BBC Role and Public Perception

I added one more podcast to the giant podcast bin. Now you have plucked that podcast out and started listening. I took my microphone and found some human folk. Then I recorded all the noises while we spoke My name is Adam Bxter and I'm a man I want you to enjoy this. That's the plan. Hey How you doing podcats? It's out of Boxton here. I'm back on well, it's not a crunchy Norfolk farm track this bit, this is the side of a field. It's a crunchy field because the sun's been drying the heck out of it and I'm walking past some new fencing. That's the big news from around this part of the world They've been hammering in new fence posts They've got a very particular smell. They coat them in creo soak to waterproof the wood Oh Tari Atari fence post One of my favorite video games back in the eighties. Now although I am back in Norfolk, I'm still without my best dog friend, Rosie Buxton, because she's perfectly fine. We had a walk earlier today. because I had the opportunity to go for a walk with one of my children, and I took it even though I wasn't ready to record my intro at that point And at her advanced age Double walk on a hot days. Not really what she's after, I don't think. Anyway, she made a point of asking me to send you her love Itounds like really? She's like, yes, yes, I do. 'cause it's been a couple of weeks and I really miss them That's my impression of Rosie It'sQ quite accurate, isn't it? Oh, no, look, there's the fence post team up there I'm gonna go a different route Last thing I want to do is bump into the FPT Now since uploading the last episode of this podcast with Louis Thouux, I have played the last couple of shows from the Adam Buxton Band Tour which took place at Hoxton Hall, East London. What a great venue. hadn't been there before. Thank you so much to everyone who came along. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as the band and I did. But oh boy, it was hot. It was two of the hottest days of Last week's heat wave. So it's Intense. Speaking of the weather, thank you very much to everyone who came along to the Norwich Arts Center the other night as I speak, for the screening of the People's Emergency briefing Climate film, which is presented by Chris Packham. It's part of an initiative calling for the government to hold a UK wide televised briefing on climate and nature risks You know, like one of the emergency briefings from COVID times, that we all loved watching so much. Maybe they could get Chris Whitty along. The Norich Chrts Center event was sold out in the end, which is fantastic. I was seeing the film for the first time along with the audience And afterwards, myself and guardian journalist and acclaimed nature writer, Patrick Barkham talked with each other and with the audience Ab our responses to the information in the film, and most importantly, what's next One audience member there that night asked why the film isn't available to watch in full on the internet at the moment And as far as I'm aware, that is a conscious decision by the organizers who wanted the first wave of engagement with the film to take place in a physical space in rooms full of people who could talk about it amongst each other afterwards rather than having people watch the film in isolation online Incidentally, you can find out where a screening close to you is happening or arrange your own screening, indndeed, That's what I did by following the link in the description. And that link will also take you to the talks delivered in Westminster in november twenty twenty five at the event which kickstarted all this. So in other words, if you can't get to a screening for whatever reason You can still take a look at the information in there and very importantly, you can sign the petition. There is a link in the description of today's episode to Chris Packham's nonpisan petition to the government calling for a UK wide briefing on climate and nature risks, and I'd like to encourage all of you to sign it Chris Packham says, The UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats The public has never been given a clear national briefing on the scale of these risks goovernment should hold an emergency briefing from leading experts. These risks could have serious consequences across the UK society. threats to health and food supply, which could become irreversible without urgent action Many people are unclear how these risks may affect them And information in the public domain is often misleading Credible national briefing from independent experts would give people clear, trusted guidance on what these risks mean in practice and what we can do both together and individually to prepare and respond. So that's the point of the People's emergency briefing film and of the petition. If the petition gets more than one hundred thousand signatures As I speak, it is just under thirty thousand The issue will be discussed publicly by MPs. and addressed by the government Hope you can help Thank you. If so. , let me tell you a bit about podcast number two hundred and seventy seven, which features a rambling conversation with English broadcaster and author, Sarah Cox. Oh, it's lovely and breezy here. I'm going to stop by this here gate and enjoy the cool wind Cofs. Sarah was born in nineteen seventy four and grew up in Bolton, Lancashire. After working as a model for a period in her late teens and early twenties, she was chosen to be one of the presenters of Channel four's post pub Lady Lads program, The Girlly Show in nineteen ninety six In two thousand, she took over BBC Radio One's breakfast show, hosting for three years before moving through drive time and weekend slots until leaving Radio One for good in february twenty fourteen But she'd already joined radio two in twenty eleven later taking over its drive timee show in january twenty nineteen On television, Sarah has presented the great Pottery throwdown, toooo muchuch TV and B in time for, as well as BBC two's betweenetween the covers since twenty twenty and since twenty twenty five The miniature series, the Marvelous Miature Workshop Having recently entered her fifth decade, Sarah has described her fifties as a golden time she's certainly busy enough. Last year, Sarah and her modeling friend, Claire Hamilton, started the Teen Commandments podcast, initially recorded in Sarah's Garden Shed The show features the pair talking about the experience of parenting teenage children having been boundary pushing teenagers themselves and includes hilarious and sometimes shocking contributions from their listeners Meanwhile From Monday the sixth of July Sarah takes over as the host of the Radio two Breakfast S cast live from the Big British Castle everyvery weekday morning from six thirty to nine thirty AM. As if all that wasn't enough. Sarah is also a best selling author herer memoir until the cows come home fondly describes growing up on her father's cattle farm in the nineteen eighties was published in twenty nineteen. and since then, she's written two hugely popular novels with a third. The truth of us onn july the sixteenth. Oh yeah, and towards the end of twenty twenty five. Sarah ran a one hundred and thirty five mile ultra marathon for children in need My conversation with Sarah was recorded face to face in London at the beginning of june twenty twenty six. And we spoke about life on the farm Hair raising farm injuries, being a daddy's girl, H Sarah got into modelling, cringy memories of the Girlly show Whether she feels the need to watch what she says at the Big British Castle, the challenges of parenting teenagers in the digital age and the physical toll exacted upon her Pudzy bad But we began with me, asking Sarah about the incredible level of detail in her memoir, back at the end to say goodbye, but right now. With Sarah Cox, Here we go. Ramble chat ands have a ramble chat. We'll focus first on this then concentrate on that on let's do the fat and have a ramble chat first on your conversation h and try your talking H are Well, you were saying it's easy to write a memoir because you just have to remember some stuff. But the detail of the stuff you were remembering was extraordinary until the cows come home. It's really about the experience of your childhood growing up on a farm There's quite a lot of good injury stories, bombber drama on there of falling down holes and gashing your leg on bricks in the middle of thunderstorms while you're carrying heavy chickens.. And then Also there's just stories about little moments, like lovely moments of being with animals or All that sort of stuff. How did you remember that? Is that all just family legend? or Not really. I mean, I just my brother was really helpful, Robert, my eldest brother I mean, he was great with the details of what year things would have been and because You know, my dad couldn't really I mean, I'd ring my dad and ask him what the name of a certain bll was or whatever, but our roob was helpful with all that But yeah, the other stuff just stuff I'll never forget. I mean, there was a sort of older railway What do they call you know, they're sleepers like sleepers, yeah, great fun to sort of skip along and I can't get told not to do that. And then of