Best Anita Rani Podcasts (2026)

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Lynda La Plante on a lifetime of breaking boundaries - FROM THE ARCHIVES 54:06

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2d ago54:06

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To celebrate the old bird/broad role models who’ve appeared on The Shift with Sam Baker, I’ll be rerunning some of these conversations throughout December and into January. Next up, screenwriting legend Lynda La Plante... ---- My guest this week is a woman who - to coin a bit of 1980s jargon - punched through the glass ceiling for women in TV, crea…

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S3 Ep4: Andi Oliver 1:04:56

3h ago1:04:56

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains first-hand accounts of eating disorders and racism, including the use of some offensive language. For eating disorder support, please visit BEAT (www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk). On this week’s episode, Sali speaks to chef, broadcaster (and former singer!) Andi Oliver. Hear Andi speak candidly about what has m…

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Helen Garner on divorce, grandmothering and the erotic gaze - FROM THE ARCHIVES 49:23

9d ago49:23

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To celebrate the old bird/broad role models who’ve appeared on The Shift with Sam Baker I’ll be rerunning some of these conversations throughout December and into January. Next up is Australian literary legend Helen Garner who, in her 83rd year has finally broken out in the UK and US and won the Baillie Gifford Prize for her collected diaries, How …

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S3 Ep3: Nicola Chapman 53:24

3d ago53:24

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions around domestic violence. For more information or help on this topic please contact Refuge at refuge.org.uk On this week’s episode of Beyond The Bathroom, Sali is joined by Nicola Chapman who, as well as being renowned makeup artist, is also Sali's mate. We hear first-hand about Nic’s experience of…

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Miriam Margolyes on the power of living life without secrets - FROM THE ARCHIVES 50:32

16d ago50:32

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• To celebrate the old bird/broad role models who’ve appeared on The Shift with Sam Baker, I’ll be rerunning some of these conversations throughout December and into January. First up Miriam Margolyes... ---- It’s the final episode of the season and all my podcasting dreams have come true. Because my guest this week - by popular demand and a whole …

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S3 Ep2: Nikki Lilly 1:05:54

10d ago1:05:54

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Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussions around eating disorders. For support, please visit the UK's Eating Disorder Charity BEAT (www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk) On this week's episode of Beyond The Bathroom, Sali is joined by charity campaigner, social media personality, model, and television presenter Nikki Lilly, who also happens to b…

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Lady Glenconner on stepping into the spotlight at 87 56:07

23d ago56:07

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My guest on the final episode of this season is Anne, Lady Glenconner. Now 93, Lady Glenconner has lived to put it bluntly, one hell of a life. She was born in 1932, the eldest daughter of the 5th earl of Leicester and brought up in the early 20th century’s rigid social hierarchy on the ancestral estate of Holkham Hall in Norfolk. Which, incidental…

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S3 Ep1: Siobhán McSweeney 1:17:42

17d ago1:17:42

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Beyond the Bathroom is back and Sali is delighted to be joined by the legendary Siobhán McSweeney to kick off series 3!Siobhán talks about her obsession with giving compliments, her wild childhood and the freedom her love of fashion brings.Thank you to Clinique for sponsoring this series of Beyond The Bathroom. For 20% off your order* at Clinique, …

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TELEGRAPH WOMEN'S SPORT: 2025 was a great year for women’s football – what’s next? 32:20

17d ago32:20

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In this special episode of the Telegraph Women's Sport Podcast, we take a deep dive into women’s football. The Telegraph’s women’s football reporter Kathryn Batte is joined by former internationals, for England and Scotland respectively, Izzy Christiansen and Rachel Corsie as well as commentator Ellen Ellard to reflect on a huge year for the sport …

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S3: Beyond The Bathroom Season 3: Coming Tuesday 9th December 0:56

17d ago0:56

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Join Sali Hughes each week for a conversation with a special guest about their own appearance. The first episode will be available from Tuesday 9th December on your chosen podcast platform with the full-length visual on YouTube. Just search Beyond The Bathroom. Thank you to Clinique for sponsoring this series of Beyond The Bathroom. For 20% off you…

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Karen Dobres: how menopause & football turned me into an accidental radical 1:01:31

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My guest today is the accidental radical Karen Dobres. Until her early fifties, Karen’s life had taken a path familiar to so many women. From modelling in her early twenties, she trained as a counsellor and worked alongside bringing up a family. So far, so familiar. Then, as she puts it, she had her final period, attended her first football match a…

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Samantha Ellis on food, family and finding your identity in your 40s 1:00:06

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My guest today is a woman on a mission to preserve the language of her grandparents. Playwright, screenwriter and novelist Samantha Ellis is the author of one of my personal favourites How To Be A Heroine. Sam was in her early 40s and a new mum when it dawned on her that her mother tongue - or milk language - was on the verge of dying out. The daug…

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Holly Dawson on facing permanent memory loss at 40 1:02:38

1M ago1:02:38

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For many of us losing our memory is our worst nightmare. To be told that that is happening when you are still young (ish) is close to unimaginable. That’s what happened to this week’s guest, writer, teacher and reader in residence at Charleston, Holly Dawson. Holly was just 40 when she started to lose her grasp of where she was. She was ultimately …

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Bobbi Brown on doing it all her own way in her 60s 51:07

2M ago51:07

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If you, like me, have lived most of your life in fear of foundation, this week’s guest is your saviour. Because this woman saved us no-makeup makeup girls’ lives. Back in 1991, Bobbi Brown was a makeup artist frustrated by the fact that most makeup looked like a mask. So she produced a range of 10 lipsticks that actually matched people’s lips. Shoc…

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Hollie McNish on sex, shame and telling the truth about womanhood 1:09:18

2M ago1:09:18

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Today’s episode is basically a massive treat for me. Hollie McNish is my favourite poet. I first encountered her over a decade ago when I was doing an event for my thriller, The Woman Who Ran, at a literary festival. Hollie was in the big venue next door. The signing queue went on for miles. Let’s just say, it wasn’t for me. Hollie’s poetry speaks …

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Jen Hatmaker: “It’s like I woke up halfway through my life” 53:04

2M ago53:04

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We talk a lot about women who want out, who want to set light to everything and walk away. But we don’t talk so much about the women who find someone else has put a bomb under their lives and left them standing in the rubble. That’s what happened to Jen Hatmaker… After 45 years of living life according to the good girl rules, she woke up in the mid…

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THE SHIFT LIVE: Mary Portas on fashion, Ab Fab & how her childhood shaped her 49:34

2M ago49:34

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This episode of The Shift podcast, with the High Street legend, Mary Portas, is brought to you live from Cheltenham Literature Festival Mary is one of the UK’s most high profile and innovative business women. She made her name transforming dusty old Harvey Nichols into global fashion destination Harvey Nicks (with a little bit of help from Jennifer…

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Lyse Doucet – my extraordinary 40 years on the frontline 1:07:25

3M ago1:07:25

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My guest today is the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet. Since starting work at the corporation almost forty years ago, Lyse has covered all the major wars in the Middle East, reporting from Afghanistan Iraq Iran Jordan Israel Pakistan Egypt Libya and most recently Gaza. And that’s before we get started on the rest of the world. …

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India Knight on finally gaining a sense of self in her 50s - from the archives 51:35

3M ago51:35

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By sam baker

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Hilma Wolitzer: 80 years of writing – and not done yet (from the archives) 53:50

3M ago53:50

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(This episode first aired in August 2022.) My guest today is the writer Hilma Wolitzer. Born in 1930, Hilma had her first poem published at the age of 9. She then shelved that ambition in favour of marriage and children, as women were expected to in the 1950s. 26 years later she had her first short story published. Then there was no stopping her. H…

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Caryn Franklin on why fashion still fails older women - from the archives 56:36

3M ago56:36

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(This episode was first published in November 2022.) Today's guest is one of my personal heroes, Caryn Franklin. Caryn started her career in the 80s as a fashion editor before moving into TV where she presented, amongst other things, BBC’s The Clothes Show. Always outspoken, Caryn has spent four decades being a thorn in the fashion industry’s side.…

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Lisa Jewell on hitting a golden seam of success in her 50s - FROM THE ARCHIVES 1:01:51

4M ago1:01:51

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(This episode first aired in September 2022.) Today’s guest is one of Britain’s best loved novelists, Lisa Jewell. Her career started with a smash hit debut novel Ralph’s Party - which she started writing as a bet at the age of 27 while she was unemployed, and, according to her, “totally lacking in direction and ambition”. It was the book of the mo…

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Thomasina Miers on the midlife Mexican escape that rebuilt her 53:18

4M ago53:18

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Hello and welcome to the final episode of season 18. 18!!!! My guest today is the cook, Thomasina Miers. Despite being taught to cook as a child, Tommi didn’t really embrace her love of food until her late 20s when a trip to Mexico inspired a love of Mexican food that was to change her life. In 2005, she became the first person ever to win Masterch…

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Laura Lippmann is having a second coming at 60 54:06

4M ago54:06

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A few weeks ago, I was pootling around on substack where The Shift newsletter lives - https://theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com/ - and I noticed I had a DM from a new subscriber. It turned out to be from one of my favourite crime writers - the award winning Laura Lippmann, who some of you might know from the recent apple TV+ series of her novel, Th…

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Charlotte Mendelson – middle-aged women are entitled to want more 1:01:53

4M ago1:01:53

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This season is dedicated to helping you pick your summer reads and my guest today is the novelist Charlotte Mendelson whose writing has been compared to “late Shakespeare meets Modern family!” So you know where to turn if you’re looking for a painfully funny, on the nose look at the dynamics of love and marriage. Charlotte worked as a publisher for…

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Betsy Lerner is on a mission to destigmatise mental health in her 60s 50:51

5M ago50:51

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My guest this week is the novelist Betsy Lerner. Now Betsy is here to talk about her critically acclaimed debut novel, Shred Sisters, which takes us from the 1970s to the 90s and tells us the story of two troubled sisters, Amy and Ollie. No less a legend than Patti Smith described it as “moving like a souped up pick up truck” - and who am I to argu…

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Nicola Sturgeon on life after leadership 56:18

5M ago56:18

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This week I’m delighted to welcome back to The Shift one of my most listened-to guests, Nicola Sturgeon. When we last spoke, at the start of 2022, Nicola was First Minister of Scotland - the first woman to hold the role, the first woman in 600 years to be the keeper of the seal. And During her tenure, she was widely acknowledged to be one of the mo…

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Sarah Perry on "becoming a woman who didn't have children" 56:06

5M ago56:06

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My guest today is the award-winning novelist Sarah Perry. Sarah is the internationally bestselling author of four novels, but the one you will almost definitely heard of (and may well have watched) is The Essex Serpent. Published in 2016, it sold over half a million copies, and won both British Book of the Year and Waterstones book of the year befo…