The Just Checking In Podcast

In episode 151 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with photojournalist Hugh Kinsella-Cunningham. He has covered conflict, health and social issues for The Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian and National Geographic. He works on assignment for organisations including Save the Children and the United Nations and his work has been recognised by Amnesty International and the Sony World Phot...

In episode 150 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we took it back to where it all began by checking back in with JCIP #1 guest, poet and mental health advocate, Tim Fletcher. In Part 2 of Tim's journey, we reflect on the first episode and how far he has come, how far our Founder Freddie Cocker has come and how Vent has grown alongside his mental health recovery. We delve into why the current po...

In episode 149 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with William Jones-Warner. Will is is an immunologist and photographer currently living in London. Will’s photography focuses largely on nature, wildlife and travel. He has produced images for a number of large outdoor brands such as Arc’teryx UK, Sun God and Lindewerdelin and done collaborations with athletes in the outdoor sphere. He i...

In episode 148 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Dulcie Jones. Dulcie currently works as a support time recovery worker in the NHS. Dulcie always had an ambition to become a therapist and during the first Covid-19 lockdown, she felt the urge to pursue this dream fully and left her previous job as a casting director in the arts industry. Dulcie’s day-to-day now involves supporting...

In episode 147 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with sports journalist Oli Fisher. Oli is the Co-Owner and Editor-in-Chief of SempreMilan, a football platform dedicated to providing the best news, features and match English-language coverage of Serie A football team AC Milan. The platform formed in January 2016 and in this episode we discuss how Oli broke into sports journalism, found...

In episode 146 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Claudia Van-Nimwegen. Claudia is a mental health advocate, teacher and theatre artist. In Part 2 of her mental health journey, we discuss her diagnosis in March 2020 of a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia and the impact that has had on her physical and mental health. Since we last checked in, Claudia has also made the...

In episode 145 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jordyn Chasiak-Pratt. Jordyn works in finance in London and moved to the capital after graduating from university. In this episode we discuss the pressure Jordyn faced in school to achieve, perfectionism and being bullied because of her academic ability. After being bullied for this as well as her weight, combined with her perfectio...

In episode 144 of The Just Checking In Podcast previous JCIP guest Connor Smart checked in with our Founder Freddie Cocker for Part 4 of his mental health journey. Connor explored Freddie's journey through three perspectives: 'Defeat', 'Struggle' and 'Growth' and where each one related to different parts of his life. They discussed how Freddie moved from a defeat...

In episode 143 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Duncan Craig OBE. Duncan is is the Founder and CEO of Survivors Manchester. Survivors Manchester is a survivor focused voluntary sector organisation that aims to create and facilitate safe spaces for male survivors of sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation across Greater Manchester providing access to quality assured support. T...

In episode 142 of the Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with David Foy. David works in marketing and has done some work in podcasting himself. Dave lived in a rural area growing up and found the step to a large secondary school quite overwhelming. He would be off sick quite a lot and puts this down to him not liking his school experience. Dave also decided to go to university as a last-minute...

In episode 141 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Micah Fanimo. Micah is the founder of food blog and platform 'Feast with Fanimo', where he reviews restaurants from London, Essex and Liverpool. Micah is also a survivor of domestic abuse and the first male survivor we have had on the podcast. In this episode we discuss his mental health journey; being sent to Nigeria for...

In this episode of Behind The Mic we checked in with Gavin who's lead singer in UK disco band, Zkeletonz. We talk about Gavin's music journey, from organising school concerts for charity to taking it more seriously at university, having big record labels sniffing around them and then starting Zkeletonz purely for fun after a period where Gavin fell out of love with music. We discuss the...

In episode 140 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jasmine Roebuck. Jasmine is the sister of previous JCIP guest and Vent Champion Charlie Roebuck. Jasmine is an events professional but after a negative experience of workplace bullying, she stepped away from events completely to go back to university to complete a Bachelors Degree in Business Management. Jasmine has already written...

In episode 139 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Ashley Belle. Ashley is a bodybuilder, member of the U.S military and trans woman. Ashley served 19 years in the military and left active service in 2016. She’s since re-joined in a non-active role. Ashley made the decision to transition in her mid-40s and began experiencing Gender Dysphoria (GD) when she was around 6/7 years old. A...

In episode 138 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with NJada. NJada is a male based in the U.S who transitioned when he was 19 years old. He spent two years living as a trans woman before he detransitioned six years ago. He is 28 at time of recording. Whilst presenting as female, he was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), specifically oestrogen and a testosterone blocker for a year an...

In episode 137 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Rory Cellan-Jones. Rory is a journalist and worked for the BBC for forty years. Rory is the BBC’s former Technology Correspondent and the author of two books; ‘Dot. Bomb: The Rise and Fall of Dot Com Britain’ and his most recent book ‘Always On: Hope And Fear in the Smartphone Era’. In this episode we discuss the link between social...

In episode 136 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with sports journalist Charlie Eccleshare. Charlie is the Tottenham Hotspur Correspondent for The Athletic UK. He also co-hosts the Spurs podcast ‘View From The Lane’ and appears regularly on the Totally Football Show podcast and Football Clichés podcast respectively. In this episode we discuss Charlie’s journey into sports journalism an...

In episode 135 of The Just Checking In Podcast, our Founder Freddie Cocker decided to sit down with his friend and previous JCIP guest Lloyd Taylor to reflect on the three years since their last interview. In this episode, they discuss Freddie's self-harm recovery journey, healing from sexual abuse through EMDR therapy and exiting what he describes as a 'trauma state' for the last 2...

In episode 134 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jennifer Lahl. Jennifer is the Founder and President of The Centre for Bioethics and Culture Network. Jennifer couples her 25 years of experience as a paediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. In this episode we cover the topi...

In episode 133 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Michael from Silenced by Stigma. Silenced by Stigma supports male survivors of sexual and domestic abuse by advocating for awareness of sexual violence, providing critically needed resources for victims and their loved ones and offering prevention and training programs to allied organisations. Silenced by Stigma offers voice to the...

In episode 132 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with male detransitioner TullipR.Tullip is based in the UK and contacted us after our JCIP with Limpidă to share his story. Tullip started life as a very gender non-conforming child but struggled with being small and effeminate. He said he had a lot of internalised homophobia after coming to the realisation he was gay. Tullip suffered f...

In episode 131 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Charlie Peters. Charlie is currently a columnist for Mail+ and has written for the likes of Spiked, The Telegraph and the American Conservative. In this episode we discuss a GB News panel discussion he did with author Nina Power about masculinity and the themes he discussed, free speech and cancel culture through a mental...

In episode 130 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with twin brothers Connor Smart & Lewis Smart. Connor is an old friend and former work colleague of our Founder Freddie Cocker. Connor Lewis are originally from Plymouth. Connor is quite anti-social media and decided to move away from London to start a new life in Lincoln free of as much technological distractions as possible. Lewis...

In episode 129 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Katherine aka Default Friend. Katherine has a Substack called Default Wisdom where she writes about sex and dating, internet history and has an advice column for people who need their burning dilemmas answered. She is also the host of the ‘The Computer Room’ podcast. In this episode we discuss how she came to adopt the name Default...

In episode 128 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Limpidă. Limpidă is a male detransitioner from the U.S.A whose pseudonym means 'pure' or or 'clarity' in Romanian. Detransitioned males are some of, if not THE most stigmatised men on the planet. The very few that have gone public with their stories go by pseudonyms like Limpidă to protect their identity. L as w...