Crisis What Crisis with Andy Coulson

Perspective is one of the most useful tools we have in crisis – a way of taking pressure out of a difficult moment, stepping back and working out what really matters. In this special compilation episode of Crisis What Crisis, I share the story of the five most terrifying days of my own life and revisit four extraordinary guests whose lives have been shaped, and sometimes almost undone, by the pursuit of perspective. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:41 The worst experience of my life 05:06 Timbaland – the bullet that's still inside him, and why he refuses to take it out 06:05 Dame Stephanie Shirley – the Kindertransport and the neighbours who kept asking, "aren't you lucky to be saved?" 12:48 James Landale – seeing death across a crowded room, and the tank of coloured poison he can still return to 14:30 Rory Stewart – the frozen body in the snow, sitting down happy to die, and the dog that saved him 19:29 The Belmarsh swear jar – how the words you use shape the size of the crisis 21:50 Four things I take from all of this LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODES: Timbaland – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000634317774 Dame Stephanie Shirley – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000680629888 James Landale – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000642157416 Rory Stewart – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000608962048 FOLLOW THE GUESTS: Timbaland – https://www.instagram.com/timbaland/?hl=en Rory Stewart – https://www.instagram.com/rorystewartuk/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Johnny Seifert (audio)

In this country, one in six of us will experience significant anxiety at some point in our lives. It's an epidemic that doesn't care about class, wealth, gender, age or race – and yet, as this episode argues, anxiety isn't the enemy. It's information. A signal to be read, not a fault to be removed. In this special compilation episode, Andy Coulson draws on his own experience of anxiety attacks and revisits six past guests – a broadcaster, a journalist, a content creator, an adventurer, a designer and a cellist – who each faced anxiety in a very different form and found their own way to live alongside it. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FULL EPISODES: Steve Peters: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000547878428 Christian O'Connell: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000659675816 Bryony Gordon: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000650752366 Alex Goldie: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000729186695 Mark Beaumont: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000618838895 Anya Hindmarch: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000768689727 Julian Lloyd Webber: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000779874143 FOLLOW THE GUESTS: Christian O'Connell: https://www.instagram.com/mrchristianoconnell/?hl=en Bryony Gordon: https://www.instagram.com/bryonygordon/?hl=en Alex Goldie: https://www.instagram.com/goldiealexx/?hl=en Mark Beaumont: https://www.instagram.com/mrmarkbeaumont/?hl=en Anya Hindmarch: https://www.instagram.com/anyahindmarch/?hl=en Julian Lloyd Webber: https://www.instagram.com/julian.lloydwebber/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Johnny Seifert (audio)

Most guests give me their Crisis Compass looking back on a crisis they've survived. Erin Baker is different. Her partner died just 12 weeks before this recording, and she is, by her own account, exhausted by the demand to keep being strong. These four points aren't hard-won wisdom viewed from calmer shores — they're the things holding her up as we speak. That, I think, makes them rarer and more valuable than almost any compass I've been given. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Erin to discuss her Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that she turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. If you haven't heard the full conversation yet, go back and find it in the feed. It's well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:52 A Person – Her Frant village church community, and the stability they've offered when everything else is in flux 01:23 A Piece of Advice – A day at a time. The most hypocritical advice she could pass on — and the only one that works now 01:57 A Comfort – Writing. It's her career because it was her comfort first 02:09 A Habit – Paint by numbers. Half an hour of something absolutely mindless FOLLOW ERIN'S WRITING Postcards from Grief – https://erinbaker1001.substack.com/ FOLLOW ERIN BAKER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/erinbakerauto/?hl=en LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-baker-58901a48/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

