Matters of the Heart, and other Failures

In Episode 2 of Season Two, Nathan and Scott are back in full ramble mode - covering dietician trauma, disastrous travel planning, and the slow, painful reality of trying to get your life together. Scott kicks things off fresh from a brutally honest appointment where he’s told he’s at his heaviest in 11 years (groundbreaking advice follows: eat less, move more), while Nathan shares the chaos of a...

But we're BACK! After what was meant to be a short festive break, Nathan Sparling and Scott Agnew return for Season Two of Matters of the Heart (and Other Failures) - with fewer hospital appointments, slightly better health updates, and absolutely no improvement in staying on topic. The pair unpack where they’ve been with house moves, winter slumps, broken routines, and the strange difficulty...

Episode 10 is pure, unfiltered chaos - even by Matters of the Heart (and Other Failures) standards. Fresh from an unexpected week off, Nathan and Scott dive straight into a whirlwind of disasters: a flu that left Nathan collapsed on a toilet floor, a trip to the worst stadium in Britain (“a redneck’s ranch held together with plywood”), and a shambolic World Cup draw. Nathan reveals big heart-healt...

In Episode 9, Nathan and Scott deliver peak chaos - a full hour of derailments, medical mishaps, supermarket scandals and Scottish football-induced cardiac events. Scott opens with a confession about nearly being arrested in Tesco for a 10p bag, while Nathan recounts being stopped by Aldi security for mistakenly wandering off with an unpaid tote. From there, the rambling descends beautifully: slee...

In Episode 8, Nathan and Scott arrive late but fully chaotic - recording just one hour before Scotland v Denmark kicks off, sending them into a spiral of football dread, national pride and statistical heartbreak. What begins as a Scotland preview quickly derails into an Olympic-level ramble: birthday confessions, snowball debates (the bakery kind and the marshmallow kind), childhood worm-cutting,...

Episode 7 finds Nathan and Scott in full festive denial and medical mayhem. Between debates about when it’s acceptable to mention Christmas, turning 45 (“born illegal” in pre-1981 Scotland), and A&E adventures with chest pains on Bonfire Night, the pair somehow cover the entire NHS in one episode. Nathan relives his late-night hospital dash - ECGs, overflowing waiting rooms, rogue tea machines...

In Episode 6, Nathan and Scott spiral delightfully from medical updates to utter madness - covering everything from testosterone jabs that take two minutes to inject (nose-level, no less) to surprise weddings, Twilight ceremonies, and why Scotland does fish and chips better than England. Scott shares the saga of his hormone treatment, shrinking two inches in height, and a surprise bit of good hear...

In Episode 5, Nathan Sparling and Scott Agnew go completely off-script - from dental trauma and dodgy crowns to the generational mystery of why Scott’s mum’s mince and tatties are famously inedible. Between tales of weeping skin, hypnotist disasters, and burning £170 & a pack of cigarettes in a stranger’s firepit, the pair somehow circle back to heart health, cough-induced collapses, and quitt...

In this chaotic and hilarious third episode of Matters of the Heart, and Other Failures , Nathan Sparling and Scott Agnew unravel the “Great Tea Incident of October” - the near-death moment that left Scott’s mum traumatised, Nathan speechless, and everyone questioning whether a cuppa can, in fact, kill you. Between tales of Herbalife horrors, collapsing on cardiac rehab walks, and conspiracies abo...

In this heartfelt (and frequently ridiculous) third episode, Nathan Sparling and Scott Agnew pick up where the drama left off - exploring life after diagnosis, discharge, and near-death experiences. From being handed a mystery bag of pills to arguing over the correct way to pronounce words, the pair unpack the strange limbo of recovery with their usual blend of chaos and candour. They chat GPs (th...

In this even bumpier second episode, Scott Agnew takes centre stage with the full, jaw-dropping account of his heart attack during the pandemic - from brushing off chest pains with pints and fags, to walking in to resus, to three cardiac arrests in the back of an ambulance. It’s a story of paramedics turned pals, emergency stents made on the fly, and a mum who didn't know what to say. Along th...

In this bumper first episode, Nathan Sparling and Scott Agnew kick things off with the full story of how Nathan found out he had severe heart failure - following a boozy bike ride, a slow-motion crash, and a very unexpected diagnosis. They cover hospital panic attacks, fluid-filled lungs, the politics of salt, and how ChatGPT became a stand-in nurse. Plus, a Bell’s Palsy scare in Turkey, missing E...

When 35-year-old Nathan found out he had heart failure in the most random way possible, he did what any millennial with a malfunctioning organ would do: he started a podcast. Matters of The Heart, and Other Failures is part health chat, part therapy, and part comedy - where Nathan sits down with comedian pals, paramedics, cardiology pros, and famous faces to talk about heart health… and all the ot...