course went flying and stuck a big light inch nail or whatever through the fleshy bit at the bottom of my thumb. I had to stop walking when that bit came up on the audio work And a chill went through me. Oh Godd, how old were you I reckon I must have been maybe F And you describe very well the response that every parent has really after something like that that's so shocking And it's just rage. Yeah you get absolutely poed for it. It's myain memory of child as' hurting myself and getting polled for it. You're just so shocked as a parent. Yeah, but also relieved that it's maybe not worse. or I' very shocked because it is really bad or whatever. but your first response is often not to say, Hey, it's okay, I love you. Let's just go Jesus Christ, I told you not to do that. Now you've got a nail through your hand. Now we're going to go to the hospital. Well that's it as well. When you're busy, you're like, Jesus, that's why I said because you instantly map out how many hours's going to be of dealing with this like driving into Bolton General or whatever and sitting in A and E for hours, you just already go, well that's the rest of my day gone. Yeah. I think there's something about being raised on a farm where you just don't want to make a fuss. My dad always had like a black Thumbnail or fingernail where we just thracked it with a lump haammer on, you know would run into a gate and hed trapped his thumb on you know, it was always that just be alright. Give it a rinse and carry on Yeah. And I think it feels like you're failing a bit if you don't keep up that kind of like, Oh be allright. I remember I used to plunge my hands into like freezing cold water when I'd mix up sugar beet and like the ores feed from my little pawny gus. And I just used to think, Oh, I can't wait tntill I've got a sort of sort of wrinkly calloused scarred It's like my dad.. I was like twelve Obviously now I'm like, where's the hand cream? you know? I'm like what was wrong with me? I' such an unbelievable daddy's girl. It's just pathetic, really? Well, that's very touching your love of your dad comes across in that book. I it sounds like a kind of idylic childhood you had in a way, really? There were some amazing bits of being on the farm, but For a lot of it I was living down the road in a little council house with my moman's step dad separ Yeah, F from sort of the age of like seven or eight, but it was really close like a sort of like seven or eight minute walk. I'm smiling because my husband go mad at me 'cause I can never say five minutes or ten minutes. I'm always like seven He' say I mean ten No sevenh, not as much as ten, not as little as five. So yeah, it was like a seven or eight minute walk up to the farm. So I'd always, you know, I'd always be up there and Amazing things that I mean, going to like shows, you know, going to the Great Yorkshire show and The Royal W show whatever. you just pack up a truck where you'd have the cows in the back and you'd have this big show box. It was amazing. And what were you showing? you were showing bulls ands at that? Yeah, so pedigree poulled Hiffords so poulled just means they've not got horns Brown and white cows Lovely side of deep chestnut. brown and white faces and a little white on the neck at the back and the white socks and then the end of the tail is white, like gorgeous, gorgeous animals And I'd get to hold like the calf and just get dragged along at the back with the calf and Dad would was showing like the big bull. It was a big sort of family affair going into its lovely. mean You do talk about the fact that you really fell in love with a lot of these animals and Yet you were aware of what happened to them and what the system was, what you were doing there When I was really little, I didn't really know where they were going, obviously, when I was tiny, when I was like four or five, I had no idea whether the pigs would be getting bigger and going off But yeah, then I guess I became more aware of it. But it was all very like No, just kind of like a fact of life really that these animals would go off and You know, we had two lambs called freezer onene and freezer two. because we never had sheep, but my dad had mates who had sheep, some other family friends and if they were they'd been orphaned or whatever. So there'd been like a cardboard box next to the fire. So you know, obviously when you're a little girl, that's incredible that you get to bottle feed a lamb. I mean it's so amazing And so it was always with nicknames like that, you'd always sort of understand deal It wouldn't be around forever. Right. But they had a great life when they were on my dad's farm.. as much as seventies and eighties farm in allowed, I guess Did you ever see that film Octja? No Maybe you shouldn't see that f No What is it? I've seen Simon Amstill's film. Oh yeah, What did you make of that? That was ages ago. Yeah, I thought it was interesting and it really didn't make me think. and I was kind of like I've been flexitarian over the years and I was sort of I was vegan for quite a few months after watching that. I think a lot of people probably did that. It's a real contradiction, I think, as a farmer's daughter and trying to support British farmers to then Be a vegan just feels kinda Wrong. Do you have conversations about George Mombio in your family house Well, my daughter, M, she's doing GCSEs right now and she's really aware of the climate and meat production on the climate and We're having like meat free Monday type. Listeners, George Mombo. I mean, his his thing far as I'm aware, is not so much about the ethics of eating meat as the well I suppose it is, but his angle is about the damage that it does to the environment Yeah, especially sheep. like he hates sheep orr at least he doesn't hate sheep. He hates sheep farming and he hates the Ravenous destruction that is wrought by sheep on the environment. So that's his thing, but we live out in the middle of farms out in Norfolk And so we're surrounded by people who don't like George Mombo And u feel like he doesn't understand Can just dw my dad that really quick? Of course Did he overhear what I said about George Mumbia? Yeah, he's something like you tell. He's like Let me tell you about George Mombo That was your dad calling you there. Yes, Len And it's yeah, Len's getting on a little bit now. I think he'd be the first to admit that and it's tough, you know, he's still on the farm. And it's tough because you know, you see this man that you just vitalized all your life who was just so strong I remember I only I think I only took two boyfriends up And you know, I think he just used to do a handshake and his hand would just envelop their entire like hand and forearm like big sorta you know, big strong guy. So it's hard when they, you know, when they're not in as good Nick anymore. Sure. And it's hard being far away, you know, because it's up in Bolton, so My brother, you know, goes up and helps him out and looks after him. but My sister's in Oxford, I'm in London and then I've got two siblings who are close by who are popping up. so I just feel bad that they're taking the brunt of it, you know. It's an intense time when your parents are still around, but they're older and You you moved yours in with you, didn't you with Yeah, I did separately. For a while with my dad towards the end of his life for a few months. You know, it wasn't like he was like sort of seven months or something in the end and with my mum, that was the plan, but then she u decided that she would rather die. live with us for any long period. I mean, I'm joking obviously. But I think there was a little part of her which was so determined not to cause a fuss and so determined that she should not interrupt. our lives That was her whole plan was like every time we talked about Why don't you just come live with us? you know, she's like, No, no. I'm not going to do that. you know, you've got your own life, you've got your kids there and everything. That just seemed to her like a defeat that she would do that, which I really On the one hand, that's nice of her, but I really do wish she hadn't felt like that because it would have been fine, you know, I mean, we would have Of course they would have been trying moments. Yeah. But it could have been lovely overall, it could have been. Possibly. I mean So was it wasn't I wouldn't describe it as lovely with my dad No were you like hoping that'd be? Yeah, yeah, definitelyensive. Oh man, totally. I was completely delluded. I just thought that suddenly he would turn into a different person. in the way that sometimes happens, especially if people dementia Not always, but sometimes there can be a real softening of their personality Yeah and It's really hard all that because it can also bring out the absolute worst of them But anyway, he didn't have dementia. No, But he was just determined to carry on being the same bloke that he always had been, which did not accommodate sitting down and having deep heart to hearts with his son yeah, there was zero softening and I wouldn't say zero. there was a couple of moments. Yeah and it was worth it for those moments of tenderness and contact could have handled a few more Yeah. It would have been open