Mike McGrath went from street fundraising in London to leading Air Ambulances UK without a predictable corporate ladder in sight, and he still calls himself an ‘accidental CEO’.

We talk about:

* Two summers in South Africa that pointed him towards charity work

* Leading the campaign for Childline’s 30th anniversary in 2016

* The question from his trip to Japan that guided his path

* Why the UK's air ambulances still depend on public generosity

The full story, and Mike's life pivot: www.thethirdhalf.uk

This conversation touches on suicide prevention. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can call Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. Children and young people can call Childline free on 0800 1111.

#lifepivots

Alan Gaw spent his first career in medicine and pathology now he's an award-winning novelist and poet behind the Jack Cuthbert mysteries, set in the world of 1930s forensic pathology. In this episode of The Third Half, host Scott Hamilton talks to Alan about his fifth Jack Cuthbert novel, The Last Gifts to the Dead, the years he spent self-publishing before winning the Bloody Scotland Debut Novel Prize, and why he built his lead character as a closeted gay man and war veteran navigating 1930s Britain. They dig into what "dithering about" really means in crime fiction, how pathology and creative writing share more DNA than you'd think, why short stories are harder to write than novels, and what happens when history refuses to stay in the past. Alan also opens up about writing poetry as a way to talk about grief, loss, and trauma that prose can't quite reach. Topics covered: -Introduction to Alan Gaw -Alan's path from pathology to award-winning crime fiction -Building Jack Cuthbert: a flawed, closeted, war-scarred pathologist in 1930s London -Why the "dithering about" in his novels is actually the point -Self-publishing, rejection, and winning the Bloody Scotland Debut Novel Prize -Writing poetry to talk about what prose can't -What's next for the Jack Cuthbert series Subscribe to The Third Half for more conversations on writing, careers, and the stories behind the story.

After years spent playing other people's music, first with Cirque du Soleil, then alongside artists like Sinéad O'Connor and Skunk Anansie, and now as part of The Wedding Present, Rachael Wood has released her debut solo album. It's called It's Not The End Of The World, and it puts her somewhere she admits still feels unfamiliar: front and centre. In this episode we talk about starting out at eight years old with a guitar bigger than she was, learning by ear before YouTube existed, and what it's like to go from "side woman" to the person everyone in the room is suddenly looking at. We get into why she finds writing lyrics so much harder than playing guitar, why she avoided using AI anywhere near the songwriting process, and the surreal experience of playing guitar for Cirque du Soleil, where someone's backflip depended on her hitting the right note at the right time. We also somehow end up discussing David Bowie, guitar solos, sweaty small venues, the one guitar she'd save if she could only keep one, and yes, a fairly serious debate about cheese. Hard over soft, British over French, Cheddar over Stilton, and why mascarpone just doesn't cut it. It wanders a bit. We didn't try to stop it. Rachael Wood's debut album It's Not The End Of The World is out now. The Third Half. Interesting people, interesting ideas, and apparently quite a lot of cheese.