Outsiding

What can’t this man do?! Ben Fogle is Mr. Outside. If he’s not climbing Everest, he’s getting his daily 10k run in. And if he’s not doing that, you can find him spending time with his Indian Runner ducks at his Oxfordshire home. First gracing our screens in Castaway back in 2000, when he lived on a remote Scottish island for a year with 36 strangers, Ben’s CV proves he might just be our most outdoors-certified guest yet. Fresh back from a trip to Canada, where he was filming his long-running TV show New Lives in the Wild, Ben comes armed with stories about grizzly bears, parasites, reuniting a tortoise with its owner and one very charming meet-cute between him and his wife, Marina. His latest venture is Buffalo clothing, a brand all about nurturing exploration and inspiring confidence. Based in Sheffield, Ben has joined forces with Savile Row tailor James Sleater (who makes Ben’s infamous short shorts) to take on the brand and continue its legacy of no-frills, no-gimmicks, quality clothing. But for all his adventures, there is one thing Ben loves more than anything: his dogs. And, honestly, we could probably have devoted the entire episode to them…   Let us know if you’re enjoying Outsiding and please send us your favourite outside places, memories, smells and gardening questions to [email protected] Follow Outsiding on Substack for gardening tips, tricks, upcoming live Q&As with Adam and the progress of Caitlin’s garden project. Find us on Instagram too.  You can watch full episodes of Outsiding on Spotify and YouTube.  Outsiding is a Cold Glass Production. 00:00 Welcome Back & Welcome Autumn!02:45 Listener Question04:24 Today’s Guest is Ben Fogle09:30 Ben’s Indoorsy Childhood13:55 How Ben and Caitlin Met16:32 Ben’s Garden19:05 Ben’s Least Favourite Parasites22:14 Missing Tortoise in London?!24:02 Join our community!24:20 Audience Question26:13 Buffalo Jackets29:55 Summiting Everest and Yeti Sightings34:08 Quickfire Quiz37:04 Bird of The Week40:04 Adam’s Gift For Ben42:40 Goodbye! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t even get her started on so much as touching dirt… Ruby Wax is an actress, comedian, writer and TV personality. Known for her infamous interviews with some of the most divisive celebrities, including OJ Simpson and Donald Trump, she’s never been afraid to ask the hardest questions. She joins us to chat about her new tour, Absolutely Famous, where she’ll be joined by her long-time producer and collaborator Clive Tulloh for an evening of scandalous stories never before heard, and insights into some of her most memorable showdowns. For Adam, Ruby is a somewhat unique guest on Outsiding. Not one to get her hands dirty, she arrives armed with pictures of her very vibrant, very plastic garden. Not so much as a crumb of compost in sight! Thankfully, she is a big fan of a cold plunge, has some unforgettable summer camp memories and a new love for gardening at her holiday cottage in Findhorn. So there’s plenty to chat about over a cup of tea. Caitlin gets all the behind-the-scenes stories from Ruby’s colourful life and career, including her long friendship with Alan Rickman. It turns out the late actor was responsible for helping Ruby find her comedic side, something we’re all very grateful for. And, of course, there’s plenty of travelling back in time to Ruby’s childhood, which was truly unlike any other… Let us know if you’re enjoying Outsiding and please send us your favourite outside places, memories, smells and gardening questions to [email protected] Follow Outsiding on Substack for gardening tips, tricks, upcoming live Q&As with Adam and the progress of Caitlin’s garden project. Find us on Instagram too.  You can watch full episodes of Outsiding on Spotify and YouTube.  Outsiding is a Cold Glass Production. 00:00 Welcome Back & Caitlin’s New Book!00:51 Ask Adam!03:53 Today’s Guest is Ruby Wax!07:06 Ruby’s (lack of) Outdoor Childhood09:46 Ruby’s Plastic Garden12:13 Ruby’s Findhorn Home13:25 Ruby’s Summer Camp Memories18:53 Acting and Comedy20:50 Interviewing23:00 OJ Simpson24:49 Donald & Melania Trump28:02 Listener Question30:59 Quickfire Quiz32:29 BOTW35:06 Adam’s Gift For Ruby37:15 Goodbye and Join Us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Queen of Shops meets the King of Gardens Mary Portas is a broadcaster, writer and retail consultant, who revolutionised shopping in the 90s with her bold approach to retail and many iconic window displays. She’s in our garden to talk about her new book; I Shop, Therefore I am: The ‘90s, Harvey Nicks and Me, which is out now.  Mary spends time between London and her home in the Cotswolds, where she’s often seen taking a trip up the steep slopes of Swift’s Hill. She adores ferns, is fanatical about roses, kisses moss, hugs trees and shares a terrific story about the irises from her very first front garden.  With such retail expertise at our disposal, Adam and Mary chat about what garden centres are doing right, and where they can make gains, while Caitlin gets the detail on some of Mary’s most memorable ‘90s moments, including payback for a sexist photographer.  As for the naked badger watching... it’ll only make sense right at the end.  