Stories of Men: Beneath the Surface

Here is a special re-released episode of Stories of Men for the Christmas period. You’re a soldier driving through a warzone. You pass through a deserted village. Later you see a lonely crucifix in a field. You find out what it symbolises: one night all of the people in the village were dragged outside of their homes and executed. How do you react? Do you dare to show emotion? Do you dare to show...

It was Cup Final day against the school’s most fierce rivals. Andy was 12 years old and nervously waiting to hear if he would be included in the team. He looked to his dad watching from the sidelines, hoping his name would be announced. Finally, the team was revealed and Andy would be playing in defence. The game kicks off. In the first minute the opposition start to attack. Andy looks on as the r...

When it comes to idyllic childhood’s one would be hard-pressed to think of a more harmonious one than James’. He was raised in Villefrance, a town in  the Alps located along the French and Italian border. There he spent quality time with his father who taught him about the  nurturing power of nature. It was with a sense of horror and disbelief that one day James’ father would tell him th...

Speeding along the motorway listening to music from his youth, Andy was reflecting on happier times. He was thinking about a holiday in Ibiza when he was 19 years old and hadn’t a care in the world. He’d been genuinely happy then.  Now he felt angry, destructive. He saw nothing ahead of him except struggle and pain. He put his foot on the accelerator and saw the speedometer rise to 90 miles p...

It was his first summer holiday with the boys in Spain. Alan and his mates were bragging about all the money they’d brought with them for their two weeks in the sun. Yet, while his mates all seemed to be expressing genuine excitement, Alan felt anxious about the days to come. After the first night out, all of the lads returned in a drunken state. They left their clothes strewn across the apartment...

After the previously independent company that he’d worked for had been bought up by a much larger one, Anuj had begun to lose his passion for his job. The one benefit that had remained was his team, who he thoroughly enjoyed working with. But  even that would come under threat as Anuj was told that he needed to make two of them redundant.  Anuj decided that it was time for him to formula...

Jonathan was daydreaming while his chemistry professor was putting chalk to blackboard. He’d snuck his NME magazine into the lecture theatre and was reading about an upcoming gig: Alice in Chains, a world-famous band, were coming to perform in his city! The news got even more exciting; the band’s bassist would soon be leaving. This gave Jonathan a wild idea: why not apply to be the band’s bassist...

It was cup final day and Sumit and his brothers were dreaming of victory. They had all travelled to Kiev to watch Liverpool play the final match in Europe’s premier competition. All the brothers had to do was navigate their way past the burly, gun-toting security guards and find their seats. Once the brothers had entered the stadium, they were dismayed to discover that their seats were a long dist...

*Content warning: This episode contains graphic details of suicide* George had been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while and he was beginning to lose hope that he would ever feel better again. He was living with his parents and had sworn both of them to secrecy about his current state of mind. But one evening his secret was revealed. George’s parents had been out with friends and one...

It was as ordinary a situation as you could imagine: Steve and his girlfriend were in Subway purchasing a sandwich. Steve had decided to go for the healthiest option available: a sandwich which was under 3g in fat. He’d chosen roast chicken, no sauces, no cookies and a diet coke. But as Steve was eating the food in front of him, he began to get nervous. A voice in his head was telling him: “What y...

Adam is driving his teenage daughter to Oxford. During the 1-hour journey, a few meaningful looks are exchanged. He is trying to be strong, but he feels nervous about the future, nervous about the prospect of relinquishing control. Eventually they arrive in a leafy suburb and are directly outside of a large building. Adam knows that this is the place where he must leave her. He goes to help her wi...

Mark was outside the door, his brother was locked in. The student apartment they were in was rat-infested and in complete disarray. All Mark’s brother had access to was 20 sausage rolls, a bottle of ketchup and a bucket. It was Mark who had access to the keys. His brother began by pleading with Mark to open the door. Then he started to threaten and scream. It was when his brother seemed to be losi...

It was March 2020 and Brad had just received confirmation that his current business model had become unworkable. A lockdown had been ordered following the pandemic, and the vast quantities of money that had been flowing through Brad’s account were set to disappear overnight. Brad’s wife was in tears as she learned the news. But Brad knew that tears were not going to help him: this was a moment for...

Jimmy was sitting in the waiting room thinking carefully about the decision he was about to announce. He had risen to a point of great success in his career, he was literally operating in the corridors of power. He sat there thinking carefully about each word he was going to utter. Up to now, nothing had been announced, he could go back on his plan. Was he really making the right decision? Could h...

*Content warning: This episode contains graphic details of suicide* It was a perfect storm of events and emotions. Dan had recently lost his mother. He’d had a number of business ventures which had not worked out. He was also struggling with his mental health. As a result, he decided to take a walk along the quiet streets at night, hoping that no-one would see him. He had a length of rop...

Valerio grew up in a small Italian province. He enjoyed his life and was comfortable in his surroundings. It was something of a shock to the system, then, when his dad got a job in London while Valerio was just 12 years old. Valerio found himself moving to a metropolis, where he didn’t speak the language and knew nothing of the culture.  It was at his new school that life was most difficult....

It was a day as ordinary as any other. Luke was taking a leisurely stroll to the shops when he began to feel the strangest of sensations. He felt time beginning to slow down. He experienced a feeling of entering a parallel universe, a place where reality no longer existed. He was fighting a battle against his own sense of truth, a truth he had known for years.  The cause of these feelings was...

“The Waffle Shop”, a podcast started by James, had been doing particularly well when he decided to throw his first ever live event. Everything was in place; however, as the beginning of the event approached, James began to experience extreme anxiety back-stage. He was sweating profusely. His fists were tightly clenched. He couldn’t help but think about the repercussions if this event were not to b...

Matt was on his way to the fertility clinic in order to produce a sample for his wife’s IVF treatment. This would be the 7th time the couple had attempted the procedure and it would likely be the final time they would have the financial and emotional resources to do so. At the clinic, Matt couldn’t help but notice how unconducive the environment was to achieving his goal. The wifi was dodgy and th...

It was a beautiful summer’s day and Kevin was enjoying a boat trip along a picturesque canal with his girlfriend and her parents. His in-laws had arranged the trip as a way to celebrate their daughter’s birthday and they were all appreciating the tranquil waters as their boat bobbed along. As the trip was progressing, Kevin’s father-in-law asked him which sandwich he wanted. For some reason, Kevin...

There was nothing that Arjun loved more than a wedding celebration. It was an opportunity for him to sing and dance and dress in elegant clothing, while also spending time with people he knew and loved. On one particular occasion, however, Arjun was much less excited about celebrating as he discovered that the clothing he had worn at a previous wedding no longer fit. As a result, he needed to borr...

It was a beautiful autumnal morning and Andrew was thoroughly enjoying being at a Senior Golf Tour. During the event, a leaflet was handed to him concerning prostate cancer. He took it out of politeness and immediately shoved it into his pocket unread. It wasn’t until many days later that Andrew chanced upon the leaflet again as he was about to take his dog out for a walk. This time, he decided to...

Kazeem had always had a strained relationship with his father. His dad abandoned him when he was a baby and Kazeem only ever had fleeting experiences of spending time with him as he was growing up. After his dad hit him across the face at the age of 12, Kazeem completely broke off relations with his father. But, aged 21 and now an adult, Kazeem decided to give his father one last chance. On Kazeem...

As a queer man, Matt had always found the barbershop to be a particularly hyper-masculine space. He’d got on with everyone there, particularly the owner, but he had never felt comfortable enough to truly open up and be himself. It was to his great surprise, then, that when entering the barbershop one day he was introduced to a new employee: a flamboyant Brazilian, who seemed to embrace all of the...

David was exploring the world while scaling the heady heights of multi-sports journalism. In only his second “proper job” post-university, he found himself unexpectedly appointed editor of a new magazine specialising in all-terrain vehicles. As this was the only magazine of its kind, David received invites from manufacturers the world over in order to assess and review their products.  It was...