The Just Checking In Podcast

In episode 229 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with conflict journalist, Andy Hayward. Andy currently works as a freelance journalist and has previously worked for VICE News in their international team producing news pieces and documentaries. Andy also previously worked on VICE’s flagship, Emmy Award-winning show VICE News Tonight on HBO.We came across Andy through friend of the pod...

In this episode of Behind The Mic, we checked in with artist, producer and DJ Le Dionisos. Dion puts out brilliant, balearic disco and funk music that is a joy to listen to. Hailing from the Netherlands, Dion studied keys and production at The Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In this episode we discuss his music journey, the self-confidence you need to succeed in the music industry, how he fell in lo...

In episode 228 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with George Mycock. George is the Founder of MyoMinds and a mental health advocate for awareness of Muscle Dysmorphia (MD).MyoMinds mission is to demystify mental health for exercisers and athletes and to create an understanding future for the exercising community. Through research, public talks and their podcast, they work with universi...

In this episode of Behind The Mic, we checked in with R&B and pop artist Yasmin Dyer. Yasmin loved musical theatre from a young age as well as dance and drama and was auditioning for musical theatre schools before she decided to focus on music. She then auditioned for the London College of Contemporary Music during the Covid-19 lockdown and successfully got in. She then met previous Behind The...

In episode 227 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Juan Jose Estrada. Juan or 'Pedro' as he is known to his friends, works as a personal trainer in his spare time and in this episode we discuss his fitness journey, from being introduced to sport at a very early age by his parents, before focusing on road cycling and weightlifting as he reached his late teens. As I did with...

In episode 226 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Laura Dodsworth. Laura is a author, journalist and photographer. We came across Laura through her latest book, 'Free Your Mind: The New World of Manipulation and How to Resist it', which she co-authored with Patrick Fagan. She is also the author of several other books including ‘A State of Fear: how the UK government weapo...

In episode 225 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Irish farmer Gar Lock. We first checked in with Gar in JCIP #196 where we discussed his upbringing which involved criminality, serving prison time and how he turned his life around to become a farmer and a father of five children. We also discussed the work he has been doing to help other former prisoners to change their lives...

In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with Joe White. Joe is a DJ, music promoter and cousin of our Founder Freddie Cocker. He is also the Co-Founder of DJ collective, Social Groove, alongside his other co-founder, Tommy Oriel, who will both be performing at Just Checking In Live #5.Joe began life buying and playing Drum & Bass (D&B) vinyl records before meeting his now DJ part...

In episode 224 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Andy Noon. Andy currently works as Head of Centre at the Liverpool branch of a charity called James' Place. James’ Place is a charity offering free, life-saving treatment to suicidal men in their centres, currently in Liverpool, London and Newcastle. The charity was founded by Clare Milford Haven and Nick Wentworth-Stanley foll...

In episode 223 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with George, Founder of from men's media platform, TheTinMen. TheTinMen explores issues around men's mental health, aims to widen perspectives around men as a sex, asks uncomfortable conversations, expose ugly truths and discusses the unpopular other half of gender equality. George started the platform around the end of 2019 an...

In episode 222 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Eric Frydman. Eric works in law and has previously been President and Vice-President of the Jewish Law Student Association at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, where he studied in Toronto in Canada. As part of his role there, Eric dealt with issues of antisemitism on campus and did a joint statement with the Muslim Law Stu...

In episode 221 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with British-Palestinian journalist Hamza Ali Shah. Hamza has outlets including Tribune Magazine, Dazed, Byline Times, Novara Media and The New Arab. We came across Hamza through his article in Tribune called ‘Palestinian Lives Behind Bars’ which examines the plight, injustice and hardship of Palestinians imprisoned under the current Isr...

In episode 220 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in for the fourth time with Claudia Van-Nimwegen. Claudia is a teacher, photographer and creative. In Parts 1, 2 and 3 we discussed her various struggles with self-harm, gender identity, Autism, an undiagnosed Eating Disorder and a stroke which happened to her in December 2022. Since then she has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Funct...

In episode 219 of The Just Checking In Podcast, our Founder Freddie Cocker checked in with himself and provided some reflections and updates about what's happened with Vent and the JCIP in 2023!He also shares the key achievements of the year just gone, some milestones and the physical health and mental health struggles he’s had to overcome. This has included: multiple surgeries, mental health...

In episode 218 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Melissa Fleur Afshar. We came across Melissa through an article she wrote on Newsweek about the contraceptive pill entitled ‘Did My Pill Cause Cancer?' Women Describe How the Pill Changed Their Lives’. In the article she speaks to women and medical experts about the physical and mental impact of the pill on these wom...

In episode 217 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Chris McHugh. Chris currently works as a broadcast journalist for BBC Oxford. We came across Chris through friend of the pod Matt Graveling who sent us a story Chris had done around miscarriage and baby loss with a charity called Wynter’s Wish FC.Wynter's Wish FC are a bereavement football team for men affected by ba...

In episode 216 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Brett Scott. Brett is the author of ‘Cloud Money: Why the War on Cash Endangers Our Freedom’.Brett also has a SubStack called ‘Altered States of Monetary Consciousness’ where he explores the frontiers of modern money and in his words ‘draws pictures of it to help you see our economic system with new eyes’.In this episode we begin by...

In episode 215 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Amanda Dashwood. Amanda currently works as a Practitioner for The Revenge Porn Helpline. Amanda has worked for the helpline since October 2021, which support all adults affected by Intimate Image Abuse (IIA) in the UK. In the podcast, we refer to revenge porn as IIA throughout as this is the established umbrella term for it. In this...

In episode 214 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with entrepreneur, businessman and teacher, Leo Winstanley. Leo is the Founder of Hand-I-Craft, which makes bespoke furniture tailor-made to their customers requirements. They make everything from simple candle holders to kitchen accessories, household furniture and outdoor and garden furniture. Hand-I-Craft was born out of a hugely trau...

In episode 213 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Jack Sirkett. In part 1 we discussed his events promoter group 'Soul City', which he co-founded with his friend from university, Jack Lydon and his experience of tinnitus. Since we last checked in, in JCIP #28 Jack has now co-founded a record label called 'LoveTime Guarantee' and put more time and investment...

In episode 212 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Zac Fine. Zac is a therapist, former journalist and host of 'The Masculinity Therapist' podcast. Zac focuses on helping men and boys with their mental health and has a particular focus on helping divorced men through a method he employs called ‘The Ceasefire Method’ and advocates for greater awareness around the UK’s famil...

In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with producer and DJ, Balthazard. Marco was born and raised in Switzerland but is based in London at time of recording, after moving to the city two years ago. Marco’s career debut started as a live drummer and he toured across the globe including countries like the USA, China and Dubai. After being behind the decks at main events in Switzerland an...

In episode 211 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Tara Ann Thieke. Tara is a writer, homemaker and the mother of five children. Tara worked with children for 15 years before she decided to have children of her own. In this episode we discuss motherhood, what women need from men to help them be good mothers and vice versa, the problems facing children today when it comes to their me...

In this episode of Behind The Mic we checked back in with artist Tobiah Frei. Tobiah Frei first came on BTM in September 2022 to discuss his music journey, overcoming stage anxiety, evolving as an artist and the impact that the death of a childhood friend had on him in 2014. This period of grief led to a mental health breakdown in 2017, which thankfully he has now overcome. In Part 2, we talk abou...

In episode 210 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with academic Dr Emily Setty. Emily is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey and focuses on research around young people and their relationships, harmful sexual behaviour and online harms. In this episode we tackle the issue of consent education and wider sex education for young people today, especially young men. We discuss why...