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We are joined by Adele Chaplin, a humanist celebrant who starts every wedding and funeral with a blank page and a very real question: who are these people?

Adele’s journey is anything but traditional. Raised in Dundee, she took a scenic route through sales jobs, BBC web development and the National Archives before landing in what she now calls “the best job in the world.” Along the way, she found humanism — a belief system with no higher power or afterlife, but a deep trust in people, connection and meaning.

We unpack what that looks like in practice: weddings with vows that are genuinely funny or achingly tender, rituals invented from scratch, and ceremonies featuring everything from owl-delivered rings to meadow parties with live bands and fire-breathers. We also talk legal realities (yes, the paperwork bit is still annoying in England and Wales… for now).

On the funeral side, Adele is honest, kind and refreshingly fearless — telling true stories, embracing quirks, and helping families say goodbye in ways that actually fit. From green burials to acid house send-offs (and her own surprisingly upbeat funeral playlist), this is an episode about choosing meaning over manuals — and having a laugh along the way.

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