This is a very unusual episode. It is rare that we would choose to have someone join us on the podcast so close to their crisis – usually our guests come to these conversations with the clarity that a few years' distance can bring. Erin Baker is just weeks on from the death of her partner, James, and still very much living in it. What she offers instead of distance is something rarer: the raw, unfiltered honesty of someone grieving out loud, in real time. A warning – this conversation is powerful and at times very difficult, and some of the themes may be upsetting. Erin Baker is one of the most respected motoring journalists in the country – the youngest and only female motoring editor on Fleet Street in her day. But in the autumn of last year, her life came apart. Her partner of thirteen years, James, was diagnosed with an aggressive, terminal brain tumour, and the blows kept coming: her father died, one of her sons was rushed to hospital, the family dog was put down, and a car was written off in a collision with a deer. Wave after wave, all at once. Then, this year, James died. He was 53. Rather than retreat, Erin made the conscious decision to grieve in public, writing for The Times and keeping a diary on Substack called Postcards from Grief , documenting James's dying, the days since, and the unexpected things his death has taught her. She joins Andy for a conversation about resilience and its limits, about loss and control, about black humour and love, and about what actually carries us through the very worst of it. She is, without a shadow of a doubt, someone we can all learn from. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM ERIN Being "strong" can be a trap. If people decide you're resilient, they assume you're coping – and leave you to it. Sometimes the bravest thing is to admit you're not fine, and to ask for the help you need. Honesty is what makes people feel less alone. It's not the tidy, theory-shaped version of grief that helps others but the messy, unguarded truth. Say the thing that feels too close to the bone; it's often the thing someone else desperately needs to hear. You can't control the future, because it doesn't exist yet. Make your plans, but hold them loosely, they're only ideas of what you'd like to happen. Learning to live a day at a time is the only way through. Find your release. For Erin it was writing, walking in nature, even paint-by-numbers – something meditative to pour the fear and grief into. When you can't carry it all in your head, give it somewhere to go. CHAPTERS 03:37 – “I'm sick and tired of being resilient”: the exhaustion of always being the strong 07:52 – Grieving out loud: the decision to write through it 11:55 – The formidable mother, and a childhood that built the muscle 13:55 – Keep buggering on 15:20 – Fighting her way to Cambridge, and up a male-dominated newsroom 20:23 – Meeting James 23:05 – The life that looked perfect from the outside – and wasn't 25:08 – The Amazon night shift: the proudest she ever was of him 30:30 – The diagnosis 39:49 – When the blows kept coming 47:02 – Her son's seizure: the worst thing she's ever seen 51:02 – Learning to hold your plans loosely 53:22 – The last night, and a hug she'll never forget 57:04 – The chaos of loss 1:06:05 – The stranger by the roadside who knew exactly what to say FOLLOW ERIN'S WRITING Postcards from Grief – https://erinbaker1001.substack.com/ FOLLOW ERIN BAKER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/erinbakerauto/?hl=en LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-baker-58901a48/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

Julian Lloyd Webber spent half a century as one of the world's great cellists — and then had to discover who he was without the instrument that had defined his existence. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, Andy sits down with Julian to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that he turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. If you haven't heard the full conversation yet, go back and find it in the feed. It's well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:58 A Person – His wife Jiaxin, and why he's not sure he'd have got through it without her 01:20 A Habit – A couple of pints of lager every night 02:49 A Comfort – Leyton Orient 03:25 A Piece of Advice – "Don't waste a second." BUY JULIAN'S BOOK Bows & Arrows – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bows-Arrows-Julian-Lloyd-Webber/dp/1837360588 SEE JULIAN LIVE Julian's Irish tour with his wife, Jiaxin – https://julianlloydwebber.com/events/ FOLLOW JULIAN LLOYD WEBBER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/julian.lloydwebber/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

