Hard-earned lessons from people who've faced the worst and come back stronger. Hosted by Andy Coulson. Follow for weekly insights into the art of the rebuild. Crisis What Crisis? is powered by Kingsley Napley — the lawyers you want in your corner when the pressure is on. Visit kingsleynapley.co.uk
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Sep 29, 2026 · 30:20
Recorded live at BizFest in Essex, this is the story of how a near-death moment became a £16 million business. Jo Tutchener Sharp had built a successful career – running the…
Sep 22, 2026 · 6:05
Mike Soutar is an entrepreneur, publishing titan and the forensic interviewer familiar to millions from BBC’s The Apprentice. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, Mike…
Sep 15, 2026 · 1:10:03
Millions know Mike Soutar as the forensic interviewer on The Apprentice, the Scottish voice across the boardroom table for the last 15 years. But long before the television, he…
Sep 8, 2026 · 22:36
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…
Sep 1, 2026 · 43:01
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 –…
Aug 25, 2026 · 2:52
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…
Aug 18, 2026 · 1:10:17
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…
Aug 11, 2026 · 5:27
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…
Aug 4, 2026 · 53:04
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…
Jul 28, 2026 · 4:58
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…
Jul 21, 2026 · 1:02:24
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,…
Jul 14, 2026 · 24:50
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.…
Jul 7, 2026 · 5:33
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…
Jun 30, 2026 · 1:13:42
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…
Jun 23, 2026 · 2:56
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…
Jun 16, 2026 · 47:35
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…
Jun 9, 2026 · 17:41
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…
Jun 2, 2026 · 45:36
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…
May 26, 2026 · 4:23
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…
May 20, 2026 · 56:33
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…
May 12, 2026 · 4:55
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,…
May 5, 2026 · 56:12
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…
Apr 28, 2026 · 4:46
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,…
Apr 21, 2026 · 1:00:42
At 35, Kate Bowler had the life she'd always wanted: she was a Duke University professor, married to her high school sweetheart, with a one-year-old son. Then she was diagnosed…
Apr 14, 2026 · 4:24
Charles Tyrwhitt founder, Nick Wheeler, started the business with just £99, a Morris Minor (with a hole rusted through the floor), and zero understanding of how you make a shirt.…
Apr 7, 2026 · 52:47
Nick Wheeler founded Charles Tyrwhitt with just £99 and a Morris Minor with a hole rusted through the floor (and zero understanding of how you make a shirt!). Today, it’s a £400m…
Mar 31, 2026 · 1:12:20
In this special tribute episode, we revisit my conversation with the legendary Dame Jenni Murray. Recorded in February 2021 in the early days of the podcast, Jenni joined me to…
Mar 24, 2026 · 2:35
Ryan Holiday – bestselling author of The Daily Stoic, Ego is the Enemy, and The Obstacle is the Way – joins me on Crisis What Crisis to explore why intelligence doesn't protect…
Mar 17, 2026 · 38:11
Why do genius-level intellects fall for conspiracy theories? How does someone who taught himself rocket science from Soviet manuals end up believing nonsense on social media?…
Mar 10, 2026 · 7:09
After building MTV and rising to the very top of the global media industry, Tom Freston experienced dramatic setbacks that forced him to rebuild - not for the first time. In this…
Mar 3, 2026 · 1:03:20
From building a multimillion-dollar clothing business in India only to be wiped out by a global trade embargo, to redefining pop culture for a generation at MTV and Nickelodeon,…
Feb 24, 2026 · 6:55
Following the loss of his daughter Sushila to anorexia, broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips reveals the daily habits, personal anchors, and life advice that keep him grounded. In…
Feb 17, 2026 · 1:07:50
After a 22-year battle with anorexia, Sir Trevor Phillips' daughter Sushila died aged 36 in April 2021. Now he's calling for a radical shift in how we talk about mental illness –…
