Growing up on a Lake District farm that had been in his family for centuries, James Rebanks always knew his place in the world. School wasn't for him - he felt his teachers looked down on farming and his grandparents worried education might lure him away from the land. By the age of 15, he had left school with just two O-Levels to work full-time on the family farm. But in the evenings, a new world opened up to him as he read through the books on his mum's bookshelves.

Inspired, James began reading everything he could. In his twenties, he went to night school and then got a place at Oxford University where he graduated with a double first in history. Today, James is a bestselling author, telling the stories of the "nobodies" - ordinary people living extraordinary lives, who like him, are deeply rooted in the land. A farmer and a writer, James has managed to carve out a unique space as both a man of letters and man of the soil.

His latest book, The Place of Tides is available now.

"I really need a future. What happened to me is so dark and so depressing that I've got to believe in something."

On Boxing Day 2022, Hanif Kureishi's life changed forever. The acclaimed novelist and playwright had a fall that left him paralysed, a single, shattering moment that split his life in two. In this episode, Hanif tells James about the life he lived before the accident and what's happened since.

Hanif has written about this extraordinary experience in his new book, Shattered, a deeply personal account of the accident and its profound aftermath. Shattered is available to buy now.

This episode contains offensive language and sensitive topic discussions including racism. Listener discretion is advised.

One of Britain’s most celebrated French chefs, Michel Roux Jr is restaurant royalty. Born into the legendary Roux family, his father and uncle, Albert and Michel Roux Snr founded Le Gavroche, the first British restaurant to earn three Michelin stars.

Determined to follow in their footsteps, Michel left school at 16 to begin a pastry apprenticeship in Paris and later trained under the legendary Alain Chapel. Despite his father’s attempts to bring him into the family business, Michel initially resisted working at Le Gavroche. When he finally joined, it proved to be extremely tough but rewarding. In this episode, Michel talks about growing up at Fairlawne - grand country estate, the pressures of living up to his family's legacy and why he's left behind his "angry chef" persona.

"I wasn’t driven by being famous, I was driven by being successful. I wanted to be recognised by my peers, people who I considered ‘posh actors’”.

Award-winning actor and bestselling author, Sir David White, is better known by his stage name David Jason. His career has spanned over 50 years, and is best known for his iconic roles Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost.

His childhood dream of becoming an actor was ‘crushed’ by his father, who couldn’t afford to support his acting career after his brother was accepted to RADA. David spent years as an electrician, whilst learning his craft in amateur theatre. In this episode David talks about his passion for performance, the heartbreak of losing a role in Dad’s Army and why he’s addicted to making audiences laugh.

His latest memoir This Time Next Year is out now.

"I'm that lucky guy who found his hobby and was able to turn it into a job."

William Dalrymple is a multi-award winning and bestselling historian. Growing up on the Dalrymple family estate in North Berwick, with an almost Edwardian childhood, William was sent off to Ampleforth College at just eight years old. It was there that his passion for history grew and he spent his free time on archaeological digs and getting lost in history books.

William has gone on to turn that childhood fascination into an incredible career. He has written numerous bestselling books including White Mughals and The Last Mughals. His latest book The Golden Road is out now.

Graeme Park is a legendary DJ and one of the founders of the UK's house music movement. Best known for his nine-year residency at Manchester's iconic superclub, The Hacienda, Graeme's journey into DJing was far from planned. In fact, he stumbled into it almost by accident. However, his passion for sharing the music he loved had a huge impact on the dance scene of the 80s and 90s, influencing a generation of club-goers, including sixteen year old James O'Brien.

Today, Graeme continues to perform to fans old and new around the world. He also DJs alongside the Manchester Camerata Orchestra as part of the Hacienda Classical shows, which have been touring the UK since 2016 and even opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2017.

You can find out more details about Graeme's upcoming gigs on thisisgraemepark.com

"Britain is nowhere near as bad as America but let's not get complacent about the risk."

Jon Sopel is a journalist, broadcaster and author who launched the hugely successful The News Agents podcast with Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall in August 2022. Previously, he was the BBC’s North America Editor, covering U.S. elections including Donald Trump’s presidency. He is the author of several books including: If Only They Didn’t Speak English and A Year at the Circus: Inside Trump’s White House. His latest book: Strangeland is out now.

James is back with another incredible guest from the Full Disclosure vault. Angela Rayner is a politician you simply can’t ignore, Her story is as inspiring as it is unlikely. She grew up in poverty in Stockport, left school at 16, pregnant and without a single qualification to her name. And yet through sheer grit, she’s fought her way up to become Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Angela joined James on Full Disclosure back in 2021. She talks about everything from her chaotic childhood to how she raised her own children out of poverty and her remarkable rise in politics. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s a brilliant conversation with one of the most vibrant voices in British politics and if you have, it’s well worth another listen…