The Modern Mann
Olly Mann brings you a monthly selection of incredible life stories, tests out the latest trends, and answers your relationship questions - with Alix Fox, Ollie Peart and guests. 'Best Interview Podcast', British Podcast Awards. New episodes on the 10th. Reach out or buy us a beer at https://modernmann.co.uk.
Episodes
July 25, 2025 • 31 mins
Theme parks have transformed from the travelling fairs of the fifties and Disney-inspired family resorts into playgrounds for adrenalin junkies of all ages. So, how do ride designers meet the needs of their discerning public?
Bradley Wynne, lead creative artist at Merlin Magic Making, is a man who knows - he's spent a lifetime obsessing about all things theme park and is now heading up the team for Thorpe Park's biggest ever laun...
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July 10, 2025 • 100 mins
Perry Burns was just 13 when his once-in-a-lifetime trip on an RAF plane ended in a devastating crash. It left him with burns over nearly half his body.
In this gripping conversation with Olly, Perry relives the moment he thought he’d died; the fireball he escaped; and the chain of miracles that saved his life...
He shares the pain of recovery, the power of one relentless teacher, and how love helped him rebuild.
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June 27, 2025 • 52 mins
What’s the reality of male-to-female transitioning on the NHS?
Lexi Perry-Weston says the online resources she found didn’t relate to her experiences at all.
In this interview with Olly, she explains how she’s been supported in her trans journey by her family, her workplace and the medical establishment - but also harassed by the public, fetishised by partners and discriminated against by businesses.
From hormones to dating app...
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June 10, 2025 • 93 mins
When Nick Coffer’s marriage fell apart, the breakup was a battlefield. Embroiled in high conflict, overwhelming stress, and crushing legal fees, he had to redefine his role as a father while struggling to maintain his cheeriness as a BBC broadcaster.
But from the chaos, Nick forged a new path: re-training as a family mediator. Determined to rescue others from his mistakes, he now shatters stalemates between hostile exes, keeping c...
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May 30, 2025 • 50 mins
Jim Finch’s life changed forever when his car flipped over in a devastating accident that left him with multiple neurological issues.
He developed PTSD, suffered from seizures - and even became afflicted with Tourettes.
But the medication he was prescribed was almost as bad: triggering fits, impotence and bloody discharge. Then he discovered cannabis...
CONTENT WARNING: interview includes account of suicidal thoughts and suicide...
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May 9, 2025 • 87 mins
After witnessing bleak conditions inside a mental health unit, artists Tim A. Shaw and Niamh White decided to take action.
Drawing on their background in contemporary art, they set out to transform sterile clinical spaces with bold, thought-provoking artworks, via their charity, Hospital Rooms.
Today, they commission over 40 leading artists a year to create immersive, site-specific pieces in psychiatric hospitals across the UK —...
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April 25, 2025 • 41 mins
It began as a threesome, arranged through dating app Feeld.
But soon, Maggie and Cody realised their connection to Janie was more than sexual…
No longer just an adventurous couple in an open relationship, they had become a ‘thruple’ - whose relationship with Janie (their ‘third’) was as vital and equitable as their marriage to each other.
In this interview with Olly, they explain the importance of communication in a three-way ...
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April 10, 2025 • 95 mins
When Armin Samii signed up to deliver food for Uber Eats, his intentions were to explore his city, and help pay off his new bike.
He soon realised the app was poorly configured for cyclists, and uncovered glitches including a non-existent branch of McDonald’s. But getting support from Uber was frustrating.
When he believed they were also underestimating his mileage - and therefore underpaying him - he used his background as a com...
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March 28, 2025 • 50 mins
Sperm donors are anonymised in British clinics.
Recipients don’t even get to see a photo of the man who will father their child. Donor-conceived kids can only discover the identity of their biological father upon reaching adulthood themselves.
But Mitch Kennedy is a private donor. His sperm has been used by 23 couples - and he’s met them all. In most cases, he’s slept in their spare room during the conception. He has around 40 chil...
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March 10, 2025 • 90 mins
California wildfires ripped through L.A. this year, killing 29 people, destroying more than 18,000 buildings, and putting wildland fires back into the headlines. But what’s it like being one of the poorly-paid workers sent in to risk your life to fight the flames?
Wildland firefighter Nathan Bell has ‘held the line’ across the United States: in Elk City, Idaho; on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Utah; and in the desert condi...
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February 28, 2025 • 45 mins
Falling overboard following a fit of food poisoning, Brett Archibald survived 28 hours alone in the Indian Ocean.
In this extraordinary interview with Olly, he re-lives his onslaught of hallucinations, his encounter with a shark and how he contemplated certain death...
Read more about Brett's amazing story on his website, and in his book, Alone.
This episode first aired in October 2017. Now remastered, we have paired this episo...
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February 10, 2025 • 98 mins
Imagine building a brand from scratch, and running your business for fifteen years - only to be told by a global corporation that your name isn’t yours to keep.
That’s what happened to Rebecca Dowdeswell, founder of waxing business NKD, when she received a legal letter from cosmetics giant L’Oréal, opposing her application to renew her trademark.
In this compelling conversation with Olly, Rebecca takes us inside her David vs. Go...
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January 31, 2025 • 38 mins
With zero experience running a professional kitchen, home cook Robert Maxwell poured his life savings into his passion project: a gastropub-inspired Toronto restaurant. It became a crash-course in coping with stress, managing his cashflow, and curbing his ego.
"I was Don Quixote. I was chasing a windmill. I didn’t see the obstacles in my way."
In this funny, forthright interview with Olly, Robert reveals how chasing a dream led t...
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January 10, 2025 • 94 mins
Why are so many restaurants closing down? Across Britain, the hospitality industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Twelve months ago, it was the turn of chef Tony Rodd.
His passion for food saw him progress from hosting dinner parties for friends, to being a Masterchef runner-up, to eventually opening his dream London restaurant - Copper & Ink, in affluent Blackheath.
But the dream unravelled. Crippled by Covid, increasing ener...
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December 10, 2024 • 78 mins
Join Olly Mann and the gang for our bumper festive extravaganza… Featuring:
🎶 Live music from Sons of Town Hall – the Victorian-inspired duo from the Madmen Cross The Water podcast join us to serenade the season with their folksy harmonies - and test their Anglophiliac credentials with a Mannfan-made ‘citizenship test’…
💸 To Tip or Not to Tip? – Wondering how much to tip your postie, milkman, or the plumber who saved your pipes?...
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November 29, 2024 • 21 mins
Being a landlord means trusting strangers to live in your house.
Try as you might, you can't know everything about them. Sometimes, you just have to rely on an instinct that your tenants are good people. Until, that is, you get a knock on the door from the police...
That's what happened to listener Ian from Dublin. In this interview with Olly, he re-lives the moment he became involved in an armed Police sting - and began to regret...
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November 9, 2024 • 100 mins
Trashed rooms. Plastic sheeting. Dodgy ductwork. When Mike Senior returned to his rental property in Cambridge, he uncovered a scene straight out of a crime drama.
In this interview with Olly, he reveals how some tenants from Gumtree turned his Dream Home into a landlord’s nightmare…
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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates the trend for A.I.-assisted recruitment.
Employers, he discovers, are using machine...
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October 25, 2024 • 49 mins
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,...
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October 10, 2024 • 99 mins
Sarah McCammon’s upbringing was steeped in evangelical culture—raised as a Charismatic Christian in Kansas City, Missouri, she asked God for salvation at just two years old.
Soon she was ‘street witnessing’, trying to convert strangers to her mega-church; praying at family dinners for the salvation of her atheist grandfather; and crediting Jesus for healing her stubbed toe.
As a teen, she followed the expected path: wearing a pur...
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September 27, 2024 • 43 mins
Private Investigator Bob Nygaard specialises in bringing psychics to justice.
Fortune-tellers, offering palm-reading for as little as ten dollars, are a common sight in New York City. But when they swindle their clients out of six-figure sums, it’s ex-NYPD officer Bob on their case…
In this sensational interview with Olly, Bob reveals how the criminals he pursues prey on vulnerable victims, the techniques they use to convince clev...
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