In episode 146 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Claudia Van-Nimwegen. Claudia is a mental health advocate, teacher and theatre artist. In Part 2 of her mental health journey, we discuss her diagnosis in March 2020 of a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia and the impact that has had on her physical and mental health. Since we last checked in, Claudia has also made the decision to no longer identify as non-binary and has changed her pronouns back to 'she/her' and we e...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 18 min
In episode 145 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jordyn Chasiak-Pratt. Jordyn works in finance in London and moved to the capital after graduating from university. In this episode we discuss the pressure Jordyn faced in school to achieve, perfectionism and being bullied because of her academic ability. After being bullied for this as well as her weight, combined with her perfectionism, Jordyn developed an eating disorder which took her a long time to recover from. When she went ...
Jul 20, 2022•50 min
In episode 144 of The Just Checking In Podcast previous JCIP guest Connor Smart checked in with our Founder Freddie Cocker for Part 4 of his mental health journey. Connor explored Freddie's journey through three perspectives: 'Defeat', 'Struggle' and 'Growth' and where each one related to different parts of his life. They discussed how Freddie moved from a defeated mindset to one of positive growth, becoming antifragile and what other people can do to embark on that journey themselves and find t...
Jul 17, 2022•58 min
In episode 143 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Duncan Craig OBE. Duncan is is the Founder and CEO of Survivors Manchester. Survivors Manchester is a survivor focused voluntary sector organisation that aims to create and facilitate safe spaces for male survivors of sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation across Greater Manchester providing access to quality assured support. Their work is focused on developing ways for individuals to empower themselves to work through person...
Jul 08, 2022•1 hr 25 min
In episode 142 of the Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with David Foy. David works in marketing and has done some work in podcasting himself. Dave lived in a rural area growing up and found the step to a large secondary school quite overwhelming. He would be off sick quite a lot and puts this down to him not liking his school experience. Dave also decided to go to university as a last-minute decision so he decided to live at home whilst he studied and we can discuss how he missed out on th...
Jul 06, 2022•32 min
In episode 141 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Micah Fanimo. Micah is the founder of food blog and platform 'Feast with Fanimo', where he reviews restaurants from London, Essex and Liverpool. Micah is also a survivor of domestic abuse and the first male survivor we have had on the podcast. In this episode we discuss his mental health journey; being sent to Nigeria for school from the UK because of behavioural issues, the subsequent relationship challenges with his parents and ...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 28 min
In this episode of Behind The Mic we checked in with Gavin who's lead singer in UK disco band, Zkeletonz. We talk about Gavin's music journey, from organising school concerts for charity to taking it more seriously at university, having big record labels sniffing around them and then starting Zkeletonz purely for fun after a period where Gavin fell out of love with music. We discuss the mental health impact that touring had on his mental health and the social isolation that came with it. We also...
Jun 24, 2022•1 hr 22 min
In episode 140 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jasmine Roebuck. Jasmine is the sister of previous JCIP guest and Vent Champion Charlie Roebuck. Jasmine is an events professional but after a negative experience of workplace bullying, she stepped away from events completely to go back to university to complete a Bachelors Degree in Business Management. Jasmine has already written one article for Vent called ‘Talking Really Does Help’ which we dive into in this episode. We talk a...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 18 min
In episode 139 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Ashley Belle. Ashley is a bodybuilder, member of the U.S military and trans woman. Ashley served 19 years in the military and left active service in 2016. She’s since re-joined in a non-active role. Ashley made the decision to transition in her mid-40s and began experiencing Gender Dysphoria (GD) when she was around 6/7 years old. Ashley says transitioning was the best choice for her to make and has never been more comfortable wit...
Jun 10, 2022•53 min
In episode 138 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with NJada. NJada is a male based in the U.S who transitioned when he was 19 years old. He spent two years living as a trans woman before he detransitioned six years ago. He is 28 at time of recording. Whilst presenting as female, he was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), specifically oestrogen and a testosterone blocker for a year and a half. N had lived with Gender Dysphoria from a very early age and managed it in secret throughou...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr 14 min
In episode 137 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Rory Cellan-Jones. Rory is a journalist and worked for the BBC for forty years. Rory is the BBC’s former Technology Correspondent and the author of two books; ‘Dot.Bomb: The Rise and Fall of Dot Com Britain’ and his most recent book ‘Always On: Hope And Fear in the Smartphone Era’. In this episode we discuss the link between social media use and mental health, fighting his way up the greasy BBC pole, his emotional relationship wit...
