Episodes

  • Playback: The Diver Who Got In Too Deep

    Playback: The Diver Who Got In Too Deep
    Apr 26 2024
    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, switching between dozens of aliases and risking his life on the high seas... This interview first aired as Diving To Adventure in August 2018. We've paired it with I Was A Drug Dealer from this month - check it out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • I Was A Drug Dealer

    I Was A Drug Dealer
    Apr 10 2024
    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 hallucinations and spiritual awakening that led him away from his marriage, his city, and organised crime - and into seeking forgiveness from those he’d hurt the most. Stu now works for Causeway, stepping in to prevent today’s young people from echoing his mistakes. Find out more about his work, and donate, via their website, https://www.wearecauseway.org.uk/ —-- Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart examines how, in this election year, the war for our votes is being fought online - from A.I.-generated memes to disinformation campaigns. How do MPs stay on top of fake news? How can social media users research who’s targeting them? And - eight years on from Donald Trump’s first Presidential election - how come foreign entities are still able to buy their way on to our Facebook feeds? —-- Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox discovers ‘fraysexuality’, and asks if some men get off on… having STI swabs. If urethral sounding does give you a kick, what’s the safest way to introduce it to your sex life? What are the downsides of a ‘doctors and nurses’ fetish? And IS ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’ by the Rednecks really about syphilis? With the help of Sophie Cohen from House of Vixens and Dr Kareem Mahmoud from Flo, Alix has the answers… —-- Finally, in music corner, our Record of the Month comes from Aberdeen punk rockers Cold Years, and their not-very-aptly-for-a-podcast-named new track, ‘Radio’ - from their forthcoming album, ‘A Different Life’. —-- Thanks so much for listening! Our monthly magazine show relies on your support - so, if you enjoy our independent podcast, and want to help us to keep making it, please BUY US A BEER 🍻using the secure links on our website, https://modernmann.co.uk/beer … and we’ll see you on 10th May! x Olly, Alix, Olle & Producer Matt —-- Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Alix Fox, Ollie Peart, Stu Otten, Cold Years. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: ‘Skies Over Cairo’ by Django Django. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2024. Sponsor: BetterHelp. Get started today and enjoy 10% OFF your first month of convenient and affordable therapy at https://betterhelp.com/mann Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 34 mins
  • Playback: My Head Is Killing Me

    Playback: My Head Is Killing Me
    Mar 29 2024
    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 circumstances, his life could still change for the better… This interview first aired in 2018. Now remastered and with an update from Stuart, we've paired this episode with Am I Autistic? - if you have an episode from our past you'd like to recommend, let us know at modernmann.co.uk/feedback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 mins
  • Am I Autistic?

    Am I Autistic?
    Mar 10 2024
    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 Olly, she considers the ‘trigger points’ for her struggles, explains her support system, and reveals how adjustments have seen her progress in her career and romantic relationships. Content Warning: self-harm. Find out more about autism from the National Autistic Society — Elsewhere, in The Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates the intersection of eSports and motor racing. Can platforms like iRacing truly replicate the physics, design, and engineering of real-world cars? Why don’t they use VR headsets? And how come more people don’t know about Max Verstappen’s gaming side-hustle? With the help of Paul Crawford, Head of eSports at Motorsport UK, and sim-racer Jonny Elliot, Ollie discovers how (relatively) affordable home simulators might produce the next Will Byron… — Meanwhile, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox - fresh from visiting Dennis Severs’ house in Shoreditch - tackles a bearded listener’s question of grooming… how can he minimise friction and tickles whilst going down on his wife? With the help of ‘Celebs Go Dating’ sexpert Dr Tara, Alix considers the options - from flavoured lubes to beard oils - and explains why a German toy, Belou, might provide a viable alternative… — Finally, our Record of the Month comes from the Isle of Wight’s Lauran Hibberd, whose single ‘2nd Prettiest Girl (In The World)’ is out now. — GET IN TOUCH If you have a letter for Olly, a question for Alix, a challenge for Ollie or want to share your story on our show, visit our website, HTTPS://MODERNMANN.CO.UK and fill out the Feedback form. — THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY… • Readly. Mannfans can get an exclusive, three month FREE trial of unlimited newspapers and magazines at https://www.readly.com/mann • BetterHelp. Get started today and enjoy 10% OFF your first month of convenient and affordable therapy at https://betterhelp.com/mann • BBC Maestro. Use the code MANN to get your 40% off your favourite video course or 40% off a subscription at https://bbcmaestro.com. Let the greatest be your teacher! • Who Gives A Crap? Get 20% off toilet paper that does a world of good at https://uk.whogivesacrap.org/ when you use the code MANN. — Thanks for listening! If you can afford to support the show financially, please buy us a beer - we put every penny back into producing this independent podcast just for YOU. … and we’ll see you with a brand new episode on April 10th. x Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Alix Fox, Ollie Peart, Lauran Hibberd. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: ‘Skies Over Cairo’ by Django Django. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Playback: The Gentleman Bank Robber