Julian Lloyd Webber is undoubtedly one of the country's greatest living musicians – the man who, perhaps more than anyone of his generation, took classical music out of the concert hall and into the mainstream. But in October 2013, ten minutes into a recital in a Suffolk seaside town, the power drained from his right arm and he found he could barely draw the bow across his cello. Within six months, at 63, he was forced to retire – unemployed overnight and stripped of the thing that had defined him since he was a boy of thirteen. For half a century, the cello had been Julian's whole life. He toured the world, playing with everyone from Yehudi Menuhin to Elton John, took an Elgar recording to a Brit Award and his brother's Variations to number two in the pop charts. He was the first officially licensed busker on the London Underground and the only classical soloist at the London Olympics closing ceremony. Then, at 64, he sat the first job interview of his life and went on to lead the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire into a £57 million new home, winning it royal status along the way. On his 75th birthday – and while quietly managing a prostate cancer diagnosis – he walked back onto the Wigmore Hall stage and played again. And now, twelve years after the power drained from his arm, Julian is touring – a full run across Ireland this autumn with his cellist wife, Jiaxin. His memoir, Bows & Arrows , is out now, and this conversation is about the abuse he survived as a boy, the instrument he loved and lost, and how you rebuild an identity when the thing that made you who you are is taken away. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM JULIAN Talent and hard work aren't enough on their own – you need passion, because that's the only thing that gets you up to do it all again after a bad night. A second string to your bow can end up saving your life. When you lose the thing that defined you, throw yourself into whatever else genuinely moves you – even if it's nothing like what you did before. Find something that truly absorbs you, and the healing takes care of itself. When a setback knocks you down, picture the alternative. For Julian, the fear of ending up disappointed with his life was the fuel that kept him going. Healing is not forgetting; it's reaching the point where the trauma you carry doesn't drag you down. CHAPTERS 04:01 – Growing up in a chaotic, bohemian home 09:12 – The day on the Tube that took his childhood 11:03 – Why some things you don't get over – and shouldn't have to 15:21 – His father's warning that lit the fire 17:39 – Fifty years at the top: how he kept the flame alive 27:25 – The longest relationship of his life 33:12 – A football bet, a number two record, and a gold disc 35:01 – The night the power drained from his arm 39:02 – Losing your job, your income and your identity overnight 39:59 – The first job interview of his life, at 64 44:22 – The daughter's remark that brought him back to the cello 47:57 – Facing a cancer diagnosis 51:32 – Why he refuses to slow down, even now BUY JULIAN'S BOOK Bows & Arrows – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bows-Arrows-Julian-Lloyd-Webber/dp/1837360588 SEE JULIAN LIVE Julian's Irish tour with his wife, Jiaxin – https://julianlloydwebber.com/events/ FOLLOW JULIAN LLOYD WEBBER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/julian.lloydwebber/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

Frank Gardner has lived, by his own description, two very different lives — and found a way to carry the best of the first into the second. Twenty years on from the attack in Riyadh that nearly killed him, the BBC Security Correspondent is still reporting from the places most of us wouldn't dare go. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, Andy sits down with Frank to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that he turns to in order to help survive a crisis. Frank is the BBC's Security Correspondent and the author of a series of best-selling thrillers — the latest, Ballistic , is out now. If you haven't heard the full conversation yet, go back and find it in the feed. It's well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:53 A Person – Himself 01:21 A Habit – Lifting his eyes to the horizon, the birdwatcher's discipline of really looking 02:23 A Comfort – Driving. 03:40 A Piece of Advice – Grieve it, deal with it, but don't keep defining yourself by what happened BUY FRANK'S BOOK Ballistic – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/178763549X?tag=prhmarketing2552-21 FOLLOW FRANK GARDNER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/frank.gardner/?hl=en X – https://x.com/FrankRGardner FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

