The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they’ve never discussed intimately before.

Geoff MacDonald Speaks with Vincent Cable about their experiences of depression. Here’s what Fi Glover said about their conversation. 

“I’ll give you an example of a chat that really worked. Geoff and Vincent are good friends now. They met at a conference discussing mental health in the city. Both men are extremely successful. They’d be the ones pressing the boardroom floor level in the lift in the morning. Both have had periods of work through depression and Geoff now does a lot of work talking about mental health. Geoff and Vincent’s chat was great because what it told you about the experience of mental illness.”