Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

• Jung Chang

  We're honoured to have Jung Chang, the celebrated author of the international bestseller Wild Swans, as our Rosebud guest today - and her story will astonish you. In this remarkable episode, Jung tells Gyles the story of her family - and through that, the story of China over the past 100 years. This episode takes us from the tale of her grandmother, who grew up in pre-Communist China and was subjected to the cruel custom of foot binding, to her mother and father, who were committed Communists but who were eventually denounced and imprisoned by the Party, and eventually to Jung's own story, her move to the UK, and her fears for the future - which she tells brilliantly in her new book 'Fly Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China'.Jung's latest book is out now and available now from here. It is riveting, and highly recommended.For this week only, Rosebud are collaborating with Project Everyone as part of the "Be Hope" movement - and we've asked Jung a special question about hope at the end of the episode. And you'll definitely want to listen to to the end of this one! Cue the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• More Rosebud - Julia Bradbury

  Julia Bradbury talks to Gyles about her life, upbringing and her new book "Hack Yourself Healthy". As Gyles finds out in this conversation, from the moment she began working her way up through the TV industry, Julia had led a stressful, action-packed and "high cortisol" life. Was this one of the contributing factors in her breast cancer diagnosis of 2021? Understandably, the discovery of her cancer led Julia to reassess her lifestyle, and ultimately to research and write the book she's talking about today. She tells Gyles about the things we can all do to increase our health and longevity: from simple steps such as making sure we spend time in the open air to breathing more deeply, to more radical ideas like walking backwards and using a copper tongue scraper.This is also a Rosebud chat - so we also hear about Julia's early memories, her family, and her schooldays.We hope you enjoy this fascinating chat. Julia's book, "Hack Yourself Healthy", is available to buy here.Rosebud's new Facebook group "Rosebud Reflections" is up and running, you can find it here. It's a place to meet, discuss and digest all things Rosebud. Have fun!Rosebud's new website is also live and is a thing of beauty - it's www.rosebudpodcast.co.uk - click here to go straight there! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Alan Davies

  You might notice that this episode of Rosebud is slightly longer than usual - and that's because this story is so powerful. This conversation with the stand-up, writer, actor and TV star Alan Davies is virtually unedited - because it's unmissable. In it, Alan tells Gyles about the two most significant, and devastating, events of his childhood: the death of his mother when he was only six years old, and the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father after she died. And he tells Gyles about how he has healed and gone on to have his own family, and experience unconditional love with his own children. This is a very sad, at times upsetting, episode, but also one full of hope, laughter and insight. It is well worth your time, and please get in touch with [email protected] with any thoughts you have on the themes Alan and Gyles discuss here. Alan Davies is on tour in the UK, Australia and elsewhere - get tickets here. His new book, White Male Stand-Up is also available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Gyles's diary, episode 24

  Yes, we know it's secretly your favourite part of Rosebud... it's Gyles's diary! And we know we say this every time, but it's another corker. Gyles does something unspeakable on Edward Heath's shoes. He has to chaperone an out of control drunk Irish poet. He meets Sir Gerald Nabarro, Malcolm Muggeridge and Leonard Woolf. We hear his sister Hester's fascinating account of working as a psychiatric nurse, and we hear Gyles's thoughts on turning 21 (clue: he's underwhelmed). Plus Gyles and Harriet discuss how to tell a good anecdote, childhood bereavement, and swearing. NB this episode, unusually, does contain a few swearwords, apologies. Enjoy this, diary fans... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Professor Dame Mary Beard

  Our guest today is one of the UK's best known and best loved public intellectuals, the classicist and expert on Roman history Professor Dame Mary Beard. Mary tells Gyles about her country childhood in Shropshire, playing on a disused railway track and trying to memorise Jane Eyre by heart. She talks about her interesting parents - a headmistress and a "raffish" historical buildings architect, and about the alarming visits up ladders into church belfries she made with her dad. She talks about Cambridge, sexism, and discusses interesting questions such as 'how to think' with Gyles. She talks about her early relationships with men and she describes the chain of events which led to her being raped in Italy as a student. She talks about the challenges of being a public intellectual, and about her aversion to risk aversion! As you can tell, this is a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion. Enjoy this. NB this episode contains some discussion of a rape, which is not graphic, but you may want to be mindful of this if listening with children. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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