Why do we cry? How come love hurts? And what’s a happiness researcher doing talking about sadness, anyway? Helen Russell is a journalist and happiness researcher and How to be Sad is a new podcast based on her book of the same name - exploring why we get sad, what to do when we’re sad, and how we can all get happier by learning to be sad, better. Because let’s be honest – we are in unprecedented times. None of us are where we thought we’d be this time last year and we’re all struggling. We’re having to get better at having difficult conversations and finding ways of handling our sadness. Join Helen as she talks to some high profile people from all walks of life who have done just that. Each week, special guests share their own experiences of everything from heartache to burnout, anxiety to addiction, the differences between sadness and depression - and how they cope. Find out more @MsHelenRussell #HowToBeSad and order How To Be Sad at https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/how-to-be-sad-the-key-to-a-happier-life-helen-russell?variant=39445841018958
https://howtobesadwithhelenrussell.podbean.com
episode 3: #3 Hollie McNish
Hollie McNish is a poet, writer and Ted Hughes Award-winning author of Nobody Told Me – a collection of poems and stories about raising a child in modern Britain..
Hollie writes with raw honesty, warmth and humour, but as well as great critical and mainstream success, she’s also had her fair share of setbacks and her work articulates perfectly the ‘everyday sadness’ that we all experience.
In this episode, Hollie and Helen chat:
- Motherhood myths
- The commercialisation of parenthood
- The frustrations of modern life
- Guilt
- Class and snobbery
- Online abuse
- Not belittling our sadness
- The unexpected freedoms of being a single parent
- Sting’s next project…
- …and reframing selfies as ‘the oil paintings of the Tinder age’
Trigger: suicide
Find out more about Hollie’s work here and follow Hollie on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube @holliepoetry
Hollie’s next collection of poetry, Slug, is out in May.
Follow Helen on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook @MsHelenRussell Read more about Helen’s new book, How To Be Sad at Waterstones or Amazon. Get in touch with the show at howtobesadpodcast@gmail.com Thanks to Joel Grove for production and to Matt Clacher at HarperCollins for making this podcast happen.