The Just Checking In Podcast

In this episode of our Behind The Mic series, we checked in with Matheus Piovesan. Matheus is a music promoter and the Founder of Effervescent Sounds, a music platform which shines a spotlight on new and emerging artists in the UK music scene. Matheus is originally from Brazil and moved to the UK when he was 30 years old. In this episode we discuss how and why he started Effervescent Sounds, some...

In episode 177 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Amber Haque. Amber is a freelance journalist and the presenter of 'Hometown: A Killing' series two. The show followed Amber as she went back to her hometown of Manchester to investigate the death of teenager Yousef Makki, who was privately educated. In this episode we discuss the themes the series explores throu...

In episode 176 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Joe Isaacs. Joe works in healthcare and is a long-time university friend of friend of the pod Alex Hensman. In this episode Alex comes back on the podcast as a moral support for Joe who is speaking about his mental health for the first time. Joe has struggled with anxiety and depression for a long time but went through periods where...

In episode 175 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Lucy Connolly. Lucy is a mental health advocate for Inflammatory Bowel Conditions (IBDs) awareness. Lucy was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in July 2020 at the height of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode we discuss when she first started experiencing symptoms, the shame and stigma she felt in hiding them from...

In episode 174 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Zachary James. Zach is a mental health advocate for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) awareness. Zach was diagnosed with OCD when he was 19 years old. His OCD manifested in how it affected his romantic relationships as a gay man and a short-lived period of paedophile OCD. In this episode we discuss how and why those two forms of...

In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with Australian producer, Harry Hayes. In this episode we discuss Harry’s journey into music production and dance music, how he fell in love then out of love and back into love with music, comparison culture, imposter syndrome and being in a state of music purgatory in the industry. For Harry’s mental health, there have been an accumulation of life...

In this episode of Behind The Mic, we checked back in with Harry from UK alt-pop band, VICTORS. In Part 1, we talked about the mental health impact of the streaming wars on musicians, anxiety and FOMO. In Part 2 we discuss their latest EP, III and getting back into doing shows post-Covid, why their 2022 was a quieter one but why Harry and the band needed this period of reflection to go again in 20...

In episode 173 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Nathan Wilson. Nathan is the Founder of Dads Advocates. Dads Advocates is a social enterprise and platform that seeks to implement change in three areas of life. Firstly, they help separated dad’s create safe, consistent and meaningful relationships with their children, by reducing parental conflict, creating workable co-parenting s...

In episode 172 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Matt Henry. Matt is the Founder of YouTube channels 'How To Help Incels' and 'Dad Helping Dads'. Matt is a former incel who 'ascended' in his mid-20s and is now happily married with four children. Matt helps other incels ascend by discussing the issues within incel culture, breaks down myths and challen...

In episode 171 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with freelance writer Freddie deBoer. Freddie started his career from his public library when he started his own blog whilst in a period of unemployment. After fellow writer and gay rights trailblazer Andrew Sullivan shared his third blog post on his own hugely popular blog, it exploded and he has been writing ever since. In recent years...

In episode 170 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Tim Gibson. Tim is a personal friend of our Founder Freddie Cocker. Tim first came on during the Covid-19 period to talk about his regret at not having friends at school he could talk to about his mental health, overthinking, studying abroad in France and social media perfectionism culture. In part 2 of his journey we discuss a...

In episode 169 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with journalist Natalie Morris. Since we first chatted in JCIP #41, Natalie has left The Metro and now works freelance. She has also written her first book ‘Mixed/Other’ since then too. In this episode we discuss her decision to go freelance, an exploration of the key themes of the book through a mental health lens and leaving behin...

In episode 168 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Sicarius McGrath. Sicarius McGrath is a former gang member and street-level arms dealer from Merseyside. He became involved in gangs when he was 15 years old and went to prison when he was 21 for the attempted murder of a man in Birkenhead. Whilst in prison, Sicarius watched an ITV drama series called ‘Little Boy Blue’ which was bas...

In episode 167 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Patricia Faulks. Patricia is the Founder of blog 'Just Me & Lilley' where she writes about being involuntarily childlessness, her life, her wonderful dog Lilley and issues affecting other involuntarily childless people. In Part 2 we reflect on her first episode, how it was received online and how she has grown the...

In episode 166 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with journalist and author Matt Dickinson. Matt is currently senior sports writer at The Times and is the author of two books: ‘Bobby Moore – The Man in Full’ and ‘Manchester United, The Treble and All That’.Matt has worked for The Times for 25 years but when he hit 45 years old, he realised that he had been living life at such a fast-p...

In episode 165 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked back in with journalist and author James Bloodworth. During the Covid-19 pandemic, James returned to his home county of Cornwall to live with and support his Gran. James saw this as repaying a childhood debt after she helped raise him for much of his adolescence. Unfortunately, James’s Gran passed away in 2022 and the impact the grief had...

In episode 164 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Antoine Brimbal. Antoine is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Modern Insurgent, which is a grass-roots independent media organisation which specialises solely on insurgencies, rebellions and political movements from around the globe. Antoine set up the project in the summer of 2022 and he is currently still a university studen...

In this episode of our Mind On The Game series, we checked in with Alex Kihurani. Alex is a co-driver in the World Rally Championships (WRC) who currently competes in a Citroen car for the Sainteloc team and has been competing for 20 seasons. Alex started competing as a co-driver when he was just 16 years old and debuted in the WRC when he was 25 years old. Alex combines his job as a co-driver wit...

In this episode of our Reel Stories series, we checked in with Joseph Kundi. Joseph is a director, producer and co-founder of production company 3 Minds Media. Joseph is also the director and producer of GDF Diaries, which friend of the pod Jackie Kibanza hosts on her platform La Grâce de Françoise. In this episode we discuss how he found his self-worth to feel confident charging fees for clients...

In episode 163 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Shaun Flores. Shaun Flores a podcaster, presenter and mental health advocate. He is the host of ‘The Flower Hour’ where he talks to people from all backgrounds about their journey through life. In this episode we discuss Shaun’s lived experience of OCD and his diagnosis in April 2022, particularly ‘Pure-O’ which is a severe form of...

In episode 162 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Thomas Mackintosh. Thomas currently works for BBC London and fronted the recently published documentary ‘Who Stole Tamara Ecclestone’s Diamonds?’, which focused on the diamond heist of the home of daughter of former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Tamara Ecclestone and who was behind it. In this episode we discuss ho...

In this episode of our Behind The Mic series, we checked back in with Alex Shaw from New Car Smell. In Part 2 of his journey, we discussed the latest updates with NCS, his new venture, Sax And The City and music burnout he experienced from doing a huge amount of live shows in the aftermath of Covid-19. For Alex's mental health, we dive back into his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) diagnos...

In episode 162 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Justin Peach. Justin is the co-founder of the Second Tier Podcast, the self-described biggest podcast dedicated to Championship football, the second tier in the English Football League (EFL). Justin also writes for Football League World for the Championship section of their website. In this episode we discuss how and why he started...

In episode 160 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Christian Hewgill. Christian is currently freelance and working for outlets including LBC and TalkSport. Prior to going freelance, Christian worked at BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat where he worked as a Reporter and Presenter for five years. Before he got his big break at Radio 1, Christian cut his teeth working for a variety of...

In this episode of our Behind The Mic series, we checked in with Australian artist jnr. Ben has been making music since 2018/2019. During the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020 he started learning how to produce for himself and is now venturing out into making more records and doing live shows in Sydney to build his profile. In this episode we chart his music journey, from learning the piano at eight years...