Happy Place

“Am I mad, or did it happen?” This is a question that poet Lemn Sissay regularly finds himself asking. Having grown up in care, he has no family members to bear witness to his life experiences; is his understanding of his own identity correct?

In this chat with Fearne, Lemn talks through why it’s important for us not to compare trauma, that everything’s relative, and no one deserves more or less empathy...

Don’t underestimate the power your voice has. This is the key message to come from Happy Place Book Club read, Killjoy, which tells the incredible true story of the No More Page 3 campaign, and the unlikely everyday women who made a generational change possible.

Fearne chats to author Jo Cheetham about their early memories of Page 3, street harassment, and how cultural messages can affect the way we relate to our own bodies...

Cancer, and having a stoma, has changed DJ and broadcaster Adele Roberts’ perception of her own body for the better. It’s shown her it’s ok to cry, and it’s ok to ask for help.

In this chat with Fearne, Adele talks through the symptoms of bowel cancer, what the experience has taught her about positive mindset, as well as the realities of going through chemo...

Perfection has taken on a life of its own in recent years. Dawn French worries that the pursuit of perfection is stopping us from being who we are, and from making mistakes we can grow from.

In this chat, Fearne and Dawn explore why when we have low tolerance for others making mistakes, we’re likely judging ourselves for our mistakes too. So, in order to have more self-compassion, we have to talk about the cringey times we’ve held inside for fear for being shamed...

How often do you connect with strangers? There’s something magical about those fleeting moments of intimacy and connection.

Today, Fearne introduces an episode of Where Are You Going, a podcast that sees host Catherine Carr chatting to strangers and asking a simple question: “where are you going?” The stories people end up sharing with her go to all sorts of unexpected places – some are funny or loving, and others moving or shocking...

When was the last time you enjoyed some silence? Musician Norah Jones appreciates the importance of silence – it allows us to tune into what our minds are trying to tell us.

In this chat with Fearne, Norah explains that the rare moments of quiet are when creativity flows most freely. They talk about the feeling of being embarrassed by your work when you’re young, but that it’s important to be ever evolving and honing your craft just by getting on and doing it...

‘If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry’, as the saying goes. These heightened emotions often sit very close to each other, and there’s a split second where we can decide whether to despair, or to see the funny side of a situation. 

Today, Fearne revisits Happy Place conversations that highlight the crossroads where people have decided to cope with shitty incidents by laughing at them, or at themselves...

What are you dreams trying to tell you about yourself? Neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial feels dreaming is a vital part of being human.

In this chat with Fearne, Rahul explains that while our waking brain is generally ruled by the logical executive network... the dreaming brain liberates creative and divergent thinking. We dream, he says, to keep our minds open so they’re able to adapt if our world suddenly changes...