How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams

On this week's episode, we're joined by Jo Hamilton, the village sub-postmistress who was wrongly convicted of false accounting in the Post Office Horizon scandal — and who spent nearly two decades fighting to clear her name and the names of hundreds of others.
Jo talks about running a little shop that was more drop-in centre than convenience store, the moment a faulty computer system started destroying her life, remortgaging the family home to cover money that was never actually missing, and standing in Winchester Crown Court genuinely believing she was going to prison. She tells Kaye about the village that clubbed together to keep her afloat, the extraordinary woman who paid off her mortgage with a six-figure cheque, and the moment she lay in bed after the High Court victory and looked up and told her late mum and dad: we did it.
It's a story about shame, silence, and what happens when a fundamentally honest person gets trapped in an impossible situation. But it's also about discovering, in your fifties and sixties, a version of yourself you never knew was in there. Because sometimes the thing that nearly breaks you is the thing that shows you exactly what you're made of.
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On this week's Midweek Catchup, Kaye bought a Peter Kay VIP package, forgot about it entirely, and queued in the rain like a mug. Karen lost her earbuds for three days, bought replacements, then found the originals in her dressing gown. There's eyelid surgery chat, a three-wheeled electric bike that defeated two grown adults, building work that so far involves moving junk from one room to another, and a place called Kinky Cottage that we're not getting into. Happy Tuesday.
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On this week's episode, we're joined by Tessa Peake-Jones, one of Britain's most beloved actors (yes, Raquel from Only Fools and Horses, and yes, she knows you were going to say that), who's currently starring in a new comedy drama called Invisible Me about three sixty-somethings navigating love, loneliness and everything in between.
But this isn't just a conversation about dating apps and swiping left. It's about what happens when the kids leave, the relationship ends, and for the first time in your life, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. Tessa talks about growing up as an only child with a bipolar mother, why she's never married, and how reaching 60 unlocked a freedom and a confidence she never expected. There's a listener email from Margaret that will hit you right in the chest (is it too much to ask at 63 for someone who'd ring you on a Tuesday and say, do you fancy the pictures?). And there's a proper conversation about the things nobody wants to say out loud: that solitude can be a privilege, not a punishment. That glasses genuinely make you invisible. And that sometimes, the starfish in a double bed all to yourself is the happy ending.

Tessa Peake-Jones stars in Invisible Me at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 8th April.

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On this week's Midweek Catchup, we're reporting live from separate corners of Spain (well, almost) with tales of holiday chaos that'll feel painfully familiar. Kaye's mango obsession has turned the kitchen into a crime scene, her Duolingo is fooling nobody, and her daughters have started doing that thing where they look at each other and just... laugh. At her. For no stated reason. Karen and Stephen's romantic Seville getaway involved a phone that doesn't work, an iPad with no Wi-Fi, and accommodation instructions on a scrap of paper. There's a bucket hat. There are hair straighteners that were hiding in a bathroom drawer for an entire week. There's a man bag purchase that raises more questions than it answers. And tucked inside all the nonsense, there's a moment that really matters: Karen's MRI results are in, and she's clear.
Because no one tells you that the funniest thing about getting older is realising you've become the comedy act your kids never asked for. Whether you're the one buying the bigger trousers "just in case" or discovering GHDs on the last day of the holiday, this one's for everyone who's ever felt like the punchline in their own family.
Plus, a look ahead to Friday's guest: the lovely Tessa Peake-Jones, who joins us to talk about her new London play Invisible Me and life well beyond Raquel.

Get in touch with your thoughts at [email protected].

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This week Kaye and Karen are joined by Donna Ashworth. Bestselling poet, wellbeing advocate, and author of Loss: The New Collection.
Donna talks about the family diagnosis that rewired everything. Dropping the perfectionism. Saying what she actually thinks. Building a life that's calmer and more honest, even when it's messy.
They get into grief beyond bereavement. Outgrowing identities, letting go of roles that no longer fit, and why walking away from something takes more courage than anyone tells you.
A conversation about permission, getting older, and why the best bit might still be ahead.

Get in touch at [email protected].

Donna's new book Loss: The New Collection is available now in hardcover, featuring nearly 150 poems including previously unpublished work.

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