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How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams
Tessa Peake-Jones: Why Being Alone at 60 Might Be the Best Relationship You've Ever Had
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On this week's episode, we're joined by Tessa Peake-Jones, one of Britain's most beloved actors (yes, Raquel from Only Fools and Horses, and yes, she knows you were going to say that), who's currently starring in a new comedy drama called Invisible Me about three sixty-somethings navigating love, loneliness and everything in between.
But this isn't just a conversation about dating apps and swiping left. It's about what happens when the kids leave, the relationship ends, and for the first time in your life, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. Tessa talks about growing up as an only child with a bipolar mother, why she's never married, and how reaching 60 unlocked a freedom and a confidence she never expected. There's a listener email from Margaret that will hit you right in the chest (is it too much to ask at 63 for someone who'd ring you on a Tuesday and say, do you fancy the pictures?). And there's a proper conversation about the things nobody wants to say out loud: that solitude can be a privilege, not a punishment. That glasses genuinely make you invisible. And that sometimes, the starfish in a double bed all to yourself is the happy ending.
Tessa Peake-Jones stars in Invisible Me at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 8th April.
Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.
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Jane Green: When You Stop Waiting To Be Chosen
59:53|Bestselling novelist Jane Green had it all. E18 New York Times bestsellers, over 10 million books in print, the beautiful homes, the blended family, the loving husband. And then, piece by piece, she lost most of it: the marriage, the financial security, the career status, and for a while, herself.This week Kaye and Karen sit down with one of the original queens of chick lit for a remarkably honest conversation about menopause, the empty nest, a crumbling marriage, the shame we lock away for decades, and what it takes to find your way back. As Jane puts it: you spend so much of your life wanting to be chosen by the right people, and then you reach a point where you no longer need to be chosen and realise you're allowed to choose. It's a glorious thing.Jane's memoir, Rewilding, is out now. Part memoir, part battle cry for any woman who's ever felt invisible in her own story, it's all about rediscovering the fearless, brave little girl you once were.🎭 See Kaye and Karen live at the Edinburgh Fringe — 7th, 8th and 9th August. Grab your tickets here:https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:7161/📩 Got something to say?It's Not My Knee, It's My Hip (and Other Excuses)
21:45|Kaye's spent £120 on running shoes she may never run in, Karen might finally be selling the camper van, and a "blackhead" turns out to be something else entirely. Then comes the row that splits the nation: is Kaye's kitchen pine or oak? Plus a look ahead to Friday's guest, bestselling author Jane Green.Pauline Campbell: "I Am Never Going to Lower My Hand Again"
54:01|On this week's episode, Pauline Campbell got in touch herself and said she'd be a good guest. She was right. Told at 15 by a teacher she wasn't capable, Pauline believed it for years. Until she didn't. In her mid-30s she started driving between a council job and a full-time law degree, qualified as a solicitor, and hasn't stopped since. Now 61, she's a legal hero, a pro bono Windrush advocate, a published author, and the owner of an accent she refused to lose even when a judge pointed it out in court.Pauline talks about silent strength, the parents who held back so their children could fly, why shedding your skin to fit in makes you less not more, and the erotic novel she wrote after a suave barrister told her it was always a pleasure, never a chore. Plus Karen forgets the email address. Again.Pauline's book Lefty Lawyer: Speaking Truth to Power is out now from Waterside Press. Her memoir Rice & Peas and Fish & Chips is also available. Find out more at paulineecampbell.com.How To Be 60 is at the Edinburgh Fringe, 7-9 August, Gilded Balloon at the Museum: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:7161/Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.Midweek Catchup: The Whistling Hearing Aid, The Joy of Sex, and Karen's Filthy Nails
20:59|On this week's Midweek Catchup, Karen turns up in cut-off trousers she hacked herself and sandals that have been in the garden all week. She gets her nails done and the woman has to scrape the muck out on a bit of kitchen roll. Kaye's been to a glamorous event in London surrounded by 26-year-olds and her hearing aid starts whistling. She doesn't say a word. They check the air conditioning. Plus doggy goggles that don't work, the Joy of Sex drawings that put everyone off, and Kaye's knee falling out at 3K in trainers from the last century.How To Be 60 is at the Edinburgh Fringe, 7-9 August, Gilded Balloon at the Museum: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:7161/Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.Sian Reeves: The Acid Yellow Dress - Caring for Dad, a Hairdresser Con, and Turning 60
50:12|On this week's episode, we're joined by Sian Reeves — actor and host of the Who Cares? podcast.Sian talks about caring for her poorly dad, what it costs (£4-7k a month), and the Loose Women appearance years ago she didn't make because she'd been conned out of eight grand by a hairdresser and was too ashamed to come on and say it. Plus the acid yellow mini dress she bought in France that she's still not sure she'll wear.Sian's Who Cares? podcast is wherever you listen.How To Be 60 is at the Edinburgh Fringe, 7-9 August, Gilded Balloon at the Museum: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:7161/Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.Midweek Catchup: Grief, Therapy and a David Tennant Selfie
19:54|On this week's Midweek Catchup, Kaye Adams and Karen MacKenzie mark the death of Scott Hastings at 61, six months after he joined How To Be 60 to talk about losing his wife Jenny. Karen also opens up about starting counselling, and why "how are you?" is a question people only ask when they want the easy answer. Plus a David Tennant selfie, the great kitchen debate, and a teddy bear made from a mink coat.Whether you're processing something big yourself, or just tired of saying you're fine when you're not, this one is for you.Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com and book tckets for the Fringe show on the 7/8/9 August at https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:7161/Cally Beaton: Wrong Medication, Wrong Career, Wrong Country. Right Decade.
54:41|Cally Beaton was a high-flying TV exec, a single mum of two, and quietly falling apart in her 40s. Then Joan Rivers looked her in the eye over dinner and told her to try stand-up. Two weeks later, Joan died. Two weeks after that, Cally walked on stage. Now she's touring, bestselling, and says her 50s have been the best decade yet. Plus: the perimenopause misdiagnosis that had her on the wrong medication for nine years.Cally Beaton’s Sunday Times Top 10 bestselling book ‘Namaste Motherf*ckers' will be released in paperback on 21 May. Her nationwide tour of the same name continues with extended dates across the UK until the end of November. For more information and tickets, visit Cally Beaton’s official websiteMidweek Catchup: A Year On, And It's Only Just Hitting
25:41|On this week's Midweek Catchup, Karen marks a year since her breast cancer diagnosis and admits she's only just starting to feel it. Because no one tells you that you don't process it while you're in it.Plus: Kaye's hearing aid has started whistling (her daughter keeps clocking it, much to Kaye's denial), Karen has befriended Amanda the pharmacist, and the great fringe debate returns.Friday's guest: telly exec turned stand-up Cally Beaton, with her paperback Namaste, Motherf**kers out this week.Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.Philippa Perry: Why Your Kids Went Quiet (And What They Wish You'd Ask)
52:02|Philippa Perry on why adult children go no contact, what they wish their parents understood, and why the door might open again if you try a different one. Plus, her debut cosy crime novel Shrink Solves Murder is out May 7th. Whether you're the parent wondering what went wrong or the adult child wondering if they'll ever be understood, this one will sit with you.Get in touch with your thoughts at podcast@htb60.com.