On June 6th 2004, Frank Gardner was in Riyadh filming what was meant to be a routine piece of background footage when an Al-Qaeda cell opened fire. His cameraman, Simon Cumbers, was killed. Frank was shot six times and left for dead. One surgeon later told him he'd arrived at hospital the colour of a lab coat, bleeding from every wound faster than they could pour the plasma in. It was, in the truest sense, the day Frank should have died. That day split his life in two. Before it, he was a restless Arabist who'd hitchhiked across the Middle East with nothing in his pocket, spent a decade in banking, turned down MI6, and talked his way into the BBC in his mid-30s to become its first ever security correspondent. After it, he was partially paralysed and in daily pain – yet back at work within ten months, and has spent the twenty years since reporting from the very places that nearly killed him. He describes crossing an invisible bridge to a new version of himself, this conversation is about what that crossing actually cost. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM FRANK Don't waste your energy mourning what you can no longer change. Pour it into what you still can. When crisis hits, there's a fork in the road. One path is self-pity – and it's entirely justifiable. The other is deciding to make the most of what you've got left. Choosing the second is a daily struggle. Look outwards, not inwards. Fill your life with the things that make you feel useful and alive. Fixating on your own troubles is a trap – curiosity about the world around you is the way out. Volunteer for the work no one else wants – the weekends, the bank holidays, the night shifts. It's how you make yourself indispensable, and how you get your shot when it finally comes. CHAPTERS 05:18 – The daily indignities most people never see 08:57 – Why he refuses to let it define him 11:33 – Where his grit really came from: two extraordinary parents 14:19 – The bold early decisions that shaped a life 20:38 – Turning down MI6 – and the self-awareness to know why 27:45 – How to break into a career when there's no job at the end of it 30:27 – The attack: what actually happened that day 31:02 – Seven months in hospital, and living with the what-ifs 39:45 – The one thing he's still bitter about 42:15 – Losing Simon, and finding a way through the grief 44:37 – "You'll never walk again" – the second hammer blow 48:05 – The letter from the BBC that gave him something to aim for 50:42 – Going back to Saudi Arabia to face it down 53:52 – Why he doesn't spend his life grieving BUY FRANK'S BOOK Ballistic – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/178763549X?tag=prhmarketing2552-21 FOLLOW FRANK GARDNER Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/frank.gardner/?hl=en X – https://x.com/FrankRGardner FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

Shock is a fundamental part of almost any crisis. It's a state of complete operating system override which, when left unacknowledged, can turn into something far more damaging. In this special compilation episode, Andy Coulson revisits five past guests who each experienced shock in very different ways, and found very different routes through it. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FULL EPISODES: Johnny Mercer: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000482235919 Rupert Soames: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000700198554 Dr Richard Shepherd: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000533310865 Jill Halfpenny: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000661591052 Kate Bowler: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000762523544 FOLLOW THE GUESTS: Johnny Mercer: https://www.instagram.com/johnnymercermp/?hl=en Dr Richard Shepherd: https://www.instagram.com/drrichardshepherd/?hl=en Jill Halfpenny: https://www.instagram.com/jillhalfpenny/?hl=en Kate Bowler: https://www.instagram.com/katecbowler/?hl=en

Jeremy King is the legendary restaurateur behind Le Caprice, The Ivy, The Wolseley and Simpson's on the Strand. His is a story of extraordinary gambles, of rooms that became London institutions, and of losing the company that carried his own name — and choosing to build all over again in his 70s. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Jeremy to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that he turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. If you haven't heard the full conversation yet, go back and find it in the feed. It's well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:59 A Person – Himself. The only person he can absolutely trust in a crisis. 02:43 A Habit – Up at 5am, every day, it's the ritual that stabilises him before the world wakes up 03:44 A Comfort – His children, and the different perspective they bring 04:26 A Piece of Advice – Why get inordinately upset about something you'll forget about in future? BUY JEREMY'S BOOK Without Reservation: Lessons from a Life in Restaurants – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Without-Reservation-Lessons-Life-Restaurants/dp/0008599025 FOLLOW JEREMY KING Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jeremyrbking/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

In April 2022, after a bruising auction battle with his own investors, Jeremy King lost the company that carried his name. He walked back into the Wolseley – the restaurant he had built into the highest grossing restaurant in Britain – to find his staff in tears and the new owners already arriving. His phone and laptop were taken from him, he felt, as he puts it, like a criminal – stripped of all his possessions and then cast out onto the street. But that was just the latest chapter in a career defined again and again by gambles, diligence, loss, and extraordinary success. Jeremy once handed the biggest decisions of his life to the roll of a dice. He built and sold an empire, built another, and now, at 72, is rebuilding for a third time – with Simpson's in the Strand, London’s most talked about restaurant of the moment and a venue he first tried to buy 26 years ago. Across the last forty-five years Jeremy has revived or built from scratch some of London’s most loved restaurants: Le Caprice, The Ivy, J Sheekey, The Wolseley and The Delaunay. His patrons have ranged from royalty to the greatest artists of the age, yet his gift has always been to make anyone who walks through his doors feel like they are the most important person in the room. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM JEREMY Look for the good before the crisis has even hit. Whatever's going wrong, there's almost always something to salvage. Let them take your money. Never let them take your soul. You'll always find another way to make money. Don't act fast just to feel in control. People panic and make the wrong moves because they think a crisis demands speed. Often the bravest, smartest thing you can do is wait and see. Do the job better than it's ever been done – even sweeping a floor. Pride is yours to keep. That standard, once set, never leaves you. CHAPTERS 04:54 – Why the best operators watch before they speak 08:04 – How an early knock to your confidence can shape a whole career 25:00 – Where a true standard of excellence actually comes from 30:08 – What it really feels like to lose the company with your name on it 39:26 – Why selling too early can be the smartest deal you ever do 45:00 – Holding your nerve on the worst day of your business life 49:16 – Protecting your reputation when the story's out of your hands 51:44 – What five years with Lucian Freud taught him about risk and danger 57:18 – Why integrity is simply never trying to get away with anything 58:32 – The art of defusing a crisis before it becomes one 01:03:20 – Keeping perspective: why every crisis is relative 01:07:09 – Starting over at 72 BUY JEREMY'S BOOK Without Reservation: Lessons from a Life in Restaurants https://www.amazon.co.uk/Without-Reservation-Lessons-Life-Restaurants/dp/0008599025 FOLLOW JEREMY KING Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jeremyrbking/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

Over 20 years in frontline politics, Sir Jeremy Hunt held three of the great offices of state – Health Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He survived some of the most bruising political battles of his generation, and grieved, throughout, the loss of his father, his mother, and his brother. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Jeremy to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation he turns to on his darker days – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 01:02 A Person — the one who'll still be there when the job, the title, and the headlines are long gone 01:21 A Habit — the cross-country team he was forced into at school, and why he still hasn't stopped 01:55 A Comfort — six and a half weeks of Lent torture, and why Easter makes it worth it 02:15 A Piece of Advice — why criticism only hurts when it comes from someone you know BUY JEREMY'S BOOK: Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy – https://shorturl.at/4Kv0D FOLLOW JEREMY: Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/jeremyhuntmp/ TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyrshuntmp X — https://x.com/Jeremy_Hunt LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhuntuk/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram — www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok — www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production — Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

In October 2022, the British economy was in freefall. Liz Truss's mini-budget had sent the pound into a nosedive, mortgage rates were climbing at a terrifying speed, and the IMF had issued a public warning to the government to reverse course. It was, by any measure, a national crisis. Into that emergency stepped Sir Jeremy Hunt who, over a single weekend, dismantled almost the entirety of the economic programme he'd inherited. But that was just the latest chapter in a political career defined again and again by an extraordinary capacity to absorb difficulty and get on with the job. All while managing a private grief that would have broken most people in any role, let alone one of the most demanding in the country. The loss of his father, mother, and brother, all lost to cancer. His new book, Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy , is an act of deliberate optimism in a country that has largely forgotten how to be optimistic. Sir Jeremy Hunt joins Andy Coulson for a conversation about loss, resilience, reputation, and what it really takes to keep your nerve when everything is falling apart. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM JEREMY: Start a business in your 20s if you possibly can. You've got no mortgage, no kids, no dependents – it doesn't matter if things go wrong, and you'll learn more from failure than you ever will from success. You can cope with one thing going wrong. It's when two or three things go wrong at once that life gets really hard – so close down the smaller crisis as fast as you can, even if that means caving in. The most important thing any leader can build is a team that will tell you when you're wrong. If people are afraid to speak truth to power, you will make bad decisions. Grief gives you something a successful career can't: a sense of what actually matters. CHAPTERS 03:34 – Why naive goals are sometimes the most powerful ones 05:20 – His father's greatest lesson 07:50 – The tragedy his family never spoke about 10:35 – What unconditional belief from a parent actually does to a child 13:37 – Why failure in your 20s is an asset, not a setback 17:07 – Why business and politics require completely different skills 22:11 – Starting a business with your best friend 26:43 – The junior doctors dispute 30:09 – How to survive being the most unpopular politician in the country 33:01 – Losing his brother Charlie: what grief teaches you that success never can 36:56 – Walking into the eye of the storm as Chancellor 40:59 – How to restore trust when trust is the only thing that matters 44:20 – Why knowing who you are is the foundation of every crisis skill worth having 44:59 – Why Britain thinks far worse of itself than the rest of the world does BUY JEREMY'S BOOK Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy – pick up a copy here: https://shorturl.at/DfIZa FOLLOW JEREMY HUNT Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jeremyhuntmp/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyrshuntmp X – https://x.com/Jeremy_Hunt LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhuntuk/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), James Quinn (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)