May 29, 2022•42 min
In episode 136 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with sports journalist Charlie Eccleshare. Charlie is the Tottenham Hotspur Correspondent for The Athletic UK. He also co-hosts the Spurs podcast ‘View From The Lane’ and appears regularly on the Totally Football Show podcast and Football Clichés podcast respectively. In this episode we discuss Charlie’s journey into sports journalism and how he arrived at The Athletic UK where he is today. For industry issues, we talk about the consta...
May 23, 2022•57 min
In episode 135 of The Just Checking In Podcast, our Founder Freddie Cocker decided to sit down with his friend and previous JCIP guest Lloyd Taylor to reflect on the three years since their last interview. In this episode, they discuss Freddie's self-harm recovery journey, healing from sexual abuse through EMDR therapy and exiting what he describes as a 'trauma state' for the last 20 years. He also talks about the challenges of dating as a man when you're public about your mental health, no long...
May 17, 2022•2 hr 35 min
In episode 134 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jennifer Lahl. Jennifer is the Founder and President of The Centre for Bioethics and Culture Network. Jennifer couples her 25 years of experience as a paediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. In this episode we cover the topic of surrogacy and egg donation through a mental health lens, which Jennifer is an expert on. Jennif...
May 14, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In episode 133 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Michael from Silenced by Stigma. Silenced by Stigma supports male survivors of sexual and domestic abuse by advocating for awareness of sexual violence, providing critically needed resources for victims and their loved ones and offering prevention and training programs to allied organisations. Silenced by Stigma offers voice to the voiceless & helps ignored victims stand up and speak out. In this episode we discuss how and why Mic...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 12 min
In episode 132 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with male detransitioner TullipR. Tullip is based in the UK and contacted us after our JCIP with Limpidă to share his story. Tullip started life as a very gender non-conforming child but struggled with being small and effeminate. He said he had a lot of internalised homophobia after coming to the realisation he was gay. Tullip suffered from intense and debilitating panic attacks from a very early age and was hospitalised with one when...
May 08, 2022•2 hr 44 min
In episode 131 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Charlie Peters. Charlie is currently a columnist for Mail+ and has written for the likes of Spiked, The Telegraph and the American Conservative. In this episode we discuss a GB News panel discussion he did with author Nina Power about masculinity and the themes he discussed, free speech and cancel culture through a mental health lens. We then talk about a self-described ‘wobble’ he had during his second year of universi...
Apr 29, 2022•55 min
In episode 130 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with twin brothers Connor Smart & Lewis Smart. Connor is an old friend and former work colleague of our Founder Freddie Cocker. Connor Lewis are originally from Plymouth. Connor is quite anti-social media and decided to move away from London to start a new life in Lincoln free of as much technological distractions as possible. Lewis works in public affairs and the two are very much their own men with contrasting philosophies, values an...
Apr 22, 2022•2 hr 34 min
In episode 129 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Katherine aka Default Friend. Katherine has a Substack called Default Wisdom where she writes about sex and dating, internet history and has an advice column for people who need their burning dilemmas answered. She is also the host of the ‘The Computer Room’ podcast. In this episode we discuss how she came to adopt the name Default Friend, where she believes women are going wrong in dating and what impact those choices have on the...
Apr 19, 2022•48 min
In episode 128 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Limpidă. Limpidă is a male detransitioner from the U.S.A whose pseudonym means 'pure' or or 'clarity' in Romanian. Detransitioned males are some of, if not THE most stigmatised men on the planet. The very few that have gone public with their stories go by pseudonyms like Limpidă to protect their identity. L as we call him on the pod for short detransitioned in May 2021 when his worldview that he believed he was a woman fell apart...
