Genuine Chit-Chat

This week Mike speaks with Tracey Maxfield about the bullying epidemic, mental health and her book, Escaping The Rabbit Hole. For more detail, Mike & Tracey’s chat begins with Tracey’s recounting her journey through nursing and what led her to her nervous breakdown, this leads onto Tracey’s book Escaping The Rabbit Hole and her journey through acute depression, this is followed by Tracey speaking...

This week brings a chat between Mike and John Vespasian; an author, avid historian and endorser of “rational living” – definitely a chat for anyone wanting to improve their life, achieve their goals or anyone with an interest in history! The chat begins with John explaining rational living using the example of Howard Carter & his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb before delving into how having futur...

This week brings part 2 of the first 2020 chat with a fellow podcaster – Mike speaks with Janine Mercer of the ODDentity Podcast & the upcoming podcast The Vanishing Hitchhiker! In part 2 of their chat, begins with a delve into health & finite living, dealing with the deaths of people you know in different ways, people passing down stories which then moves into a discussion on the difference betwe...

This week brings the first chat with a fellow podcaster of 2020 – Mike speaks with Janine Mercer of the ODDentity Podcast & the upcoming podcast The Vanishing Hitchhiker! In part 1 of their chat, Mike & Janine talk about collecting artefacts, Janine then tells a few brilliant tales of her past (including one of exploring a mine and one about donkey balls) and discusses some paranormal experiences...

For the second part of first episode of 2020, Mike is joined by returning guest & movie buff, Alex Hart for a full round-up of movies from the last year as well as many others (also joined by the self-proclaimed co-host Megan)! This week, their movie chat continues with a spoiler-free discussion on Joker and why they do not believe a sequel would work well, followed by a general discussion on sequ...

For the first episode of 2020, Mike is joined by returning guest & movie buff, Alex Hart for a full round-up of movies from the last year as well as many others (also joined by the self-proclaimed co-host Megan)! In part 1 Alex chats with Megan & Mike about a few things (such as hiking) before delving into the full movie discussion where a great many movies are discussed and there are *NO SPOILERS...

This week Mike is once again joined by Nick & Ciara of the This Is The Best Thing podcast (also joined by Mike’s girlfriend and self-proclaimed co-host, Megan), to talk about their show as well as hundreds of other tangents & ramblings – this is definitely a show for the sillier members of the audience! In this week’s part, the four’s tangentical chat starts with a discussion on boybands continues...

This week Mike is joined by Nick & Ciara of the This Is The Best Thing podcast (also joined by Mike’s girlfriend and self-proclaimed co-host, Megan), to talk about their show as well as hundreds of other tangents & ramblings – this is definitely a show for the sillier members of the audience! Part 1 of their chat they discuss a huge matter of random things, but in brief; West Side Story-style clic...

For Genuine Chit-Chat’s 2-parter 75th episode, Mike is joined by Scott of the 20th Century Geek podcast and Chris & Dave from the Comics In Motion & VHS Strikes Back podcasts for a collaborative special for the build up to The Rise Of Skywalker. An in-depth look at A New Hope can be found on both Comics In Motion & VHS Strikes Back’s feeds while our collective thoughts on the original & prequel tr...

For Genuine Chit-Chat’s 75th episode, Mike is joined by Scott of the 20th Century Geek podcast and Chris & Dave from the Comics In Motion & VHS Strikes Back podcasts for a collaborative special for the build up to The Rise Of Skywalker. An in-depth look at A New Hope can be found on both Comics In Motion & VHS Strikes Back’s feeds while our collective thoughts on the original & prequel trilogies w...

This week Mike once again joined by traveller, author and positive thinker; Adam De Collibus for a discussion about his new book Caravan , his travels around the world, the importance of perspective and much more! This episode is part 2 where you can hear Mike & Adam discussing Adam’s future as an author and some of Adam’s literary influences, before a brief talk on movies including (Tarantino & T...

This week Mike is joined by traveller, author and positive thinker; Adam De Collibus for a discussion about his new book Caravan , his travels around the world, the importance of perspective and much more! In part 1 of their chat, Mike & Adam discuss a great many things including interacting with people from different countries & cultures, why Adam decided to write a book and his love of storytell...