Feb 10, 2026 · 4:23
In 2021, the UK energy market collapsed. More than 30 of the big energy suppliers went under. But, the business Greg Jackson founded, Octopus Energy, didn't just survive, it…
Feb 3, 2026 · 1:01:51
Greg Jackson, founder and CEO of energy giant Octopus Energy, is perhaps one of Britain’s most innovative CEOs. In 2021, the British energy market collapsed. Wholesale gas prices…
Jan 27, 2026 · 1:57
Johnnie Boden, founder of Boden, reveals how he survives crisis as a business leader. In this Crisis Compass bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis?, Johnnie shares the person,…
Jan 19, 2026 · 47:47
For three decades, Johnnie Boden has turned cheerful prints, quality fabrics, and unmistakable English charm into one of Britain's most distinctive retail brands – worn by…
Dec 15, 2025 · 3:21
For over a decade at BBC Newsnight, Sam McAlister secured the interviews others couldn't – Bill Clinton, Elon Musk, Stormy Daniels. But it was six months of negotiation that led…
Dec 8, 2025 · 56:59
For over a decade at BBC Newsnight, Sam McAlister secured the interviews others couldn't – Bill Clinton, Elon Musk, Stormy Daniels. But it was 13 months of negotiation that led…
Nov 25, 2025 · 55:36
This is a relaunch of a previous episode, but the lessons contained within it are as important today as they were when we sat down to speak over two years ago. Rory Stewart has…
Nov 17, 2025 · 35:13
Bitterness is the poison you drink expecting someone else to die. It's the corrosive emotion born from crisis that fills your throat with bile and consumes your every waking…
Nov 10, 2025 · 7:08
Professor James Brown is an author, podcaster and ADHD expert. Burnout, and a Christmas day spent contemplating his own death led him to get a private ADHD diagnosis. The result…
Nov 3, 2025 · 1:12:47
Professor James Brown is an author, podcaster and ADHD expert. Burnout, and a Christmas day spent contemplating his own death led him to get a private ADHD diagnosis. The result…
Oct 23, 2025 · 32:39
In this second episode in our AI mini-series I met with Professor Gary Marcus live at the RAID conference in Brussels. Gary has been writing code since he was 10, built a Latin…
Oct 20, 2025 · 55:37
You’d think as the son of the founder Richard Walker OBE could have walked straight into the top job at Iceland Foods - the supermarket empire his parents built from a tiny shop…
Oct 13, 2025 · 27:02
Gratitude is a mindset. It’s a tool that when deployed in crisis can be essential for reframing your narrative and your understanding. How we find gratitude in crisis, however,…
Oct 6, 2025 · 4:47
Alex Goldie grew up walking on eggshells in a violent, alcohol-fueled household where he became the family peacemaker - literally throwing pillows into rooms to break up fights.…
Sep 29, 2025 · 52:33
Alex Goldie grew up walking on eggshells in a violent, alcohol-fueled household where he became the family peacemaker - literally throwing pillows into rooms to break up fights.…
Sep 22, 2025 · 2:58
In spring 2017, Robert Paylor seemed to be living a charmed life – starting for America’s top rugby programme, competing for a national championship for UC Berkeley, and on track…
Sep 15, 2025 · 1:10:51
Robert Paylor was living the dream - a star rugby player at UC Berkeley competing for a national championship with his future mapped out perfectly. Then an illegal tackle…
Sep 9, 2025 · 1:06:03
In this episode recorded in 2024 and republished to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2025, Andy is joined by three remarkable men, Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen – better…
Sep 1, 2025 · 42:23
Resilience is not just about being able to bounce-back. It’s about bouncing-forward stronger and wiser than before. It’s about realising that your pre-crisis life is now gone,…
Aug 25, 2025 · 3:02
From complete self-destruction to resurrection. Natasha Silver Bell proves that our lowest moments can become the foundation for our greatest purpose – and that recovery isn't…
Aug 18, 2025 · 55:28
From beauty pageants to international runways to waking up from a blackout to find her 13-month-old son eating Cheerios alone in his high chair – Natasha Silver Bell's story is…
Aug 11, 2025 · 36:38
Twelve years after his arrest, five and a half years in prison, and countless rejected appeals, Tom Hayes finally heard the words he'd been fighting for: "Your conviction is…
Aug 4, 2025 · 2:35
Wall Street titan, White House survivor, and now podcast provocateur, Anthony Scaramucci's life reads like a script with no shortage of plot twists. Here is Anthony's Crisis…
Jul 28, 2025 · 51:45
Wall Street titan, White House survivor, and now podcast provocateur, Anthony Scaramucci joins Andy Coulson for an unfiltered, useful, funny and at times emotional conversation…
Jul 23, 2025 · 58:49
Tom Hayes is the city trader who spent five years in prison and who lost his wealth, reputation and home thanks to an appalling miscarriage of justice. Since his conviction in…
Jul 21, 2025 · 7:01
From high powered Hollywood boardrooms to hitting bottom in a psychiatric hospital, Cally Beaton’s journey is anything but linear. She opens up about how her midlife mental…
Jul 14, 2025 · 1:01:40
TV executive turned stand-up comic and best-selling author Cally Beaton joins Andy to share a powerful story of breakdown, reinvention, told with unflinching honesty. From high…
Jul 7, 2025 · 13:59
Armed with a mathematician’s mind and a mystic’s heart, Mo has transformed personal devastation into global purpose. He is living proof that happiness isn’t just wishful thinking…
Jun 30, 2025 · 31:18
What if the biggest existential threat of our time isn’t artificial intelligence – but the people programming it? In this urgent and mind-expanding Crisis What Crisis special,…
Jun 23, 2025 · 51:10
From the boardrooms of Google X to the depths of unimaginable grief, Mo Gawdat’s journey defies every conventional narrative about success and loss. The former Chief Business…
Jun 16, 2025 · 3:54
Alix Popham took hundreds of thousands of hits on the pitch – but the biggest came years after retirement. His is a story of crisis and clarity. Of choosing purpose over…
Jun 9, 2025 · 54:59
Grand Slam-winning rugby hero, Alix Popham took hundreds of thousands of hits on the pitch – but the biggest came years after retirement. Diagnosed with early onset dementia and…
Jun 2, 2025 · 4:58
Simon Weston CBE is a veteran, a charity campaigner and one of the most inspiring survivors of our times. In 1982, while serving with the Welsh Guards in the Falklands War, Simon…
May 26, 2025 · 1:02:03
Lessons in Grit from a Falklands Hero - Simon Weston Simon Weston CBE is a veteran, a charity campaigner and one of the most inspiring survivors of our times. In 1982, while…
May 19, 2025 · 5:05
What happens when your name becomes shorthand for a crime you didn’t commit? At just 20 years old, Amanda Knox was catapulted into global infamy after being accused of murdering…
May 12, 2025 · 58:06
What happens when your name becomes shorthand for a crime you didn’t commit? At just 20 years old, Amanda Knox was catapulted into global infamy after being accused of murdering…
May 5, 2025 · 5:20
Mark Turnbull has spent thirty five years as a geopolitical communications strategist, working behind the scenes to shape some of the most consequential political moments of…
Apr 28, 2025 · 1:07:50
Mark Turnbull has spent thirty-five years as a geopolitical communications strategist, working behind the scenes to shape some of the most consequential political moments of…
Apr 21, 2025 · 2:42
John Roberts is one of Britain's most successful and energetic businessmen, a lad from Bolton who turned a one pound bet with a friend into a billion pound success story. In this…
Apr 14, 2025 · 1:10:47
John Roberts is one of Britain's most successful and energetic businessmen, a lad from Bolton who turned a one pound bet with a friend into a billion pound success story. In this…
Apr 7, 2025 · 4:28
Bestselling author Kit de Waal has built a career writing stories that capture the reality of life on the margins, but her own story is just as compelling. Growing up in 1970s…
Mar 31, 2025 · 1:09:30
Bestselling author Kit de Waal has built a career writing stories that capture the reality of life on the margins, but her own story is just as compelling. Growing up in 1970s…
Mar 24, 2025 · 6:05
Rupert Soames has forged a brilliant career leading businesses through some of the most daunting challenges. His professional journey has been defined by his unflinching resolve…
Mar 20, 2025 · 1:04:42
Rupert Soames has forged a brilliant career leading businesses through some of the most daunting challenges. But behind the decades of success, there’s another story that Rupert…
Mar 10, 2025 · 4:26
Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Christina Perri is best known for her hits A Thousand Years and Jar of Hearts, but behind her music lies a deeply personal story of resilience.…
