My A-level results in 1998. I flunked my history A-level and lost my place at Cambridge. It broke my heart for years; now I’m really glad, because I pull out the whole “I went to a polytechnic” thing. But at the time for a teenager who was rather pleased with herself, it was absolutely devastating.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The power of the press.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 September 2015 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 366 →
James Bay
English singer-songwriter and guitarist
My left foot. (I’m great with my right – I can bend it like Beckham.)
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London since 2016
Labour losing the 2015 election: we weren’t able to help the people who needed us most.
Gino D'Acampo
Italian-British celebrity chef and media personality
That Italy didn’t qualify for the World Cup this year.
More from Jo Brand
View profile →You Have Killed Me, by Morrissey.
I don’t tend to rank happy times.
Getting up the noses of a handful of truly horrible misogynists.
I’d have told a racist cabbie to go fuck himself, but I was scared about being chucked out on the street at 2am.
All women who slog their guts out every day, quietly getting on with bringing up their families.
Foxes making extremely weird noises.
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- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
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David Jason, Shaun White, Joan Jett, Joshua Ferris, Walton Goggins, Miriam Margolyes
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