The Just Checking In Podcast

In episode 321 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Meg Skinner. Meg is a communications professional and currently works as Deputy Director of Communications at Barts Health NHS Trust, where our Founder Freddie worked in her team from December 2020 to August 2022. Barts manages five East London hospitals, including The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Newham University Hospital, Mile...

In episode 320 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jordain Dawkins. JD, as he is known to his friends, is the co-founder and co-host of the ‘You Good Bro?’ Podcast, which he started with his childhood friend and journalist, Jahmal. Their podcast is relatively young, with their first episode published in October 2024, but they have already covered a range of issues including mental h...

In episode 319 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Caroline Roodhouse. Caroline is an Internal Communications professional, mother, mental health advocate and Founder of Daddy Blackbird Communications. Caroline was brought into the world of mental health advocacy when her husband Steve and the father of her two children, tragically took his own life on Monday 12 November 2018.Steve...

In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with Drum & Bass DJ and producer, DJ Flame Jade. Flame got into D&B when she was going to squat parties underage because she was too young to go to club nights and raves. From there, she began to listen to artists in the scene like Optical, Brocky, Mampi Swift, DJ Hype, Hive, Cause for Concern and Dillinger. In Flame’s music journey, we cha...

In episode 318 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Canadian lawyer Eric Frydman. We first checked in with Eric in January 2024 in JCIP #222, which formed part of two episodes we did covering the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Eric providing the perspective from a Jewish perspective. Since that date, Eric founded the Canadian Jewish Lawyers Association in the summer of 2024, wh...

In episode 317 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Russell Payne. Russ is the Founder of The Talking Tradesman (TTT) podcast and also a qualified painter and decorator. Since he started the podcast in November 2023, TTT aims to entertain, connect and raise mental health awareness for tradespeople throughout the UK.Since we first checked in, in JCIP #241, the podcast has gone fr...

In episode 316 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Brian Kapuku. Brian Kapuku is the man behind ‘Read with Kapz’, a book review social media platform he runs, which has amassed over 33,000 followers on TikTok and over 41,000 followers on Instagram in just a year and a half, when he set it up in January 2024. We first checked in with Brian all the way back in July 2020, in JCIP...

In episode 315 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with George Mycock. George is the Founder of MyoMinds, a platform which aims to bring awareness of a form of BDD called Muscle Dysmorphia (MD), demystify mental health for exercisers and athletes and to create an understanding future for the exercising community. He is also currently finishing his PHD at the University of Worcester,...

In episode 314 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Loti Diangana-Nambombe. Loti works as Charity Lead for the Make Life Kind Foundation (MILK).He also works as Relationship Manager for MILK’s education programme, MILK Unbottled. MILK Unbottled partner with youth clubs, football clubs, community hubs, and local organisations across the UK to deliver powerful youth workshops and talks...

In episode 313 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with journalist Andy Hayward. We first checked in with Andy in February 2024 in JCIP #229, where we discussed a documentary he produced and directed about Putin’s Russia called ‘Warped by War: Inside Putin’s Russia’. We also discussed his conflict journalism career up to that point, work-life balance and how his family’s military ba...

In episode 312 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Neil Peters. Neil is the Founder of Nuthatch Consultants, a suicide prevention and consultancy which works with public health, charities and business to reduce suicide and improve mental wellbeing. As part of Nuthatch, Neil also runs Nuthatch Retreats. Nuthatch Retreats uses nature to support people’s wellbeing, creating opportuniti...

In episode 311 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with journalist Christian Hewgill. We first checked in with Christian in December 2022, in JCIP #160!At that point in time, he had recently left the BBC where he worked on BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme as a reporter and presenter for five years, and was working freelance. In 2025, he is still working freelance but in 2023, his ol...

In episode 310 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Sam Northwood. We first checked in with Sam Northwood in November 2021 in JCIP #77! In his Part 1 we discussed his journey of acceptance as a gay man, the difficulties he had during his university degree, and his love of cooking, which manifested in his ‘Sam Well Cooks’ Instagram page. In those four years, Sam may have found an...

In episode 309 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Georgie J.Georgie is a marketing professional, describing herself as a ‘disruptive marketer’, and works in the men’s space, as well as with other brands in contentious topics who wish to work with her. However, Georgie began her career in a very different space, as she completed her university degree in contour fashion, before compl...

In episode 308 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Lizzie Bielicki. Lizzie works as a social media and content strategist. In this episode we discuss her professional journey in content and social media. We also discuss the marketing business she ran for several years, and the sad decision she had to make to close the business. We talk about some of her career highlights, which has...

In episode 307 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Alicia Duncan. Alicia is a writer, soon-to-be-published author and, in her words, advocates for transparency, ethical oversight, and accountability in Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) system. Alicia’s advocacy comes from her own experience of the MAiD system. In 2021, Alicia’s mother died through accessing MAiD, despite n...

In this episode of Behind The Mic we checked in with Neil Dowd from pop-punk band, Autumn Fires. Autumn Fires was started by lead singer Charlotte and her current partner, who also plays in the band, and are part of the new wave of pop-punk bands keeping the genre alive and kicking in the UK.In this episode we discuss Neil’s music journey, how he joined the band, the band’s latest EP and the massi...

In episode 306 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in for a third time with journalist James Bloodworth. James Bloodworth is a New Statesman columnist and the author of three books: his seminal book ‘Hired’, the first book he wrote was called ‘The Myth of Meritocracy’, which we discussed in-depth in his first JCIP and his third book, the critically acclaimed ‘Lost Boys: A Personal Journey T...

In episode 305 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Melanie Williams. Mel is the Founder of 'Mel Williams Coaching'. She also works as an Mental Health First Aid Instructor for MHFA England, and as an Associate Tutor for Suicide First Aid. In this episode we discuss her varied career, from working at Nationwide Building Society, setting up her first business 'Reinspire...

In episode 304 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Nikhil Patel, alongside his mother, Gita Patel. Nikhil Patel currently works as English Teacher and Student Support Lead at the Cambridge International School, based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where he has worked since August 2021.We first checked in with Nik way back when in JCIP #40, in May 2020!We discussed his ti...

In episode 303 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with returning guest Evan Grant, alongside his wife, Carol Grant. We first checked in with Evan in JCIP #278, where we discussed his career in IBM, fatherhood and most poignantly, the life and death of his son Cameron, who took his own life in 2014, when he was just 21 years old. We also discussed Cameron’s legacy and the work he an...

In episode 302 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Mark Ferris. Mark is a proud stepfather to two boys and lives with his wife Sarah in Chelmsford in Essex. However, the reason we are checking in is because of an important campaign Sarah and Mark are running to raise money for life-saving treatment for one of his stepsons, Callum. Callum is currently 15 years old and one day, he was...

In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked back in for third time with a VENT favourite, Snowdream. Elliot is someone who has gone from strength to strength in the last few years we've been checking in with him. The first time we checked in, in July 2020 we discussed his music journey, music perfectionism culture and his bisexuality. In Part 2, in June 2023, he had started a new adventure...

In episode 301 of The Just Checking In Podcast we decided to do a special 'Ask Me Anything' pod! Our Founder Freddie answers a batch of questions submitted by you the venters. He gives an insight into some of his dream guests, favourite music that boosts his mental health and which form of therapy he's accessed that's helped him the most! As always, #itsokaytoventSupport Us:Pat...

In episode 300 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we marked the milestone with a special episode dedicated to our Founder Freddie's university tutor, Dr Sabina Avdagic, who taught him in the final year of his degree. In this episode Freddie provides the context for where he was on his mental health journey in his third and final year of his undergraduate degree at the University of Sussex, wher...