This week Mike is once again joined by his girlfriend Megan Gritti for a chilled out discussion about a many great things including movies, how they met, childhood, religion and much more! In the second part of their chat, Mike & Megan reminisce about hymns, including one called “The Harvest Song” from their time in Catholicism (Megan’s Italian family and Mike’s primary school), memories from pre-...

This week Mike is joined by his girlfriend Megan Gritti for a chilled out discussion about a many great things including movies, teaching, Italy and religion! Their chat begins with talk of their new pet tortoise Wickette (female version of the ewok name Wicket from Star Wars) before discussing their new coffee machine and the recent love of espresso after a trip to Italy to see Megan’s family, be...

This week Mike is once again joined by Aidan Rosewell, host of the Room and Days Of My Life podcasts - he opens up about the difficulties in his early life, drug addiction, self-realisation, spiritual beliefs and much more! In part 2, Mike & Aidan’s discussion on addiction & drug reform continues, before Aidan talks about his spiritual/religious beliefs and their issues with mainstream religion, A...

This week Mike is joined by Aidan Rosewell, host of the Room and Days Of My Life podcasts - he opens up about the difficulties in his early life, including his mother passing away, drug addiction, self-realisation, being a dad and much more! Part 1 of their chat begins with Aidan talking about his autobiographical audio drama podcast “Days Of My Life” and when he overdosed on amphetamine before di...

This week Mike is once again joined by Tony Farina; Assistant Professor of Humanities at Siena Heights University, reviewer of comics & audiobooks, an early adopter of online education and friend of the show! This week their chat continues with the difference between online courses and teaching in-person, how it’s odd that some names are gender-specific while others are androgynous, Tony & Mike th...

This week Mike is joined by Tony Farina; Assistant Professor of Humanities at Siena Heights University, reviewer of comics & audiobooks, an early adopter of online education and friend of the show! Part 1 of their chat begins by talking about how Tony & Mike were introduced before delving into a short Star Wars talk and then moving swiftly onto education. Tony & Mike discuss their early years in s...

This week Mike is joined by Brad Sugars; entrepreneur, owner/chairmen of several companies, author of 17 books, family man and a truly inspirational guy to talk to! Their chat begins with Brad’s entrepreneurial journey before discussing his company ActionCOACH , as well as why he believes travelling is so important, his experiences speaking to people on a 1-to-1 level as well as in large seminars,...

This week is part 2 of the long-awaited chat with the London-based independent rapper, manga author, entrepreneur and occasional ninja, Shao Dow! This week, Mike & Shao Dow continue their chat, discussing a wide variety of topics, but they begin with Shao Dow’s Kaioken video and link to Dragonball Z/Super, which leads to a long discussion on what Shao Dow & Mike do and do not enjoy about the show...

This week is the long-awaited chat with the London-based independent rapper, manga author, entrepreneur and occasional ninja, Shao Dow! Their chat begins with how & why Shao Dow became a full-time rapper before they delve into the process of creating & releasing rap songs (including his newest single “Burn Out” ). Shao Dow then talks about his time on the high-street selling CDs (& why he no longe...

This week brings part 2 of Mike’s chat with Calum Stone – vocalist & frontman of the UK metalcore band Placeholder! In this part, Mike & Calum discuss self-promoting on social media, Placeholder’s three new music videos & their meaning along with the theme of their newest release ‘Despise Me’, they then speak about misheard song lyrics, some of the negative & positive feedback Calum has received o...

This week marks Mike’s return from his two weeks off while he was in Mexico with returning guest Calum Stone – vocalist & frontman of the UK metalcore band Placeholder! Part 1 of their chat starts with a discussion on Stranger Things S3 (no spoilers as Mike hadn’t seen it when this was recorded) and Calum’s love for Gordon Ramsay, before discussing Calum being recognised for his music, using CDs a...

This week is something a little bit different – as I (Mike) am going to Mexico for 10 days, I wanted to take a break from podcasting so I wouldn’t have to work while away and to ensure I don’t rush any upcoming episodes. In this episode, I just basically just ramble on for 40 minutes, talking about my trip to Mexico, some of the ins & outs of my podcasting schedule and why I’ve decided to take a b...

This week Mike chats with Amanda Steel – an author of novels, poems & short stories, as well as creating a quarterly written media publication called Printed Words and being one half of the Reading In Bed Podcast! In their chat, they discuss Amanda’s newest book, First Charge as well as Amanda’s other works, when & why she started writing, why she used the pseudonym “Aleesha Black” for her Lost &...