Yeah So just a few more. Also they were they were counterbalanced by moments of real hardness and real kind of a little bit more like the sort of very brutal, direct, unfiltered version of people that you sometimes get when they are older and when if maybe they have dementia, sometimes you just get the total. Yeah. and o they just say exactly what they mean. Yeah real Zinga. Yeah. you want some ice for that bird. You know, things like which I've heard from a few people actually Like I know that older parents have said maybe towards the end of their lives things to their children about where they are on the pecking order. You know what I mean? And u Brutal Yeah. I mean, my dad like my dad is a different person, like we all are to an extent, but he's very different to each of his children. I guess it's a little bit like it's sort of a weird similarity or of when I was living with my mom ands step dad and down the road, the farm was the place where I went and I saw my pony and there was not really any rules and dad was sort of relaxed. And dad's kind of quite quiet and he's always liked still waters run deep kind of thing. And women have always liked my dad. He was really handsome and rugged. peopleeople thought you know there was this depth to him because he was quite quiet and women just loved it if they could make Len laugh or if they could charm him, you know, he had this sort of magnetic quality. womomen loved him Perhaps a bit perhaps a bit too much any he might have loved women too much. And so my mom was like, you know homeomework Clear up after yourself, eat your vegetables, be polite. You know, she was doing all boring drudgery stuff. And then I'd go up to the farm and be like, L, you know what I mean? And everything's great up here. And there was you know no boundaries, or rules, or bororeing stuff And now I think it's kind of weird where When he speaks to me, like he really lights up and when we get off the foot, you know, and I think because maybe he doesn't see me that often and I'm I'm just sort of the fun stuff. I'll ring up and pull his leg about the fact that you know if he's falling or something, I'll be like, o Oh, he'd be practicing your break dancing again,, I'll try and make him laugh and he'll be like, Oh, Sarah. Whereas actually it's my siblings who are doing all the donkey work. you know, my brother's fixing stuff, climbing up ladders, see how much oil's left in the tank for his heating or whatever fixing a gate, trying to organize a roof for the cattle sheds or whatever. My brother's doing everything. And so I think when I speak to him, you know I'm just sort of like the light relief because I'm a big chicken and I don't want to talk about anything scary you know, I've that to a couple of times and he'll kind of listen to me then but I'm his little girl, you know, I don't really want to be T telling him stuff that he needs to do or that he needs to be careful with. 'causeuse I'm his little girl. so how bad is that for him, you know, justust try. And then we get off the phone to each other loveve you, love you, love you. loveove you, love you, love your dad. You know it's getting kind of like. You hang up first? Yeah It is a bit like that with my dad, o God. But I've made it up to my mum for all the years of being, you know Complete Madam A And sasheting off to the farm and thinking my dad's the bee's knees, I've since made it up to mom. Okay. I look after my little mom. I mean, until the cows come home, you seem like a nice person Did you go off the rails massively I don't know much about your history, your sort of more tabloidy history, like when you started entering the public eye and your modeling years. and I don't know if you don't like talking about that sort of stuff. haveave you because you sort of deliberately don't Talk about that stuff in the first book. Are you gonna write another book where it's hardcore? Wild years No, okay. Definitely not The book ends when I get the Girlly show. Right. That's nineteen ninety six. Yes Yeah. I think I signed the contract ye just december ninety five and we were on air, I think. ninety six And what was the run up to that? So you started modelling when I started modelling just straight after my A levels, I had applied for union. I wasn't sure what I was going to do and then I ended up modelling because I went to Paris seeee my sister who was at Uni doing law with French and as part of her degree, she was working at like I think it was the electricity board in Paris and I just went over there and I got scouted like in a boutique in a French boutique by some guy who was like, oh, your're luckies. very strong at the moment. And I was like You're an axe murderer, you're going to put in a van and take me off to somewhere and kill me But he didn't he sort of got in touch with like a Manchester modeling agency. So I came back from Paris started work with them, but you know, I didn't I made about ten p over the next couple of years, but I had a great time. I met the woman who's still my bestest friend in the world Who said Clire Hilton. Right Wh who you do your podcast with? Who I do my podcast with? T commandments. Yes. So yeah, so I met Claire and then you know, so that was a good thing to come out of it. And then the Girlly showh was just another modeling casting Nearly didn't go into town because to get from Bolton to Manchester was like three quid or whatever and I didn't have any money. I was also working behind the at my mum's pub at the pineapple and Ianging out with a bunch of lads who were like my best mates and mate of ours Their mom ran a nursery, a preschool nursery They had this big attic and we would just be up in the attic withd like smoke billowing out of the window because we've played Street fighter three and o. listen to the orb and the kinks Wow, good combo. Yeah. but nothing more extreme No, not really. I mean I used to when I was like fifteen or sixteen, I'd go out raving and go to like Blackpool and the sort of clubs where you go in and you just can't see your hand in front of your face because of the dry ice. L I loved all of that for a couple of years just getting lifts off unsuitable boys in their XR twos and going raving just loved rave culture for a couple of years. Right. must be when I was I started going out when I was fifteen and underage. Underage drinking and going to local bars and stuff So that's at the end of the eighties, early nineties. Yeah, so that'd be eighty nine ninety. and going out then sort of ninety one, ninety two and going to like flesh at Hacieanda, which was the gay night because it was just felt the most inclusive fun fun one, you know, but back then there were very much bonuses on the Hieander and you'd have to do a twelve for them before It'll let you w. Oh, really? okay Yeah, but that's what clubs were always I mean, clubs must still be like that a bit, right? If they've got door policies, then they sort of screen for cool people. A door polllet. The first time I heard about a door pollet was like, Are you joking? You're not allowed to go in unless they think you look cool enough. Yeah, that was always weird, the kind of with a clipboard. Right, orr just some guy coming out and going, yeah No, no, no yes. okay yes, you're com in. No, no way, no I mean, as it was more like creepy bonncers wanting to look at your body whilst you did a little twelve you know That wasn't so much like the door person. But yeah the door the tyrant with the clipboard who'd make you do the walk a shame if you weren't on the list and you'd tried to go I should be on the guest list. And so then you transition into the world of television. The world of TV. Having not done anything in between, like no radio or no kind of Right? I mean, nothing. and you can tell, you can tell I was so throwned to the lions. I didn't know what the hell was doing. I was so nervous. What was the company? wasas it Planet twenty four? It was Repido? Oh Rapido. Yeah, who made with Paul Gautier made. Yeah, Eurotrash. Eurotrash. And Rapido itself that which was just one of the greatest music shows about leftfield music hosted by Antoine D Cn. Yes who wore a snappy suit and once I saw him in at the Edinburgh TV Festival towards the end of the nineties And everyone was swooning because he smelled so good. I bet he looked like he smelled good But he was also funny and cool and weird and this over the top French accent. Yes. But it was all very ironic and the way it was filmed was super minimal, just him against a kind of white sight Leaning towards the camera Talking about all these cool indie bands, cut to interview with like Dinosaur Junior or Sonic Youth or whoever it might be. So cool. That's great, man. I loved all that So quite a good company. Yes to be working with. Yeah. the offices were on on Notting Hillgate And I remember just going in there for a meeting. The casting had gone well, I'd gone last because not in any sort of I didn't plan it like that to be like. make a lasting impression go. But as it happened, I went out last and there was a woman called Esther. She was a TV producer and she had a little cam corder and I just showed off and she asked me about dating and stuff and boys and I just try and crack a