Bedside Reading

Send a textI'm not entirely sure whether Anita and I have really even scratched the surface of a discussion about Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. We've both acknowledged that Chimamanda is one of our absolutely favourite novelists and her new novel, Dream Count, does not disappoint on any front. There are themes galore in this book. There are stories of four rather different women whose lives coincide.There are lots of reflections on very common, almost mundane life and health themed issues like constipation and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.  We have elements around class and status. We have lots of thoughts around culture clash. Fundamentally, this is a novel about friendship and about how the world changed during the pandemic. Did we become closer because of video calls, or are we more distanced because of them?It is such a wonderful novel. i have utterly loved talking to Anita today, and I really think if you haven't read this already, it should be on your to-be-read pile.

Send a textPoor by Katrina O'Sullivan is a book which has really, really stayed with me. I listened to it as an audiobook and I could not stop listening.  I think it helps that Katrina has a fabulous voice, but actually the voice, both physically and in what she is talking about, is so powerful and so compelling.It was a real joy to talk to Lydia Fairhurst about this brilliant book, which I think has taught me much more about child safeguarding than any safeguarding training I've ever been on. It's taught me much more about trauma-informed care than any course I've ever been on. And most importantly, it has really made me think about the voices of people who we often choose not to listen to, because every voice matters. Every child's voice matters. Every adult's voice matters. Sometimes people will say things which we disagree with. I feel strongly that is the point at which we have to challenge ourselves to think about why we are disagreeing with them whether our thoughts are based in prejudice and in privilege and I am forever grateful for having discovered Katrina O'Sullivan via her book and more recently from following her on Instagram because almost weekly she challenges my thinking and I hope is making me a much better doctor.

Send a textI love it when a guest approaches me and says, "please, can I talk about this book?" especially when it's a book that I've never, ever come across before. And today is one of those days. We are talking about The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas, which is an absolutely beautiful, very short Norwegian novel published in the 1950s, which I had never come across before.My life is so much better for having come across it. And I think my care of patients and families has been dramatically improved by having read it. So a huge thank you to Ruth Maxey for both suggesting the novel and joining me today to talk about it.

Send us a textI'm really pleased today to welcome Dr Richard Duggins to Bedside Reading to talk about his book, Burnout Free Working.We know that burnout is incredibly common in all professionals, particularly in health professionals. We also know that it is not always something we are talking enough about. Frustratingly, it is both preventable and incredibly, incredibly treatable. If only we know what's happening, if only we talk about it more, and if only we are supported to work in a healthier and better way.I have really enjoyed reading this incredibly accessible book and I've absolutely loved talking to Richard today about some of the themes in it and I hope you will enjoy the conversation and if you haven't already discovered the book, we'll go out and get yourself a copy.

Send us a textI always enjoy talking to my guests about books. Sometimes I don't enjoy the book they've chosen. Often I am surprised by how much I have enjoyed something that I wasn't expecting to enjoy.  Today, though, is different to all of that. It's a real joy to welcome Ripon Ahmed back to the podcast to talk about what must be one of my all-time favourite novels featuring a doctor: The Citadel by A.J. Cronin. It is undoubtedly the book that made me know that I needed to be a GP. And I will be forever grateful for having discovered it when I was a final year medical student.  I've read it several times over the years and so much of it has stayed with me. So much of it seems really topical. And it has been such a pleasure to talk about it today with Ripon and explore the themes in the book, the storyline and how much of it is so very, very relevant to all of us working in health today.We mentioned the Deep End movement https://www.yorkshiredeependgp.org/

Send us a texti've had the best fun setting up and recording today's podcast with Caryn Price and Georgina Benger. We are talking about a book that they have written together called Olive's Day. We also mentioned Willow's Day, which is the second in a series which we hope will be going to be. quite a big series of fabulous books written ostensibly for children but from which grown-ups can learn an awful lot.Today's episode is all about adjustments, reasonable adjustments, pathological demand avoidance (or persistent drive for autonomy )and how we can support children and young people who have this neurotype in our encounters with them in healthcare care and beyond.we mention the PDA society who have some great resources and supporthttps://www.pdasociety.org.uk/

