Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett

Comedian Eleanor Thom struck up a friendship with Emma after they discussed their shared struggles with endometriosis. Eleanor has undergone 12 surgeries for the condition, and the pair have decided to air publicly some of what they say to each other about it in private.Endometriosis is a system-wide inflammatory disease that causes tissues like the lining of the womb make their way around the body, and its hallmark is pain. Although it affects as many as one in 10 women, it is not well understood and there is no cure. Emma has been trying to make sense of it for the BBC's first documentary on the subject, while Eleanor chronicled her own experiences with it in her book, Private Parts: How to Really Live with Endometriosis.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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, 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.

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.

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 all talking. On this episode - why are some in middle class Britain swiping things from supermarkets and then bragging about their five-fingered discounts? While the former New York Police Chief tells us crime is crime and should be tackled, the man who used to advise Jeremy Corbyn argues this is the consequence of rich corporations making spectacular profits while we all tighten our belts.And is Britney Spears worse off now she's free of the conservatorship that controlled her life? Does the #FreeBritney movement bear responsibility for her very public problems? We'll hear a defence of the fandom.Ready to Talk News is a Long Form Audio production for BBC Sounds.

Author Sally Gardner’s addiction to shopping has cost her £700k. She has only just discovered this compulsive behaviour is side effect of drugs she’s been prescribed for 20 years.Sally is a Carnegie Medal and Costa Children’s Book Award-winning writer who suffers from a debilitating condition called Restless Legs Syndrome. To combat it she has taken drugs called dopamine agonists for two decades. When her children heard a BBC radio investigation revealing the extent of compulsive behaviour the drugs can induce, they realised her extreme behaviour was linked to these drugs. Sally is talking publicly about her ordeal for the first time.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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Shaheen Hashmat left her family home aged 12 feeling she needed to escape, fearing a forced marriage. Initially she kept in touch, until deciding to become totally estranged in her twenties. By cutting contact, she lost the identity and sense of belonging that comes with family. She describes it as the worst kind of break up, one that left her questioning everything. Who am I without them? How do I trust my own decisions? And how do you rebuild when the people who shaped your life are no longer there?Over time, she began to build a life. Piece by piece, she carved out her own identity, focusing on defining her values, her relationships and the life she wanted to lead, on her own terms.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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Will Adolphy followed male influencers to figure out how a real man should look, feel and act. Now he helps men and boys escape the influence of the online manosphere. Throughout his teens Will Adolphy became increasingly isolated from his family, focussing his time on online gaming. Later he became more deeply drawn into the masculine digital culture that has become known as ‘the manosphere’, becoming so obsessed with one influencer that he hung a painting of him on his wall. But he was also suffering from panic attacks and severe depression. It all came to a head during lockdown when he lost his job and his relationship broke down. He has since retrained as a psychotherapist and now runs workshops to educate men about online harms. 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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Ric Renton shares how reading the dictionary in prison aided his writing career. Following a school life, he describes as “absent” and a violent childhood involving drugs, Ric requested a dictionary to read cover to cover while in prison. Twenty years later, he has written and starred in plays and is a writer and actor in the BBC drama Waiting For The Out. With the latest reoffending rates stating that over 40% of adult criminals in England and Wales go on to reoffend within a year of being let out of prison, Emma and Ric talk about Ric’s experiences in prison, staying out of prison and establishing a career, and the criminal justice system. 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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Fashion writer Billie Bhatia talks about her experiences of living in a bigger body, fatphobia and the cultural, social and personal impact of weight loss jabs. Billie talks to Emma about dating, navigating the fashion industry and shares her thoughts on the body positivity movement as well as Serena William’s controversial weight loss drugs advert at Super Bowl 2026.A recent study by University College London researchers, estimated that 1.6 million adults in England, Wales and Scotland used drugs such as Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic to help lose weight between early 2024 and early 2025.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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101

Deborah Douglas is one of the many victims of disgraced Birmingham surgeon Ian Paterson, who maimed many of his patients. After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2003, Deborah thought she was in the best hands possible. But Paterson subjected her to a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, and extensive chemotherapy, all of which were entirely unnecessary. Paterson has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after carrying out unnecessary operations, while Deborah Douglas has campaigned for justice for his many victims. She recently published her account of her ordeal, The Cost of Trust. 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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Writer Laura Dockrill discusses the extreme delusions and psychotic breakdown that she suffered after her son's birth. She shares how she got beyond them and how she is today. Just weeks after becoming a mother, Laura found herself is a desperate state. It took an intervention from her best friend, the singer Adele, to have her admitted to a psychiatric ward. With the support of her husband she is now thriving, and has published a memoir, What Have I Done?, about her illness. 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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Dr Koshka Duff was arrested and detained in 2013 after offering a legal advice card to someone being stopped and searched.Dr Duff was then subject to a strip search by Metropolitan police officers, an experience she describes as "terrifying".On CCTV footage, officers were heard laughing about her hair, clothes and talking about her underwear and her smell. The Metropolitan Police have since apologised and paid the academic compensation for their "sexist, derogatory and unacceptable language".She talks to Emma about why she decided to take action against the police and how the experience has shaped her view and work around police abolition.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 readytotalk@bbc.co.uk, or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.