The Modern Mann
Olly Mann presents a monthly podcast featuring incredible life stories, testing the latest trends, and answering relationship questions with Alix Fox, Ollie Peart, and guests. It won 'Best Interview Podcast' at the British Podcast Awards. New episodes are released on the 10th of each month.
Episodes
The Hostage Negotiator
What would you do if your phone rang and someone told you they'd kidnapped a member of your family?
Scott Walker knows. As one of Britain's most experienced hostage negotiators, he spent years helping families through the worst moments of their lives before moving into the private sector, where he negotiated with pirates and organised crime gangs across the world.
In this revealing conversation
Playback: My Dad, The Stranger
Olivia hardly knew her father. Her parents divorced when she was two, and she was brought up by her Mum.
Sent to boarding school at the age of eight, she was estranged from her Dad for a decade.
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Struggling financially, and weakened by bulimia, she got a call from out of the blue: it was her father, wanting to rekindle their relationship.
But - as her health deteriorated, and the U
How To Be A Dad, Part 12
Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith return to compare parenting notes with Olly, their sons now having reached the age of 10½.
Up for discussion: how to make friends with your kids’ parents, the dangers of ‘backdoor’ YouTube exposure, and the challenges of coping with impromptu sex education...
Plus, the appealing fraternity of teenage skateboarding, the toxicity of ‘Jordan and Salish’, and the big q
Playback: Savile Row’s First Black Tailor
Andrew Ramroop OBE made his first pair of trousers whilst he was still in school shorts. At 17, he headed away from his home nation of Trinidad, gravitating towards London’s world-famous Savile Row.
In this interview with Olly, he recalls how the racism he faced as a young tailor fuelled his career progression, and how he went on to create suits for Tony Curtis, Samuel L Jackson and Princess Dian
The Art Of Human Restraint
When Tad Tomlinson set out to learn leatherworking, he stumbled into one of Britain's most secretive subcultures.From handcrafted gimp masks and bespoke straitjackets to dungeon installations and novelty jockstraps, Tad spent years making luxury bondage equipment for wealthy, discerning collectors.In this eye-opening conversation with Olly, he recalls some of his most elaborate commissions - inclu
Playback: I See Dead People
Pathology technician Carla Valentine always knew she wanted to work with corpses. In childhood, she conducted funerals for roadkill. These days, she is curator of the Barts Pathology Museum, and a passionate advocate for more awareness about what happens when the mortuary doors swing shut...
In this interview with Olly, she reveals how to prepare for an autopsy, how to get a sense of how a person
Please Kill My Pet
What does it mean to give a pet a “good death”? Dr Caroline Flicker was Britain’s first vet to specialise in at-home palliative and end-of-life care. After three decades of home visits - caring for thousands of dying animals and the families who love them - she tells Olly why wagging tails and healthy appetites can mask profound suffering, why families so often disagree about “the right time”, and
Playback: The Knock At The Door
Teaching English in Beijing seemed like a great opportunity for Welsh graduate Glen Williams, who had previously spent time studying in China. He could brush up on his Mandarin, work with kids… and earn up to £3k per month, tax free.
The hitch? The agency that placed him told him that every three months, he’d need to spend the weekend in Seoul - a ‘visa trip’ that, he soon discovered, was commonp
My Deepfake Nightmare
Cheryl Bennett doesn’t follow politics. But when her colleague said he was standing in local elections, she agreed to help deliver leaflets.
Within days, doorbell video footage was circulating online, in which Cheryl could be seen calling prospective voters “f***ing P***s”.
Cheryl had never said such words, but wasn’t sure anyone believed her.
After being posted by an independent candidate fo
Playback: The REAL California Schemin'
The amazing true story behind James McAvoy's directorial debut feature: Olly Mann sits down with Gavin Bain, one half of Silibil 'n' Brains, the Californian rap group that never was.
"Sometimes you have to be other people to become who you are."
Best mates with Eminem, signed by Sony, and on the verge of international superstardom, Silibil 'n' Brains were the music industry's Next Big Thing.
I Want My Kids Back
When Karina Graham’s children were removed from her care, social services did not step in with support.