Send us a textI'm delighted to welcome Louise Persaud to Bedside Reading today to talk about a beautiful and very thought-provoking novel. Pearl by Sian Hughes. T"After she left, I wondered, had I been spirited it away or had she? Was I still in the real world or was this some land of bad copy? What if my mother was looking everywhere for me, calling my name?What if I could fall backwards out of this poor faded replica of reality and land in the middle of a bed of spurge? Look up and see my mother sitting under the apple tree threading her needle to sew my name onto school clothes I would never have to wear."This is a book told in the first person about the life of a girl whose mother has disappeared. And we think about loss and grief,  about mothering, about motherlessness. We talk about families, about imperfect heroes. There is so much to think about within this novel.

Send us a textI'm delighted to welcome Hannah Loret to Bedside Reading today to talk about Overspill by Charlotte Paradise. This is a really gripping, absolutely brilliant novel.The blurb: Sara is 25. She's never used a tampon without having a panic attack. She starts dating Miles. Three months, they don't touch. Miles respects her boundaries, though he longs for them to melt away. Sara desires Miles, but she knows her body, or rather she knows it is an unknowable thing. Sara wants to be in love, to find a person who allows her to be herself, someone who's happy with everything she is and everything she isn't. Miles hopes he won't hurt her. But how do you navigate a relationship for which there is need? How do you love someone when your body is not your own, and how do you reclaim it? This is an absolutely brilliant novel. It has got a narrative around vaginismus and sexual pain,  vaginal pain at its heart but there's a lot more to it than that. And there are some fantastic characters, some really interesting evolutions of relationships.  I couldn't put it down and I think it's a book that I'm going to think about for a really long time.

Send us a textIt's that strange time of year that we sometimes refer to as Twixtmas again.  I hope people have received lots of fantastic new books to start reading, have eaten a bit too much, drunk a bit too much and are starting to think about plans for 2026.  I've gathered together some friends of the podcast to have a think back over their year of reading in 2025 and to come up with a favourite book from 2025, as well as something that they are really looking forward to reading in 2026.

Send us a textA warm welcome today to emergency physician, Johnny Acheson, who is here to talk about his book, When Your Neurons Dance, which is a journey through Johnny's own diagnosis with Parkinson's disease at the age of 41. We explore some of the lessons that he has learned from lived experience of being a doctor, living and working with Parkinson's disease, thinking about the importance of exercise, community, support, education, It's a real eye opener as a book and one that I think we can all learn a huge amount from.

Send us a textThe Names by Florence Knapp is undoubtedly one of my top fiction reads of 2025, if not my absolute top read of 2025. It is an astonishing first novel, which follows three different storylines, all based on what Cora names her baby boy. Will she call him Gordon? (the name chosen by her husband, also Gordon.) Will she call him Julian? Or will she call him Bear, the name suggested by his sister? This is an absolutely amazing sliding doors type of a novel with some extremely dark themes running through around domestic abuse.It felt only appropriate to be thinking about the Doctors Association UK and Medical Women's Federation campaign about domestic abuse in healthcare care workers, how prevalent this is. And how much of a problem it can be. So slight trigger warning, we are going to be talking today about abuse, about domestic abuse, and about the effect on women and on families, as well as the huge difficulties that may arise when a perpetrator is in a position of power and privilege.https://dauk.org/wave-of-activity-to-launch-nhs-domestic-abuse-awareness-day/

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Send us a textHow Christmasy are you feeling? It's December now and I know for some people this is a really exciting time of year.Today's podcast has been the best fun to record and is about a book which I absolutely adored. In fact, the only thing I didn't like about today's book is the fact that I didn't read it for the first time in December because it is a proper warm hug of a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy. That's not to say that it is without depth, but it really is just about the most perfect book to snuggle up in front of the fire with a hot chocolate and escape into and it was a huge treat to get to talk to Hayley Dunlop, the author, about it today.

Send us a textI'm delighted to welcome Professor Paul Crawford to the podcast today. We are talking about his novel, The Wonders of Dr Bent, described in the publisher's blurb as "a twisted tale of murder, revenge and abandonment."It is sort of a crime thriller, but there's so much more to this novel. There are some beautiful characters. There are two main protagonists who skirt on the edges of health and and illness.  We see characters who are thriving professionally whilst battling with demons of their own. In the background, we have fabulous supporting cast and a real sense of what could be and what could be better if only our mental health services were not designed with the idea that people are either mad or bad or perhaps both or completely well.Paul enables us to experience that area in between and the value of allowing people to survive and function within their own lives and be of value. It's a really interesting, gripping, thought-provoking novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Paul about it.

