The Reset by Sam Delaney

My guest this week is the musician Damon Minchella – legendary bassist, founding member of Ocean Colour Scene, and a man who lived through the wildest years of Britpop and beyond. In his new book,  You’d Look Good on a Donkey: Brit Pop, Bass Lines and Bad Decisions , Damon tells the story of going from being broke and on the dole to sudden wealth, fame, and full‑tilt rock and r...

This week on The Reset, I’m joined by Peter Hooton – frontman of The Farm, co‑founder of legendary Liverpool fanzine The End , writer, activist and lifelong Red. It’s a conversation about how music, football and humour can keep you afloat when the world’s trying to drag you under. We get into The Farm’s rise as a proper ‘street band,’ the snobbery they faced from the music press, the madness of ea...

This week I’m chatting to Professor Paul Eastwick , one of the world's top thinkers on love, attraction, and relationships, and the author of “ Bonded by Evolution: What We’ve Got Wrong About Love and Connection .” We get into loads of stuff: why your “type” probably isn’t real, how dating apps can fry your brain, why chemistry matters more than tick-box lists, and how the whole Tate-adjacent mano...

New year, new series. My first guest on The Reset in 2026 is Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods. Known for his furious, funny and brutally honest lyrics about post-austerity Britain, masculinity, class, love and more, Jason has helped build one of the most passionate fanbases in British music over the past decade. We met at his label’s London offices just before Christmas for a wide-ranging, unfi...

Josh Connolly had a chaotic childhood. By the time he hit his twenties, he was contemplating suicide. Now, he is one of the country’s most influential voices on mental health, using his own experiences to help others. I chatted with him about why men struggle to share emotions, growing up around alcohol and how he wants to de-stigmatise conversations about suicide. For more on Josh’s work,  c...

Elliot Sweeney has been a psychiatric nurse for over two decades. Now he has written a book about his experiences:  ‘We Don't Use Words Like Crazy - A Life On The Frontline Of Mental Health.’  His moving, and often funny, memoir pulls back the curtain on what the job’s really like, showing why we need more compassion for people who are struggling and the professionals who try to help the...

Ziyad Marar draws on psychology, philosophy, literature and even the films of Quentin Tarantino to demonstrate the strange business of noticing things. His new book ( Noticing - How We Attend To the World And Each Other ) contends that our enjoyment of life is shaped by what we choose to notice in the world around us. ********** Please donate here to my fundraiser for CALM . CALM is an outspoken,...

The Reset is back after a hiatus! Thank you for your patience; it’s been a busy year. Throughout September, I will be backing the Stay Tuned 2025 campaign by the brilliant mental health charity,  CALM . Stay Tuned is all about raising awareness about mental health and raising money to pay for  CALM ’s life-saving support services. You can donate to my fundraiser page here . Every penny c...

Paul Harrington has lived a life that is familiar to many Reset listeners: getting into trouble as a kid, raving hard in his teens and twenties, devoting his life to work in his thirties….then hitting a brick wall and developing dangerous drug habits in his forties. Now, Paul is in his late fifties, sober and fitter than ever. He joined me on the pod to tell me about a life of beautiful chaos. Hos...

Sean McNicholas overcame a traumatic childhood to become a successful club entrepreneur. But the high life burnt him out and, eventually, he decided to get sober and help other men with similar problems. Now he is a qualified therapist and ADHD expert who joined me to discuss his extraordinary story - and his mission to help men turn their lives around. Find out more about Sean’s work here Hosted...

Andy Manston has spent a lifetime raving. With partner Danny Gould he built Clockwork Orange into the definitive Ibiza club brand. But all the partying came at a price. A year ago, Andy finally decided it was time to pack in the drink and drugs. Now, for the first time, he tells his inspirational sobriety story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a young police officer, Leon MacFayden experienced extreme trauma that forced him out of his job and tormented him for the next twenty years. After years of failed treatment, he finally found a way to heal himself. He shares his inspirational story via his excellent newsletter  From Trauma To Strength . I was very pleased to chat with him on this week’s pod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

Dee C. Lee is a soul singer, pop icon, and trailblazer. In the 1980s, she first found fame as part of Wham! Then, she jumped ship to take a starring role in The Style Council before scoring her own solo hits. In this honest and frank chat, she talks about her incredible career, the emotional toll of fame, and music's role in her mental health. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

Ruby Wax has been raising awareness of mental health issues and fighting stigma for decades now. She shares her own experiences to help others. I was honoured to speak to her about her excellent charity  Frazzled  and her latest book ‘ I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was.’ Funny, clever, compassionate and insightful: Ruby was everything I hoped and expected her to be. Hosted on Acast. See...

