Now You're Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn

Alcoholism and the idea of the 'functioning alcoholic' is one of the serious topics tackled by Marian and Tara in this final edition of series 4 - alongside ways to choose your battles with a petulant 11 year-old daughter, and a conundrum encountered by a listener getting an intimate email meant for someone else. Each week, Marian and Tara do their best to shed their particular brand of warmth, wit and wisdom onto listeners' questions with topics big and small. We continue to be inundated with emails but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show for the next series. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to give you a hand with? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

You're gay and your best friend is married to a man who seems to be jealous of your relationship with his wife - what would you do? Your girlfriend's father is sick and you want to support her but are conflicted - what should you do? Your boyfriend's mother seems determined to fill your new flat with horrible ornaments - what could you do? Another week of listener problems - plus the living hell that is a tasting menu. Marian and Tara are here to unpack the shoulds, woulds and coulds. We have been inundated with emails since the last series, but everything gets read, and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Marian Keyes is a multi-award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Is your wife's bedtime reading a little on the raunchy side? Should you worry, if it is? Do you have a friend who never helps to organise your get-togethers? And ... what is love, anyway? Another superb slice of life served up by Radio 4's in-house agony aunts, Tara Flynn and Marian Keyes. Each week Marian and Tara do their best to shed their particular brand of warmth, wit and wisdom onto listeners' questions with topics big and small. Earlier series of Now You're Asking were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We continue to be inundated with emails but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Neighbours - you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em. This week, one of our askers is having trouble with the mysterious noises from upstairs, another is feeling increasingly awkward when sex scenes pop up on tv, while a third is toying with the idea of an affair with an old flame. All this while Marian has fun with her new metal measuring tape. Truly, all walks of life are given the Marian and Tara treatment once again. We are always looking for situations Marian and Tara can get stuck into. Everything gets read and considered. We can't include all the questions but do our best to provide as wide a cross-section as we can. Have you got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Motorway driving, trouble at work with HR, and historic nudism exposed. Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn grace us with their witty and wise advice, answering their listeners' questions in the best and only way they know how. Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

This week, Marian and Tara have advice for an autistic man who finds it hard to break the ice with women at the age of 51. There are thoughts for a mother of two ex-students who have arrived back home, just as she was getting used to them being away. And words of wisdom for a woman whose oldest friend asked her to speak at her wedding - but didn’t invite her to the hen night. Each week, Marian and Tara do their best to shed their particular brand of warmth, wit and wisdom onto listeners' questions with topics big and small. Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Is 60 too old to develop a crush? Not if you're working closely with a handsome stranger on a amateur dramatics show, it seems. Meanwhile, the programme takes a foodie turn with a worry about when 'splitting the bill' gets abused, and another asker is worried about her boyfriend's table manners in front of her fussy parents. Every week, Now You're Asking with best-selling author Marian Keyes and writer/performer Tara Flynn opens the programme's email inbox and pulls out some interesting puzzles, queries and conundrums. Everything gets read, then we do our best to pick as wide a range of Asks to answer as we can. And hopefully amuse and entertain along the way. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. Earlier series of Now You're Asking were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

This week's first 'ask' doesn't get more serious - a listener wants to know if she should tell her family about having been groomed for sexual abuse as a teenager. Marian and Tara draw on their wisdom to do their best to offer counsel. They also tackle the topic of breastfeeding in public and help a listener deal with a husband who unrepentantly returns from a park run bringing half the park with him on the soles of his shoes. Talk about a wide-ranging programme... Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We have been inundated with emails since the last series - thank you, everyone - but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

This week: Do you feel hanker after a more creative live than the one you're living? What should you do when an elderly parent insists on discussing death, when you'd rather not? And voice notes - are they a blessing or a curse? Each week Marian and Tara do their best to shed their particular brand of warmth, wit and wisdom onto listeners questions with topics big and small. Earlier series of Now You're Asking were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Are your super-sociable new neighbours just a bit too much? Are you a photographer who's been booked for the wedding of the girl who bullied you in school? Does your husband's desire to expose his perineum to the sun fill you with dread? (Are you, like Marian, not even sure if you have a perineum?) Well, this is the edition of Now You're Asking for you. And even if it's not, you might learn a thing or two as pearls of comic wisdom fall from the mouths of our hosts. All this, and Marian and Tara also tackle some questions direct from the audience, gathered for this special recording in a tent at Hay Festival 2024. This is the first edition in a new series of Now You're Asking. Previous series were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night. We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Now that Abba are cool again (what do you mean? They were always cool!) we dedicate a whole episode edition of No Limits to deride the idea of a 'guilty pleasure'. Are you guilty of 'contempt prior to investigation'? We really hope not but Marian and Tara might give you a thing or two to think about, if you are. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

A female asker's husband has walked in, saw his wife hugging her female best friend, put two and two together ... made five and now all he wants is a threesome. What do Marian and Tara think of the whole business? Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

Marian and Tara find that Alpha males get everywhere - especially on your nerves. Is someone hogging the gym equipment you want to use? Hey bro! Get off that machine. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

Throughout his life, the asker's mother has found time to criticise - and that all adds up. What can he do to heal those wounds? Marian and Tara bring their words of wisdom. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian and Tara take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

Tara hates frilly lingerie and is not afraid to let her feelings be known in this edition of our spin-off podcast, No Limits. If they're scratchy and uncomfortable who exactly are they really for and why should women be expected to wear them as a 'special treat'? Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian and Tara take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

An otherwise enjoyable pilates class is interrupted by an unmistakable smell. All eyes turn on our asker - the only man in the room. Except it wasn't him. He doesn't want to point the finger but neither does he want to take the blame. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian and Tara take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

What do you do when a celebrity says no to your polite request for a selfie ... and what are para-social relationships, anyway? You've left your old job and none of your old colleagues have kept in touch ... what should you do? You've spotted a plant you like the look of ... is it really so bad to lean over and take a cutting? In the final episode of this series, Marian and Tara cast an eye over their email inbox and issue a few thoughts and opinions. Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve your biggest - and smallest - of things that keep us awake at night. Previous series were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) Recorded in Dublin with emails received from listeners around the world. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

You've stayed overnight at a friend's house, the question is whether or not to strip the bed when it's time to say goodbye. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian and Tara take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production

What do you do when you’re bisexual and rejected by your family, a parent worried about your son sucking his fingers, and someone whose friend brings you nothing but problems? These and many others have turned to radio’s warmest voices to get a little help. Rather wonderfully, this episode also includes the phrase ‘weaponised incompetence’ and the lasting image of a television festooned with an abandoned bra... Marian Keyes is a multi award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve your biggest - and smallest - of things that keep us awake at night. Previous series were welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer) "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times) "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman) Recorded in Dublin with emails received from listeners around the world. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Steve Doherty. A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

You're back with your ex after a firework-filled love affair with another man. The problem is, even though he's lovely, the sex is terrible. Each week for this series of 10 mini-podcasts, Marian and Tara take one email from a listener to spotlight with, perhaps, a little less diplomacy that they might muster in the full versions of their popular problem-busting podcast, Now You're Asking. It's a hard and fast snapshot of their take on an issue or problem. It's Now You're Asking with a little salt in the caramel - all the more tasty for being bite-sized! Producer: Steve Doherty A Giddy Goat Production