In episode 230 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Sam Evans. Sam is a mental health advocate and works in the healthcare industry. He first came on the podcast way back when in JCIP #31. In Part 1, we discussed his exposure to mental illness when one of his friends tragically took his own life and it ignited his desire to help men with their mental health. He has since put his words into action and took part in mental health campaign ‘Movember’ several times and was recently...
Feb 28, 2024•55 min
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 Jake Hanrahan who interviewed him on his podcast Popular Front about an upcoming documentary he has...
Feb 21, 2024•2 hr 39 min
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 love with DJing and having his first original single played by the iconic DJ Harvey, as well as a coup...
Feb 18, 2024•52 min
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 universities, schools and other public institutions to change the conversation around Muscle Dysmorphia. In...
Feb 14, 2024•2 hr 35 min
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 Decks guest Ryan Doyle and made a track called ‘Cry for Love’ and she began to alter the path she wante...
Feb 09, 2024•58 min
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 previous guests Mark Wyatt and James Roffey, we emphasise the importance of the relationship between our phys...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 13 min
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 weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic’, ‘Bare Reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories’, ‘Manhood: T...
Feb 03, 2024•56 min
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 for the better. In Part 2, we have a free-flowing conversation about the influence that fitness guru...
Feb 01, 2024•2 hr 34 min
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 partner Tommy whilst he was doing his plumbing apprenticeship. Joe then took a life-changing trip to Ibiza in 2...
Jan 26, 2024•2 hr 43 min
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 following the tragic death of their son James to suicide in 2006. Clare and Nick were determined to prevent o...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 10 min
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 and the start of 2020 and started posting on the account and building the platform during the first Covid-19 loc...
Jan 19, 2024•2 hr 38 min
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 Student Association at the university to build bridges when the Israel-Palestine last ignited in 2021, ...
Jan 12, 2024•2 hr 48 min
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 Israeli government. In this episode we do a deep dive into this article and the mental health themes it...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 22 min
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, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and has taken positive steps on her recovery journey. In Part 4 we...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr
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 breakdowns, finishing CBT therapy, starting group therapy for survivors of CSA and starting the process...
Jan 02, 2024•16 min
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 women and its wider health implications. In this episode we discuss Melissa’s journalism journey and breakin...
Dec 27, 2023•2 hr 30 min
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 baby, child or pregnancy loss, based in Didcot. The team promotes therapy through sport and have been nomi...
Dec 24, 2023•1 hr 18 min
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 discussing what it was like for Brett growing up at the tail-end of apartheid South Africa and na...
Dec 20, 2023•2 hr 48 min
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 episode we discuss what IIA is, the four different forms of it and the disproportionate amount of m...
Dec 17, 2023•48 min
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 traumatic moment in Leo’s life. On 5 May 2018, he was involved in a horrific car crash that wasn’t his f...
Dec 15, 2023•2 hr 47 min
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 into his design work, including starting a YouTube channel! In this episode we discuss why he's stepped away slightly f...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 23 min
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 family court system and how men can navigate it. Zac is also a facilitator at Temper Domestic Violence, which offer...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min
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 and London, collaborations with brands like Michael Kors and Versace brought Balthazard to Paris and n...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 16 min
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 mental health and how we provide solutions, the concept of delayed adulthood and fatherlessness. As al...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 19 min
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 about the shows he has performed this year which have helped him overcome his stage anxiety, building an...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 3 min
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 so many young men are scared of having false allegations of sexual abuse made against them, how this...
Nov 24, 2023•2 hr 12 min
In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with producer and DJ, Ryan Doyle. In this episode we discuss his music journey, from initially pursuing a career in Marine Biology to changing course to pursue a career in music and then obtaining a Masters in music production in 2022. For industry issues, we discuss the relentless nature of being an independent artist, work-life balance, burnout and the indecisiveness of people in the music industry. For Ryan’s mental health, we discuss self-det...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of Behind The Mic we checked in with lead singer of Scottish band, La Mantra, Ryan Connor. In this episode we discuss his music journey and how to avoid being exploited as a young artist in the music industry. For Ryan’s mental health, we discuss his diagnosis of Autism and ADHD. We explore how it impacted his childhood and adolescence, how its influenced his creativity and how taking medication allows him to regulate his emotions alongside his Autism. We finish by exploring how ...
Nov 17, 2023•2 hr 31 min
In this episode of Behind The Decks we checked in with Norwegian producer, FRO$TY. We came across FRO$TY through his brilliant sophomore EP ‘STARTED // OVER’, which he released in October 2023. In this episode we discuss his music journey in Norway, from picking up the drums when he was three years old, the guitar at 6/7 and starting to produce his own beats when he was 17. Philip then went to production school in Oslo where he connected with a lot of his peers and began learning off them, befor...
Nov 15, 2023•36 min
In episode 209 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked back in with mental health advocate Danny Bowman. Danny is currently a PHD student and researcher at the University of Liverpool, Research Lead and Head of Communications at The Conservative Mental Health Group and a Fellow at The Royal Society of Arts. We first checked in with Danny in JCIP #70 where we discussed his Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), the distress and eventual suicidality that brought him and how he managed to recover from...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr
