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Although not an actor like Geoffrey Rush, Danny Evans has several things in common with the movie Shine.. A child prodigy, student of The Royal College of Music he was set to become a concert pianist, performing all over the world. That is until his violent father and a serious back injury caused him to stop. Danny talks about disappointment, then becoming highly successful in the classical music business, rubbing shoulder with famous players like Lang Lang.. Danny then describes intense work pressure, living in Berlin, New York, then Paris. Danny talks about some exciting and terrifying  ..read more

Tim Lott talks flexi pop, a train journey with David Bowie, severe depression, growing up in a working class family, the ups and downs of medication, how ADHD made sense of past actions, bad acid trips, the importance of tennis, the music of Gillian Welch, the challenge of being a parent to four daughters, why he thought Mike Leigh was faking it, and his passion for cheesy musicals. How the tragedy surrounding his Mother was instrumental in him becoming an award winning writer and being a top writer's boot camp mentor: timlott.substack.com ..read more

AL Kennedy is a prolific and successful playwright, broadcaster, stand up, Guardian blogger but best known for her nine undisputedly dark, emotionally intelligent award winning novels, She is well known for not suffering fools,  However, in person,wearing her bright coloured lifejacket, Alison Kennedy is less frightening to meet than you might think. She kindly paddled from Essex to Somerset and moored her beloved Kayak outside the Shed not for so much as a Shed Talk than a wee shed chat. Inspired by surviving the Lockdown and Long Covid, she wanted to ruminate on what she had learnt, hat ..read more

Nathan Horrocks has jumped many fences in his life, both literal and metaphorical. Raised in Yorkshire and Kenya, he talks candidly about traumatic events including being separated from his mother while a small child and then reconciling with her 25 years later. He lifts the lid on British Horse racing, what it is really like to be a professional jockey. How he loves the movie 'Good Will Hunting' and ended up living in California, happily married, and making award-winning documentary films about horses.  ..read more

Ian Rankin spills the beans about his mental health and allows us to see behind the creator of those 23 Inspector Rebus crime novels. Born on the tough side of Fife, he came up the hard way but credits his elder sister for encouraging him to write his thoughts into diaries. To understand him, you need to know that Edinburgh is his capital, and since 1986 he has had the same bride. That he was a member of two punk rock bands called The Dancing Pigs and the New Germs. Proud father of two sons, His rise to fame has not been an easy ride. His seriously ill son and financial insecurity triggered ma ..read more

Gordon a multilingual journalist talks about being an only child, Autism, Withnail & I, Scotland, the great Hiroshi Murakami, loneliness, James Joyce, meeting the Dutch love of his life aged 18, getting married, Stress, Bladerunner,  having two kids diagnosed with autism, the healing power of running, Breaking Bad, Our Friends in the North, New Order. What happened when his wife, aged 36 years, received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. How the hell did he cope ..read more

 Dick Moore hated school so badly, he faked appendicitis. At odds with a sadistic headteacher, his depression and anxiety were very real. An immense ability n the rugby field kept him afloat. Fast forward to university, Dick became a teacher. He then married and within 5 years was the youngest prep school headmaster in the country. He occupied that position for 22 years and had four children. In 2011, his third son Barney took his own life. This episode is about that, and much more ..read more

Shed Talks’ very own psychologist Karen Cowan, switches to the hot seat and bears all for this extended edition. She talks candidly about growing up with aristocratic heroin and alcohol addicted parents, amidst great wealth but amidst fear, anxiety and bad asthma- never feeling safe. How protecting her younger sister helped her deal with her father’s imprisonment and her mother's many hospitalisations due to alcoholism and bipolar not forgetting the consequences of forbidden love. Ultimately how Karen's marriage to film producer Paul Cowan – Crying Game, The Krays and Dance with a Stranger sav ..read more

 Mike Fisher, the brains behind BAAM and one of the leading experts in anger management. Mike talks about growing up under the Apartheid system in South Africa. rage, cats, imploding, heartbreak and betrayal, supporting Arsenal and Barcelona FC simultaneously ..read more