few jokes and You flauded her with your Northern charm. Yeah, a little must have been that. And who were your co presenters again So for the first series, it was Rachel and Claire They were both great. There was an American. There was an American Rachel who was sort of billed as this Edgy cool. she had a piercing in a bottom lip. Oh, come on She was No need for that. Six foot. Rachel Williams. Rachel Williams Claire Goram. and Sarah Kaywood. Sarah Caywood for the latateryies. Okay. I think for series two and three office Yeahah, I think. Claire, it wasn't it really wasn't for Claire. and she said as much herself. She was like, what am I doing? I think she was a magazine editor. I think she got carried along on a wave of excitement. I got off like we all were a bit like Okay God, we're out' doing this TV show fine And Rachel was just sort of Cool and edgy and kind of sort of slightly androgynous and Didn't she have a wild childild past? Like hadn't she been a real scene store or something? Yeah, I think so, like in New York. She was from New York and She had her girlfriend at the time was Egg. what's that band called called Egg. My memory is so shock. This is why I'm not doing the memoir. the nineties. I can't remember any of it. I try. There was a girl. She used to be a model her girlfriend was in Egg. Is there a band called Egg? There is a band called Chapter three. Something in the egg or something. I thought you'd know, you know your cool music. Egg. I don't know I mean there is there's a band called Egg and Alice. That's it. Really? Yeah Okay. T take an Alice. She might have been Alice. Right. I think she would. Yeah, I know Egg is Egg is Egg White who is a songwriter who has written some like really huge songs. There you go, you do know. You got there,? Yeah, thank you. If I ever do write that nighties went Well, I'm coming knocking at your door to help me. I'll f it U So yeah, so we were just suddenly on Friday night post pub TV Now what happened with Adam Joe just after it must have been after the Girly Sh, just was it? Same era definitely. Yeah, same era a b possibly just different seasons Yeah Yeah. But we felt like we were in an entirely other universe to a show like the Girlly showow. You know. I mean, we were doing this DIY show from our nerdy man bedroom And meanwhile You know, it felt like the word The Girlly show, right? Yes it was a sort of post pub Yeah. Lady lads situation. Is that fair I think my husband loved Adam and Joe and I don't think he caught the Girlly show that much. So he's very much in the Adam and Joe. L he's a huge fan that show and loves you. sounds very clever. was yeah. And I was like, you ever watch the G show? And it was yeet off the back of the word. I think the word was more extreme. Yeah. Yeah, the word was like vomiting into a cup and drinking it.. And s su in a grandma, wasn't it? Yeah Yeah bigig French kissing with like eighty year old or something like mad. I think ours was cheeky and brush for sure. One week I'd be like waxing a fireman's chest and then he'd carry me off stage you fireman's lift whilst I looked up to camera for and went, We'll be back after the break. You know, Oh my Godd. And We'd have guests on a music guests. I saw a clip. there's not I feel like there's not loads of clips in I'm not that I'm really searching for them. There was one that came up on Instagram that somebody had tagged me in on. So we'd have musical guests And we had Lemi Oh wow. on who was Motorhead For Motorhead and we brought on three of his ex girlfriends and it must have been he hadn't probably seen them for fifteen or twenty years, but they still had like the tight leather tades on. They were still like rock chick. Yeah girls and they sort of but by this time probably someone's Mormon stuff and they just came out onto the girlly show and like, you know One on each knee Oh my Godd. He was legendarily And surprisingly personable, wasn't he? Lemy? Yeah, he was friendly. He was kind of Yeah, I mean, don't I don't want to say he was doing he was doing speed off a fifty pence piece in the dressing. He probably was. wasn't it like No idea. He would hoover up anything I think. And yeah, it was it was just the maddest The Mad is show. W it live? No. Recorded as live on. I think on a Thursday then out on Friday. Okay But it was yeah, it was full on. I think Joanna l me on the first episode and I was just so nervous I panicked and asked her if she ever bought big soups on her shop. you know ig soup. That's a good question. Whatatch Joe Paxman. What did she say? Oh, she's like, What's big soup darling That multipod I don't know ye. Okay Wanker of the Wek, I remember. I can't honest. I mean, it was so mean. It was so mean. Everyone was so mean. Everyone was so mean in those days. It was horrible. It was really like everyone was just trying to ratchet up the horribleness levels. Yeah, like it was like anyone was fair game, just if you werere in the public eye just And I used to it was the first bit of writing that I did and I used to present them like in the production meeting quite proly. Here's this week's Wanker. and the producers would be like, that's great. And I was like absolutely buzzing that they lik my writing that they'd let me do that You know, let me take charge of that bit. For our younger listeners who may not have seen the Girlly Show, this was a segment called Wanker of the Week, in which you would Well, youort of took turns, didn't you or was it always you? It was always me. It was always you. I don't know why've suddenly got a flash of Sarah Cayward doing one. And it would be perhaps a sd of Minute, minute and a half maybe, please God, it's not any longer Takedown of someone in the public eye be it like seven or Liam Gallagher. And then I did Patsy Ken' Yeah sure Did you ever run into her I did. I ran into Liam first backstage at topop of the Pops So I had to pause there, while I just put my head in my hands. I don't know why I went over. I went over to chat to him. I'd called his wife and Wank on the telly like the week before. You know, you're just fearless aren't? You're twenty one, you're twenty two. I was just completely fearless like, Oh I'll go and sell autumn we like his music. So I go over to him and we have a short exchange which ends with him calling me a slam Wh which was like, you know, if you're raised in the eighties and nineties like the S word is The worst word you can be called. and he was, you know, quite rightly miffed at me and was like, So he knew who you were. He knew who I was, he knew what I'd done and you know, he was like Yeah you can fuck off your slag or rearch. I can't remember how the exchange happened. I just know that it can't me get slagg. I was like I don't know what else I was expecting. It slag I'm not as slack. And then obviously I couldn't listen to oasis for ages. I mean, they were huge, but I was like, well, that's ruined definitely maybe for the foreseeable andah I can listen to them Have you bumped into him since? I don't think I have. I've interviewed Noel since. No, I've definitely said hello to him at stuff. There's no like I don't think there's any ill feeling there now It was a different time. It was a different time. And I saw Paty Kenzit. I mean, this is really time stamping it for the nineties. I saw Paty Kenzit in Noobu. on park Lane And she kind of waved and smiled and I sort of went over again, like potentially throwing myself into the Into the jaws and u And I went over to Patsy Kenz and she was really gracious and really friendly and kind and really nice. whichich put me on the back folks I thought I was going to get a balkin over like a plate of sashimi or whatever. And I was just like, Ohi. And she was really lovely to me. whenever I've seen it, she's been lovely. I'm like, didid she not know or did she know? but she was just much wiser than me and a little bit older and was just like This idiots on tist saying this stuff who. I mean, to be fair There was probably quite a long list of anxious making things that happened to her at that point in her life that Yeah probably don make me feel even worse. As far as the radio goes though Was that a steep learning curve? Did you have to watchatch what you were saying? Did you have moments when you misspoke and you were pull up either by your bosses or by the listeners. I remember when me and Joe were on the radio, you would say things totally innocently and then you would be informed by a wave of communication that See, that was not okay. Yeah, it's interesting because for me radio was just like, o, I'm home. This is like live radio is just It just feels like the love of my life. I love everything about live radio And I felt like it was a really natural home for me. L right away I was just I loved the immediacy of it and just kind of been able to communicate with listeners like that. and the sort of watching yourself certainly with language, you know, obviously I never would have sworn in front of my nana So it was that kind of little you know instinct that would stop you ever from obviously accidentally swearing and that wouldd be ridiculous. Sometimes you would get carried away and then you'd get in trouble You know, saying just trying to push the envelope a little bit. It's being smuty Be smuty, Sarah. I don't know if it was I don't think it was smutty I'm listing to you got no, no, I don't. you've got a clip no. Well, here we go, evidence A. I do remember you saying instead of the phrase fair enough, you would say fairy mough. Oh yeah I mean, that's still funny. I do remember thinking, I was kind of pushing it for like mC BBC in the morning Yeah.. I mean, I try and push it now a little bit even on on radio two because I feel like radio two listeners, you've got to be don I'm not remotely fruitity now. I've obviously grown out of that. I think you go through stages of your career well You know, there was innueo and this I do sort of fun innuendo now, but kind of it's much more like where I'll say not a euphemism. you know, I just can't still resist that sometimes if you know, my Pilatees teacher got rearended this morning, which is actually a true story from last week, you know, not a ephemism. justust being silly like that. You know, I feel like there's a misconception sometimes with radio two listens where they you know, they don't want cozy. they want you to be warm and friendly But they also want you to be funny as well and to be a little bit irreverent as well. so ye So I yeah I try and I'm a frustrated stand up. I'll forever be that youngest of five trying to getet a laugh to get a bit of attention. And what was the first time you were on the radio then? It would have been for maybe the second series of the Girlly S show maybe. I was interviewed by Simon Mayo on daytime Radio One And I remember feeling really comfortable being on the radio thin No one can see you Obviously everyone can see you now because radioos changed, but then they couldn't And I was like, go, especially as an ex model and being on Tleamand I can slump a bit on I've toull my belly and I can just try and be funny and not worry about how I look stillill a farmer's daughter not wanting to put makeu on and much happy when I'm sort of Slovenly And so I was really relaxed chatting to Simon, and I thought, this is really nice And then I managed to get a foot in the door at Radio One and I got a Saturday afternoon show with Emma B Oh yeah. A coho of them would be and then Sunday evening. We did the Sunday surgery which was a new show that was taken over from Dave Peerce's Dance Anthems I had a doctor there, Dr. Mark Hamilton, and we'd do this Sunday surgery. The rave kids were not happy. They were like, whereere the hell is Dave Piece gone and his Downsthoms. So for the first couple of weeks, we'd just get crank calls of people being like Hello. I've got a spot on me bottom, know and then they' like, brring my dayars.. That's where I started and then worked my way up kind of like ust I just loved it. I love the Saturday afternoon, one You know, straight away just I just felt like bits of my upbringing was just so helpful for the radio. Creatively, I felt they just gave me completely free rein. But before that I'd done MTV and I'd done MTV hot And that was just me with a little Fish eye lens camera talkal into Camera and just on my own with a completely white background And I loved that because it was kind of take the micickiy of things, I'd be introducing pop videos, but it'd be kind of like my own version of comedy just trying to make people laugh. Yeah Well, that's quite Rpeado is. Yeah. Just yeah, I really like things I think TV's so good for that MTV was a real light great training ground Yeah. people That's when they used to show actual music videos on M TV since they're all reality How many kids have you got now? Three Yeah Stuck at three for quite a while. I was thought to have four. Well you were from a family of five. F, yes. Yes. so I think People from larger families, I would call that a larger family. Yeah tend to think that they'll probably have that many kids themselves. That's been my experience. Yeah. So. How many How many you? How many are you? We are three, we have three plus dog That is a surprise to me because when I was a teenager and into my twenties, if you'd ask me, I would have said, No, I'm not gonna to have kids. Really? Yeah. Wow And then that changed obviously Then after we had the first one, I was thinking, this is nice But it's a lot of work and it's quite a change. Yeah. And then we had the second one. I was thinking, that's enough. We are done now. That's quite enough. They're great. But now we have two of them and that's all anyone really needs, isn't it? And we can all fit comfortably. Yeah. Exactly round a table ands all much much A little girl those. Then my wife held me to ransom and blackmailed me emotionally and said that We had to have another one. and I strongly resisted, but I negotiated I got some stuff in return. And you got another one? What did you get? I got to move out of London. Yeah, nice. Yeah, I said We have another one then let's L getet out of here because by that time it's like, well there's no point in living in London. If we've got these young kids because we don't go out, we don't do anything. We just go to the terrible park and stand around in the gloom and think about what fun we would have been having in the old days This is my experience. Now of course, there were many joyful times that I would never Echange but I must say I prefer it now. Yeah, me too. Me too. When they're little, I mean, they're so cute and obviously with with your phone now just constantly sending your little video clips of them when they were squeaky and little. It's so cute Yeah get right by My eldest was very nasal but very high. You know, she's nearly twenty two. And you know, she's never got a septum pice in and she's really cool, but she was ever that squeaky. I had Lola and then I got an upgrade on husband's And then I had my son and my daughter. And I do feel that there's a lot of parenting, which is obviously this everybody knows this, but it's just You know, the time you spend It should be magical, but just like pushing a child on a swing It gets boring, doesnn't it? It's that horrible it's quite. It's surprisingly bleak. is This is the first two pushes you're like, We and then you're just like, Oh God, we're here again Yeah. I mean, I was sitt around London Zoo the whole time. L I know every inch of London. So to the extent where we went on a school trip and I was one of the parents volunteerered and I was like leading the way that Miss Martinez thought it was amazing. I was like, This way for the penguins Okay, down here we've got the, you know, the anteater because I just knew it like the back of hand. Once your members there, they' gota. they gota man I was there the whole time with the three kids. Was that the best place? Where were your other go to locations? It was the zoo, it was Primrose Hill we'd spend a bit of time on, which was funny because that's where I used to go yumping around when I had Snoop DOWG, my basasset hound. in my wilder days. where I'd be snapped for heat magazine, you know, and instead I'd just be out having a little picnic with the kids and that. And I never lived around there but I've always traveled to Prom Radale and people Jally found it. I was like, No, can't afford to live around here. But yeah, it was it was largely the zoo it feels like. And obviously swimm in, know, bloody swimim swiming less. I mean the changing rooms just try not to brain your child by dropping it on you know, a slippy child that you've got in this shower with you while another one's toddling around and ted a slippy tiled floor discarded plusters. my memories of going swimming with them, which didn't happen very often. Always feelld. as if I have to add the disclaimer that my wife just did so much more than I did in those days I would go with them to the Clapham swimming baths every now and again. And it was terrible And just the worst thing that would happen is you bump into someone, you know? Oh God, it's the wor. And I just want to as soon as you get in the pool, actually my wife was talking about this the other day, she was making me laugh. just her memories of being in the pool and just immediately sinking into the Like under the water as far as you could just hiding yourself and wanting to hide It's sort of hippo style. ye crocodile just' more like kind of Martin Sheheen in apocalypse now his head's poking above the water and he's waiting to terminate someone with extreme prejudice Have you been recognised in the pool? been I've been recognised a couple of times No I haven't been there since that was a possibility I mean Yeah, how does that go? Terribly of course, you know, because you come up for air, you got your goggles on and you've got the inevitable snot coming outly on someone's like Is it Sarah? Hi. Hello. Hello. off a go again. I got recognized in a ural the other day. Horrible And I' like come on, mate. Who thinks it's okay to like I've got stage fright anyway trying to do my weewi business? And now suddenly I've got a deal with you going. What kind of monster would not go for the blank in that situation? You have to go for the blank. I mean, it's madness. Definitely Who's been your best celebrity encounter? Oh gosh. Uh It's a hard one, isn't it, really It's funny because withith tea time with radio to T the show that seven years what I've loved is that I haven't had to deal with any celebrities. And The listeners have been the VIPs. Yeah and I've really enjoyed that. Now I do feel ready for another challenge now and I'm moving up to breakfast. So I am actually quite looking forward to flexing my interview muscle again. Are there guests every day on that show mayaybe three times a week, possibly, depending on who's knocking about I really want to keep the listeners sort of focus of the showone of the fun because I think that's where the magic lies. Definitely. The problem is with interrodiewing celebrities that I imagine I don't know if this'll be the case now, but back in the day I used to think We'll probably become friends, you know? L the unlikely friendship that'll blossom between little old me and this Hollywood superstar. off course it wouldn't happen. I heard Elizabeth Day saying exactly that about Emily Blunt. Oh really? ye. think I think she's the classics side of the girls W to be her kind of girl. She just comes across as like someone that you just want to be pallally with that you'd get on with really well. Yeah. See also like Cameron Diaz, you know,ight? Okay. She'd be like smoking a little bifter on a beach and then going surfing. like how cool to be to be mates with Cameron Diaz? But yeah, I mean, there's been people who like I will never forget that I got the chance to interview them because it was just kind of iconic and very much of the time, which would be like in New York with M and M you know, when record companies had the money to just jet off a DJ. And Missy Elliot I loved, I always loved Missy Elliot. And I interviewed quite a few times on breakfast they You know, the record company flew me to Miami to go perch on the bonnet of her Lambghini and interview her, you know, and that kind of fun stuff, you know? Yeah When I am in the home for discombobulated DJs is one of the things that I'll think about, I think And then obviously you're a parent and you know, some of Einem's lyrics don't age that well. Right. someome of the songs. Well, speaking of being a parent I listening to a couple of episodes of Teen Commandments. Oh Godd when from? this makes me so nervous. Quite recent. Oh yeah. Is that good? . I mean, when anyone calls me, I've read your book, I instantly just get. just I just have a physiological reaction and just start perspiring wildly in the armpit. Yeah It's horrible. No it was all good I was laughing at the story about someone had written in And it was a woman who was working from home while her teen son was upstairs haaving a shagathon. Yes. And I think maybe he didn't realize that his mum was in the house. Yeah, totally didn't realize. Horrible. And it was noisy Yeah There was noises. Oh I mean, I was hoping because what we do we have a Monday, which is the main episode where we'll cover a couple of topics A of feedback from the listeners and stuff. And then on the Wednesday it'll be it's called yourour turn. and that is all the stories from our listeners about either parenting teenagers or their own teenage years And there's gold in them hills with teenage stories. I mean, that's great Every Wednesday up I really love because and also it's over to the listeners so I don't have to do as much work. I can just gasp along and be like, oh my Godd with these stories And when this story about the banging and stuff coming from upstairs, a bit of me was like Is this lead into sort of it being an innocent You know, they were They were moving the wardrobe or whatever. on it sounded like they were having sex But it wasn't no. they were banging away all. It was full. They were banging away noisily until she was so mortified that she just all she could think of doing was standing at the bottom of the stairs and just shouting the name of her son at the top of her voice till he was aware that she was down there. And there was no like at the end of the email, I remember there wasn't even any sort of like snappy ending or like so be warared parent or whatever. There was no real moral to the tale. I think I think it was just quite cathartic for this poor woman to tell us about it like what fresh hell she. Well he came down and he apologized later Their way of dealing with it was just ignoring it completely. They just couldn't look at each other in the eye for quite a while Hello Hello Hello Hello, Hello. Hello, Hello Hello How are you physically after your incredible running expedition for children in need? Fine, good. When was that? That was November last year, november twenty twenty five. Yeah Five marathons in five days. Whoaa. Final total eleven point seven Million pounds. That's fantastic. Thanks to the listeners of radio too I a lot of wanted to see a middle aged lady cry. stumbling down a deserted road. I watched the programe and I was thinking like Maybe the hardest thing being filmed. did you That's funny you said. While you're trudging through the rain and you must be in physical pain and you must feel like you want to cry and yet You have to smile and and look sane and It's so funny you say that because I was exactly like that before I was like, I'm really gonna struggle with being filmed. It's like And I didn't want it to feel fake when I'm like high fivving children. but actually when you're doing it There's nothing better than like A high five from a slightly confused four year old who doesn't know why they've been taken to the side of the road and there's like But actually I was just I'm quite shy and I just thought the whole being filmed and Turns out when you're trying to run just over a marathon a day is the least of you worriry being filmed and it was quite There was a lot that the actual documentary that a lot of the cry and there was a lot more there was a lot more cry. I think there would have been complaints. I mean, some of my friends were like ringing Ben up going You know, Alnie Mac is was like And they on a breaker ' you've gott to stop it in it time I'm not laughing at you crying very. Yeah there There was a lot more like birth breathing, but I think people tele youviewers wouldort have been like, you can't do this to people. And what kind of things were making you cry? The pain, the physical pain, no way was I ever going to stop. And I had a huge amount of support. I mean, I was in the middle of like cavalcade of eight vehicles or whatever There wass like a motor home that I'd light a little loou on So I could just, you know, run in there have a weave if I really needed to. And there was a medic and obviously all the producers and the radio and just so much, you know That a huge amount of support, but ultimately it was up to me to do it. I couldn't Of course you want to raise as much money as possible for children in need and you want to raise awareness of all the amazing projects that they support. But also there's a bit of you your like You cannot forever more be the woman who didn't complete the challenge You just can't And also a man would have took over as well. It would have been Vernon or Paddty. because there's always a stand in. I'm usually the stand in for other ones and I don't do a bit of training because I think no one's going to stop You can't. You've just got to keep going. That's the maddest thing about them and you just do My trainer at the brilliant Nick, the physio was amazing And he was just like look What's good is that the pain is moving around your body. If you get knee pain on day one and day two, three, four and you know, then you're in trouble But if you get knee pain and then hip pain and then shin pain and then knee pain again. You know? It's fine. Your body is coping with it and it's moving the pain around. like what the hell is happening here? wasad So you didn't get any kind of pain blocking super injections or did you No, I mean, there was certainly on day it was Only on day five, really where I was like of have some codine. I didn't keep that in the documentary.. When's codine You know, the medic it was obviously it's BBC, you know, they're not going to dose me up and push me out there. I just want to make that clear. But on the final day, I definitely needed some painkillers. You know, and he gave me like a half dose the first time. and I was like, if you read about me in the nineties? like dose me up, please. I can have a full you know, I'm allowed. It was all, you know over the counter stuff, nothing dodgey yious sit, but. and they kept They kept just squeezing my shins. I didn't know what they were doing, but they were checking for stress fractures And the physio and the medic kept giving a little look at each other having a feel in my leg D't what they doing Just checkking that I've not actually broken my legs running because then they would have had to stop it and I would' have been devastated.. The dayay five was amazing. I was just absolutely buzzing. I knew that I knew my two of my kids were there at the end and Ben and my best friends. It's really emotional I go now It was amazing and just everyone just like coming out. in the driving rain and wind, like the weather was filthy holding up a little signs that were like ripping in the rain. all felt it pen colouring on, you know and hking it's just hooking women. like I had a real connection with women my age. Yeah, I saw you stop at one point and just Hugs some rando I really hold on to that. aggees. Yeah, it was really like someone it was often someone like my mom's age or someone like my big sister's age. I'm like, you know, I'd just be like, you'll do. Come here come. It really was. It was like a minute like a little power up just that feeling because obviously I wasn't my husband, I wasn't with my kids, you know, I needed I needed physical touch, like just a squeeze, you know? Yeah. And I couldn't ask that of the physio. It'd be like no needed a bit of love to power me on. Sure. But when I run now sometimes I'll have the same playlist on, but there'll be no fucker st there the side of the road. you know I'm still running through Kilburn like pointing at people, listening to like Chase and status And yeah, no one cares Right right. But I'll get like a good flashback, you know to that could still get us hart of gooseb. respect, I was very impressed. Looking back on it now, it's only just Sun Ken recently really, you know was It was the longest one anyone's ever done, isn't it? Yeah, for that. Definitely in the hills. Oh my God, I had no idea that the hills. Where can they go next? I don't know. What will Vernon K have to do? I don't know who it's gonna to be cut off parts of his body with a rusty saw Greg was telling me, Professor Greg whyy, this is his fortieth of these challenges. So he was the one who'd be with Greg when he was cycling the three peaks in the you know, the Beast from the East and he was the one doing with Davino and David Walliams I think was the first one when he swam Oh ye The Thames and got eighteen different waterborne diseases. that's funny. Well' got kind of is And Greg has obviously got all these great stories about all these challenges and He said his best headline about Greg was When willill this man kill somebody And there was a picture of like Davina being pulled semiconscious from like an icy lake, you know on her massive because she did really hardcore ones for comic rease. Good way to go though. Mad, Yeah. what with the world's press snapping away Boma Lake. You would you'd be golden. I think she was all right for that. I think she's quite happy to have survived Now it's time part of the conversation when I said What time you in bed? I said, What time you in bed? Oh, I mean the dream, we put the dogs to bed at nine And the dream is to be, you know in bed. And that's when I'm I want to get up at six isish at the moment, quar to six So when I'm on breakfast I will definitely be in bed for nine. But I would have had more of an evening. It's quite hard getting Omac quarter to eight, you've got to feed people dogs, all that and then still get to bed for nine is quite a challenge. You're asleep by nine thirty latest. I'm hoping idedally by ten, I'll be asleep ye for sure. And then when you start doing the breakfast show, I'll be getting up at five, which isn't that bad. People ask me, I forgot about I forgot and I good mates with Greg James. He does radio onene breakfast obviously now I message him in queen the worst thing about doing a breakfast show is people asking you what time you have to together. And like everybody does, you know, happies everybody Everybody. ' everyone's fascinated And I think there's a little bit of shardonrog and' like, Oh four what time you get over? Is it three o'clock? four o'cock So They'll be quite disappointed. but I'm like five. And I've worked out, you know, I can be definitely at the house easily for half past five I've worked out of time to myself. I can put makeup in eight minutes because obviously there's cameras now so this wasn't a problem back when I did radio O brereakfast show. So yeah, I can do my makeup in eight minutes. I've already practiced making my filter coffee the night before and putting it in the fridge with the milk in it and I will zap it in the morning My son caught me. What are you doing? Why are making coffee at nine o'clock I' just practice in And so will you still be going to bed around nine? Yeah. Okay. Dfinitely. Right. so that's not too catastrophic. No. And also we've got zero social life, like we have no social life. Okay really I mean, you and your wife, like we can't notot really. I mean when people there's no feeling like it than when people cancel on you for social engagement and you still get the points because you've not cancelled It's like cancelled chicken, isn't it? like who's gonna go first? H they've cancelled y. It's chazing We're real home bodies we just love and to the point what where I'm like No, we need to start doing stuff more. We need to becausecause Armando Ionucci did a great thing on radio four that I got obsessed with The thought of it program about the brain and brain function and aging And he said Time goes quick as you get older because there's less markers being dropped in your brain for trying something new, whereas when you're little, You try your pair for the first time. that's new dings, little marker. you know, you have to goone on someone's tricycle ding, et cetera, et cetera throughout your younger years. And then when you get older, there's just no dings anymore. There's no new things, there's no new experiences. So that's why time just flies by because your brain's just not having all these little learning or little moments of like, o What's this So much try to like get us out of the habit of just being complete permates. Yes. the thing that is satisfying I find At this age is trying to nail the routine, trying to perfect everything. One of the tragedies of life is that when you do start to get really good at life, you then get old and knackered and then it fucks up and then you die. Exactly, a whole raft of new very annoying problems going on that you can't really do that much about. Yeah, because when you're at the stage, I often think it where when I'm showing my eighteen year old how to do something, you know, you forget that you're just there You suddenly like I never lose my keys anymore because I put them in a certain pocket, you know And sometimes when I can just I can just get the lid off things. and I can, you know, just tiny, miny little things each day as you go through life to your point where you're nailing it and you've got it and It's great and then it all buggers up again at the other end. I even have a little phrase that I say in my head, which is the system works And suddenly like if God you'd get on with my husband so well. he's like, I've come up with a system. I'd like to put a meeting in the diary with you in the front room at four PM. I have these little things like talking about putting the keys in the right place and the same time.ife I love you so much, but she does have some stressful times where she can't find her phone and she can't find her keys and I'm like, I done hey actually have to put them in the same place, every single time, but every single time that's the way the suff works. And then that whole problem will have vanished from your life. I'm just saying Anyway, she doesn't like that advice. but I have all these other little systems of putting things in the same place and then when that moment comes where you're stressed out ddly it's like,h what's the? There it is. And I say in my head, the system work Is itising?an wor. But then of course, as you say, There's all these other things like oh, that is twinging in a weird way physically that I have not experienced before and I don't know how to deal with. and o that other ailment is giving me a problem. and o, this other complicated situation about growing older and falling out with friends or pissing off family members or I don't know what stuff that you have never dealt with before. Yeah And suddenly you're back to square one. I know it' so annoying and Touchwood. I'm sort of in a sweet spot at the moment where like things are good. I'm kind of braced. I've always been a bit like that But is sort of like This is good. What's gonna go wrong? I'm kind of a mixture of that and glass half full. But I mean with my radio brain as well, I like backt time my day. I'm like if I leave now, I'll get to the yard in twenty eight minutes. Maybe that's how I'm obsessed with the minute thing. It might be the radio thing, It's never five or ten. I'm like twenty eight minutes, you know, I can be on the horse butill you on the off in twelve minutes if I'm good ride for forty Wash the dog because he's rolding, you know, she's rolding in fifteen types of shirts and a dead badger. and that, you know, I can be back in the car this time Another twenty minute eight minutes home. If I don't dig about and go and eat yogghurt standing at the fridge I can be in the shower. You know what I mean? I'll be out of the shower for this time. Yeah back time just to make the most of my day. And I think thats I've never had fairp people, but that would be the one thing I'd want to unpick be Why do I always feel like I'm I'm failing if I'm wasting time Do you know what I mean? if I do stand at the fridge in yogurt for a minute And then I look at my phone a little bit and then I'm just like, I I had all the time in the world. I thought I had