Emma Dabiri is an Irish writer, academic and broadcaster - and an expert on race.  Born to a Nigerian dad and an Irish mum, Emma experienced extremely different environments growing up: first in a predominantly black area of America and then moving to Southern Ireland where she found herself in the opposite - a very white and racist society.  She remembered how a bookshop in Dublin was her sanctuary and saviour as a child. It turned out it was a radical bookshop - and we agreed that books can provide a quiet rebellion when you're growing up.Emma has two little boys and currently lives in Margate where she takes advantage of regular sea swimming.  She has written two books 'Don't Touch My Hair' and 'What White People Should Do Next', with her third book just about to be published when we chatted. Emma's writing looks at the concept of race and how the concept of black and white has been constructed in fairly recent history, plus she sometimes shares her own experiences of racism. We also talked about the Black Lives Matter campaign and assessed how much has changed since the death of George Floyd.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heidi Range is best known as a former member of the girl groups Atomic Kitten and then Sugababes. It feels like she was destined to become part of pop history from an early age. A good start was being born in the very musical city of Liverpool! She was part of a children's road show from the age of 12, with her and her friends performing songs such as Copacabana at all the social clubs in the area. She successfully auditioned to be part of Atomic Kitten aged 15, and later replaced Siobhan Donahy in Sugababes aged 18!We both reminisced about appearing on live weekend show CDUK, agreed how exciting that was, and how lucky we were to have that live telly buzz as part of our early careers.Heidi has two little girls, Aurelia and Athena, and has been happy to put her career on hold since becoming a mum, after years of living out of a suitcase as a pop singer. Heidi also talked very openly about having two miscarriages between her two daughters, the first being due to a 'blighted ovum', which she went through during the first lockdown. She is however massively grateful for having her two daughters and hopes they will have as close a bond as she has with her sister Hayley, who she describes as her best friend.She feels she's now just emerging from what she describes as her 'Mummy bubble', and is getting to a new stage where she's ready to remember who she was a little bit more.Heidi told me how she's just been a panel judge for Eurovision and revealed how secretive her involvement had to be, and how strict the judging conditions were on the night to make sure the judges' decisions were impartial. As she approaches her 40th birthday, she says she's ready for new projects. She's not 100% sure what they might be...though she did admit to more than a passing interest in Strictly. You heard it here first!Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Fry is a mathematician, author, and radio and television presenter. She applies maths to pretty much everything in her life. She gave a TEDTalk in 2014 on the maths of dating, and in 2022 she made a documentary called ‘Making Sense of Cancer with Hannah Fry’ about her personal experience of cervical cancer, in which she unpacked the surprising statistics behind cancer diagnosis, treatment and success. It’s a fascinating watch which I have recommended to many friends.Hannah has two daughters and she shared a tip with me that she heard for when they are teenagers: that a parent should ‘be the sides of the swimming pool’, let them get on with swimming, and just be there when they want to come back to the side.Hannah lives by a decision-making tool which she calls regret minimisation which is where you assess a decision you have to make based on all the evidence you have before you at that time, very logically. This way, she says, you cannot beat yourself up for that decision further down the line. Hannah made me laugh when she described applying that decision-making tool to whether she should have children - and then admitted she is 100% geek! Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton (or Sab) took my breath away when I met her. She has achieved, and continues to achieve, so much despite her early life being incredibly tough.Sab found herself homeless aged 16 after her beloved Dad died and her mum's mental health crumbled. She talked to me about how she has suffered from hyper-vigilance ever since, as the strategies she developed for keeping safe while sleeping rough, are still there. She eventually found a place to live and was determined to become a fire fighter, applying to over 30 places before being accepted aged 18. She is now Chief Fire Officer of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. She met her husband Mike in her early days in the fire service. Following an incident in which she believed Mike had been seriously injured, Sab wrote a research paper on the mechanisms of decision-making under pressure. She has a First Class degree in Psychology, a Masters in International Fire Service Development and a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscince. Sab has been faced with a lot of gender bias while in the Fire Service (for example in social settings people will say, 'Oh you're so brave' to a male firefighter; but 'Aren't you afraid?' to female firefighters. She has frequently experienced 'the backlash effect' when people are uncomfortable with you because you are doing a job associated with the opposite gender. She recently published her book 'The Gender Bias' which looks at the everyday prejudices which women experience and also has some practical solutions to offer. In our chat she clearly illustrated this, describing two very striking studies of little children. One study (as it happens, involving a firefighter's pole!) showed how parents unconsciously treat sons and daughters differently when it comes to perceived risk; the other study showed how children also have gender biases from a very young age, but how this can be reversed easily when they're little.Sab and her husband Mike have a teenage daughter Gabby. Sab remembers how she started her PhD the day Gabby was born (yes, I don't blame you if you have to read that sentence twice!) and was promoted the day she went on maternity leave. She and Mike have been a tight parenting team, but interestingly Sab told me Mike experienced his own backlash when he took their daughter to baby classes, with mums of the other babies tending to gatekeep their maternal role and keep Mike at a slight distance.Now that Gabby is a teenager, Sab is having flashbacks to her own teenage years and remembering more vividly that she was sleeping rough in a shop doorway aged 15, with people walking past her as if she wasn't really there. She told me how important it is to smile, have eye contact and say hello to homeless people, even if you don't have any change. If anyone knows, Sab does. Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tess Daly, known nationwide for her role fronting Strictly Come Dancing for the last two decades, is also mum to two teenage daughters, Phoebe andAmber.We spoke over zoom a couple of weeks ago (apologies for any little glitches caused by the technology) and we had a lovely chat.  We talked about Tess's beloved dad who, despite being ill, made sure he walked her down the aisle, but who died during Tess and Vernon's honeymoon. She said he taught her gratitude for life, and how she'd have loved her children to meet their grandad.Tess told me how she was pregnant during the first ever series of Strictly and that she returned to work for the second series, just 6 weeks after she had had her daughter. Pretty hard core stuff, which found her, as a new mum who was extremely sleep-starved, falling asleep in her dressing room once, just before the show. But she also said she loves live TV so much, because the adrenalin of it is like rocket fuel , plus you can't fake anything on live TV. I agreed - but I also told her it was the scariest thing I've ever done, performing on Strictly.Tess runs a swimwear company with her best friend Gayle, and has also just brought a wellness book out called '4 Steps: To a Happier, Healthier You'. She said she's been so busy with her book lately that it's been like having a third child. She shared some of her best tips from the book. One of her favourites is about slowing down the breathing, which I agree is really helpful in moments of anxiety.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.