What is the single most important concept in crisis management? Andy Coulson believes it's control — a lesson he first learned sitting on a plastic mattress in a Glasgow police cell, with nothing to focus on but his own breathing. In this special compilation episode, he revisits four past guests who each arrived at the same conclusion through very different routes. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FEATURING Ryan Holiday — bestselling author of The Obstacle is the Way and The Daily Stoic , on why Stoicism is history's greatest crisis management framework, and the remarkable story of Admiral James Stockdale tapping Epictetus through a prison wall in Vietnam. Alix Popham — former Welsh international rugby player, diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable CTE, on how the athlete's instinct for discipline becomes a survival strategy when the stakes are as high as they get. Natasha Silver Bell — international model turned recovery coach, on the moment she stopped blaming her external circumstances and took control of her internal state. Cally Beaton — comedian, writer, and former Viacom CBS executive, on surrender, mayhem, and why she refuses to call herself a stoic — despite sounding exactly like one. Control the controllables. It sounds simple. It isn't. But as every guest in this episode shows, it is learnable — and it might just be the most important lesson crisis has to offer. FULL EPISODES: Ryan Holiday: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000755722247 Alix Popham: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000712166764 Natasha Silver Bell: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000722574377 Cally Beaton: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/crisis-what-crisis-with-andy-coulson/id1517015748?i=1000717250391 FOLLOW THE GUESTS: Ryan Holiday: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/ Alix Popham: https://www.instagram.com/alix_popham/ Natasha Silver Bell: https://www.instagram.com/natashasilverbell/ Cally Beaton: https://www.instagram.com/callybeatoncomedian/

Sir Richard Harpin wanted to be an entrepreneur since before he knew the word. He sold conkers in the playground, bred and sold rabbits in his garden, ran a tuck shop from his school locker, and by 15 was bunking off chemistry to cash cheques with the bank manager. In this special episode of Crisis What Crisis – recorded in front of a live audience at the Walbrook Club in the City of London – Andy sits down with the founder of HomeServe, the company Richard built over 30 years and sold in 2023 for £4.1 billion. Richard was knighted in the 2024 New Year Honours. His Sunday Times bestselling book, How to Make a Billion in Nine Steps , is out now. This episode is for anyone who has ever wanted to start something, scale something, or is simply looking for guidance on how to manage the day-to-day crises of running a business. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FIVE BUSINESS LESSONS FROM SIR RICHARD HARPIN 1) Copy. Richard didn't invent the HomeServe model – he openly admits that he copied it (and then did it better). If someone else is doing it and it works, the risk is lower. 2) Prove the model before you scale it. HomeServe burned through half a million pounds trying to grow a loss-making business. With modern technology, Richard says, you really don't have to do that. 3) The best time to build is when conditions are hardest. Comfortable conditions produce cautious thinking. The best businesses are built with their backs against the wall. 4) Admitting the mistake is often the fastest route out of it. Richard told the stock market he'd wasted £130 million, wrote off the assets, and said sorry. The share price went up £250 million the same day. The market doesn't punish honesty. It punishes opacity. 5) Not taking a risk is itself a risk. Staying still has a cost that compounds invisibly. The test isn't whether the risk is scary. It's whether you can live with not taking it. CHAPTERS 04:52 – Why Richard wanted to be an entrepreneur 10:35 – His first businesses 13:28 – What working at P&G taught him 19:22 – How HomeServe started 19:22 – Running out of money at Christmas 21:07 – Taking investment at the wrong terms 22:00 – The moment he nearly quit 23:00 – The £50 letter that saved the business 24:43 – The importance of copying 25:34 – Why he hired someone to replace himself 27:06 – Breaking America 30:01 – The £100m mistake he made publicly 30:59 – How he structures his day 36:10 – Negotiating a £4.1bn exit 37:37 – What selling actually feels like 38:55 – Why he's still working 42:25 – His advice on AI and careers 44:46 – Starting over with nothing BUY SIR RICHARD'S BOOK How to Make a Billion in Nine Steps – Sunday Times Bestseller https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Make-Billion-Nine-Steps/dp/034944644X FOLLOW SIR RICHARD HARPIN LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rharpin/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/richard_harpin/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@richard.harpin FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod FOLLOW THE WALBROOK CLUB This episode was recorded live at the Walbrook Club, London. Special thanks to Philip Palumbo and his team for hosting us. Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thewalbrookclub/

