The Modern Mann

Jim Finch’s life changed forever when his car flipped over in a devastating accident that left him with multiple neurological issues. He developed PTSD, suffered from seizures - and even became afflicted with Tourettes. But the medication he was prescribed was almost as bad: triggering fits, impotence and bloody discharge. Then he discovered cannabis... CONTENT WARNING: interview includes account...

After witnessing bleak conditions inside a mental health unit, artists Tim A. Shaw and Niamh White decided to take action.  Drawing on their background in contemporary art, they set out to transform sterile clinical spaces with bold, thought-provoking artworks, via their charity, Hospital Rooms. Today, they commission over 40 leading artists a year to create immersive, site-specific pieces in psyc...

It began as a threesome, arranged through dating app Feeld. But soon, Maggie and Cody realised their connection to Janie was more than sexual…  No longer just an adventurous couple in an open relationship, they had become a ‘thruple’ - whose relationship with Janie (their ‘third’) was as vital and equitable as their marriage to each other.  In this interview with Olly, they explain the importance...

When Armin Samii signed up to deliver food for Uber Eats, his intentions were to explore his city, and help pay off his new bike. He soon realised the app was poorly configured for cyclists, and uncovered glitches including a non-existent branch of McDonald’s. But getting support from Uber was frustrating. When he believed they were also underestimating his mileage - and therefore underpaying him...

Sperm donors are anonymised in British clinics. Recipients don’t even get to see a photo of the man who will father their child. Donor-conceived kids can only discover the identity of their biological father upon reaching adulthood themselves. But Mitch Kennedy is a private donor. His sperm has been used by 23 couples - and he’s met them all. In most cases, he’s slept in their spare room during th...

California wildfires ripped through L.A. this year, killing 29 people, destroying more than 18,000 buildings, and putting wildland fires back into the headlines. But what’s it like being one of the poorly-paid workers sent in to risk your life to fight the flames?  Wildland firefighter Nathan Bell has ‘held the line’ across the United States: in Elk City, Idaho; on the North Rim of the Grand Canyo...

Falling overboard following a fit of food poisoning, Brett Archibald survived 28 hours alone in the Indian Ocean. In this extraordinary interview with Olly, he re-lives his onslaught of hallucinations, his encounter with a shark and how he contemplated certain death... Read more about Brett's amazing story on his website, and in his book, Alone.  This episode first aired in October 2017. Now remas...

Imagine building a brand from scratch, and running your business for fifteen years - only to be told by a global corporation that your name isn’t yours to keep.  That’s what happened to Rebecca Dowdeswell, founder of waxing business NKD, when she received a legal letter from cosmetics giant L’Oréal, opposing her application to renew her trademark. In this compelling conversation with Olly, Rebecca...

With zero experience running a professional kitchen, home cook Robert Maxwell poured his life savings into his passion project: a gastropub-inspired Toronto restaurant. It became a crash-course in coping with stress, managing his cashflow, and curbing his ego. "I was Don Quixote. I was chasing a windmill. I didn’t see the obstacles in my way." In this funny, forthright interview with Olly, Robert...

Why are so many restaurants closing down? Across Britain, the hospitality industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Twelve months ago, it was the turn of chef Tony Rodd. His passion for food saw him progress from hosting dinner parties for friends, to being a Masterchef runner-up, to eventually opening his dream London restaurant - Copper & Ink, in affluent Blackheath. But the dream unravelled....

Join Olly Mann and the gang for our bumper festive extravaganza… Featuring: 🎶 Live music from Sons of Town Hall – the Victorian-inspired duo from the Madmen Cross The Water podcast join us to serenade the season with their folksy harmonies - and test their Anglophiliac credentials with a Mannfan-made ‘citizenship test’…  💸 To Tip or Not to Tip? – Wondering how much to tip your postie, milkman, o...

Being a landlord means trusting strangers to live in your house.  Try as you might, you can't know everything about them. Sometimes, you just have to rely on an instinct that your tenants are good people. Until, that is, you get a knock on the door from the police... That's what happened to listener Ian from Dublin. In this interview with Olly, he re-lives the moment he became involved in an armed...

