Podcast Corner: Inspirational shows to put a spring in your step
Carl Frampton and Alexandra Burke both talk about interesting aspects of their lives.
With over 40m downloads, Happy Place is now in its ninth series as BBC presenter Cotton seeks to find out what happiness means to the stars she interviews. Series nine began with model and actress Priyanka Chopra Jones, seen most recently in The White Tiger on Netflix.
Even when you don't know much about a person, hearing them talk about their journey is affecting. On the concept of confidence, Jones says: "I think confidence has a lot to do with the environment, your upbringing. We don't think about that a lot as adults.
As adults we think our confidence is right now. It depends on the job I have, the house I live in, what my dreams are, how much I've achieved. But confidence is very deep-rooted, it comes from your childhood, how you were raised, when you were your most vulnerable, how did you feel."
Running for a year now, this show from BT Sports presenter Humphreys and organisational psychologist Hughes sees them interview stars mostly from across sports but also musicians and actors, about how they got to the top of their respective games.
From rugby (South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, the first black man to captain South Africa, taking them to World Cup glory in 2019) to football (er, Frank Lampard, fired by Chelsea in January) to boxing (Carl Frampton, who's aiming to become a three-weight world champion next month), all have moments that might connect with the listener.
"Making my kids proud and legacy are probably the two most important things now for me, says Frampton, whose interview is particularly interesting. Though he alludes to the great team he's got behind him, he doesn't mention nor is asked about his links with MTK, the controversial boxing organisation co-founded by Daniel Kinahan.
This probably needs no introduction: Into its 10th series, Day, an author and now presenter on Radio 4's Open Book, is still asking celebrities to celebrate what didn't go right. The recent episode with 2008 X Factor winner Alexandra Burke has them talking about Beyonce (they performed together in the final) and offers a glimpse at what happens when the reality TV cameras go away. "I'm very lucky to have a career doing something that I love. But the fame part of it, I've always been quite afraid to just be me because I'm being watched all the time." The lesson: Be careful what you wish for.
