stopping him from contacting Ruth or their two children.
At times he would contact her up to 200 times a day while she was at work, but Ruth was unable to tell people the truth about her relationship. It took one extreme night for the police to become involved. Years on, Ruth is still learning to be fully free.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

We’re doing a new thing on Ready to Talk: News – a short series of three episodes where we find the news stories that really pique your interest and get us talking.

On this episode - what the hell is going on in our politics - have we all become addicted to the psychodrama of leadership battles? As headlines ring out about 'basketcase Britain', one of those calling for Sir Keir Starmer to go tells us why the chaos of the week is all worth it. And there's a new TV trend we don't seem to be able to look away from - why smut is everywhere and will it help a sex-starved nation? Emma speaks to the writers behind the TV remake of Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster Rivals.
With, as you might expect, some explicit language.

Ready to Talk News is a Long Form Audio production for BBC Sounds.