The Modern Mann

Chris Moss has travelled the world. From Vancouver to El Salvador, Indonesia to Spitsbergen. But now… he wants you to visit Wolverhampton. Or Harwich. Or Gillingham. Britain’s bypassed towns that perhaps you’ve passed on the train, but never once got off at. In this entertaining chat with Olly, he explains why - after 37 years exploring Argentina and Patagonia - he now finds joy in a canal walk th...

Martha Adam was raped. For a week afterwards, she couldn’t even say the word. Couldn’t tell her parents what had happened to her. But she did report the assault - and faced hours of courtroom questioning that both embellished and undermined her trauma. In this compelling conversation with Olly, Martha explains how these events restricted her lifestyle, affected her relationships, and made her ques...

When nurse Bernadette Rochford asked awkward questions about an NHS database at work, she says she found herself belittled, bullied and ignored. Identifed as a whistleblower, she went on to face years of meetings, investigations, and two employment tribunal claims. In this compelling conversation with Olly, Bernadette recounts how she lost her job, and her savings - but eventually found validation...

Manny Waks was 11 years old when he was first sexually abused. Raised in the ultra-Orthdaox sect of Judaism known as Chabad, he lacked the education or vocabulary to understand what was going on. By the time he was studying for his bar mitzvah, he was molested by a second perpetrator. Both men were members of staff at his school - the Yeshiva Centre in Melbourne, Australia. In this searingly hones...

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 wi...

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. ———————————— 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 UK we...

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 que...

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 Diana...

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 - inc...

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...

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...

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 commonpl...

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 for W...

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. Ther...

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 how...

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 h...

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 O...

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 t...

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 f...

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...

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. He...

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, Jimm...

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...

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 det...

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 fe...