Olivia hardly knew her father. Her parents divorced when she was two, and she was brought up by her Mum.Sent to boarding school at the age of eight, she was estranged from her Dad for a decade.Struggling financially, and weakened by bulimia, she got a call from out of the […]

Sun, sea and €1 drinks lure thousands of backpackers to Andrew’s hostel in a typical year. But 2020 was not a typical year.Confronting a doomed Summer season and 45 empty bedrooms, Andrew’s family turned their accommodation over to a diverse group of refugees, drug addicts, career criminals and victims of […]

Ho ho ho! In this bumper Christmas special, our three households unite (at an appropriate social distance, of course) for a festive mix of songs, reminiscences and parlour games – and, of course, the legendary XXXmas Foxhole Christmas Quiz.In the Zeitgeist, our one-man matchmaker Ollie Peart explores the unsettling uptick in loneliness wrought by the […]

After a sudden and violent death, the Metropolitan Police will dispatch a member of their ‘Family Liaison' team to the deceased person’s relatives, to ensure their needs are met. But this wasn’t always the case…As retired officer Tom Simmons explains to Olly in this episode, the role of the ‘family liaison’ was […]

Seeking a secure investment, newlyweds Sara and Ali sank their savings into a dependable, government-backed business – a branch of the Post Office.That decision led them to lose their income, their home – and even their liberty.In this intense interview with Olly, they explain how an unacknowledged software glitch put […]

What’s the reality of male-to-female transitioning on the NHS? Listener 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 […]

The British Army is recruiting gamers, 'phone zombies', and 'selfie addicts' as it broadens its skills for modern military ops. But who are the young men getting these jobs, and what impact does it have on their lives? Former Grenadier Guardsman Julian Perreira served as a J-TAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) […]

Four years before Facebook, long before anyone knew what ‘social networking’ was, Julie Pankhurst had an idea…What if, without trawling through message-boards or working your way through The Phone Book, you could reconnect with all your old school friends, via one simple database?Friends Reunited rapidly became one of Britain’s biggest […]

Lottie Woods was in her early twenties when she was sent, alone, to meet a powerful buyer for a high street fashion brand in Guangzhou, China.They went out for a drink. The next morning, they had a meeting. In this interview with Olly, she recounts what happened in between.Along the […]

Comedians Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith reunite with Olly Mann to compare parenting notes – this time, in lockdown…Can they turn mundane household tasks into games? What kids’ TV shows are best avoided? And how DO you explain the pandemic to a four year-old?In this laugh-out-loud, typically honest encounter, our […]