Changes with Annie Macmanus Annie Macmanus

Norman Cook has been a fixture as superstar DJ Fat Boy Slim since the 90s. He started his musical career as part of the band the Housemartins but it was Fat Boy Slim that changed his life. In 1998, his second album "You've Come Along Way Baby" went to number 1, featuring the now classic dance tracks "Praise You”, "Right Here Right Now” and “Rockafeller Skank”. His legendary party Big Beach Boutique II, took place on Brighton beach 20 years ago and made the history books as the biggest outdoor party to have ever taken place in the UK. Sky recently released a documentary about it called “Right Here, Right Now”. 
Here, Norman talks about that day, his journey to success, family, getting sober and life now. Norman has two children with his ex wife, radio presenter Zoe Ball and still lives in Brighton, where he even served coffee during the pandemic. All hail, Norman Cook.
Find out about gigs here: https://www.fatboyslim.net/
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes

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This is a story about intense love, immeasurable loss and incredible strength. Behind the happy positive personality that is Sarah Gwonyoma, founder of @WhatSarahReadNext (a platform that she uses to review books and interview authors), is a woman who has been through unbelievable changes. After meeting Tim, Sarah moved to the other side of the world to be with him. It’s a beautiful film-like story but sadly, in 2017, Sarah’s world was turned upside down when both her brother and husband died unexpectedly. 
Here, she shares her story, which includes her struggles with fertility and becoming a single mum overnight. Through it all, what’s clear is Sarah’s immense strength, courage and radiant positivity. She has since used her experiences for good and as a tool to heal, deciding to change careers and turn her passion for books into a job.
Sarah’s story will both astound and inspire you.  
Follow Sarah here: @whatsarahreadnext
Find out more here: https://linktr.ee/what_sarah_read_next
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes
Content warning: detail around fertility issues including operations, miscarriages and IVF. 


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Jake Shears is the opposite of a fun sponge, he’s the life and soul of every party, a positive force. Jake is the frontman of Scissor Sisters, a band which made a huge impression on pop and club culture; their debut album was the biggest album in the UK in 2004. Jake and Scissor Sisters came up in the gay scene of New York and with their fun loving, extravagant performances, the band were instrumental in paving the way for other mainstream queer artists. Now a solo artist, Jake has written for and toured with Kylie, duetted with Cher, starred in Kinky Boots on Broadway and recently wrote the lyrics for the sold-out 'Tammy Faye' musical alongside good friend Elton John, who wrote the music. He has just released a new single ‘Too Much Music’ ahead of the release of his life affirming new album ‘Last Man Dancing’ - a big love letter to club culture and pop music. 
In this conversation he discusses growing up in different places in America, coming out, starting out in New York as a Go-Go Dancer before Scissor Sisters exploded, struggles with his identity when the band finished and the changes he has experienced himself and in his relationships.
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes

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Jen Brister calls herself the ‘other mother’, the non-biological one, a gay comedian raising twin boys with her partner Chloe. She draws on this in her comedy with millions of views on instagram of her hilarious observations about mothers and their relationships with their children. Jen is currently touring her show The Optimist described by the Guardian as “expertly calibrated crabbiness”, “no one rages against the world better”. 
Jen is a regular on UK TV having performed on Live at the Apollo, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Mock the Week, QI, Hypothetical and Sara Pascoe’s comedy Lectures on Dave. Her sell out show ‘Meaningless’ can be streamed on Amazon Prime. She has also written a book called ‘The Other Mother’ and has a brilliant weekly podcast called Women Talking Bollocks with her two comedian friends, Maureen Younger and Allyson June Smith. 
Here she talks to Annie about her defining changes, parenting, porn and children, grief, success in your 40s (if you need inspiration for persevering with your dreams, Jen is perfect) and much more.
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes


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At the age of 18, just about to start her adult life, Sophie Morgan was in a car crash which instantly paralysed her from the chest down. She was told she would never walk again. Since that day, rather than let her disability defeat her, Sophie has used it as nothing but motivation and is now one of the first, and only, female disabled television hosts in the world as well as an award-winning disability advocate.
Sophie has presented at the Paralympics in London, Rio and Tokyo, led ground-breaking documentaries such as Dispatches and Unreported World, is a regular Loose Women panellist and is now hosting her own Channel 4 series ‘Living Wild: How to Change your Life.’ She has also written a memoir called Driving Forwards. 
In this conversation she tells Annie about the day everything changed and takes us through her life and experiences before and after the crash. Sophie is an incredibly positive, determined person, an unstoppable force who will make you want to take on the world.
You can watch Sophie's Channel 4 series, buy her memoir and find out more here: https://www.sophiemorgan.com/
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we welcome double Oscar nominated, golden globe and BAFTA winning actor Samantha Morton. She is one of the finest actors of her generation, acting since the early 90s, in Hollywood, independent movies and TV. You may know Samantha from the films Emma and Jane Eyre, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report with Tom Cruise, Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, Elizabeth the Golden Age and the TV series Harlots and The Walking Dead. This year, she stars in The Whale alongside Brendan Fraser, who is nominated for an academy award and The Serpent Queen, in which she stars as Catherine DeMedici, has a second series. 
Samantha was born in Nottingham and taken into care as a baby, being moved around foster homes and children's homes until she was 16, with a spell of being homeless in her early teens. She suffered abuse, both sexual and physical and was in trouble with the police. As a successful actor, she is passionate about working to highlight the issues within the care system in the UK. Her directorial debut, The Unloved was inspired by her story and the stories of other girls she met in care. It won a BAFTA for Best Single Drama and even led to her working with the labour government around child care at the time. 
Last year, Samantha starred in the film She Said as an ex assistant to Harvey Weinstein about the New York journalists who broke the story on Weinstein being a sexual predator. It’s a full circle role given that Samantha was one of the few young actors to publicly speak up about Weinstein’s bullying behaviour way before the Me Too movement began. She speaks here about some of the behaviour she experienced as a young actor. But what are the changes that Samantha feels have defined her own life? Annie finds out.
Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes
Warning: contains descriptions of physical and sexual abuse and inappropriate sexual misconduct on film sets.

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