Dame Anya Hindmarch started her global fashion business on a gap year trip to Italy aged just 18. Four decades on, she is the founder of one of Britain's most recognisable brands – worn by the Princess of Wales and a new holder of a royal warrant from Queen Camilla. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Anya to discuss her Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that she turns on her darker days – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 01:00 A Person 01:36 A Habit 03:01 A Comfort 03:45 A Piece of Advice BUY ANYA'S BOOK If In Doubt Wash Your Hair – https://www.anyahindmarch.com/products/if-in-doubt-wash-your-hair-paperback-book-in-paper-off-white FOLLOW ANYA: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/anyahindmarch/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@anyahindmarch FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

Dame Anya Hindmarch started her global fashion business on a gap year trip to Italy aged just 18. Four decades on, she is the founder of one of Britain's most recognisable brands – worn by the Princess of Wales and a new holder of a royal warrant from Queen Camilla. Anya joins Andy for a candid conversation about courage, control and how treating fear and excitement as the same emotion has proved to be her superpower. This is a masterclass in resilience from a founder who has dealt with the ‘daily stomach punches’ of being an entrepreneur POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by @kingsleynapley – visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR BUSINESS LESSONS: Doubt is your friend. Don't try to silence it. The moment you stop being scared is the moment things will go wrong. Cling on to your equity. Getting investment isn't winning a prize. When you do it the hard way, you stay in control. Be honest about the journey. Admitting what you've got it wrong buys you more credit than pretending you've got it right. Sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. You will get things wrong. Get them wrong, correct, and learn. CHAPTERS: 03:09 – Learning to accept that in life you’ll never be fully satisfied 06:47 – How Thatcher's Britain created a generation of founders 08:19 – Dyslexia and the entrepreneur's brain 15:55 – Starting at 18 with no network, no internet, no clue 18:09 – "Stupid determination" – the trait every founder shares 20:09 – The lonely years of building a business 21:17 – Anxiety vs stress 24:07 – Why imposter syndrome is healthy 24:58 – I'm Not A Plastic Bag: changing national behaviour with a £5 product 27:35 – Honesty as a brand strategy 30:10 – Building a blended family without dropping the business 35:06 – The mistake of stepping away as CEO 40:16 – Buying it back: how to turn a crisis into a restructure 41:32 – Localising in a global business 44:20 – Her creative process 46:30 – Outside investment: why she'd tell founders to wait 48:08 – Perspective: what a child's illness teaches a CEO 52:06 – Brand Britain – what we're selling and what we're missing 54:41 – AI: "Stop moaning and get really good at it" BUY ANYA'S BOOK If In Doubt Wash Your Hair – https://www.anyahindmarch.com/products/if-in-doubt-wash-your-hair-paperback-book-in-paper-off-white FOLLOW ANYA: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/anyahindmarch/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@anyahindmarch FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

