In 2015, Michaela Coel’s Channel 4 series "Chewing Gum", adapted from a one-woman play she wrote while in drama school, about an awkward virgin became an instant hit. She's an established screenwriter, director, producer and actor and now well know for shows like "I May Destroy You," a story based on her own experience. She talks to Emma Barnett about her first book ‘Misfits: A Personal Manifesto’ which is a call for honesty, empathy, inclusion and champions those who don’t fit in.
As you’ll have heard reported in the news recently, a shortage of lorry drivers is causing serious supply chain problems, affecting amongst other things supermarkets and even some pubs! Covid-19, tax changes, levels of pay and Brexit have all combined to contribute to an estimated shortfall of around 100,000 qualified HGV drivers. Hayley O'Beirnes is retraining as a HGV driver after her cake business went under. She talks about her experience alongside Karen Stalker, the MD of Stalkers Transport based in Cumbria.
Plus we meet Zoe Stephens. She's spent the past 18 months through lockdown 'stuck' in Tonga in the South Pacific. She'd been living and working as a tour guide in Beijing, taking tourists travelling to Tonga in March 2020, just as the world shut down due to Covid-19. She tells Emma about her adventure and what it's like being back home. And we hear from Alice Thompson, an estate agent who's been awarded almost £185,000 after her employer refused to let her leave work early to collect her daughter from nursery. A tribunal judge upheld her claim, awarding money for loss of earnings, pension contributions, injury to feelings and interest.
Presenter Emma Barnett Producer Beverley Purcell PHOTO CREDIT; Natalie Seery.