Mar 3, 2025 · 55:06
Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Christina Perri is best known for her hits A Thousand Years and Jar of Hearts, but behind her music lies a deeply personal story of resilience.…
Feb 24, 2025 · 4:46
Simon Woodroffe has lived many lives - he started as a stage designer for music legends like Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder, then took a leap of faith and built YO! Sushi into a…
Feb 17, 2025 · 55:41
What does it take to turn adversity into opportunity? Simon Woodroffe has lived many lives - he started as a stage designer for music legends like Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder,…
Feb 11, 2025 · 5:20
Who better to explore the road to resilience than someone who has endured one of the most dramatic falls from grace? Tom Hayes was once a high-flying city trader, living a life…
Jan 27, 2025 · 5:54
Paul Stewart is a former England footballer who played for Manchester City, Spurs and Liverpool. But behind the success was a harrowing secret – years of unimaginable childhood…
Jan 20, 2025 · 1:10:32
Sensitive content: this podcast contains discussions of child abuse and suicide. Listener discretion is advised. Paul Stewart is a former England footballer who played for…
Jan 14, 2025 · 5:37
Paul McKenna is not just a world-renowned hypnotherapist; he’s a one man self-help powerhouse, a best-selling author, and a sought-after behavioural scientist who has helped…
Jan 6, 2025 · 49:52
Paul McKenna is not just a world-renowned hypnotherapist; he’s a one man self-help powerhouse, a best-selling author, and a sought-after behavioural scientist who has helped…
Dec 23, 2024 · 2:59
Having arrived in Britain as a five-year-old refugee fleeing the Nazis on the Kindertransport, Dame Stephanie Shirley went on to build one of Britain's most successful software…
Dec 16, 2024 · 42:53
Having arrived in Britain as a five-year-old refugee fleeing the Nazis on the Kindertransport, Dame Stephanie Shirley went on to build one of Britain's most successful software…
Dec 9, 2024 · 3:06
Katie Melua has sold more than 11 million albums and picked up 56 platinum awards along the way. She had her first hit aged just 19 and was thrown immediately onto the treadmill…
Dec 2, 2024 · 29:50
In our first live podcast recording at the 2024 CBI Annual Conference, Andy speaks to Dawn Airey CBE, one of the most remarkable figures in British media. In front of an audience…
Nov 25, 2024 · 1:01:26
Selling 11 million albums, more than a million concert tickets and picking up 56 platinum awards along the way, Katie Melua is one of Britain’s most successful singer…
Nov 18, 2024 · 3:48
On January 28th, 2009, a rehearsed stunt on set of Harry Potter went horrifically wrong. David, who had been the lead stunt double for his friend Daniel Radcliffe for a decade,…
Nov 11, 2024 · 56:44
On January 28th, 2009, a rehearsed stunt on set of Harry Potter went horrifically wrong. David, who for a decade was the lead stunt double for his friend Daniel Radcliffe, was…
Nov 4, 2024 · 3:54
On the face of it, magazine guru Lindsay Nicholson has had a brilliant, glamorous and high-powered career. Yet she achieved all this whilst her own life has been marked with…
Oct 28, 2024 · 1:00:17
Lindsay Nicholson transformed some of our best-known magazine titles including Cosmopolitan , Prima and, most famously, Good Housekeeping . On the face of it a brilliant,…
Oct 21, 2024 · 5:02
Adventurer Charley Boorman - whose life is full of motorbike journeys, personal challenge, crisis and resilience – shares his three crisis comforts. Full episode…
Oct 14, 2024 · 1:03:12
You know him from his epic road trips with Ewan McGregor in Long Way Round, Down and Up but adventurer Charley Boorman’s life is full of journeys of an entirely different kind ……
Oct 7, 2024 · 4:25
On the night of September 30, 2022, at High Barnet station, Sarah de Lagarde slipped between the train and the platform. She lost two limbs and almost her life. With resilience…
Sep 30, 2024 · 57:28
On the night of September 30, 2022, at High Barnet station, Sarah de Lagarde slipped between the train and the platform. Trapped there, unseen and unheard, Sarah was hit by the…
Sep 23, 2024 · 3:52
Dylan Jones is a true titan of the world of media … someone who has helped shape the cultural landscape of the UK for the last four decades. Throughout our full conversation,…
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