Apr 16, 2022•1 hr 16 min
In episode 127 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Tom Bradshaw. Tom is an illustrator and designer currently based in Folkestone. Tom moved to Folkestone after finishing his undergrad degree at Loughborough University. In this episode we discuss his journey of illustration from hobby to career, a dark moment of exclusion he experienced at a football camp and the grief he experienced in losing three of his grandparents in quick succession as a young adult. We also discuss his mov...
Apr 06, 2022•38 min
In episode 126 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Alice Porter. Alice currently works as the London reporter for GB News. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic began, she was a reporter on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme and found herself out of work as BBC budget cuts forced the programme off-air. As the pandemic took hold in the UK, she began job hunting and took roles at Good Morning Britain and then GBN where she is today but life was very difficult for those t...
Apr 01, 2022•59 min
In this episode of Behind The Decks, we checked in with indie electronic and nu-disco production duo, Betablock3r. They began by making remixes for a host of successful artists including Ellie Goulding, RAC and Selena Gomez. They released their debut EP Monolith in 2018 and have put out a number of singles which have charted on Hype Machine and featured on tastemaker playlists for Spotify and Apple Music. In this episode we discuss Chris and Ryan’s music journey and how Ryan originally started i...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 26 min
In episode 125 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with David Hartrick. Dave is a journalist, writer and the other half of the presenting duo behind the Huddersfield Town podcast ‘Ooh To Be A’, with us having already checked in with Steven Chicken. Dave is also the author of 'Silver Linings: Bobby Robson's England'. In this episode we discuss the book through a mental health lens, how he went from a car mechanic to a football journalist, the move he made as a teenager from his hometown...
Mar 26, 2022•1 hr 22 min
In episode 124 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Sergiy Slipchenko. Sergiy currently works as a political reporter for the Kyiv Independent and previously worked for the Kyiv Post when he was living in Ukraine before the war began. In this episode we discuss his route into journalism, the mental health impact of writing about the war in Ukraine against Russia on a daily basis and imposter syndrome. For Sergiy’s mental health, we talk about the trauma of seeing his country and hi...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 7 min
In episode 123 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jayme. Jayme is a writer, commentator, disability advocate for cerebral palsy and transsexual man. In this episode we discuss the difficulties that living with cerebral palsy has presented him throughout his life, the process of transition for him and why he’s found it difficult to get the medical support he needs despite jumping through all the right hoops. We also discuss the loss of his brother in a car accident when Jayme was ...
Mar 17, 2022•2 hr 45 min
In episode 122 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Buck Angel. Buck is a transsexual man, commentator, advocate and adult filmmaker who has been discussing his transition journey openly for many years. Buck transitioned in 1992 when he was 28 years old and he is affectionately known within the community as 'Tranpa'. Buck has spoken out on the conflict going on within the trans community between transsexuals like himself and those who identify as transgender. In this episode we dis...
Mar 11, 2022•55 min
In episode 121 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Paula Wright. Paula Wright is a graduate student in evolutionary psychology, a writer, actress and comic. Her Substack is called Dangerous Ideas and her journey into academia began when she founded a Facebook forum called Darwinian Gender Studies. This brought many academics, thinkers and writers to its discussion threads including now Quilette editor Claire Lehmann, Gad Saad and David Buss. Paula came from a working-class backgr...
Mar 04, 2022•57 min
In episode 120 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Davelle Heath. Davelle Heath is a PHD candidate at Lancaster University. His PHD study aims to explore and understand the lived experiences of Black American men that have been sexually assaulted by women via the ‘made-to-penetrate’ tactic as an adult. In this episode we discuss Davelle’s journey into academia and the reasons he wanted to explore this topic of male sexual abuse by female perpetrators. We outline the scale of this...
Feb 24, 2022•57 min
In episode 119 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Helena. Helena is a detransitioned woman from the USA. Helena talks online about her journey from transition to detransition. Helena's mental health difficulties started before her gender dysphoria and her trans identity developed from trauma associated with family issues and an eating disorder. Helena lived with bulimia and started to become more certain she was trans. She went on testosterone for 17 months – starting in August 2...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 20 min