Send us a textA warm welcome back today to GP Kirsty Shires, who's here today to talk with me about Jacqueline Harpman's 1995 novel, I Who Have Never Known Men.This is an absolutely astonishing book. It is dystopian fiction at its best, I think. It is human, it is connected, it is thought-provoking, it is bizarre. There's so much to think about packed into 200 very short pages. I've thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It's definitely a book I'm going to go back to, and I've really enjoyed talking to Kirsty about it.

Send us a textEducated by Tara Westover is one of those books which has really stayed with me since I first read it back in 2018. It's also a book that I just assumed when I started this podcast that somebody would approach me and want to talk about.It feels astonishing that we've got as far as season 11 before anybody has asked to come on and discuss it. I'm glad I waited, though, because I've thoroughly loved my conversation with Syba Sunny today about the book and about some of the themes.We think about acceptance. We think about education. We think about self-motivation in learning. The ideas of hiding in plain sight. What is safeguarding? What is not safeguarding? And how do you norm reference a family? It's a brilliant book, and I've really enjoyed thinking about it.

Send us a textWelcome to  November 2025 and season 11 of the podcast,. We are celebrating our 4th Birthday in November and my guest today, Claire Le Day aka GP Steph celebrates her 40th birthday in November. Claire/Steph is here to talk about her fabulous med school diaries which have been published as Fear and Loathing in Plymouth. If you are looking for a book to make you think, to take you on a trip back down memory lane, to remember what it was like to be a teenager, to cringe alongside Steph as she recalls some of the excesses of her first and second year at Peninsula Medical School, really this is a great book to be picking up.So Happy birthday, Claire. Welcome to season 11 of the podcast and Fear and Loathing in Plymouth. Let's go.

Send us a textTo celebrate the end of season 10 and our 4th birthday, today's episode is a little bit different. I've chosen a small snippet of each of the most downloaded episodes from seasons 1-10.I hope you'll enjoy a trip down memory lane!Episodes featured:S1 Jo Stewart and I discuss Instrumental by James RhodesS2 Ed Pooley joins me to discuss Counselling for ToadsS3 Emma Cunliffe and I explore Victoria Cilliers' chilling memoir of abuse I SurvivedS4 The most downloaded episode of all time, Ellie corse and I discuss This Winter by Alice OsemanS5 Kathleen Wenaden and I explore Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusS6 Kirsty Shires and I talk about the anthopological classic medical humaities text The Spirit Catches You and You Fall DownS7 Rebecca Henleywillis and I talk about Fern Brady's excellent memoir  Strong Female CharacterS8 It's the turn of the memoir of everyone's favourite vicar, The Rev Richard Coles, The Madness of Grief which I loved talking about with Lynsey BennetS9 Time for a poem and Beth Osmond guides us through "Ode to Dalya's Bald Spot" by Ahgel NafisS10 It's The Anxious Generation and Laura Spells and I talk about Jonathan Haidt's book, the smartphone-free-childhood movement and the great rewiring of childhood

Send us a textIt is a huge pleasure today to welcome doctor and writer, Majid Parsa. We're talking about The Ayatollah's Gaze: a memoir of the forbidden and the fabulous, which is his first boook. What a book and what a memoir it is. I absolutely loved it. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked it up. It has a phenomenal pink cover. It is wise. It is insightful. It is moving. It is very, very funny in places and it was a real window into a world which I might not otherwise ever have known about. This is Majid's story. but it's also the story of a generation of young men in Tehran.It has really, really made me think, and I loved talking to him about it

Send us a textIt's a real treat today to welcome one of the authors of Ultra Women, Emma Wilkinson to the podcast. Ultra Women, written by Emma Wilkinson and Lily Canter, is a book which rather defies classification. It is a book about women doing extraordinary things in the fields of endurance sport, but it's very much not a "sports book".We've got wonderful stories. We've got sociology. We've got history. We've got physiology. We've got a good dose of "invisible women" in there as well.It's a really, really fascinating, thought-provoking book, which I absolutely loved reading. And it's been absolutely fantastic to talk to Emma today about the book and what we can take away from it.

Send us a textSuzanne O'Sullivan's The Age of Diagnosis was hotly awaited and has received a lot of discussion on social media and in the national press.  Ben Tyler and I had both really enjoyed her former books and looked forward to this book.  Overdiagnosis is a bit of a hot topic lately, but as I hope we manage to explore, keeping curiosity and compassion at the forefront of what we do are much more important than making hard judgements.We mention John Harris' brilliant substack on the book https://maybeimamazed.substack.com/p/why-new-book-the-age-of-diagnosisand Elke Housmann's BJGP review of the book https://bjgp.org/content/75/754/228

Send us a textJohn Harris' excellent book Maybe I'm Amazed has been one of my non-fiction top reads this year. It was a huge pleasure to welcome James Booth to the podcast to discuss it, and share some of our experiences.  We are both GPs, we are both parents of autistic young people and we both found John's book relatable, funny, warm, moving and necessary.If you want to know more about the book, here's what the publisher's say:"In this extraordinary memoir, a father tells the story of how music has opened up the world to his son, one song at a time. Obsessed with music since he was a child, John Harris had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. But so it transpired. When his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed with autism, music became a source of precious connection and endless wonder for both of them.Maybe I'm Amazed describes how the music of The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Funkadelic, The Velvet Underground, Amy Winehouse and many more were soon woven into the fabric of James's life, becoming an essential part of who he is. It takes us through the struggles of raising an autistic child in a prejudiced world, and uncovers a hidden history of neurodivergence and creativity that casts new light on why notes, chords and lyrics speak so powerfully to the human mind.Anyone who has fallen in love with a band or heard their life reflected back to them by a song will recognise themselves in the story of this father and his son. And in considering the intense and transcendent way James absorbs and connects with music, it has lessons in listening and living for us all."

Send us a textA warm welcome today to Dr. Ahmed Handy, who is here to talk about his memoir, Quacks. We've recorded today my favourite bookshop, which is Scarthin Books in Cromford, near Matlock. If the sound is a little bit different to how you might expect the podcast to sound, I hope you'll bear with us. There were a few people in the background. There were loads of people looking at books, thinking about books, and drinking cups of tea and eating cake in this absolute gem of a place.It felt like far too good an opportunity to miss to be talking about the book in the most wonderful independent bookstore I can think about, so please enjoy and bear with the sounds of teaspoons and teacups!

Send us a textMedication, Mental Illness and Murder. What Really Killed the Crespi Twins? sounds like the title of a true crime book or a thriller. I suppose you could call this a true crime. This is an incredibly good book, which has really, really challenged me. I'm delighted to be welcoming Ed Jones, the author to the podcast today.It's quite a hard read in places. It's a story about father who was significantly unwell, who was struggling with side effects from medication and who took the lives of his two children and pays the price of consecutive life sentences in US s jail. Not in any way cheerful reading. But I think a really important book. And I've thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ed today about how we perceive illness, about the role of pharmaceutical companies in marketing drugs in particular ways, about spin and propaganda and really the importance of listening to people, particularly when they perceive that they or somebody else might be at risk.

Send us a textIt's a huge pleasure today to welcome Martin Brunet to Bedside Reading. We are talking about his fabulous book, Your Worry Makes Sense. You may have discovered Martin on Instagram where he's a bit of a mental health sensation. He is such a wonderful communicator and an incredible translator of knowledge. And this comes across absolutely brilliantly in this fantastic book, which has already been recommended to ah huge number of my patients and my colleagues with very good effect.

Send us a textBrotherless Night by VV Ganeshanathan, which won the Women's Prize last year, was my absolute top read of 2024. It's been a real joy to revisit it today with Kathleen Weneden to think about the wonders of the storytelling and the importance of hearing stories from the perspective of people who often do not have their own narratives captured,Some of the themes in Brotherless Night, have really, really stayed with me. This is an absolutely phenomenal novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's been a real privilege to talk to Kathleen about it and to think about things that are all relevant to all of us from this novel.

