Showing results by narrator "Alan Johnson" in All Categories

In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, apparently notorious among the locals, in fact came as a blessed relief after the tensions of Notting Hill, and the local community welcomed them with open arms. Alan had become a postman the previous year, and in order to support his growing family took on every bit of overtime he could, often working twelve-hour shifts six days a week.

The ex-politician and bestselling author Alan Johnson, who was a Labour cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, takes on the life and premierships of Harold Wilson.

From being transported by the sound of 'True Love' by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly on the radio as a small child living in condemned housing in ungentrified West London in the late 1950s to going out to work as a postman humming 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello in 1977, Alan Johnson's life has always had a musical soundtrack. In fact music hasn't just accompanied his life, it's been an integral part of it.

Gary Nelson has a routine for the commute to his rather dull job in the city. Each day, he watches as a woman on the train applies her make up in a ritual he now knows by heart. He's never dared to strike up a conversation...but maybe one day. Then one evening, on the late train to Gipsy Hill, the woman invites him to take the empty seat beside her. Fiddling with her mascara, she holds up her mirror and Gary reads the words 'HELP ME' scrawled in sticky black letters on the glass.

Alan Johnson's childhood was not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary. Not in respect of the poverty, which was shared with many of those living in the slums of postwar Britain, but in its transition from two-parent family to single mother and then to no parents at all.... This is essentially the story of two incredible women: Alan's mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, domestic violence and loneliness to try to ensure a better life for her children; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility at a very young age and who fought to keep the family together.

It’s a pivotal time for women leaders. On one hand, studies show women are woefully underrepresented in the highest echelons of corporate leadership. On the other, we’ve made huge strides in the political arena, while the global business world increasingly values the “soft skills” we’re naturally good at. So, what does all of this mean for women who aspire to the C-suite? Deb Boelkes has a simple message: Go for it. Conditions have never been more favorable. Boelkes lays out a blueprint for getting out of your own way so you can make real progress.

A story about love, diversity, and equality as told through the eyes of raisins and grapes.

Smith humorously chronicles his battles with catastrophic colitis, crippling rheumatoid arthritis, total blindness, and a severe speech impediment. Join him in practical jokes on his nurses, wheel chair races on the hospital floor, gambling in economics class, and using a magic trick to propose to his wife.