A photo of me, a white woman with long blonde hair who is wearing a black All Saints jumper with arm cut outs whilst sitting in an electric wheelchair. The Changes Interview with Frances Ryan - 6 Questions and Answers on Change.

It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Annie MacManus for her Changes Substack to celebrate the paperback release of Who Wants Normal?

We spoke about coping with life changes you want to hand back, bell hooks, and why I’m excited for a shower I can use. anniemacmanus.substack.com/p/the-change...

Seriously: I would wait until after the local elections. I would also not replace him with a bag of chips.

Seriously: I would wait until after the local elections. I would also not replace him with a bag of chips.

You can read my many columns on Starmer (if you like!) to see the substantive reasons I think he’s not a good PM. But also, yes, a Labour PM does need to be electable or they won’t be in power to deliver any of the substance.

Serious answer: yes, I would wait until after the local elections. I would also not replace him with a bag of chips.

That is generally how these things work, yes.

If we all share equally.

There is no benefit at all to Labour keeping Starmer now. The PLP could replace him with a bag of chips tomorrow and the party would be more appealing to the electorate. Dump him, try again, and put us all out of this misery.

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century review – apparently she was very good at shaking hands This royalist-pleasing hagiography is highly basic – and skims rapidly over the darker side of the crown. If you’ve seen The Crown, you know it all already

“Whenever a difficult point is touched on, it is brushed off with such speed you can almost hear the Palace’s press secretary calling whoever is running the BBC this week.”

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century gets my first ever 1 star review. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

He was doing his best!

A special mention to poor David Olusoga out here trying to summarise the bloodbath of the British Empire with a diplomacy you can only dream of. Or as he puts it, the journey many nations took to independence was “fraught” and there was “some violence”. Give that man a knighthood!

It’s hard to say who comes out of this show better. Former Lioness Jill Scott declares that the queen was Britain’s “manager” during the pandemic, which will be news to Chris Whitty. Kirsty Young reflects that she was very good at shaking hands.

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century review – apparently she was very good at shaking hands This royalist-pleasing hagiography is highly basic – and skims rapidly over the darker side of the crown. If you’ve seen The Crown, you know it all already

A huge day: my first one star review.

I sat through the BBC’s film about what would have been the Queen’s 100th birthday so you don’t have to. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Thank you! Yes, it’s on my radar but energy used up on another story at the moment. But I’m going to do my best to follow up.

So sorry to hear that. The call-out has finished now but would you have time to email me? frances.ryan.freelance@guardian.co.uk Thanks so much.

“This book is beautiful, vital, and important. I loved it.” - Jack Thorne, writer of Adolescence.

One of the bonuses about publishing Who Wants Normal? Life Lessons from Disabled Women has been hearing from men. Many said it resonated with them. Others that it shocked.

Thanks so much to top lad Jack Thorne for his v kind endorsement.

Who Wants Normal? Life Lessons from Disabled Women By Frances Ryan. A paperback book with a new foreword. Blurbs from Jameela Jamil: “We all need this book”, and Rosie Jones: “I’ve never related to a book more”

I love the balance of facts & statistics with real life experiences from a wide range of interesting women with disabilities and long-term health conditions in this important book by journalist @francesryan.bsky.social

Eye-opening and relevant, with sound analysis, compassion and wit!

#books
💙📚💡

Thank you so much for this! So glad you liked it.

Thank you so much for this! So glad you liked it.

Really hope you enjoy!

I’ll always be grateful to the 70+ women who shared their wisdom, jaw dropping anecdotes, and occasionally dirty jokes. From Ruth Madeley (who also voiced the audiobook), Jameela Jamil, Baroness Jane Campbell, Rosie Jones, Ellie Goldstein, Fearne Cotton, Nikki Fox and too many more to ever fit here.

A copy of Who Wants Normal? stands upright on top of three others face down. The cover has bright orange and yellow stripes as well as a lavender strip at the bottom.

WHO WANTS NORMAL? is out in paperback today!

Hearing from readers who feel more confident or simply less alone after curling up with this book has meant the world. I hope the paperback makes it more accessible to everyone. Plus it fits in a handbag now.

Get it here: linktr.ee/WhoWantsNorm...

Hooray! Really hope you enjoy.

In recent years, Ryan has become one of the most authoritative voices on representation and policy as they relate to disabled people in the UK, though she bridles at the fact that she is frequently described as the Guardian’s “disability columnist”, “despite this role not existing at the paper and my work focusing on politics”. As a wheelchair user from childhood, who now also lives with the effects of chronic illness, Ryan writes from a perspective still all-too-rare in mainstream publications – as she notes in her chapter on representation, “disabled women working in the media are essentially like Superman and Clark Kent: you never see them in a room at the same time”.

Absolutely howling that the reviewer included my grudge about being called The Guardian’s “disability columnist.”

Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girls’ Guide to Life by Frances Ryan review – countering the stereotypes The journalist’s second book offers positivity in the face of the obstacles confronting disabled girls and women

“At a time when disability is misunderstood and vilified, Ryan offers a vision of how much disabled women already contribute to society and how much more might be possible.”

With WHO WANTS NORMAL? paperback out tomorrow, here’s a v kind review from The Observer: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

I’m so sorry. As I say in the book, the universal element means we’re conditioned to not seem ungrateful. But it’s not a charitable service run by volunteers!

Oh my god I’m so sorry

Streeting relaunches women’s health strategy to tackle ‘medical misogyny’ Health secretary says NHS is ‘failing women’ and pledges to end ‘gaslighting’ by doctors

Good news that Labour pledge to tackle NHS “gaslighting” women. The health chapter in WHO WANTS NORMAL? sets out shocking medical discrimination of well known women who suffered for years with long term health conditions. Doctors ignored or even ridiculed them. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

That’s a separate call out.

That’s absolutely relevant and an important aspect, I think. Would you please fill in the form?