*This episode was recorded before recent tragic events in America. There are links to useful Black Lives Matter resources and ways to help below*
You know when you read someone's work and feel like you'd be friends in real life, and you become basically a little obsessed and Google them to inhale all the online content that is out there about this person and their work and THEN you get to to meet them and despite thinking they couldn't possibly live up to all your overhyped expectation, they actually do? Well, ok, so that's what happened to me with Samantha Irby.
Not only is she a brilliant, hilarious and perspicacious essayist (she has published three collections, the latest of which, Wow, No Thank You, entered the New York Times bestseller list at number one) but she's a wonderful, generous and warm human being. Samantha joins me to talk about failure to complete college, her failed relationships, failing at drama class, being her mother's carer, growing up poor, using humour as a defence mechanism and the BRILLIANT theory she has developed of 'Detachment Parenting' which she deploys on her wife's children. Oh, and we talk about The Real Housewives too, because we're both huge fans (in fact, we went on about it for so long that I had to edit some of it out in case we bored everyone else). My other favourite thing about this interview is that producer Naomi nonchalantly informed me that Samantha would be dialling in from Kathmandu, Nepal. It turns out that she had misheard and actually meant Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Samantha, I heart you. Please can we be friends for real? CALL ME!
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I've written a new book! Failosophy: A Handbook For When Things Go Wrong is out in October. It's a practical, inspirational and reassuring guide to the seven principles of failure I've developed since doing this podcast. Packed full of contributions from loads of former guests, as well as listener stories, it is also beautifully hand-illustrated by Paul Blow and I would love it if you wanted to pre-order a signed copy here.
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Samantha Irby's latest book, Wow, No Thank You is out now and available to order here. Her extraordinary essay, My Mother, My Daughter is available to read for free online here.
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Many of you will have been as appalled as we are by the recent tragic news from America and the homicide of George Floyd. If you'd like to help there is a link to Black Lives Matter resources (including petitions to sign and places to donate) here.
Belly Mujinga was a railway worker at London's Victoria station who was spat at by an assailant and who later died of Covid-19. You can donate to her family here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. We love hearing from you! To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
Samantha Irby @wordscience
How To Fail @howtofailpod
S9, Ep7 How to Fail: Nadiya Hussain
S9, Ep6 How to Fail: Failosophy Special
S9, Ep5 How to Fail: Ovie Soko
S9, Ep 4 How to Fail: Ruby Wax
S9, Ep3 How to Fail: Annie Nightingale
S9, Ep2 How to Fail: Mohsin Zaidi
S9, Ep1 How to Fail: Adam Buxton
S8, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Gloria Steinem
S8, Ep8 How to Fail: Bernardine Evaristo
S8, Ep7 How to Fail: Siena Castellon
S8, Ep6 How to Fail: Glennon Doyle
S8, Ep5 How to Fail: Julia Samuel
S8, Ep4 How to Fail: Scarlett Moffatt
S8, Ep3 How to Fail: Matthew Syed
S8, Ep1 How to Fail: Jessie Ware
SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Daisy Edgar-Jones on being the star of Normal People, the lockdown television hit everyone is talking about
SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Henry Holland on business failure in the time of Covid-19
SPECIAL EPISODE! How To Fail: Listeners share their Coronavirus stories
SPECIAL EPISODE! How To Fail: Alain De Botton on embracing vulnerability in the age of Coronavirus
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