Instead, she was left to recover from her alcohol addiction alone. To form functional relationships with her sons’ foster parents. And to heal from this intensely traumatic moment. But that still wasn’t enough to get her boys back…
In this frank, raw conversation with Olly, Karina recounts ho
Playback: I Need To Lie Down
Professional dancer Raquel Meseguer had back surgery at the age of thirty, to treat chronic neuropathic pain. But, it didn’t alleviate her symptoms.
In this insightful interview with Olly, she explains how this bombshell has impacted upon the daily practicalities of her life, why she doesn’t feel welcome in our ‘vertical culture’, and how well-meaning members of the public have repeatedly shamed
Trapped In The Rubble
An earthquake of 6.9 magnitude rocked Morocco’s Atlas Mountains in September 2023, causing around 3,000 fatalities.
For six hours, British tourist Robbie Greatrex was trapped in the rubble; unable to feel his legs, unsure he would emerge alive. Locals clubbed together in the rescue effort, improvising tools from what came to hand. The prognosis was not good.
In this compelling conversation with
Playback: Serving The Super-Rich
There are more billionaires than ever. Rockstars. Oil tycoons. Internet entrepreneurs.
And all of them - all of them - employ private staff. The age of Jeeves and Wooster may be over, but the demand for a dependable butler remains.
Lawrence McKenna has been serving the super-rich for three decades, including stints in private suites in London's poshest hotels and the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. In
The Banker, The Billionaire and The Big Lie
Alok Sama was a high-flying CFO who fraternized with the world’s richest men.
But he wasn’t immune from intimidation. Anonymous letters sent to his boss, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, accused him of corruption. Suddenly, shadowy “shareholders” emerged from nowhere, and a whisper campaign quietly derailed his career.
Then - as he recounts to Olly in this compelling conversation - Alok discovered his
CHRISTMAS Spectacular 2025!!!
What are the perfect ingredients for a stress-free Christmas? How do you render the Arctic in song? And what does it sound like when we drink from each other’s teats?
… Just three of the hot topics being debated in our annual festive knees-up! Joining Olly Mann, Alix Fox and Ollie Peart this year, we welcome back family mediator Nick Coffer - who confronts the strains of a post-divorce Christmas
Playback: Don't Google Me
Guy Babcock is not paedophile. He is not a sociopath, or a racist, or a ‘deadbeat’. He has not served time in prison.
And yet, if you search his name online, you get a very different impression: hundreds of posts, smearing his reputation, all over the internet.
In this interview with Olly, Guy explains why - despite a court ruling against the person ruining his reputation - these posts live on.
Did I Kill The British Sitcom?
Jimmy Donny Cosgrove co-wrote one of the decade’s biggest comedy flops: BBC 1 sitcom ‘Warren’, starring Martin Clunes. Lambasted on social media and derided by critics, the Daily Telegraph claimed it was ‘the final nail in the coffin for British sitcom’.
Jimmy’s agent dumped him. He received death threats. And he hasn’t had a show on TV since.
In this frank and funny conversation with Olly, Ji
Playback: The Unlucky Ones
To celebrate our tenth anniversary, we're replaying Producer Matt's favourite interview from our extensive back catalogue.
Jo and Steve Peck suffered not one, not two, but recurrent miscarriages over the course of four years, before seeking private treatment.In this searingly honest, compelling interview with Olly, they reveal the toll this took on their marriage, their work and their mental heal
The Confession That Went Viral - Matthew Cordle
Drink-driving one night, Matthew Cordle caused a head-on collision that killed 61-year-old Vincent Canzani.
His confession on YouTube - ‘I Killed A Man’ - became one of the most controversial viral videos of its era, amassing millions of views and sparking debate about accountability, remorse, and the nature of public confession.
Twelve years later, Cordle tells Olly his story, in unflinching d
Playback: The Two Billion Dollar Man
In his 20s, yet running a $50billion book, Kweku Adoboli had worked his way up the trading floor at the very point the market crashed.
His actions wiped £2.7bn from the UBS share price, prompted the resignation of their chief executive - and got him a seven-year jail sentence for fraud.
In this remarkable interview with Olly, he reveals a corporate culture of ‘wilful blindness’, explains how he
Drawn To Justice
From Gary Glitter to Rose West; Prince Harry to Harold Shipman… courtroom artist Priscilla Coleman has sketched them all, over five decades documenting Britain’s biggest criminal trials.
