We venerate the health service and howl at governments to fund it better. But, as individuals, what can we do to help this institution we profess to love so well?We love the National Health Service. It’s a pure, unconditional love. Most of us have expe…
We’re told not to bottle up bad experiences – but a stiff upper lip can be for the best | Adrian Chiles
As an inveterate over-sharer, I learned a lesson this week from a former army nurse. Perhaps airing our worst moments gives them too much space to growSometimes people I speak to on my radio programme say something that will stay with me for a long tim…
Proper sobbing and perspective – what I learned when my younger daughter left home | Adrian Chiles
Seeing your children off to university isn’t easy, but it was worth dragging the dog across a crowded dancefloor to say some goodbyesThis child-leaving-home business seems to get harder every time. My first experience of it was as the child, albeit a 1…
My towering agave plant is in full bloom – but it’s a bittersweet bonanza | Adrian Chiles
The century plant outside my flat grew a monstrous stalk this summer. I have since learned this means its days are numbered – which has painted it in a whole new lightThere is a great big plant outside the flats where I live that looks bewildered to fi…
Hot summer nights: ‘My brother brought friends to marvel at the awful state of my body’
First I got sunburn, then one of the worst cases of chickenpox the doctor had ever seen. I was supposed to be on holiday, yet I was the tourist attractionThe hottest summer nights of my life were in Australia around the Christmas of 1988. My brother wa…
Life lessons I’ve learned from boxers? Control your aggression and forgive your foes | Adrian Chiles
Of all the athletes I have interviewed, boxers consistently defy their public image – and make for fabulously peaceful, thoughtful and rewarding companyIn covering the Olympics for BBC Radio, it’s been my privilege to speak to all sorts of sportsmen an…
Have you cried with despair in public? There is nothing braver or better | Adrian Chiles
It’s great to see men such as Tom Daley sobbing in victory – and the gold standard for emotional articulacy is surely showing your sadnessI am all for men crying; I do a lot of it myself. If we leave onions out of it, there are only two kinds of crying…