Send us a text I'm delighted to welcome Jo Rose to the podcast to talk about The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clark. This is an incredibly moving book which I was delighted to see won the 2025 Women's Prize for non-fiction. It interweaves the stories of two children, Kiera and who has died after a road traffic accident, and Max, who has cardiomyopathy, severe heart failure, and is awaiting a heart transplant.This is the story of how Kiera's heart becomes Max's heart, along with an incredible supporting cast of clinicians and of families, and with segues out into the history of transplant, the origins of ATLS, and It is astonishingly moving and beautiful book, which I absolutely adored. It was such a great joy to talk to Jo about it and revisit it and think again of the beautiful storytelling and the importance of this type of story.

Send us a textI've got two guests with me today, Joanna Bircher and Ben Allen, two GPs who are talking about a book they've both been involved in. Joanna is one of the co-editors of a collection of stories from leaders in Primary Care. The stories featured are not just from GPs, there's a really, really wide range of primary care professionals talking about leadership and what leadership means for them in a really practical sense of how they have done the things that they've done. It was a really, really fabulous conversation to have with the two of them, thinking about what leadership is, why it's so important to remember that you can't be what you can't see, and why our perception of leadership actually might be holding us back from being the leader that we could be.

Send us a textA warm welcome back to the podcast today to novelist Rebecca Wait. We are today talking about her fabulous novel Havoc, which was published in July 2025. We recorded it just before it was released into the world. As this episode  goes out it's been flying off the shelves for a few weeks now. It is an excellent, excellent book.If you are looking for something to pack and take on holiday with you, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is the absolutely compelling and completely bonkers story of Ida, a teenager from the north of Scotland who feels she needs to get away from her life and writes to a variety of girls' boarding schools in Englanddesperate to go somewhere else and to escape. Out of the frying pan into the fire, she ends up at an incredibly eccentric, failing, small girls boarding school in the south of England, where all sorts of things start to happen.It is such a brilliantly written novel. I absolutely loved it. And I've thoroughly enjoyed talking to Rebecca today about it.

Send us a textToday I am delighted to be talking to Heidi Edmondson, consultant in emergency medicine from London. We are talking about her second book, her memoir Bellyfull.This is the story of Heidi's own journey through a very serious and rare illness and her strategies for denial, for adaptation, and for keeping on, keeping on, really beyond the point at which most of us would perhaps have succumbed to the overwhelming fatigue and general malaise that she was suffering from.She explores this in relation to the way that the and NHS and emergency medicine in particular keeps on keeping on working in a broken and failing system, but somehow has that ability to just get up and get on with things.Bellyfull is an absolutely brilliant book. There is so much warmth, humanity, kindness and optimism within there. It's a really, really good read. And I have loved talking to Heidi about it today.

Send us a textHave you ever suffered from imposter syndrome? I think most healthcare professionals have done at some point during their lives. Today's book is one which seeks to address many of the factors that influence that. Though interestingly, the writer Tara Moore doesn't ever use the phrase "imposter syndrome".I'm here today with Sam Powell to talk about Playing Big by Tara Moore. This is a really accessible leadership book, thinking about why women often "play small",why they don't necessarily push themselves forward, why they let their inner critic sabotage the amazing ideas that they've got and things that they want to do.It is book filled with lots and lots of practical wisdom, which I have thoroughly enjoyed talking about.

Send us a textRegular listeners may remember that I always say that I don't like fantasy and also how excited that I get when I am able to talk to an author. So I'm delighted today to welcome Joe Moore to Bedside Reading to talk about his young adult novel, which is called Blue Suns and Skyshine.It's quite a difficult book to categorise. And I think we've decided that it's magic realism, though Joe's decided that he'd quite like to invent a completely new genre, which is called magical realism thriller and maybe it's that as well!! This story is a quest. It's a coming of age story. A adolescent boy is left a series of letters by his grandfather, which lead him on a magical mystery tour around the British Isles, ostensibly to scatter his granddad's ashes in a place that is special to his granddad and unknown to young David. There is a wonderful cast of characters that we meet along the way. It's a really, really interesting intriguing entertaining novel which in spite of not being my usual sort of book to read I have thoroughly enjoyed and I've really enjoyed talking to Joe about it today

