11/5 - How To Be A Dad, Part 6

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‘Sometimes I am guilty of inventing games where I get to lay down’

Comedians Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith reunite with Olly 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?

Olly, Toby & Harvey

Wilfred, Edmund & Tom

Stuart & baby detritus

In this laugh-out-loud, typically honest encounter, our trio of Dads share stories and support each other through a uniquely challenging milestone on their journeys through fatherhood.

Catch up with the previous five conversations in our ‘How To Be A Dad’ series HERE.

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For even more from Tom and Stu, subscribe to their podcasts:

• Tom pores over the Amazon purchase histories of his guests in ‘My Mate Bought A Toaster’ - and a certain Olly Mann is his most recent victim.

• Stu’s show, ‘The Comedian’s Comedian’, features in-depth interviews with the nation’s favourite stand-ups.

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Meanwhile, in The Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart turns his hand to making ‘luxury products’ at home, using ingredients sourced and foraged from around his house in Dorchester.

Listen along as Olly unboxes a special delivery of Mr P’s best efforts -

caramel chocolates, ‘accidental' tumeric bath bombs, a ‘Modern Mann’ sourdough loaf, cherry blossom-scented loo roll, and Stinging Nettle Pasta. It’s quite the ride.

Thanks to John the Poacher for his help with Ollie’s foraging quest.

If YOU have a suggestion of a trend Ollie can test - whilst maintaining social distancing of course - reach out via our Feedback form.

'pasta'

chocolates

bath bombs

'toilet paper'. (Seriously).

This month’s edition of the Zeitgeist is sponsored by Blue Microphones - we used their incredible Yeti X model, yours for only £159. 

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Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox advises a listener who wonders whether CBD-enhanced lubricants can ‘get her vagina stoned’.

Alix consulted Kathie Bishop, herbalist and founder of Into The Wylde; Daye, a female-founded company who make the world’s first clinically-validated CBD tampons; ‘Cannasexual’ specialist Ashley Manta; sex educator Chelsea Cebara of Velvet Swing and ‘supersoaker’ Lola Jean, who’s been experimenting with Foria CBD arousal oil.

If YOU have a question of sex for Alix to answer in a future edition of the show, just use our Feedback form - you can remain anonymous if you wish.

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Our Record of the Month is the super-funky ‘Take Back The Track’, from The Magic Gang. It’s available to stream now - with a great Zoom-inspired music video also begging to be seen:

Wanna be a Mannbassador? Buy us a beer, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts - and then send us an email to tell us about yourself. 

In these uncertain times, it is YOUR SUPPORT of this show that makes it possible for us to still make you a fresh new podcast each month - please DONATE if you can.

Stay safe, keep well, and we’ll see you with something new on June 1st!

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This episode is supported by Beer52. To get a free crate of eight delicious beers, a snack and a magazine, delivered straight to your door, visit Beer52.com/Modern.

9/10 - How To Be A Dad, part 5

“I’m busy putting out emotional fires. I do not have time to reflect on ANYTHING”

As their sons turn three, Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith once again join Olly to discuss the dilemmas faced by the modern Dad…

How can you control a toddler who has no concept of time? Why aren’t Dads as good as Mums at making friends? When does your role as educator impinge on their imaginations?

In this fifth instalment of our ‘How To Be A Dad’ series, our trio swap stories about potty training, faith schools, Spotify playlists, and the ‘self-deleting baby years’ that repeat on you when your second child arrives…

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Want to hear more from Tom and Stu? Catch Tom hosting ‘Weekend Breakfast’ on Magic, and comedy panel show ‘The Leak’ on BBC Sounds; and subscribe to Stuart’s excellent podcast ‘The Comedian’s Comedian’ for an insight into comedy-writing and performing from some of the country’s top stand-ups. You can also catch-up with all four previous instalments of ‘How To Be A Dad’ here.

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What Ollie’s actual car looks like now.

Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, new homeowner Ollie Peart updates us on his car-wrapping and song-writing adventures, and sends off his DNA for analysis. Along the way, he discovers new relatives, reviews his tolerance for data breaches, and reveals how closely his genetics are shared with Olly’s… perhaps.

Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox celebrates the arrival of ‘Januhairy’, advises a married couple about opening up the ‘back door’, and ponders why anal sex has become a habit for many heterosexuals.

… And, over in music corner, our Record of the Week is ‘High’ by Lokki, out now on Wolf Tone:

That’s it for this season - we’re taking an extended break until the late Spring.

But - if you have a suggestion for a guest we should interview, a trend Ollie should test out, or a question Alix should answer in Season Ten, just fill out our Feedback form.

And, whilst you’re here, click Beer Money to support our show with a recurring or one-off donation. It’s only thanks to listeners like you that we can run this independent podcast - so, if you love the show, please chuck us some cash!

See you in the Spring.

6/9 - How To Be A Dad, Part 4

"Sometimes, you've GOT to shout at your children"

Tom Price and Stuart Goldsmith once again join Olly to compare notes on the perils of parenthood. Their sons are now coming up to two years old - but does that mean toddler tantrums ('the terrible twos') are about to become a way of life?