Esther Ghey's 16-year-old daughter Brianna was murdered in a park near their home in Warrington in February 2023. What followed — the campaigning, the memoir, the forgiveness, the compassion — has made her one of the most consequential reform voices in contemporary British life. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Esther to discuss her Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that she turns on her darker days – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. Esther is the founder of the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project and Peace in Mind UK, a social enterprise focused on mental health in schools. She launched the Phone Free Education campaign, has campaigned in parliament, and last month received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chester. She was named The Independent's Most Influential Woman of 2024. Her memoir Under a Pink Sky , published by Penguin, is out now in paperback. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 01:16 A Person 02:04 A Habit 03:10 A Comfort 03:39 A Piece of Advice FOLLOW ESTHER GHEY: Instagram – www.instagram.com/esther.ghey/ Peace in Mind UK – www.peaceinminduk.com Under a Pink Sky – available now in paperback FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

In February 2023, Esther Ghey's 16-year-old daughter Brianna was murdered in a park near their home in Warrington, in a premeditated attack by two 15-year-olds. Today, Esther is a bereaved mother, but she is also one of the most significant voices for social reform in contemporary British life. She founded the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, co-launched the Phone-Free Education campaign with Kate Winslet, and has helped force a national reckoning on children, smartphones and social media. She was named the Independent's Most Influential Woman of 2024 and a GQ Hero. Her bestselling memoir Under a Pink Sky - now available in paperback - is a searing and hopeful account of love, loss and rebuilding. It is one of the most breathtaking tales of resilience I have ever read. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FIVE LESSONS FROM ESTHER: Grief doesn't get easier – you learn to build your life around the hole the person left. Don't blame other people for your own decisions. Perception is everything: You can walk the same street looking down at the dog mess or up at the blossom – the choice is yours. Mindfulness isn't a wellness trend. It's a tool that rewires how you respond to stress. Compassion costs nothing. CHAPTERS: 03:56 – The cherry blossom and the sign 05:20 – Growing up with mum 07:55 – Leaving school with no GCSEs, becoming a mum at 18 09:13 – The sludge-green walls and the addiction 12:17 – Why she refuses to blame anyone but herself 15:43 – Going back to school in her 30s 16:07 – Discovering mindfulness 17:51 – When Brett became Brianna 21:17 – The phone, the bedroom, the 3am email 27:24 – The day it happened 30:16 – The dream that became acceptance 32:47 – What she'd say to anyone in early grief 34:35 – Grieving in public 36:33 – Why she won't name the killers 37:55 – Meeting Emma 43:23 – Building Brianna's legacy 48:05 – Could I have done more? 51:16 – Phones don't build resilience 54:26 – Where the campaign goes next FOLLOW ESTHER GHEY: Instagram – www.instagram.com/esther.ghey/ Brianna Ghey Legacy Project – www.instagram.com/briannagheylegacyproject/ Phone-Free Education – www.instagram.com/phonefreeeducation/ BUY ESTHER'S BOOK: Under a Pink Sky – www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Pink-Sky-Esther-Ghey/dp/0241738733 FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

Kate Bowler is one of the most thought-provoking voices on pain and suffering you'll ever encounter. Living her dream life – married to her high school sweetheart, a baby boy, and her dream job – she was diagnosed with stage four cancer just as everything fell into place. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Kate to discuss her Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that she turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. We'd love to know yours, let us know in the reviews... Kate is a four-time New York Times bestseller, professor at Duke University, host of the Everything Happens podcast, and author of an exceptional Substack. Her latest book, Joyful Anyway , hit the shelves this month. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:49 A Person – Be a Roger: the quiet librarian who showed her what service really looks like 01:47 A Habit – Praying with her son every night 02:27 A Comfort – Roadside America, a 40-foot ceramic turtle, and how she befriended Tom Holland 03:49 A Piece of Advice – "It comes undone though, so don't skip to the end" BUY KATE'S NEW BOOK: Joyful Anyway – www.amazon.co.uk/Joyful-Anyway-Finding-Delight-Impossible/dp/1037202562 FOLLOW KATE BOWLER: Instagram – www.instagram.com/katecbowler/ YouTube – www.youtube.com/@katecbowler TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@katecbowler Substack – https://katebowler.substack.com/ Podcast – Everything Happens FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod