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Crisis What Crisis with Andy Coulson

Crisis What Crisis with Andy Coulson

By: Andy Coulson
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Hard-earned lessons from people who've faced the worst and come back stronger. Hosted by Andy Coulson. Follow for weekly insights into the art of the rebuild. Crisis What Crisis? is powered by Kingsley Napley — the lawyers you want in your corner when the pressure is on. Visit kingsleynapley.co.ukCopyright Andy Coulson Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Sir Richard Dearlove: The Making of a Spymaster

    Sir Richard Dearlove: The Making of a Spymaster
    Oct 27 2026

    Sir Richard Dearlove is one of the world’s greatest living spymasters. He joined MI6 in 1966 at the age of 21, and over nearly four decades ran agents under intense Cold War surveillance in Nairobi, Prague, Paris, Geneva and Washington, before rising in 1999 to become Chief of the Service — the role known simply as C. His five years at the top were among the most turbulent in the Service’s history: his headquarters was struck by a rocket, 9/11 remade the global security landscape, and Britain went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    Since leaving the shadows, Sir Richard has built a second, very public life — Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, business adviser, outspoken commentator, and co-host of the hugely successful foreign-affairs podcast One Decision.

    In this conversation, Andy Coulson lifts the bonnet, as far as Sir Richard will allow, on the experiences that formed him, the decisions that defined him, and the lessons a lifetime in intelligence can offer the rest of us.

    POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY

    I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details.

    FOUR LESSONS FROM RICHARD

    1. Grasp your opportunities – don’t wait for luck. A successful career isn’t handed to you by chance. It comes from spotting the opening when it appears, and trusting your instinct for how to handle it.
    2. Build a team you can trust. Pick dependable, loyal, focused people, lean on them, and let them carry the weight.
    3. Self-pity gets you nowhere. The Dearlove family creed was simple: you get on with life. Whatever you’re facing, someone has faced worse and carried on.
    4. The most dangerous problems don’t arrive with a bang; they build quietly while no one's looking. Start putting them right today, not when it’s too late.

    CHAPTERS

    07:15 – What resilience really means to a spymaster

    08:54 – His father: an amputee who won Olympic silver on crutches

    11:50 – Boarding school at four, and the making of a tough character

    13:18 – The tap on the shoulder: joining MI6 at 21

    18:58 – Prague: a life lived under constant surveillance

    21:07 – Running a double agent behind the Iron Curtain

    24:36 – How to read who holds up under pressure – and who cracks

    28:03 – Becoming C

    30:22 – The rocket attack on MI6

    33:36 – 9/11: a shock, but not a surprise

    39:07 – Iraq, the intelligence, and his quarrel with Chilcot

    42:10 – Leaving the Service

    46:51 – Russia, China and the end of the rules-based order

    56:25 – Bond, Le Carré, and the myth of MI6

    FOLLOW THE ONE DECISION PODCAST

    https://www.instagram.com/onedecisionpodcast/

    LISTEN TO THE ONE DECISION PODCAST

    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/one-decision/id1583753742

    FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS?

    Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast

    TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

    This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Gem Hall (video)
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    59 mins
  • RICHARD COLES'S CRISIS COMPASS

    RICHARD COLES'S CRISIS COMPASS
    Oct 20 2026

    Reverend Richard Coles has lived multiple lives — pop star, priest, broadcaster, novelist. But the greatest crisis of his life came in the form of someone he loved deeply.

    Richard watched helplessly as his partner David grappled with an addiction that cost David his job, his licence from the bishop, and ultimately his life.

    In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Richard to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that he turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice.

    If you haven’t heard the full conversation yet — his journey from pop star to priest, the AIDS epidemic that shaped his generation, his years with David, and what he’s learned about hope in the aftermath of loss — go back and find it in the feed. It’s well worth your time.

    POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY:

    I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on.

    This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details.

    CHAPTERS:

    00:50 A Person – His circle of friends since his teenage years, now neighbours on the South Coast.

    01:23 A Habit – Singing. Every Tuesday in the Brighton Festival Chorus.

    01:49 A Comfort – Cooking. The whole ritual, start to finish — yes, including the washing up

    02:31 A Piece of Advice – From a friend’s motto: “Be authentic and engage.” Work out who you are. Step into the world.

    BUY RICHARD’S BOOK

    A Carol and a Killing – https://geni.us/ACAROLANDAKILLING

    FOLLOW RICHARD COLES

    Instagram – www.instagram.com/revrichardcoles/?hl=en

    FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS?

    Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast

    TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod

    This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio).
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    3 mins
  • REVEREND RICHARD COLES: Beginning Again When the Life You Knew Is Taken Away

    REVEREND RICHARD COLES: Beginning Again When the Life You Knew Is Taken Away
    Oct 13 2026
    Few people have lived as many lives as Richard Coles. In the 1980s he was the keyboard-playing half of the Communards, whose “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was the biggest-selling single of 1986 – taking him, almost overnight, from the dole queue to flying aboard Concorde and the full pop-star life. Then, the gay socialist atheist who set out, in all seriousness, to bring down the government through the power of pop, became, of all things, a Church of England priest. Then a celebrated broadcaster, a best-selling novelist, a Strictly contestant, and the inspiration for the BBC sitcom Rev.But behind the reinventions runs a thread of profound loss. As AIDS swept through his world in the 1980s, Richard watched a third of his circle die – the formative crisis, he says, of his adult life. At 17, before any of the fame, he survived a breakdown and an overdose he fully intended to be his last act. And decades later came the greatest loss of all: his partner David. In this conversation, Andy Coulson explores a life in which crisis has repeatedly been the doorway to transformation – and what Richard has learned about loss, faith, forgiveness, and how we begin again when the life we knew is taken from us. His latest crime novella, A Carol and a Killing, is out this month.POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEYI know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details.FOUR LESSONS FROM RICHARDSometimes you just have to step forward. You may be uncertain, apprehensive, but stepping forward, into the unknown, is how a new chapter begins. Crises are unavoidable; the opportunity is in not being defeated by them.When you get something badly wrong, face it, own it, make amends – and then let yourself be forgiven. Richard did a thing he remains ashamed of. What mattered wasn’t that he deserved forgiveness, but that he sought it, took his medicine, and learned to live with having been forgiven.Get less interested in yourself. The habits of self-loathing are hard to shake, but Richard found relief not through endless self-examination but through caring less about his own importance – and turning his attention outward, to other people.CHAPTERS 05:34 – Realising he was gay in a hostile world12:10 – Seventeen, a breakdown, and the overdose he meant to be final15:37 – Escape to London, and the friendships that still anchor him18:26 – Bringing down the government through the power of pop20:50 – The socialists who were, secretly, perfect Thatcherites21:40 – Dole queue to Concorde – and the toll fame takes29:35 – AIDS – the formative crisis31:29 – The lie he told, the shame he carries, and seeking forgiveness35:02 – The atheist who walked into a church and came out a believer38:07 – Walking away from a life he loved to train for the priesthood45:21 – Loving an addict 50:51 – Learning to live a life around the loss, not without itBUY RICHARD’S BOOKA Carol and a Killing – https://geni.us/ACAROLANDAKILLINGFOLLOW RICHARD COLESInstagram – www.instagram.com/revrichardcoles/?hl=enFOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS?Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcastTikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispodThis was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video), Gem Hall (video).
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    54 mins
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