Ruth Whippman is a writer and author of ‘Boy Mum - Raising Boys In An Age Of Toxic Masculinity.’ It’s a great read by a mum of young lads who wants to understand the constant pressures and often dodgy influences surrounding young men growing up. How can we stop our sons from falling under the spell of people like Andrew Tate and Donald Trump? I really enjoyed discussing this and more with Ruth. Ho...

After recovering from alcoholism, Lucy Da Silva gained a masters in psychotherapy and now specialises in the use of ketamine and psychedelics in the treatment of mental health disorders. She joined me to discuss this fascinating new area of therapy and her own powerful story of childhood trauma, addiction and recovery. Find out more about Lucy’s work here https://silvawellness.com/ Hosted on Acast...

Steve Mann is the UK’s top dog trainer, a great broadcaster and a prolific author. His new book, ‘ Another Day, Another Collar - Confessions Of A Dog Trainer’  is a memoir of dogs he has known and the impact they have had on his life. I’m a big beleiver in the power of dogs to help with people’s mental health (I know my dog, Cookie, manages to put a smile on my face every day). Steve is a top...

Charlie Hyman started Bloomsbury Football in London to provide top level coaching and facilities to everyone, whatever their background, resources or ability. Now, there are hundreds of kids across the capital whose lives have been changed by Bloomsbury. Charlie joined me to explain the positive impact football and helping others can have on anyone’s mental health. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

OCD, addiction, toxic relationships…Dr Natalie Cawley encountered patients with all of these issues and more during her first year working as a psychotherapist. Simultaneously, she was trying to cope with her own emotional pressures, as she adapted to a new job in a new city after the breakdown of a long term relationship. Now, she has written a moving and funny memoir about that time: ‘Just About...

Daniel Reisinger is an Australian born, award-winning filmmaker. His new movie ‘& Mrs’ is a romantic comedy-drama starring Aisling Bea and Tom Hanks. It’s about a bride-to-be coping with the sudden death of her fiancé just weeks before their planned wedding. For Daniel, the film had a special resonance as he lost his mother shortly before going into production. He talks about processing his gr...

Richard Tyler is a former west end star turned therapist. A few years back, he received a shock cancer diagnosis and was given just three months to live. But he defied his diagnosis and still fights on today. Now he has written a memoir -  As A Kite Falls  - in which he details what he has learned about living in the face of adversity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

Tom Kerridge grew up on a council estate in Gloucestershire before working his way up through the restaurant business and opening the Hand And Flowers in Bray - the only double Michelin starred pub in the world. When he turned 40, he decided to quit alcohol and has never looked back. In this entertaining chat he tells me about the stress of working in a kitchen, sobriety, fatherhood and how he man...

A revealing and honest chat with one of my broadcasting heroes. Adrian talks about a life in football, the pressures of life on the road, the family secret that plagued him for years and his decision to quit drinking alcohol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allie Bailey thought that running would save her from her demons. She started running to stop drinking but found herself addicted to both things simultaneously. While running - and often winning - ultra-marathons all over the globe, Allie was often drunk and almost always hungover. Soon she realised she couldn’t outrun her bad habits. Following lockdown, a breakdown and an attempt to take her own...

Janey Lee Grace is best known as a broadcaster on BBC Radio 2 - especially as the long-time co-host of the legendary Steve Wright In The Afternoon show. After a lifetime of fun-filled adventures in pop music, Janey quit alcohol in 2018 after realising she was stuck in ‘the grey zone.’ Now she helps others quit booze and live happier lives through the brilliant  Sober Club  community You...