so much time before I had to go into work and it's just all gone and I've wasted it I could have been, you know, I could have used it much more efficiently. I could have been maxing Yeah, is that what maxing is? I don't know. Yeah. Maybe it's some form of maxing. But it is optimization, right? It's this obsession with optimization. Yeah It's this obsession with wringing every single droplet of value out of every situation you're in and But I don't think like I've picked that up off anything. I don't feel like I've got that from like social media or from listening to success podcasts or anything. I think I'm just It's I feel like I'm just aware of like an egg time and just the sands of time You know It iss all dropping through. And obviously when you're young, you're just like You ab Let it drop. Yeah. Bring it on. Faster, go faster. Boring, I'm boring And they'd be like, whoa. Oh to be bored. Dream of being bored The idea of going on a holiday and just being so bored. Wouldn't that be amazing? But then as soon as it happens, you're like, Ga boy. Yes, this is awful Does the BBC expect you to be a kind of BBC employee whenever you are in public So a bit like at school where it's like when you're wearing the uniform and you've got the blazer on, you are representing the school even if you're not on school property. To an extent, I suppose. But I think it's within me anyway because I I really like my job And I don't want to get in trouble. So it's as simple asn't that? But it's pretty easy to do. It's pretty, you know, they let me be myself on ath So You know, I never I I'm like I've always been really proud that I'm so sort of BBC hatched nurtured and reared, hand reared by the PPC because I just think it's one of the best institutions in the world. I genuinely do. I just feel like at radio two there's just so many music geeks there. There's a lot love of radio and a lot of music and there's There's so many brilliant people work there off air people, you know. Yeah. And I've always loved that wherever you go in the world on holiday, you know, you'll get chat into whoever, wherever they're from or if you travel, they'll be like, Oh, the BBC, they'll kind of respect it and get it and admire it. So yeah, of course I want to hold that. and not get in trouble. Sure Have you ever come across and engaged with extxtreme opinions that people have about the BBC online, sometimes they express like either people are convinced that The BBC iss this kind of far right organization or they think it's so far left. I know Well To quote Jeremy Vine, if they think you're far right and far left, then you're doing your job right, you're probably just about in the middle, I guess I'm in a lucky position because the show that I do is playing music and trying to make people chuckle as they make their tea or M their toast in the morning or whatever So I don't have to tackle any thorniy issues and navigate those choppy waters you know, there was a chap who hung about a bit outside of radio two and He just chatted to me really amicably for a minute And it was a bit odd. I was like And it was funny because I was with my agent Mell who I've been with since the Girlly show. I've been for thirty years And we were just chatting about the challenge. I don't know why there was something about it and In my head, I thought he was going to then say something about the challenge But instead he was like, Do you talk about Palestine on your show? And I was like, haveave you heard my show? That would be so that you know, luckily it's not my job to have to talk about any kind of politics or anything important. And I think that's why people come to me on the radio because they don't want to think about anything back. Yeah They want a shiny, shiny distraction. Look at this nice thing, Lala Here's to Pow Do you ever worry about that? Do you ever sort of think, o dear I shouldn't be doing that? What with the with being a shiny, shiny distraction? No, no, I love being a shiny, shiny distaction. It' great. It's good. I'm really good at compartmentalizing things as well. and our phone radio really helpful myself. You know, if we if I'm grieving, if we've lost, you know a family member or a friend whatever. I'm frighteningly good at putting all of that in a box, tying a big bow around it and then going on air and saying, look at this shiny thing. So I think radio hass helped me tremendously over the years Definitely And it's a lovely escape Continue Hey, Wlcome back, Podcats I'm going gonna to give you some authentic walking through gate FX here right now Fine, you're welcome. That was Sarah Cox, of course, talking to me there, and I'm very grateful indeed to Sarah for making the time to come and waffle with me. A reminder that her third novel, The Truth of Us, is published on the sixteenth of Julie How you doing podcasts Hope you're well. hope you've been coping okay with the heat. That's what you've got to say. in the emails, isn't it? Hello, hope you're managing to stay cool. Hello. hope you're in a nice shady spot. Hello, hope you're not sweating too badly Something like that If you don't address the heat when it's a heat wave in an email You're a kind of monster who just doesn't really care about your fellow Human I'm going to keep this brief today. I'm gonna keep this brief today. I'm gonna keep this brief today. Yeah, I'm gonna keep it brief. So far, it's going badly, isn't it? I'm singing about. it brief, which is extending it not briefening it and now I'm looking for my notes Speaking of reminders, if you're gonna be at the Latitude Festival this year, then come and say hello, myself and the Adam Buxton band We'll be playing on the afternoon of the Friday. We'll be the first act in the second stage tent. I think we start at twelve thirty that Friday Come and say hello. Later that afternoon, I believe I am going to be doing an event at the Listening post Around about five, sorry not to be specific with the timings, but it's Friday afternoon. Myself and Ivo Graham, the comedian, are going to be waffling about our love of David Bernon talking heads. For a bug style presentation, I'll be showing a few clips, I think If the technology permits And we will generally be getting ourselves in the right frame of mind to enjoy David Byrs headline set that night at the Latitude Festival, the Friday night the gate. So yeah, I hope you can come along to that. I think I might even be singing a talalking Heads cover. That night at the Last Tude Festival for Burns Night which is an event that happens annually on Burns night, generally in London venues It been happening for the last few years. I did it this year and they get lots of members of different bands together to form super groups and get guest vocalists along to do burn and talking heads covers. It's really good fun. And I think they're doing it at latitude after David Byne comes off stage That Friday night I might be popping up there And maybe even the following night Saturday night, I think the horn section, minus Alex Horn are going to be there. Alex is otherwise occupied, but the mighty Horn section will be rattling through a few covers with guest vocalists posossibly including a buckles And if you're at the Dershed Festival up in Yorkshire on the Sunday night that weekend The Adam Buxton band will be there too, and that I think is Well, that's our last scheduled appearance this year. Who knows? Mbe ever. We're on Sunday evening I think around seven thirty at the Deershed Festival. There's details in the evvent section of my website or if you prefer blog Someone was asking in the Q and A the other day why I never did the blog song anymore. The Q and A episode, by the way, should be available towards the end of next week or early the week after. Anyway. For that person, here's the jingle. I've got a blog, I've got a blog Ry rudish mooody, roy blog blog blog. I've got a blog. Is the address? is the address? It's Adamashbgono dot Uk so check it out. And final reminder, live podcast August the fifth in London at the Round House in Camden, myself, talking to comedian musician all aroundound talented guy, Mawan Rizwan Hope you can come along to that. It's going to be fun. All right, that's it for this week. Thank you very much to Claire Broughton and Diggory Wait at Hattrick for editing and production support on this episode. and thank you as well to Seamus Murphy Mitchell for his ongoing production support. Thanks to Helen Green. She does the artwork for the podcast Thank you to everyone at ACOS. their hard work. Laising with my sponsors, but thank you most of all for coming back and listening right to the end, come here, Hey, how you doing T see you Thanks for coming along Yeah, I am a little sweaty, but it's the sweet smell of honest labour and a bit of miching Until next time, we share the same sonic space. I'm just suggesting that you go carefully out there. You do what you want free country, but if I was you, I'd go carefully because it's nuts out there Stomp about if you want, getet up in people's grills. That's what you like. But it will invalidate your existing policy with me. That's what I'm saying. What won't change? what will never change? is that I love you.bye and suubscribe R