In UK courts, artists can’t sketch inside, so she begins by writing what she sees, combining shorthand notes with a photographic memory technique. Under tight deadlines - and often without even a table - she rush
How To Be A Dad, part 11
Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith return for their annual catch-up with Olly, comparing notes on the pleasures and pitfalls of parenthood.
With their boys now aged 9½, the Dads’ latest life advice includes how to remove a games console from the sitting room (without triggering a row); splitting Summer holidays into ‘manageable blocks’; giving their sons feedback without it sounding like criticism; a
Playback: The Theme Park Designer
Theme parks have transformed from the travelling fairs of the fifties and Disney-inspired family resorts into playgrounds for adrenalin junkies of all ages. So, how do ride designers meet the needs of their discerning public?
Bradley Wynne, lead creative artist at Merlin Magic Making, is a man who knows - he's spent a lifetime obsessing about all things theme park and is now heading up the team
I Survived A Plane Crash
Perry Burns was just 13 when his once-in-a-lifetime trip on an RAF plane ended in a devastating crash. It left him with burns over nearly half his body.
In this gripping conversation with Olly, Perry relives the moment he thought he’d died; the fireball he escaped; and the chain of miracles that saved his life...
He shares the pain of recovery, the power of one relentless teacher, and how love h
Playback: My Trans Journey (with update)
What’s the reality of male-to-female transitioning on the NHS?
Lexi Perry-Weston says the online resources she found didn’t relate to her experiences at all.
In this interview with Olly, she explains how she’s been supported in her trans journey by her family, her workplace and the medical establishment - but also harassed by the public, fetishised by partners and discriminated against by busin
A Good Divorce
When Nick Coffer’s marriage fell apart, the breakup was a battlefield. Embroiled in high conflict, overwhelming stress, and crushing legal fees, he had to redefine his role as a father while struggling to maintain his cheeriness as a BBC broadcaster.
But from the chaos, Nick forged a new path: re-training as a family mediator. Determined to rescue others from his mistakes, he now shatters stalema
Playback: After The Car Crash
Jim Finch’s life changed forever when his car flipped over in a devastating accident that left him with multiple neurological issues.
He developed PTSD, suffered from seizures - and even became afflicted with Tourettes.
But the medication he was prescribed was almost as bad: triggering fits, impotence and bloody discharge. Then he discovered cannabis...
CONTENT WARNING: interview includes accou
No More Magnolia
After witnessing bleak conditions inside a mental health unit, artists Tim A. Shaw and Niamh White decided to take action.
Drawing on their background in contemporary art, they set out to transform sterile clinical spaces with bold, thought-provoking artworks, via their charity, Hospital Rooms.
Today, they commission over 40 leading artists a year to create immersive, site-specific pieces in ps
Playback: Mr & Mrs... & Mrs
It began as a threesome, arranged through dating app Feeld.
But soon, Maggie and Cody realised their connection to Janie was more than sexual…
No longer just an adventurous couple in an open relationship, they had become a ‘thruple’ - whose relationship with Janie (their ‘third’) was as vital and equitable as their marriage to each other.
In this interview with Olly, they explain the importan
Revenge Of The Gig Worker
When Armin Samii signed up to deliver food for Uber Eats, his intentions were to explore his city, and help pay off his new bike.
He soon realised the app was poorly configured for cyclists, and uncovered glitches including a non-existent branch of McDonald’s. But getting support from Uber was frustrating.
When he believed they were also underestimating his mileage - and therefore underpaying hi
Playback: The Inseminator
Sperm donors are anonymised in British clinics.
Recipients don’t even get to see a photo of the man who will father their child. Donor-conceived kids can only discover the identity of their biological father upon reaching adulthood themselves.
But Mitch Kennedy is a private donor. His sperm has been used by 23 couples - and he’s met them all. In most cases, he’s slept in their spare room during th
Holding The Line: Fighting Wildfires
California wildfires ripped through L.A. this year, killing 29 people, destroying more than 18,000 buildings, and putting wildland fires back into the headlines. But what’s it like being one of the poorly-paid workers sent in to risk your life to fight the flames?
Wildland firefighter Nathan Bell has ‘held the line’ across the United States: in Elk City, Idaho; on the North Rim of the Grand Cany
Playback: Lost At Sea
Falling overboard following a fit of food poisoning, Brett Archibald survived 28 hours alone in the Indian Ocean.
In this extraordinary interview with Olly, he re-lives his onslaught of hallucinations, his encounter with a shark and how he contemplated certain death...
Read more about Brett's amazing story on his website, and in his book, Alone.
This episode first aired in October 2017. Now re
Naked and Exhausted
Imagine building a brand from scratch, and running your business for fifteen years - only to be told by a global corporation that your name isn’t yours to keep.
That’s what happened to Rebecca Dowdeswell, founder of waxing business NKD, when she received a legal letter from cosmetics giant L’Oréal, opposing her application to renew her trademark.
In this compelling conversation with Olly, Rebec
PLAYBACK: A Restaurant Ruined My Life
With zero experience running a professional kitchen, home cook Robert Maxwell poured his life savings into his passion project: a gastropub-inspired Toronto restaurant. It became a crash-course in coping with stress, managing his cashflow, and curbing his ego.
"I was Don Quixote. I was chasing a windmill. I didn’t see the obstacles in my way."
In this funny, forthright interview with Olly, Rober
The Last Supper
Why are so many restaurants closing down? Across Britain, the hospitality industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Twelve months ago, it was the turn of chef Tony Rodd.
His passion for food saw him progress from hosting dinner parties for friends, to being a Masterchef runner-up, to eventually opening his dream London restaurant - Copper & Ink, in affluent Blackheath.
But the dream unravelled.
☃️ Christmas 🍷Spectacular 🦌 2024!
Join Olly Mann and the gang for our bumper festive extravaganza… Featuring:
🎶 Live music from Sons of Town Hall – the Victorian-inspired duo from the Madmen Cross The Water podcast join us to serenade the season with their folksy harmonies - and test their Anglophiliac credentials with a Mannfan-made ‘citizenship test’…
💸 To Tip or Not to Tip? – Wondering how much to tip your postie, milkman, or
Playback: The Brothel Brothers
Being a landlord means trusting strangers to live in your house.
Try as you might, you can't know everything about them. Sometimes, you just have to rely on an instinct that your tenants are good people. Until, that is, you get a knock on the door from the police...
That's what happened to listener Ian from Dublin. In this interview with Olly, he re-lives the moment he became involved in an armed
What Happened To My House?
Trashed rooms. Plastic sheeting. Dodgy ductwork. When Mike Senior returned to his rental property in Cambridge, he uncovered a scene straight out of a crime drama.
In this interview with Olly, he reveals how some tenants from Gumtree turned his Dream Home into a landlord’s nightmare…
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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates the trend for A.I.-assisted recruitment.
Employe
Playback: My Dad's Assisted Death
Medically assisted dying is legal in Canada, where over 10,000 people end their lives through euthanasia each year, and over 80% of applications are approved.
Robin Farr, from Calgary, watched as her Dad, Mike, developed a rare lung disease that limited his breathing, massively impacting his quality of life. Then he decided to make use of the MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) laws.
In this honest
Speaking In Tongues
Sarah McCammon’s upbringing was steeped in evangelical culture—raised as a Charismatic Christian in Kansas City, Missouri, she asked God for salvation at just two years old.
Soon she was ‘street witnessing’, trying to convert strangers to her mega-church; praying at family dinners for the salvation of her atheist grandfather; and crediting Jesus for healing her stubbed toe.
As a teen, she follow
Playback: Exposing Psychic Fraudsters
Private Investigator Bob Nygaard specialises in bringing psychics to justice.
Fortune-tellers, offering palm-reading for as little as ten dollars, are a common sight in New York City. But when they swindle their clients out of six-figure sums, it’s ex-NYPD officer Bob on their case…
In this sensational interview with Olly, Bob reveals how the criminals he pursues prey on vulnerable victims, the t
When People Disappear
In a missing persons investigation, the initial hours and days are crucial.
Establishing a relationship with the missing person’s family, absorbing their behavioural characteristics, and managing media interest in the story are all essential parts of the toolkit for officers charged with finding them alive.
But, 27 years ago, when Charlie Hedges MBE was assigned his first missing persons case, su
PLAYBACK: How To Be A Dad, part 1
Scratch mittens, strained relationships and GP-sanctioned fingering
Nine years ago, comedians Stuart Goldsmith and Tom Price joined Olly to discuss their impending fatherhood.
What impact will it have on their respective relationships? Why does society appear to offer such a lack of support to men embarking upon their first baby? Do men need to know about the mucus plug?
They discuss all this, p
How To Be A Dad, part 10
Playing with knives, navigating the ‘Dad Race’ at Sports Day, and getting a ‘backstreet assessment’ for dyslexia are on the conversational menu as comedians Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith reunite with fellow father Olly Mann to discuss the pleasures and pains of parenthood.
Now aged 8, their boys are dealing with TikTok addiction, grappling with the instant gratification of Amazon deliveries, and
Playback: Micronesia's Got Talent ⚽
Paul Watson realised he would never play football for England - so attempted, instead, to be recruited by the worst international team in the world. His quest lead him to Pohnpei, Micronesia; and, although he never realised his dream of becoming an international soccer star, he ended up coaching them instead...
What's it like training a team 9000 miles away from home, in a country with no footbal
I ₿ought A Football Club
Peter McCormack, Bedford’s ‘budget Ryan Reynolds’, is on a mission to take his local team all the way to the Premier League ⚽️
When he bought Bedford FC in 2021, they were in the tenth tier, and unknown outside the town.
After rebranding them as Real Bedford, securing investment from the Winklevoss twins, and internationalising his business model, the Bitcoin guru has achieved back-to-back prom
Playback: Meet Wes Streeting
In the wake of the Brexit referendum in 2017, Wes Streeting had only been an MP for two years... and had won two elections in as many years. In this month's Playback, we take you back to that time - away from the election spin of 2024 - to understand the man most likely to be Britain's new health secretary.
Would you be an MP, at a time when public trust in politicians has fallen to the lowest lev
Negotiating Nudity: The Intimacy Coordinator
Sex scenes are a feature of modern filmmaking, yet require meticulous planning and sensitive handling in a post-#MeToo world.
Enter intimacy coordinator Lucy Fennell - whose credits include True Detective, All Of Us Strangers, and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Navigating Hollywood power dynamics, she assists storytellers, whilst also protecting performers in their vulnerable moments.
In t
Playback: The Man Who Stole My Year
What’s it like when the person you’re closest to in the world isn't who you think they are?
Elizabeth* spent a year dating a man who provided only sketchy details about his life, but ingratiated himself into her friendship circle, her family and her home.
In this interview with Olly, she reveals how it felt to discover he was living a double-life, and how it’s affected her trust ever since...
This
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My Real Identity
Patricia never knew her birth parents. And she didn’t care to: adopted by a white family in Toronto, she felt awkward and embarrassed when people perceived her as Korean.
But, in her twenties, at the insistence of family and friends, she began a journey of discovery to uncover her roots: a bumpy ride that would take her to the other side of the world, into the arms of dubious private investigators
Playback: The Diver Who Got In Too Deep
Smuggling marijuana from Thailand to Alaska; trading illicit fuel in Nigeria; evading the law in France - Robert Stone did it all.
From one small fishing boat in the Bahamas he built up a veritable fleet of vessels - including a 6000-tonne oil tanker - devoted to his businesses empire.
In this incredible interview with Olly, Robert reveals what it was like to be making a million dollars per month,
I Was A Drug Dealer
Stu Otten was raised on a tough Liverpool estate, where drug-taking was rife, and established crime families enacted violent retribution.
Aged 17, he became a bar-room bouncer - and soon found himself dealing drugs, protecting human traffickers, and defending his territory in a turbulent turf war.
In this raw, insightful interview, Stu reveals to Olly the self-loathing, drug-induced hallucinatio
Playback: My Head Is Killing Me
Dr Stuart Farrimond was a disillusioned Junior Doctor. Night-shifts, the grim reality of hospital life and emotional exhaustion were all taking their toll - but he was in denial about what might be killing him.
In this extraordinary interview with Olly, he explains how an eating disorder and an unexpected diagnosis derailed his career and his marriage - but also how, in the most desperate of circu
Am I Autistic?
Lexi struggled to ‘read’ faces. She walked on her toes. She craved routine. She didn’t like her food to touch on a plate, and she was sensitive to light and sound.
But, until she was 27, she didn’t know she was autistic.
Lexi only took a test when - as a paramedic, grappling with erratic shifts and sleep disturbance - she sought help with anxiety and depression.
In this candid conversation with
Playback: The Gentleman Bank Robber
Extreme highs, extreme lows, and a bungled bank robbery
Radcliffe Royds had it all - a private education; a job in the City; a wife and kids. So, how did he find himself robbing a bank with a banana, high on crack cocaine, whilst living in a skip in Soho?
In this incredible interview, he tells Olly his outrageous story. It's a tale of extreme highs and lows, brutal honesty and dark humour.
This in
Our Conviction
Sue Beere’s husband, John, was jailed for his role in a £53 million drug-smuggling plot.
He’s spent time in a maximum-security prison. He’s lost two appeals.
But Sue has never doubted his innocence.
Alongside charity Appeal, Sue continues to campaign for his conviction to be quashed - and for all the ‘Freshwater Five’ implicated in the alleged cocaine conspiracy to be exonerated.
In this compe
Playback: CEO at 22
Raising $1m in venture capital whilst still at Uni; starting a business seemed like child's play for James Routledge. His start-up attracted 50m page views per month, and his investors believed he could be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
Except, beneath the surface, he felt stressed, isolated and alone - and his business was burning £30,000 per month. In this honest and compelling interview with Olly, h
Veganuary: Planting The Seed
Yorkshire couple Matthew Glover and Jane Land created Veganuary at their kitchen table.
Inspired by Movember, their concept of challenging the nation to try veganism for a month gained incredible momentum via social media, and became a global organisation.
But, along the way, it drained their finances, crashed their servers, and ate up their Christmasses...
In this interview with Olly, the hu
🎄 Christmas 🥂 Spectacular 2023! 🎅
Olly, Alix and Ollie are under the mistletoe for our annual festive ding-dong, with sensational live music, a feelgood Christmas task, and a bucketload of obscene toys. Deck the Halls!
First up, Ollie Peart reports back on his mission to unite to match up the world’s Mann-fans with skills and needs in his philanthrotainment-bashing charity concept, The Modern 2023 Skill-a-thon.
Jingle your bells
Hearts And Minds
Caz Jaine faced danger, isolation and even assault when she took a foreign office role in Basra during the ‘reconstruction’ phase of the Iraq war.
But she thrived on the adrenalin of conflict zones - and was even diagnosed with ‘post-traumatic development’...
As she explains to Olly in this wide-ranging conversation, her subsequent experiences as a Police emergency call handler led her to broad
Return To Sender: The Post Office Scandal Revisited
After twenty years, Kamran Ashraf is still seeking justice.
Wrongfully sent to prison by the Post Office, he and his family are one of 700 subpostmasters and sub postmistresses that were convicted on false evidence - provided by a broken computer system known as Horizon.
Three years after our original interview, we discover what happened next. Was his appeal successful? And what will it take to se
The Private Prosecutor
Britain’s shoplifters fear David McKelvey. His companies, TM Eye and My Local Bobby, have brought over 1,200 private prosecutions - and never lost a case.
Commandeering a commercial force of savvy ex-coppers, David pursues thieves the Police usually let go with a caution - guys who steal steaks from Waitrose and flog them to restaurants, and housewives hawking fake handbags on Facebook.
In thi
How To Be A Dad, Part 9
Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith return to the show to compare notes with Olly on raising their now seven-and-a-half year-old boys.
Can they now swear freely in front of their kids? How best to deal with ‘8pm extension negotiations’ at bedtime? And how should one answer the ‘Is Santa real?’ question?
Plus, how to use ‘Frozen 2’ as a teaching device, the pitfalls of monitoring WhatsApp messages, an
The Snake Man of South Wales
Since encountering a grass snake at the age of eight, Dr Rhys Jones has felt a profound connection with reptiles.
He has rescued them, toured the country with them and even studied them at Cardiff University; an achievement that seemed impossible when he graduated from school with just 3 O Levels - and undiagnosed dyslexia.
In this adventure-packed chat with Olly, Rhys reveals how his snake-char
Sex, Sobriety and Rock & Roll
Booze, drugs and music are deeply intertwined - from the beers given to bands in their ‘riders’ to the excessive consumption facilitated by festivals and after-show parties.
For music promoter Chris De Banks, consuming up to thirty pints a day had become typical behaviour. In the fug of his addiction, he lost jobs, friends and self-respect.
Following rehab in 2016, he founded Not Saints, the UK’
The 24 Weekers
Elaine Gregersen was 24 weeks pregnant when her waters broke. Having endured sickness throughout her high-risk pregnancy, she and husband Mark had not suspected anything sinister was happening when she appeared to be suffering from bladder weakness too.
After a traumatic 24 hours in the maternity ward, the Gregersens were faced with the reality that their twin boys, Henry and Blake, were unlikel
Mike, Inc
Imagine delegating your decisions to a group of people online, some of whom are total strangers. Imagine sharing the most intimate parts of your life in order to get their approval. Imagine answering your personal problems in the same way a bank asks its shareholders to vote on corporate outcomes.
This is the life chosen by Mike Merrill. Since 2008 - when he created 100,000 shares of himself and
Why I Make Porn
Rosie Hodsdon was struggling to make ends meet on a pHD stipend. Then she hit Record and began to make sex videos from her student flat, indulging her fetish for kink.
As she explains to Olly in this intimate conversation, her sexy side-hustle introduced her to a range of peccadillos, including ‘Giantess’ porn and ‘sploshing’ - and even led her to be invited to join the cast of a professional adul
Challenge Ian
Ian Mudge was a teenage punk, whose exploits included chucking chairs out of a train window.
He became a teacher, whose unconventional methods and connection with kids saw him rise through the ranks, becoming Headteacher of a Pupil Referral Unit - responsible for educating some of Britain’s most challenging children, many with histories of violence and abuse.
As he explains to Olly in this live
Adventures In Microdosing
Ketamine and magic mushrooms are notorious for their damaging side-effects, including paranoia, depression and other ‘bad trips’.
But the process of carefully administering small amounts of these drugs - so-called ‘microdosing’ - is now gaining traction both recreationally and in medical settings.
In this episode, Olly meets NHS worker Nathan*, who credits his psilocybin experiments with improving
Christmas Spectacular 2022
Olly, Alix and Ollie gather round the podcasting chimney for a festive knees-up, with musical guest Ashley Singh and entrepreneur Jules Parker. There are yuletide songs, holiday films, a ‘Christmas collab’ - and, of course, the LEGENDARY XXXMas Foxhole Christmas Quiz. Ho ho ho!
First up, Ollie Peart has bought his one year-old child a skateboard, so can he be trusted to go into business with fabu
Inside Strangeways
Neil 'Sam' Samworth spent 11 years as a prison officer at HMP Manchester - better known as Strangeways, one of Britain’s most notorious jails.
Building rapport with the men incarcerated there, he prided himself on de-escalating violent and threatening situations; an approach becoming increasingly impossible as the prison service churns through staff.
In this interview with Olly, he confronts corru
Contrast, Colour, Texture, Tone
Vanessa Potter lost her sight in just 72 hours - the result of a rare condition that doctors struggled to diagnose.
In this interview with Olly, she recalls how it felt to experience the rapid deterioration of her vision and simultaneous paralysis; why her two young children aided her recovery; and explains how the process helped pivot her career…
Vanessa co-founded the ParkBathe project. Her boo
The Countdown
Medically assisted dying is legal in Canada, where over 10,000 people end their lives through euthanasia each year, and over 80% of applications are approved.
Robin Farr, from Calgary, watched as her Dad, Mike, developed a rare lung disease that limited his breathing, massively impacting his quality of life. Then he decided to make use of the MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) laws.
In this honest
How To Be A Dad, Part 8
Videogames, testosterone and triage - it’s all in day’s work when you’ve got a six year old boy, as Olly explores with fellow Dads Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith in this eighth instalment of our annual ‘How To Be A Dad’ series.
Along the way, our trio consider ‘the joy’ of morning routines, how to play ‘child Carcassonne’, and the environmental ethics of party bags…
To catch up on the story so far
Out of the Fog
When adults adopted as children feel lost or incomplete - even if they had a happy childhood - they often describe themselves as ‘being in the fog’.
For Vicky Sandison, who was told her mother’s birth mother’s name at the age of nine, it was the internet that spurred her on to investigate who she really was.
First via Friends Reunited, then MySpace and now 23&Me, Vicky has been piecing together he
The Blueprint
Reggie Nelson grew up on an East London council estate to alcoholic parents. With drugs and violence all around him, he underperformed academically, and felt the only career options available to him were “music, football or crime”.
Quintin Price grew up in India, with a cook, butler, and driver. His father was an international banker; his mother a committed philanthropist. After boarding school a
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