Gobsmacked!

Imagine being moved more than 100 times as a child. Seriously, just think about that.Those moves weren’t simply between foster homes or children’s homes. They included squats, hospitals, refuges and other places that, for a time, had to serve as somewhere to be.This episode features Terry Galloway, and Terry came to Gobsmacked through Diane Bialek, who basically said, “You need to talk to this man.” She was right.Diane and our host, Catherine Williamson, were school friends in Nottingham. They hadn’t seen each other for more than 45 years, so yes, there’s some reminiscing. Names, memories and the ridiculous things you remember decades later. Back then they were singing along to Billy Don’t Be a Hero, willing Nottingham Forest on to win the European Cup and staying up crazy late to watch Torvill and Dean perform Boléro. Those were some of the things occupying their young worlds.Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, Terry was growing up, and his childhood looked nothing like theirs. Home wasn’t necessarily home, safe wasn’t necessarily safe, and the adults weren’t necessarily staying.Terry is care experienced. There has been loss in his life. Real loss. The sort that could quite reasonably have silenced somebody. It hasn’t.He has become a formidable campaigner for people with care experience and is fighting for care experience to be recognised as a protected characteristic. Not because it sounds good on a policy document, but because where life sets you down matters.And if somebody starts the race carrying what Terry was carrying, perhaps the very least the rest of us can do is stop pretending everybody started at the same line.This one matters. Have a listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part Two)How do you finally find your purpose after 23 years of searching?In the second and final part of this Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson takes us to the breaking point of his endurance race, and more importantly, what happened next. How the extraordinary hospitality he experienced on the hardest days of his ride helped him discover exactly what he wants to give back to the world.The result is Billy's Farm of Hopes and Dreams - a deeply personal, driven mission to build a sanctuary designed to give caregivers back their heart.Join me to hear the conclusion of Simon's incredible journey - his profound reconnection with the late Matt Gallagher, his pinpoint Gobsmacked! moment and where he found his Gold in the Dark. Ultimately? How a lad from Coventry finally found exactly where he was meant to be.Simon's book "You've Already Won" is out today too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part One)How does a lad from Coventry end up building a life in Detroit… and why would he choose to ride one of the toughest endurance races on the planet?In this compelling first part of a two-part Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson tells the story behind a life that could so easily have gone another way.It’s raw. It’s funny. It’s uncomfortable. It’s hopeful.Running quietly through it all is the late Matt Gallagher. Matt and Simon were friends whose paths came back together following Matt’s motor neurone disease diagnosis. That friendship and the extraordinary community that grew around Matt ultimately led Simon to the Gobsmacked! studio for a conversation that neither Simon nor Catherine could ever have imagined.This isn’t a podcast about cycling.It’s about losing your way……and finding something far more valuable than the finish line.Part One releases 4 July. Part Two follows on 10 July. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mia Walker belongs to an exclusive club: the one per cent club. For years, blissfully unaware, she lived with a condition that wasn’t normal – aphantasia. This revelation came as a shock when she discovered she couldn’t visualise pictures. Close your eyes and try to picture your front door, your mother’s face or a sunset. Most of us can. Mia can’t. There are no mental pictures at all.As if that wasn’t enough, Mia’s teens were plagued by chronic anxiety, eventually leading to years of agoraphobia. She certainly faced her fair share of challenges.However, running parallel to these struggles was another gift: poetry.She’s published thirteen anthologies and is now a published author. Her debut novel earned her feted status in America. Now a dystopian writer, she spends much of her life inhabiting post-apocalyptic worlds.It’s quite incredible for a woman who can’t visualise pictures in her head.Yet, I wonder if there’s a utopian element quietly running beneath it all. While Mia writes about worlds that have fallen apart, she’s spent her own life imagining one that could be different.Whatever label Mia has qualified for, it hasn’t defined her. She simply keeps innovating.The moment she surrendered to fear and literally walked out of the house wasn’t just the day she went outside. It was the day she decided fear wouldn’t dictate the rest of her story.This conversation explores imagination without pictures, fear, poetry, dystopia, utopia and what happens when you refuse to let a diagnosis become your identity.Welcome to Gobsmacked! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Gobsmacked! features Ruth Mary Chipperfield, an award-winning jeweller whose gold jewellery has sat alongside some of the most celebrated names in history.Diagnosed with narcolepsy in her early twenties whilst studying chemistry at university, Ruth found herself facing a future very different from the one she had imagined. Powerful drug regimes solved one problem whilst creating others, and as a newlywed she was confronted with a stark reality, mainstream working life simply was not going to fit.But Ruth has done something remarkable.Instead of allowing narcolepsy to define the boundaries of her life, she transformed her scientific mind, her fascination with gemstones and her artistry into something beautiful. Today, she creates and repurposes exquisite jewellery, breathing new life into old treasures whilst building a life that works with her condition rather than endlessly battling against it.Like the facets of a beautifully cut diamond, this conversation refracts in so many fascinating directions. Chemistry. Gemstones. Ketogenic living. Punishing medication. Endurance. Reinvention. Identity. Survival.At one point Ruth says:“I’ve chosen my hard.”Blimey, she is articulate.And this really is an absolute must-listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.