Send us a textIt's a huge pleasure to welcome the brilliant Becky Platt to Bedside Reading this week. We're talking about Needle by Patrice Lawrence.  Becky is an ACP in paediatric emergency medicine in London. She's also part of the exec for Don't Forget the Bubbles, an amazing open access medical education organisation. https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/ Becky's compassion, her willingness to see young people as themselves, to be thinking about things from other people's perspectives, and to be doing the right thing by young people, even when that is difficult.or not the easiest option, really shone through in our conversation today about Patrice Lawrence's brilliant short novel, Needle.Becky is an incredible storyteller in her own right. Here's a link  to her brilliant TED Talk, which is all about providing love and compassion in the emergency department.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psdgiqsacdc

Send us a textA very warm welcome today to retired paediatrician, Dr Harry Stone, who is here today to talk about his memoir, Trust Me, I'm Exhausted, How Not to Train a Doctor.This is a really engaging medical memoir, one framed by an admission as a patient to the hospital that retired Dr Stone worked in. As he lies in a hospital bed, before he lies in a hospital bed, as he lies on a trolley, as he experiences some of the most challenging care that the NHS is able to offer in corridors, in overpopulated wards, understaffed situations, he reflects on his own journey as a doctor, his training as a medical student, his junior doctor years.Harry reflects on the changes that he saw through a long career in the NHS and thinks about some of his experiences as a patient and as a doctor and how being a doctor who is also a patient can really frame our thinking, change it and challenge it It's a really accessible book which I enjoyed reading and it's been great to talk to Dr Stone today.

Send us a textI'm really delighted today to welcome Scott Weingart to  Bedside Reading. Scott is an emergency critical care physician from New York and  the host of the EMCrit blog and podcast https://emcrit.org/We are today talking about Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg. This is such a brilliant accessible book which has really got me thinking a lot about what we need, how important bringing our own feelings into a conversation are, but the importance of owning those feelings, observing what is going on, being responsible only for ourselves, and recognising that when we choose to do something, rather than feel compelled to do it, everything is so much better. I have loved rediscovering this book, and it has been absolutely fantastic to talk about it, with Scott.EMCrit is on Bluesky @emcrit.bsky.social, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/emcrit and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emcrit

Send us a textA very warm welcome today to midwife and educator Suzanne Crozier. We are talking about a book called The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell, which is an absolutely brilliant historical fiction novel, which Suzanne and I both enjoyed enormously for some similar and some different reasons.The Midwife is set in rural Northumberland and in Victorian London. And it's one of those brilliant books with dual narratives, with two wonderful protagonists. It keeps you guessing, and makes you think. There are so many themes in here around public health, gender, health, status, community, poverty. It's an absolutely cracking read and I have thoroughly enjoyed talking to Suzanne.

Send us a textI'm really pleased today to be welcoming Georgia Vine to Bedside Reading. Georgia is an OT and is the author of Occupational Therapy, Disability Activism and Me, Challenging Ableism in Healthcare, which is a bit of a mouthful of a title for a very slim and absolutely brilliant, brilliant book.Georgia is an OT, she is an educator at the University of Huddersfield and she also is disabled. She has cerebral palsy and this book is based on her own experiences through the education system, higher education, occupational therapy training, and the enormous hurdles which she had to leap over in order to become registered with the health professionals regulatory body, and which absolutely astonished me because I thought that the health service might have moved on somewhat in its ableist attitudes. Georgia's blog is here https://notsoterriblepalsy.com/Georgia reassures me during the course of the podcast that perhaps things have got better. I really hope they have. and with activists like her flying the flag, perhaps the world of healthcare is going to become even better at supporting students and staff who have disabilities, but also have so much to offer and so much insight into the system.Georgia is obviously incredibly talented. She is so, so wise and insightful drawing on her own experiences and experiences beyond what you might expect somebody in their 20s to have experienced, presumably as a result of her own disability. I absolutely love the book. It's really challenged me as an educator. It's really challenged me as a doctor and in a good way and to really, really think about what people can do and to start adopting a much, much more strengths-based framework in everything that I do in supporting my learners. So I'm hugely grateful to Georgia for writing it, and it was a real pleasure to talk to her about it.Find Georgia on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/notsoterriblepalsy

Send us a textI'm here today with Laura Spells to talk about a book called The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. And we are thinking about Gen Z in particular and the generation behind that, the younger children. We're thinking about smartphone use. We're thinking about the effect that phones and social media have on developing brains. The move that has happened in the world from play-based to a phone-based childhood and what we're losing in that and what we're gaining in terms of anxiety, anxiety, alterations in social social skills, children being less able to take physical risks, less able to resolve conflict.I felt quite conflicted about reading the book because I thought that Jonathan Haidt was going to be very anti-technology and was going to be telling everybody to get rid of their phones. And actually the message is incredibly compelling, but much more nuanced than that. It is a really good read and I have absolutely loved exploring some of the themes with Laura.Resources for parents: Smartphone free childhood;  https://smartphonefreechildhood.org; the campaign hub! Provides links to all the evidence to all the harms there are linked with phone use. SFC parent pact; https://parentpact.smartphonefreechildhood.org/The anxious Generation; https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/; Lots of further information from the book - all the graphs, resources and additional material. Jonathan Haidt You tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOf0v_ZYfU9_KlGn77h49; Tons of brilliant videos of him talking on hereFeel better, live more Dr Ranjan Chaterjee podcast episode talking to Jonathan Haidt; https://drchatterjee.com/how-smartphones-are-rewiring-our-brains-why-social-media-is-eradicating-childhood-the-truth-about-the-mental-health-epidemic-with-jonathan-haidt/Let Grow Project; https://letgrow.org/; Ideas to help parents let go of their children with confidence The healthy selfie;  https://thehealthyselfie.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoq9PZA1KQPogR59HR1zbJovmLmkgy_kgD4Bp1dbkTn7gXvLGMzt; fantastic book full of practical tips for helping your child develop a healthy relationship with their phone and themselves Resources to point headteachers to: Smartphone free schools; https://smartphonefreeschools.co.uk/; All the evidence behind the need to go fully smartphone free, including success stories from headteachers who have done this. Sophie Windosr presenting a fantastic speech on the need for schools to reduce their invading Edtech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6nucKFK88PAPAYA (Parents Against Phone Addiction in Young Adolescents); https://www.papayaparents.com/; amazing charity delivering parent and child workshops about phone addiction. If you look closely in Meet the Teamhttps://www.papayaparents.com/meettheteam you may see a familiar face Resources for Health Professionals: Health Professionals for safer screens;

Send us a textIt is a great pleasure today to re-release an episode from back in season 7 to celebrate the paperback edition of to Jane Campbell's novel “Interpretations of Love” which was published on 5th June Jane joined me to talk about her first novel, Interpretations of Love.  Regular listeners may know that I've talked about one of Jane's books before, which is a short story collection called Cat Brushing, which I absolutely loved. Jane was a group analyst and then became a writer in her late 70s, publishing her first book in her 80s and I think she's a real inspiration that it's never too late to start writing but that also to remember that as we interact with people and as we work with them we will collect stories and we will get a better understanding of what a narrative is and different people's perspectives and that probably actually makes people better writers. It was a real joy talking to Jane and I'm really hoping you're going to enjoy our conversation.

Send us a textWelcome to season 10 of Bedside Reading and what a series I've got lined up for you this time around! I am delighted to be launching today with two very special guests, Debbie Hicks and Gemma Jolly from The Reading Agency.The Reading Agency is an absolutely wonderful charity and their Reading Well "Books on Prescription" scheme is absolutely fantastic. If you don't know about it already, there's plenty in the show notes to tell you about it and we will be talking about it during today's episode. https://readingagency.org.uk/We are here today to talk about three different and absolutely brilliant books that the Reading Agency recommend on their Reading Well scheme. Frankie's World by Aoife Dooley, Slow Puncture, Living Well with Dementia by Pete Berry and Deb Bunt, and Boy with a Topknot by Satnam Sanghera

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Send us a textNina Donovan's brilliant poem Nasty Woman moves me so much every time I hear it, or read it. It's such a joy to welcome Charley to the podcast hereListen to Nina perform her poem here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvN0On85sNQ

Send us a textIn this episode, I'm joined by GP Jo Maher as we delve into Jackie Kay's evocative poem “Three Little Birds” We explore grief, memory, the power of music and the possibility of an earworm from beyond the graveWhether you're familiar with her work or discovering it for the first time, this episode offers a heartfelt look at one of Jackie Kay's most moving poems.we mentioned Jo's partner's poetry podcast which you can find here: https://www.chris-jones.org.uk/

Send us a textIt's a real treat to welcome one of my all time medical humanities heroes to the podcast again this week. Sam Guglani is an oncologist, poet and novelist. He is the curator of the incredible Medicine Unboxed, hosting a festival which I've thoroughly enjoyed attending and this wonderful podcast https://soundcloud.com/medicineunboxedSam was generous enough to give up his time to talk about his wonderful novel Histories back in season 2  (listen here:  https://bedsidereading.buzzsprout.com/1880290/episodes/11212760-histories) and it was so lovely to spend time talking with him again, this time about Preparation by Czeslaw Milosz. 

Send us a textI'm not sure I can say I have a favourite poet but if I were forced to choose the incredible Hollie McNish would be up there as a hot favourite.Lizz Lidbury and I are talking about one of our favourite of her poems today Arguing in the Headmaster's Office.   As the mother of teenage girls this one spoke to me (and is one of the only literature sources my older teen and I can both agree on the brilliance of!!)It's clearly best when ready by Hollie herself so here's a link  https://www.tiktok.com/@holliemcnish/video/7246103333604248859Enjoy, we did!!

Send us a textThere is a wonderful recording of James Fenton reading this wonderful poem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D3KcWVfQS8 it is well worth listening to.Follow Tom on bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/tpoates.bsky.social

Send us a textWelcome to the third in a short special series of "Bedside Poetry" podcasts.One poem, one guest, one conversation....I'm delighted to welcome psychiatrist and writer Sabina Dosani to explore "Visit to the Vets" by Ilse PedlerListen here to Ilse Pedler reading her poem herself:https://youtu.be/p3LTxg1SnP0?si=bMtri4HsTIAGMKcb

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Send us a textWelcome to the first of a short special series of "Bedside Poetry" podcasts.One poem, one guest, one conversation....I'm delighted to welcome neonatologist and poet Beth Osmond to explore Angel Nafis' poem "Ode to Dalya's Bald Spot"find the poem here:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/149508/ode-to-dalyas-bald-spot

Send us a textThis is the last episode in season eight of the podcast. What a season we've had, finishing off with discussion of Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy. I'm delighted to welcome Laura Shtaingos to the podcast today. Laura wears a number of hats, mostly working within the perinatal mental health space. And it was really, really good to be talking to her about Claire Kilroy's extraordinary, raw novel. which I think brings up lots of themes very pertinent for anybody who is looking after young parents, parents of small children, and looking after children, recognising that children do not exist in a vacuum.I would say if you are a new parent yourself and really struggling, this book might be a big challenge. It might be one where you really feel seen, heard and normalised or it might be quite traumatic and quite triggering. So I think it needs to come with a bit of a warning, but it was absolutely wonderful to welcome Laura today and really to think about this novel and what we can take away from it.Laura volunteers with https://www.babyumbrella.org.uk/Find Laura here: https://www.westkentcounsellor.co.uk/how-i-work

Send us a textI'm delighted to welcome Abi Lucking, GP and Medical Educator to Bedside Reading today. We are talking about Dirty Laundry by Richard Pink and Roxanne Emery. You may have come across Rich and Rox. They are the couple ADHD_love_ frequently to be found on Instagram and on Facebook and TikTok.  It was really, really good to find that they had written a great book, which is very short, very accessible, very readable, and one of the most compassionate and wise books I've read in the last few months. I really, really enjoyed it, and I've really enjoyed exploring it with Abi: thinking about ADHD, being the partner of somebody with ADHD, supporting colleagues or trainees who are or might have ADHD. It's a really, really good book and I have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed thinking about it.Abi recommended the book ADHD effect on marriage by Melissa Orlovhttps://adhdmarriage.com/content/adhd-effect-marriage-understand-and-rebuild-your-relationship-six-steps