The Shift with Sam Baker

Meera Syal: 'I am now a Triple Bad Bet – Old, Female and Brown!'

My guest this week is the actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist and multi-award winner Dame Meera Syal. Most of us have those people we grow up alongside and it feel

Tabitha Webb on being an older mum & the menopause-puberty collision

My guest today is the fashion designer and entrepreneur turned novelist Tabitha Webb.  What can I tell you about Tabitha - other than her life makes mine look extremely

Charlotte Wood: 'I don't fear ageing, but I do fear becoming a boring, annoying old person!'

My guest today is the Australian writer and thinker, Charlotte Wood. Charlotte is the celebrated author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. I first encounter

Helen Thorn on how to bounce back from life's shittiest moments

My guest today is the award-winning comedian and podcaster Helen Thorn. The co-creator of the comedy duo and hit podcast, Scummy Mummies, Helen travels the UK performing

Jennie Godfrey: 'midlife is a powerful place if you lean into it'

My guest today is the bestselling novelist Jennie Godfrey. Jennie has experienced the kind of midlife turnaround most of us can only dream of. She started her career wor

Jane Green on being a walkaway wife & rebuilding your life in your 50s

Where do you turn when the identity you’ve clung to for decades slips away? That’s the position today’s guest, Jane Green, found herself in at 55. Her solution? She packe

Sarah Hiscox on self esteem, shame and overcoming addiction

Hello and welcome to SEASON 22(!) of The Shift with Sam Baker podcast. That's 300 fascinating conversations with women in midlife and beyond, if you're new here and fancy

Stacey Duguid on coming back from midlife collapse - THE SHIFT REVISITED

Ever since I wrote about Stacey Duguid's campaign to shine a light on women's midlife career crisis loads of you have messaged me to say, 'Get her on the podcast!' Well,

Clare Grogan: Back on the road and better than ever at 60 THE SHIFT REVISITED

This episode first aired in the summer of 2022. I'm replaying it now because Altered Images are going back on the road this autumn, touring their iconic album, Happy Birt

Sabrina Pace-Humphreys: how running saved me from workaholism and alcoholism THE SHIFT REVISITED

This episode first aired June 2022... This week’s guest will make you wonder what you do with your time! Sabrina Pace-Humphreys is an award-winning business woman, a soc

Dawn O'Porter - on ageing, Botox, self-worth & kaftans! THE SHIFT REVISITED

This episode first aired in autumn 2022. I'm replaying it now because Dawn's new memoir, Hungry Eyes, borne of her love of food (and her Celebrity Masterchef almost trium

Lyse Doucet: What I learnt from 40 years on the frontline THE SHIFT REVISITED

This episode first aired last autumn, but I'm replaying it now because last week Lyse won The Women's Prize for Non-Fiction for her remarkable people's history of Afghani

Liz Earle: 'Much of what we've been told about ageing as women is wrong'

My guest today is the woman who put Cleanse & Polish cleanser and muslin cloths in bathroom cabinets all over the country, Liz Earle. Back in the 1980s, Liz started her

Dr Kate Lister: Most women could benefit from 'pleasure education'

My guest this week is a historian columnist television presenter and vocal advocate for better sex for women! I first encountered Dr Kate Lister when I stumbled across h

Maria Semple knows all the dirty little secrets of midlife!

My guest this week is Maria Semple the author of one of my favourite books of all time, Where’d you go bernadette,. Once encountered, Bernadette Fox is never forgotten.

Melissa Auf der Maur on surviving the 90s and her big midlife resurrection

Today’s episode will take you ricocheting back to the 90s - in all the ways. Canadian singer, songwriter, photographer and producer Melissa Auf der Maur is best known as

Katriona O'Sullivan on women's bodies, hunger & why women shrink

My guest today is Dr Katriona O’Sullivan.  Katriona grew up in Coventry and her early life was marked by poverty, addiction and abuse. She became pregnant and subsequent

Siri Hustvedt on living on when the love of your life dies

My guest today is the acclaimed writer Siri Hustvedt. The author of seven novels (including my personal favourite What I Loved and the Booker longlisted The Blazing Worl

Bryony Gordon is done with people pleasing

There aren’t many people I let make a repeat visit to The Shift, but sometimes a guest proves so popular that I have to make an exception. That’s the case with journalist

Margaret Busby: Britain's first black female publisher on the power of passing it on

My guest today is the pioneering publisher, Margaret Busby. It is safe to say that without Margaret’s lifelong work the publishing industry today- and indeed our bookshel