    Playback: The Gentleman Bank Robber
    Feb 23 2024
    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 interview first aired in 2016. Now remastered and with an update from Radcliffe, we've paired this episode with Our Conviction. Listen now - and if you have an episode from our past you'd like to recommend, let us know at modernmann.co.uk/feedback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    28 mins
  • Our Conviction

    Our Conviction
    Feb 10 2024
    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 compelling conversation with Olly, Sue recounts how - from John’s unexpected arrest to the shocking outcome of his trial - she has battled stigma, financial struggles, and the British legal system… from her family home on the Isle of Wight. Find out more about Appeal on their website, https://appeal.org.uk/ This episode is sponsored by Readly, who are offering Mann-fans an exclusive, three month trial of unlimited newspapers and magazines. Get yours at readly.com/mann —- Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart is hunting for a cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder… might a simple vitamin tablet do the trick, or is it worth investing in a 10,000 lux therapy lamp?   Or, could the trend for Nordic bathing - plunging from a piping hot sauna into freezing cold water - be a mood-boosting salve for S.A.D? Ollie drags Olly along to the Saltwater Sauna in Sandbanks to find out… The Zeitgeist is sponsored by our friends at Beer52. Claim your FREE case of 8 new and exclusive beers from across the world at https://www.beer52.com/MANN —- Elsewhere, down The Foxhole, Alix Fox - fresh from a mind-blowing movie preview - investigates the booming market in A.I. girlfriends, and uncovers some tasty neologisms for part-time asexuals. Could an over-reliance on ‘fap GPT’ be a bedroom boner-killer? Do straight men get emotional support from their interactions with sex-bots?  With the help of psychotherapist Silva Neves, specialist in sexual compulsive behaviour, and sex robot researcher Dr Chloé Locatelli from King’s College London, Alix has the answers… probably.  If you have a question of sex and relationships for Alix to answer in a future Foxhole, submit if via our website, https://modernmann.co.uk —- Finally, our record of the month comes from Vince Freeman, whose new single, ‘Blame Myself’ - taken from his new album ‘Scars, Ghosts & Glory’, dropping in March - is out now. —- Thanks for listening! If you can afford to support the show financially, please buy us a beer - we put every penny back into producing this independent podcast just for YOU. … and we’ll see you with a brand new episode on March 10th. x Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Alix Fox, Ollie Peart, Sue Beere, Vince Freeman. Thanks: Jude Habib, Sound Delivery. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: ‘Skies Over Cairo’ by Django Django. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2024. This episode includes a paid advertisement by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/mann and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 34 mins
  • Playback: CEO at 22

    Playback: CEO at 22
    Jan 26 2024
    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, he explains what happened next. This interview first aired in 2017 . Now remastered and with an update on Sanctus, we've paired this episode with Veganuary - Planting The Seed. Listen now - and if you have an episode from our past you'd like to recommend, let us know at modernmann.co.uk/feedback James is co-founder of mental health start-up Sanctus. Read the blog-post that started it all here, and sign up to their weekly newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • Veganuary: Planting The Seed

    Veganuary: Planting The Seed
    Jan 10 2024
    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 husband-and-wife entrepreneurs consider the flaws of their early strategy; take us behind-the-scenes of the iconic Greggs’ Vegan Sausage Roll; and reveal how they’ve faced down criticism from within the vegan movement, the meat lobby and Piers Morgan… _____________ The health theme continues in the Zeitgeist, for which Ollie Peart investigates the trend for low and no alcohol wine and spirits. From miniature cordials by high-end ‘wine’ brand Jukes, to a sparkling bottle of Muri’s Sherbert Daydream, Ollie attempts to persuade us there’s so much more to the zero-booze booze market than Beck’s Blue and Shloer.   But, armed with a trio of mixers from British start-up Three Spirits and a miniature bottle of orange juice from Pret, can he persuade Olly to give up his dirty martinis? _____________ Elsewhere, in the Foxhole, Alix Fox advises a listener whose teenage trans daughter has, she suspects, become intimate with her girlfriend - another trans girl she met at her boys’ school. Stepping around the inevitable minefield this question might attract, Alix consults Dee Lou Whitnell, trans activist and founder of the #TransKidsDeserveToGrowUp campaign, to offer stellar advice on supporting this young couple - whilst steering them away from potential problems.  _____________ For our record of the month, it’s over to piano man Tom Odell, whose new song, Black Friday, comes from his new album of the same name.  _____________ If you have a question you’d like to put to Alix, a trend you’d like Ollie to try, a Mannbassadorship request, or a letter for Olly to read out, just fill in the Feedback form on our website, https://modernmann.co.uk There you’ll also find our Beer Money page where you can donate to the show AND HELP US CONTINUE TO MAKE IT. Thanks! … And we’ll see you again on February 10th. _____________________ Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Alix Fox, Ollie Peart, Matthew Glover, Jane Land, Tom Odell. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: ‘Skies Over Cairo’ by Django Django. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2024. This episode includes a paid advertisement by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/mann and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 32 mins