I know that the first month of the year tends to attract a lot of press comment on health and fitness but there seems to be a lot this month about both the physical and mental health of bosses and their employees. According to a recent French study, if you are unhappy at work, it could be partly due to your boss’ management style.

As the curtain slowly closed around the coffin in a small and rather bleak crematorium in Slough last week, I didnt know whether to laugh or cry when the first bars of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run suddenly broke the silence in the room.

Every morning I get up and make a solemn promise to either, go to the gym, take a brisk stroll, have a swim, or at the very least walk the dog. Any of these activities might help to fight middle aged flab and give me a little much needed exercise.

About 27 years ago, after I had watched my father succumb to cancer, I learned a profound lesson.

It became blatantly obvious to me that very little of what I worried about in my life really mattered.

As Britain’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles was in a unique position to understand this country’s role in a war that has now gone on for more than ten years. He talked to Fergus Byrne about what could be done to end the conflict.

Most of us living in the country have become used to the disruption to the rural idyll that happens around the end of summer; when tractors turn the lanes into a grand prix circuit

Rick Stein is horrified when I tell him that, according to the website Wikepedia, he now lives in Australia. “So that’s why people keep coming up to me in Padstow and saying ‘Oh, are you here for long?’” he exclaims. “That’s baloney, I live here!” For a brief moment I fear I may have inadvertently unleashed a powerful storm but instead he is the height of charm and warmth, and as I write this I see the Wikepedia piece has been changed to point out that, although he lives in Padstow for part of the year, he also has a house in Sydney as well as a restaurant in Mollymook, New South Wales.

In the hills above Borgo San Lorenzo, in the Mugello area of Tuscany, chef Carlo sharpens the biggest carving knife I have ever seen.

For many years in my youth I spent a lot of time enjoying live music. There was obviously no internet in those days and seeing bands often meant trips down the M4 to wait in long queues

At a wedding I attended in Ireland recently there was much talk about austerity. The bride and groom, although already a couple for many years, were embarking on a new life together and

As a youngster he was always taught to avoid discussing religion and politics in the pub. So, over a cup of tea, Fergus Byrne talked to John Burton who has written a book making a case for science.

Reading about Margaret Thatcher recently, I was surprised to note that it was only a little more than twenty years ago when she was still in power.

It’s fairly safe to say that photographer and filmmaker Robert Golden sees things a little differently to many people. After a long career and an enormous body of work he still brings an uncompromising intensity and depth to his subjects, and although his unique eye is obvious when looking at his photography and the films he has made, it is the way he lives his life that stands out. Shouldering a keen sense of justice he stands ready to do what is right, whether that is choosing to only eat locally sourced food where he lives in Dorset or ensuring that the young people in a film he is making in Bosnia are fairly represented.

I was surprised last month at how the premature death of golfer Seve Ballesteros affected me. I am not a golfer.

Reading through Simon Ford’s article about bread and the ‘quiet revolution’ that is taking place in the baking industry, reminded me that the Chorleywood Bread Process he mentions

The fact that men and women may occasionally think differently has been debated and researched for centuries, and no doubt it’s a subject that will keep many of us amused for years to come.

Director of such classics as Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero, Bill Forsyth’s first attempt at interpreting someone else’s work produced his favourite work. He talked to Fergus Byrne.

‘Solar Genocide’ is how one person described the government’s recent announcement that it may cut its incentive initiative, the Feed-in Tariff (FIT), by up to 75% for solar projects above 50kW.

Photographer Simon Wheeler has reached a stage in his life that a lot of people will find very familiar: his children have all gone back to university and the house seems deathly quiet. For many, this is a time of reflection. It is a time when we can take stock and look at what we have achieved over the years, especially the ones that went by in a blur while our children grew from tiny pink dolls to confident members of the community.

Tracking down photographer Christian Barnett is no simple task. As a food photographer he is much in demand, however his love of travel is as likely to keep him on the move as much as his love of photography. When we caught up with him recently in between locations, he had just finished working with chef and food writer Valentine Warner and was dashing off to his next job with chocolate maker Willie Harcourt-Cooze in Devon. “I seem to spend half my life on either the M4 or the A303” he told me. “At least every other week I am shooting in the South West”.