Turning The Tables
Episodes
Friday Feb 28, 2020
EP 11: 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' with Felix Riley
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
My guest Felix Riley could be described as something of an enigma. A comedy writer, novelist, and entrepreneur, Felix, by his admission, was "angry from a young age with the injustices in the world".
Perhaps influenced by his modest working-class upbringing and an alcoholic, abusive mother who was "booted out" the family home when Felix was aged seven years old, he continues to be driven by a strong desire for fairness in society.
Writing for comedians like Rory Bremner might have seemed on the surface a great career, but it was famine and feast, and for Felix, it wasn't giving him "his mojo." So the offer of helping set up a copper mine in Zambia and negotiating with the infamous President Banda (subsequently accused of abuse of authority, corruption and the misappropriation of oil revenue) seemed like an obvious move!
Subsequently, Felix went on to build a financial betting company that he sold, fortuitously on the eve of the financial crisis. A few years later, he went on to write an acclaimed novel called The Set-Up, a high-octane thriller set against the backdrop of the US Secret Service and the £500 million bailouts of the UK banks in the banking crisis of 2008. The plot is inspired by what Felix saw as a terrible injustice.
Mixed with all that was the experience of being on life support and being told by doctors to say goodbye to his family due to a condition called muscular myopathy. Thankfully Felix survived, but it did cement an optimistic and positive attitude to life and a belief that family and close friends are the only things that matter in life.
The interview with Felix is wide-ranging as you might imagine, and in the podcast, we discuss the importance of kindness, the characteristics of determination, and persistence and how childhood fundamentally informs who we become. Finally, Felix offers some compelling advice to people who are facing challenges in their life.
Listen and share your thoughts and observations with the Turning the Tables Community on Facebook.
Episode credits;
Editor and sound engineer: Tim White email: showupnow@gmail.com
Music: Broken Elegance -Unconditionally
GhostDrifter Official - Morning Routine, The Beginning, and Above the Clouds.
Monday Feb 03, 2020
Monday Feb 03, 2020
What do you do when you get to the bottom and can no longer see a way out?
This is my first on mic episode where I talk about how I came to create this podcast and my story about how recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome impacted my life.
It is often true to say that adversity can be the catalyst for a new beginning and a renewed purpose, and I truly believe that because that is what happened to me.
I talk about some of the strategies I used to recover and reflect on the lessons learned from my guest's stories of recovery in the first eight episodes.
If you are suffering from adversity I hope this podcast will bring you comfort and inspiration for how life challenges can be turned around.
This podcast is dedicated to bringing an optimistic message to people facing difficulty - to know you are not alone. If you know someone who might benefit from listening to these stories please share and review.
Episode credits;
Podcast episode edited by: Simon Ratcliffe and Tim White
Music : Broken Elegance - Unconditionally and Fairy in the Forest
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrokenElegance?gvnc=1
Ghostrifter Official: Above the Clouds