Trashed rooms. Plastic sheeting. Dodgy ductwork. When Mike Senior returned to his rental property in Cambridge, he uncovered a scene straight out of a crime drama. In this interview with Olly, he reveals how some tenants from Gumtree turned his Dream Home into a landlord’s nightmare…  _______ Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates the trend for A.I.-assisted recruitment.  Employers,...

Medically assisted dying is legal in Canada, where over 10,000 people end their lives through euthanasia each year, and over 80% of applications are approved. Robin Farr, from Calgary, watched as her Dad, Mike, developed a rare lung disease that limited his breathing, massively impacting his quality of life. Then he decided to make use of the MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) laws. In this honest...

Sarah McCammon’s upbringing was steeped in evangelical culture—raised as a Charismatic Christian in Kansas City, Missouri, she asked God for salvation at just two years old.  Soon she was ‘street witnessing’, trying to convert strangers to her mega-church; praying at family dinners for the salvation of her atheist grandfather; and crediting Jesus for healing her stubbed toe.  As a teen, she follow...

Private Investigator Bob Nygaard specialises in bringing psychics to justice. Fortune-tellers, offering palm-reading for as little as ten dollars, are a common sight in New York City. But when they swindle their clients out of six-figure sums, it’s ex-NYPD officer Bob on their case… In this sensational interview with Olly, Bob reveals how the criminals he pursues prey on vulnerable victims, the te...

In a missing persons investigation, the initial hours and days are crucial.  Establishing a relationship with the missing person’s family, absorbing their behavioural characteristics, and managing media interest in the story are all essential parts of the toolkit for officers charged with finding them alive. But, 27 years ago, when Charlie Hedges MBE was assigned his first missing persons case, su...

Scratch mittens, strained relationships and GP-sanctioned fingering Nine years ago, comedians Stuart Goldsmith and Tom Price joined Olly to discuss their impending fatherhood.  What impact will it have on their respective relationships? Why does society appear to offer such a lack of support to men embarking upon their first baby? Do men need to know about the mucus plug? They discuss all this, pl...

Playing with knives, navigating the ‘Dad Race’ at Sports Day, and getting a ‘backstreet assessment’ for dyslexia are on the conversational menu as comedians Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith reunite with fellow father Olly Mann to discuss the pleasures and pains of parenthood. Now aged 8, their boys are dealing with TikTok addiction, grappling with the instant gratification of Amazon deliveries, and...

Paul Watson realised he would never play football for England - so attempted, instead, to be recruited by the worst international team in the world. His quest lead him to Pohnpei, Micronesia; and, although he never realised his dream of becoming an international soccer star, he ended up coaching them instead...  What's it like training a team 9000 miles away from home, in a country with no footbal...

Peter McCormack, Bedford’s ‘budget Ryan Reynolds’, is on a mission to take his local team all the way to the Premier League ⚽️ When he bought Bedford FC in 2021, they were in the tenth tier, and unknown outside the town.  After rebranding them as Real Bedford, securing investment from the Winklevoss twins, and internationalising his business model, the Bitcoin guru has achieved back-to-back promo...

In the wake of the Brexit referendum in 2017, Wes Streeting had only been an MP for two years... and had won two elections in as many years. In this month's Playback, we take you back to that time - away from the election spin of 2024 - to understand the man most likely to be Britain's new health secretary. Would you be an MP, at a time when public trust in politicians has fallen to the lowest lev...

Sex scenes are a feature of modern filmmaking, yet require meticulous planning and sensitive handling in a post-#MeToo world.  Enter intimacy coordinator Lucy Fennell - whose credits include True Detective, All Of Us Strangers, and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Navigating Hollywood power dynamics, she assists storytellers, whilst also protecting performers in their vulnerable moments.  In t...

What’s it like when the person you’re closest to in the world isn't who you think they are? Elizabeth* spent a year dating a man who provided only sketchy details about his life, but ingratiated himself into her friendship circle, her family and her home. In this interview with Olly, she reveals how it felt to discover he was living a double-life, and how it’s affected her trust ever since... This...

Amazing, original true stories, trends and relationship advice from the multi-award winning podcaster Olly Mann. Plus a record of the month. What's not to like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices