Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett

Shaheen Hashmat left her family home aged 12 feeling she needed to escape, fearing a forced marriage. Initially she kept in touch, until deciding to become totally estranged in her twenties.
By cutting contact, she lost the identity and sense of belonging that comes with family. She describes it as the worst kind of break up, one that left her questioning everything. Who am I without them? How do I trust my own decisions? And how do you rebuild when the people who shaped your life are no longer there?
Over time, she began to build a life. Piece by piece, she carved out her own identity, focusing on defining her values, her relationships and the life she wanted to lead, on her own terms.
In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this programme, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Deepa Paul grew up in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country where she was expected to meet one partner and stay with them for life. She followed that path, entering a monogamous relationship with her husband.

But a small moment shifted everything. While selling furniture on an online directory, Deepa found herself exposed to a world of different sexual preferences and lifestyles. It challenged what she had been taught about love and sex.

What followed was a move to the Netherlands, where she became immersed in what she describes as a more liberal culture. Together with her husband, she began to question monogamy and explore what a different kind of relationship might look like.

They navigated jealousy and difficult conversations, working out boundaries along the way. Over time, building an open marriage that works for them, while raising their daughter.

In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Will Adolphy followed male influencers to figure out how a real man should look, feel and act. Now he helps men and boys escape the influence of the online manosphere.

Throughout his teens Will Adolphy became increasingly isolated from his family, focussing his time on online gaming. Later he became more deeply drawn into the masculine digital culture that has become known as ‘the manosphere’, becoming so obsessed with one influencer that he hung a painting of him on his wall. But he was also suffering from panic attacks and severe depression. It all came to a head during lockdown when he lost his job and his relationship broke down. He has since retrained as a psychotherapist and now runs workshops to educate men about online harms.

In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

On New Year's Day, Jess Davies woke up to discover an image of her in a clingfilm bikini had been created by Elon Musk's AI tool Grok and posted to X. She discusses how she has gone from working as a glamour model to campaigning against online image abuse.

Jess shares how her first experience as a victim of image abuse occurred when she was just 15 when a private photo of her was shared around her hometown. She explains how this led to her career in modelling. She now works as a writer and presenter, uncovering toxic, misogynist behaviour online.

In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.

Ric Renton shares how reading the dictionary in prison aided his writing career.

Following a school life, he describes as “absent” and a violent childhood involving drugs, Ric requested a dictionary to read cover to cover while in prison. Twenty years later, he has written and starred in plays and is a writer and actor in the BBC drama Waiting For The Out.

With the latest reoffending rates stating that over 40% of adult criminals in England and Wales go on to reoffend within a year of being let out of prison, Emma and Ric talk about Ric’s experiences in prison, staying out of prison and establishing a career, and the criminal justice system.

In Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the award-winning interviewer speaks to people you will know and people you should know about the experiences that are shaping their lives. If you want to join the conversation you can email the team at [email protected], or you can send a WhatsApp message or voice note to 08000 556 101.