Let us know if you’re enjoying Outsiding and please send us your favourite outside places, memories, smells and gardening questions to [email protected] Follow Outsiding on Substack for gardening tips, tricks, upcoming live Q&As with Adam and the progress of Caitlin’s garden project. Find us on Instagram too.  You can watch full episodes of Outsiding on Spotify and YouTube.  Outsiding is a Cold Glass Production. 00:00 Welcome Back & Bread Burdens 01:24 Listener Question 04:48 Today’s Guest is Mary Portas 06:41 Mary’s Childhood Garden 09:46 Cotswold Living 12:05 Garden Centre Design Faux Pas 16:14 Ask Adam 18:31 Window Dressing at Harvey Nichols 24:00 Dealing with Sexism 25:20 Quickfire Quiz 28:20 Bird of The Week 31:23 Naked Badger Watching 32:30 Adam’s Gift for Mary 34:56 Goodbye & Join our Community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And we get the truth about the smell of Jackson Lamb… Joanna Scanlan is a BAFTA winning actor and writer, best known for her roles in shows including The Thick Of It, Riot Women, After Love, and Slow Horses, which she joins us to talk about. She resumes her role as Moira Tregorian in the upcoming sixth series of the show, released on Apple TV on 16 September. Joanna, who lives in South Croydon, makes an impressive first impression by arriving with a sample of her garden in hand as a gift, including dahlias, fuchsias and gaura. But not before she gets to thank Frosty for his hand in helping her become the gardener she is today. Joanna delivers some of the best formative memories we’ve had on the show so far; from sitting (and thinking) in an ash tree to almost filmic journeys across mountains with her horse and dog as her only companions.  And finally we get to talk about going to the tip in detail. Joanna is a tip fanatic and shares the ultimate guide in making the most of the dump. We will all be living by Scanlan tip-lore from now on.  There’s plenty of time to hear about Slow Horses, too, as Joanna tells Adam and Caitlin that working with Gary Oldman was scary, but contrary to what viewers may think, not smelly. And while the full details of the new series are classified, there’s more than enough to whet your appetite for another trip to Slough House.  Let us know if you’re enjoying Outsiding and please send us your favourite outside places, memories, smells and gardening questions to [email protected] Follow Outsiding on Substack for gardening tips, tricks, upcoming live Q&As with Adam and the progress of Caitlin’s garden project. Find us on Instagram too.  You can watch full episodes of Outsiding on Spotify and YouTube.  Outsiding is a Cold Glass Production. 00:00 Welcome Back & Garden Update01:39 Audience Question03:48 Today’s Guest is Joanna Scanlan05:01 Adam’s Lockdown Workshops11:08  Fashionable Fuschias13:08 Joanna’s Childhood Ash Tree16:08 Horses and Welsh Farm Shows17:26 Going to the Tip22:09 Ralph Fiennes Secret24:46 Slow Horses Season 427:49 Quickfire Quiz29:52 Bird of the Week31:52 Adam’s Gift for Joanna35:37 Join our Community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

... and get you hiking... and thinking about building a shed! Our guest this week is Ed Byrne and it isn’t his first time in the Outsiding garden. He came along to help us record an unreleased pilot episode last year and was so much fun we wanted him back... for real!  Ed, a fantastic comic, is also the ultimate outdoorsman, who has kayaking, munro-bagging, dry-stone walling and gourd arch building in his repertoire. His next project is a significant shed in his garden, a project which is taking its sweet time but will get finished. It will!  He’s also a font of knowledge when it comes to composting, which is the perfect excuse to get him to come and deliver a judgement on Caitlin’s own efforts in her new garden. Expect serious compost chat as the trio gather around the bays, including finding out about the essential tool that Caitlin is missing. Needless to say, Adam is very impressed.  We hear about the challenges of growing roses, and how to deal with badgers using some help from a large dog next door. Ed, please come back again... maybe when the shed is finished... and bring some of your black gold with you.  Ed’s new tour is called No Dramas and you can get tickets for a venue near you, right now!  Let us know if you’re enjoying Outsiding and please send us your favourite outside places, memories, smells and gardening questions to [email protected] Follow Outsiding on Substack for gardening tips, tricks, upcoming live Q&As with Adam and the progress of Caitlin’s garden project. Find us on Instagram too.  You can watch full episodes of Outsiding on Spotify and YouTube.  Our first live show is taking place in London on September 4 and you can buy tickets for it now.  Outsiding is a Cold Glass Production. 00:00 Welcome Back!00:18 Ed Byrne’s Reintroduction & Shed!05:09 Childhood Hillwalking and Peak Bagging11:25 Ed was a professional gardener?!17:00 Drystone Walls & Badgers20:04 Composting!24:24 ‘No Drama’ Tour27:36 Ed’s Anthill Problem!29:42 Quickfire Quiz33:46 Bird of The Week35:56 Adam’s gift for Ed37:47 Goodbye and Join Us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices