Stu Otten was raised on a tough Liverpool estate, where drug-taking was rife, and established crime families enacted violent retribution. Aged 17, he became a bar-room bouncer - and soon found himself dealing drugs, protecting human traffickers, and defending his territory in a turbulent turf war. In this raw, insightful interview, Stu reveals to Olly the self-loathing, drug-induced hallucinations and spiritual awakening that led him away from his marriage, his city, and organised crime -...

Dr Stuart Farrimond was a disillusioned Junior Doctor. Night-shifts, the grim reality of hospital life and emotional exhaustion were all taking their toll - but he was in denial about what might be killing him. In this extraordinary interview with Olly, he explains how an eating disorder and an unexpected diagnosis derailed his career and his marriage - but also how, in the most desperate of circumstances, his life could still change for the better… This interview first aired in 2018. Now...

Lexi struggled to ‘read’ faces. She walked on her toes. She craved routine. She didn’t like her food to touch on a plate, and she was sensitive to light and sound.  But, until she was 27, she didn’t know she was autistic.  Lexi only took a test when - as a paramedic, grappling with erratic shifts and sleep disturbance - she sought help with anxiety and depression.  In this candid conversation with Olly, she considers the ‘trigger points’ for her struggles, explains her support system, and...

Extreme highs, extreme lows, and a bungled bank robbery Radcliffe Royds had it all - a private education; a job in the City; a wife and kids. So, how did he find himself robbing a bank with a banana, high on crack cocaine, whilst living in a skip in Soho? In this incredible interview, he tells Olly his outrageous story. It's a tale of extreme highs and lows, brutal honesty and dark humour. This interview first aired in 2016. Now remastered and with an update from Radcliffe, we've paired this...

Sue Beere’s husband, John, was jailed for his role in a £53 million drug-smuggling plot.  He’s spent time in a maximum-security prison. He’s lost two appeals. But Sue has never doubted his innocence. Alongside charity Appeal, Sue continues to campaign for his conviction to be quashed - and for all the ‘Freshwater Five’ implicated in the alleged cocaine conspiracy to be exonerated.  In this compelling conversation with Olly, Sue recounts how - from John’s unexpected arrest to the shocking...

Raising $1m in venture capital whilst still at Uni; starting a business seemed like child's play for James Routledge. His start-up attracted 50m page views per month, and his investors believed he could be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Except, beneath the surface, he felt stressed, isolated and alone - and his business was burning £30,000 per month. In this honest and compelling interview with Olly, he explains what happened next. This interview first aired in 2017 . Now remastered and with an...

Yorkshire couple Matthew Glover and Jane Land created Veganuary at their kitchen table.  Inspired by Movember, their concept of challenging the nation to try veganism for a month gained incredible momentum via social media, and became a global organisation.  But, along the way, it drained their finances, crashed their servers, and ate up their Christmasses... In this interview with Olly, the husband-and-wife entrepreneurs consider the flaws of their early strategy; take us...

Olly, Alix and Ollie are under the mistletoe for our annual festive ding-dong, with sensational live music, a feelgood Christmas task, and a bucketload of obscene toys. Deck the Halls! First up, Ollie Peart reports back on his mission to unite to match up the world’s Mann-fans with skills and needs in his philanthrotainment-bashing charity concept, The Modern 2023 Skill-a-thon. Jingle your bells as he unites mountain climbers and copywriters, graphic designers and charity campaigners, and...

With just ten days to go, Ollie reports in on his challenge to fix charity. Have a need? Or a skill? modernmann.co.uk/skills Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caz Jaine faced danger, isolation and even assault when she took a foreign office role in Basra during the ‘reconstruction’ phase of the Iraq war.  But she thrived on the adrenalin of conflict zones - and was even diagnosed with ‘post-traumatic development’... As she explains to Olly in this wide-ranging conversation, her subsequent experiences as a Police emergency call handler led her to broaden her self-care and resilience. Now a meditation teacher, Caz takes police officers on forest...

After twenty years, Kamran Ashraf is still seeking justice. Wrongfully sent to prison by the Post Office, he and his family are one of 700 subpostmasters and sub postmistresses that were convicted on false evidence - provided by a broken computer system known as Horizon. Three years after our original interview, we discover what happened next. Was his appeal successful? And what will it take to see justice for the hundreds of men and women affected? The ‘Horizon scandal’ has since been...

Britain’s shoplifters fear David McKelvey. His companies, TM Eye and My Local Bobby, have brought over 1,200 private prosecutions - and never lost a case.  Commandeering a commercial force of savvy ex-coppers, David pursues thieves the Police usually let go with a caution - guys who steal steaks from Waitrose and flog them to restaurants, and housewives hawking fake handbags on Facebook.  In this wide-ranging and illuminating conversation with Olly, David explains how private individuals...

Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith return to the show to compare notes with Olly on raising their now seven-and-a-half year-old boys. Can they now swear freely in front of their kids? How best to deal with ‘8pm extension negotiations’ at bedtime? And how should one answer the ‘Is Santa real?’ question? Plus, how to use ‘Frozen 2’ as a teaching device, the pitfalls of monitoring WhatsApp messages, and the foolproof way to extract young children from softplay… To catch up on the story so far,...

Since encountering a grass snake at the age of eight, Dr Rhys Jones has felt a profound connection with reptiles. He has rescued them, toured the country with them and even studied them at Cardiff University; an achievement that seemed impossible when he graduated from school with just 3 O Levels - and undiagnosed dyslexia. In this adventure-packed chat with Olly, Rhys reveals how his snake-charming skills have come in handy with Masai tribespeople, BBC camera crews, and even assisting the...

Booze, drugs and music are deeply intertwined - from the beers given to bands in their ‘riders’ to the excessive consumption facilitated by festivals and after-show parties. For music promoter Chris De Banks, consuming up to thirty pints a day had become typical behaviour. In the fug of his addiction, he lost jobs, friends and self-respect. Following rehab in 2016, he founded Not Saints, the UK’s only record label working with musicians in recovery from addiction. In this candid...

Elaine Gregersen was 24 weeks pregnant when her waters broke. Having endured sickness throughout her high-risk pregnancy, she and husband Mark had not suspected anything sinister was happening when she appeared to be suffering from bladder weakness too.  After a traumatic 24 hours in the maternity ward, the Gregersens were faced with the reality that their twin boys, Henry and Blake, were unlikely to both survive beyond the neonatal unit. In this interview with Olly, they tell their...

Imagine delegating your decisions to a group of people online, some of whom are total strangers. Imagine sharing the most intimate parts of your life in order to get their approval. Imagine answering your personal problems in the same way a bank asks its shareholders to vote on corporate outcomes. This is the life chosen by Mike Merrill. Since 2008 - when he created 100,000 shares of himself and sold them at $1 each through his website, KMikeyM - he has asked his ‘investors’ for advice on...

Rosie Hodsdon was struggling to make ends meet on a pHD stipend. Then she hit Record and began to make sex videos from her student flat, indulging her fetish for kink. As she explains to Olly in this intimate conversation, her sexy side-hustle introduced her to a range of peccadillos, including ‘Giantess’ porn and ‘sploshing’ - and even led her to be invited to join the cast of a professional adult video. But it also left her exposed to assault. Now an advocate for charity National Ugly Mugs,...

Ian Mudge was a teenage punk, whose exploits included chucking chairs out of a train window.  He became a teacher, whose unconventional methods and connection with kids saw him rise through the ranks, becoming Headteacher of a Pupil Referral Unit - responsible for educating some of Britain’s most challenging children, many with histories of violence and abuse. As he explains to Olly in this lively conversation, it was a career that required lateral thinking and exhaustive energy - but...

Ketamine and magic mushrooms are notorious for their damaging side-effects, including paranoia, depression and other ‘bad trips’. But the process of carefully administering small amounts of these drugs - so-called ‘microdosing’ - is now gaining traction both recreationally and in medical settings. In this episode, Olly meets NHS worker Nathan*, who credits his psilocybin experiments with improving his interpersonal skills at work; and Irish artist Tamzin, who suffered poor mental health for...

Olly, Alix and Ollie gather round the podcasting chimney for a festive knees-up, with musical guest Ashley Singh and entrepreneur Jules Parker. There are yuletide songs, holiday films, a ‘Christmas collab’ - and, of course, the LEGENDARY XXXMas Foxhole Christmas Quiz. Ho ho ho! First up, Ollie Peart has bought his one year-old child a skateboard, so can he be trusted to go into business with fabulous start-ups run by Mann-fans? (Spoiler: yes he can - and you can buy the result NOW at...

Neil 'Sam' Samworth spent 11 years as a prison officer at HMP Manchester - better known as Strangeways, one of Britain’s most notorious jails. Building rapport with the men incarcerated there, he prided himself on de-escalating violent and threatening situations; an approach becoming increasingly impossible as the prison service churns through staff. In this interview with Olly, he confronts corruption; considers the toll his job took on his mental and physical health; and explains why, in...

Vanessa Potter lost her sight in just 72 hours - the result of a rare condition that doctors struggled to diagnose.  In this interview with Olly, she recalls how it felt to experience the rapid deterioration of her vision and simultaneous paralysis; why her two young children aided her recovery; and explains how the process helped pivot her career… Vanessa co-founded the ParkBathe project. Her books, Patient H69 and Finding My Right Mind are out now, and you can follow her podcast...

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, unsparing conversation with Olly, Robin explains how it felt to manage the last couple of days...