In a typically frank and funny conversation, our trio of Dads tackle 'benign neglect', 'career lag', 'over-parenting', and the cult of Supernanny...

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(This is the fourth instalment of our ongoing How To Be A Dad series. Catch up here: Part One // Part Two // Part Three )

Meanwhile, in this week's Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart considers social media's grimmest question of 2017, suggests Ripple's XRP could be the next big thing in cryptocurrency, and gets a sneak preview of the new series of Black Mirror.

Elsewhere, Alix Fox is emptying Santa's sack in our annual Christmas Foxhole Spectacular. On the menu this year: singalong dongs, mocha-flavoured lube and vibrators that look like bike lights. As ever, the fun is sponsored by our friends at mycondom.com, where you should use our exclusive discount code, FOXHOLE, to secure a superb 15% OFF.

This week's Lifehack is a Xmas how-to from Beef & Dairy Network - the number one podcast for those involved, or just interested in, the production of beef animals and dairy herds. (The Lifehack is sponsored by our friends at Squarespace, who can help you design a beefy website in just a moo. Take a free trial at Squarespace.com, and get 10% OFF your first website or domain when you use our code MANN.)

Finishing off our bumper festive edition is suitable style is our record of the week, Walking In The Air from the brilliant Tom Chaplin. It's from his new album Twelve Tales Of Christmas, out now on Island Records:

We'll be back with our season finale in January. Until then - we wish all Mannfans a very happy Christmas, and ask that if perchance you have any money left over from your festive indulgences, you consider supporting the show financially.

Happy New Year!

3/10 - How To Be A Dad, part 3

"You're trying to control everything. I'm just trying to get to bath-time".

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Six months after last comparing notes on the joys of fatherhood, Tom Price, Stuart Goldsmith and Olly Mann are all facing up to daddy decisions: how to rescue their respective relationships from a world of 'guilt-tennis', how much TV to allow their sons to watch, and exactly how best to celebrate a one year-old's birthday...

In this funny and frank discussion, they offer up advice on Baby Sign Language, front-facing papooses, and how to make a fiddle-board:

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Thanks to The Bill Murray in Islington for providing space to record the conversation. If you'd like to hear more from Stuart Goldsmith, check out his brilliant podcast The Comedian's Comedian - and you can catch Tom Price every weekend on Magic FM, or his very funny BBC Radio Wales podcast The Leak.

Elsewhere in this season finale, Ollie Peart offers up some trends for 2017 in The Zeitgeist, including disappearing ink tattoos, the re-birth of flares, and the foldable phones of the future. Plus, why velvet curtains could soon be adorning your walls, why robotic chef arms will find their way into your kitchen, and how Amazon is wangling its way into your every conversation.

Meanwhile, down in The Foxhole, Alix Fox helps a lady who wants to get her rocks off whilst considering the environment. Along the way, she uncovers ethical sex toys, eco-friendly condoms, solar-powered vibrators - and poo-inspired dildos. If you have a question of sex for the next series, don't hesitate to send it our way - you can remain anonymous if you wish. The Foxhole is sponsored by our friends at MyCondom.com - just use the code 'FOXHOLE' to get 15% OFF at Checkout!

Finally, our record of the week is the lovely 'Astral Plane' by Valerie June, out now on Sunday Best Records: 

We love showcasing amazing music on The Modern Mann, so we've made a Spotify playlist of all the records we've played in our first thirty episodes here. You're welcome! 

That's it for this series of the show -but we will back on Valentine's Day. In the meantime, why not review the show on iTunes, send us some feedback, or check out Olly's BBC Radio 4 series, The Male Room, on iPlayer.

Remember - we can only keep going with support from listeners like you. If you value what we do, please do donate to the show - every amount counts! You can buy us a beer here.

See you on February 14th.

2/5 - How To Be A Dad, part 2

"Having a child obliterates the person that you were."

Six months ago, Olly met with comedians Stuart Goldsmith and Tom Price to discuss their fears and anxieties around their impending fatherhood. Now, three months since they each spawned a son, the trio reunite to compare notes...

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Price, Mann, Goldsmith: this is what three tired men look like

What has having a baby done to their time management, sleep routines and sense of self-worth? Which gadgets would they recommend to future dads? And is there such a thing as male post-natal depression? 

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Meanwhile, in The Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart learns French via his smartphone, discusses Radiohead's temporary disappearance from the internet, and the trend for 'dentist beards'.

And, in The Foxhole, Alix Fox flogs a truck-load of her old sex toys for charidee, and considers whether a listener should be loyal to the mirena coil if his wife's contraceptive prevents her from achieving orgasm. If you have a question for Alix for next week's show please go ahead and submit it on our Feedback page. 
 
Our song of the week is, appropriately, from the lullaby archives at rockabyebabymusic.com!

Thanks to Soho Theatre London for hosting our discussion. You can hear more from Stuart Goldsmith in The Comedian's Comedian, in which he interviews a headline comic about their career and creative process; and more from Tom Price in The Leak, a topical comedy show returning soon. in which Tom and guests look back over the week's news. We'd strongly recommend both!

See You Next Tuesday.