Unfiltered with Oli Dugmore

My guest today likes to describe herself as “just an old bird with an iPhone”. But there’s no need to be so humble. From Countdown to drawing the ire of members of the Conservative government, she’s always trodden her own path.Her new book, Now What? On a Mission to Fix a Broken Britain, details this journey into the political. My guest today is Carol Vorderman. 

To call him, simply, an ‘internet prankster/comedian’ would be accurate, but perhaps a disservice. He ran for London Mayor, competed in Mr Universe with no training, and became the richest man in the world - for seven minutes. An exemplar of the changing face of fame in modern Britain, he’s now going on his first international tour, Loophole. Our guest today is Max Fosh. 

You can’t tell the story of UK Rap without mentioning Dizzy Rascal, Wiley, Stormzy and my guest today. Born and raised in a street that would provide the name of his debut record’s smash hit, Ladbroke Grove, he’d go on to achieve five platinum singles and 2 billion Spotify plays. And, he did it all as an independent artist in an industry monopolised by major labels. My guest today is the microphone champ, AJ Tracey. 

As a footballer, his record speaks for itself. But, his career as player-turned-manager is a knot of competing narratives. A Romford-boy-done-good, a manager dealt a string of poor cards, or a player propelled by Premier League plutocracy.As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. My guest today is Frank Lampard.

From his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, to the stage of BoomTown, UK, my guest today is an international, billboard top ten charting musician, known for his combination of the sounds of Reggae and dancehall with the lyricism of Hip hop. In February this year, his third album The Kalling won him his first Grammy, beating out fellow nominees Sean Paul and Shaggy for Best Reggae Album. Described as part of the Reggae Revival, he’s collaborated with the biggest names in the genre, from Damien Marley to Peter Tosh. With singles entitled “Never Gonna Be a Slave”, “Stand Up”, and “No Capitalist”, his music is often political, and always resonant. My guest today is Kabaka Pyramid.

My guest today is the Green Party’s highest-profile member, serving both as a member of the European Parliament and then, in 2010, as the Greens’ first - and only - MP. A dedicated activist, as well as politician, her achievements include being the three time winner of Politician of The Year at The Observer’s Ethical Awards; championing animal, worker, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights - as well as a couple of arrests. But, in June this year, she announced that she would not be seeking re-election to the House of Commons. My guest today is Dr Caroline Lucas. 

My guest today was, by his own admission, an unexceptional student from an unexceptional suburb. But, at age 43, he’d achieve the extraordinary - becoming the first Briton to visit the International Space Station. Last month, it was reported that my guest was coming out of retirement to lead the UK’s first astronaut mission. It follows the release of his new book, Space: The Human Story, which traces the lives of themen and women who left the earth’s atmosphere before him, forging a path that made his own spacewalk possible. My guest is Tim Peake. 

It was at Capital FM - on the show he's helmed for seven years - that my guest met his best friend and producer Joe Lyons, who tragically took his own life in 2020. Since then, my guest’s mental health campaigning has seen him open up about his own experience with depression. In this interview, he opens up about how antidepressants killed his sex drive, how role-playing helped him grieve, and why he believes MPs don't care about mental health. His recently released documentary, The Fight for Young Lives, is his second exploring mental health and is available on iPlayer now. My guest today is Roman Kemp.