In this week's episode, I speak with the delightful Simeon Wakely about what it's like to be a man with Spina bifida in the UK today. I'd love to hear your thoughts on our conversation. You can find me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com or on the platform previously known as twitter @dialoguespenis I'm particularly interested in hearing from men who are, or have been in any of the forces. If that's you, or someone you know - you know what to do. Please like, or subscribe or share, or rate, it really does wonders for my algorithms. Until the next time, I've been Chris Young, and you've been right-dead lovely, See you next Tuesday
Welcome back to the Penis Dialogues! Didja miss me? Didja? What do you mean you hadn't even noticed? How very dare... In this episode, I speak with my lovely friend, the actor and all round good-guy, Mark Carey about what it's like to be a man in the 2020s and his new stage show, 'What's Wrong with Benny Hill?' where he explores the rise and fall of this once celebrated comedian. You can find more details about his show, including upcoming tour dates, here I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, or any of the other episodes in the series. You can find me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com or on the social media platform previously known as twitter @dialoguespenis Until the next time... I've been Chris Young and you've been rather fabulous thank you so much for listening see you next Tuesday
This episode comes with a content warning, during which I talk about experiences of childhood sexual abuse, neglect, bereavement, poverty and physical violence. Hi folks, sorry about the recent silence, occasionally my mental wheels fall off - on this occasion it took a little longer to put them back on. The Penis Dialogues - more questions than answers! Have I been asking the wrong questions? Or have I been avoiding the key questions? Is this little more than an echo-chamber for my own confirmation bias? In this episode I've asked myself some of the questions that I perhaps could have asked my previous guests. That said, it does get a bit uncomfortable in places so...let's see how we go. I mention Caitlin Moran's book 'What about Men?' and the disgruntled responses from men who've been talking about this kind of stuff for decades, for example Ally Fogg's piece in the Guardian from 11 years ago about International Men's Day Please like/ follow/ comment/ review - you can find me @dialoguespenis and @walkamileuk on twitter or you can email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com See you next Tuesday Chris
Ok team, I’ve got a bit of an admission to make here…in this episode, with the delightful Simeon Wakely, we’ve taken an ever so slight detour from the usual penis dialoggy kind of er…exchange here. Welcome to the Penis Dialogues, I’m your host, Chris Young and for my loyal listeners – not that it makes you any better than my other listeners – but, between you and me, you are by far my favourites – who listen in to my other podcast, you’ll get a distinct Walk a Mile in My Shoes vibe from this. That wasn’t entirely deliberate – but as we spoke it soon became apparent that my request for the usual few set pieces to give you fine folk a flavour of what it’s like to be Simeon wasn’t quite going to cut it on this occasion. I think that for me to more fully understand where Simeon’s coming from when I finally get round to asking him what it’s like to be a 26 year-old man in the 2020’s, it was essential that we spoke about what it’s like to be a disabled human…or a human with disabilities, in this day and age in the UK. I knew things were coming a little off the rails when his first set piece – unlike those of any of my previous guests – came around roughly 6 months before he was born…Simeon has spina bifida and hydrocephalus – and talking about that gives us the essential backdrop of where he’s coming from in his next episode. He and I have spoken before and at length about how, although his combined disabilities can curtail some of the things he’s able to do…it’s society…it’s us…that actually prevents him from being all he can be…but in this conversation, with my lovely friend, I was truly slapped in the face with it. As ever, if you’d like to be part of the Penis Dialogues adventure, please get in touch with me on twitter @dialoguespenis or email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com I’d love to hear what you think of the show, or, if you’d like an episode of your own, you’d be very welcome. If this is your kind of thing, I’d be delighted if you’d subscribe to the show…rate it or review it…apparently that all helps with the mysterious world of the algorithm…and, obviously, sharing it about the place would be rather splendid too. Thank you so much for listening Until the next time, I’ve been Chris Young and you’ve been rather fabulous See you next Tuesday
Welcome back, dear listener. It seems only a week since... In this episode, I speak with the delightful Mark King, a pastoral support worker in a secondary school in Norfolk. We cover a lot of stuff. Here are a couple of links to just some of the things we touched on in our conversation... Men and their (lack of) friends White pupils underachieving at school County Lines and how easy it is to get caught up in drug crime If you'd like to be part of this conversation, you can find me on twitter @dialoguespenis or you can email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com Thank you so much for listening Until the next time, I've been Chris Young, and you've been rather lovely. See you next Tuesday
I'll not bang on about this episode here - instead I'll give you the 3 quotes George sent to me before we spoke. I think they sum him up rather well Something good from it: What irritates you does not last. Consider that, let go of the irritation, and move on. What frustrates you provides insight into your own priorities. Use that as an opportunity to focus on those priorities rather than on the frustration. What angers you gives you energy. Find a way to point that energy in a positive, productive direction. What frightens you alerts you to possible dangers. Use that awareness to better prepare yourself for successfully handling or avoiding the dangers. What initially arrives as difficulty, discomfort or unpleasantness can be turned to your advantage. That has been the catalyst for much of your skill, wisdom, strength, and will continue to be. What is going on in your world right now, and how can you make something good from it? Challenge yourself to find a way, for your very own history proves that you will. Ralph Marston "Love is not all you need. You need mutual respect. You need support. You need trust. You need boundaries. You need people to be there when it matters. You need space to grow and acceptance when you do. You need people to show their love in a way you can understand." Nedra Tawwab Our Community, Our Decisions Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change. Barbara Mikulski.
Welcome back, dear listener, to this, the 6th episode of the penis dialogues. I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I speak with the delightful Graham Morgan who, amongst other things talks eloquently about what it’s like to be a male victim of domestic abuse – just as importantly, I think, he talks about what it’s like to be the male victim of domestic abuse whilst carrying a label of schizophrenia. Keep an ear open for his set pieces. One of them, I’ll let you decide which it is, filled my mind with the most beautiful images you can imagine. It’s absolutely lovely. As ever, we speak about some challenging stuff. As well as his lovely adopted family, he tells us about 2 organisations who’ve been a massive support to him, Rape Crisis Scotland and Jean’s Bothy There’s a lot to think about. Remember, if you’d like to be part of this journey, by being a guest or by commenting wherever you like, you can find me @dialoguespenis on twitter or you can email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com The podcast is available on Apple, Google, Amazon and Spotify – I’d be delighted if you’d give me a follow, a comment or a rating, if that’s your kind of thing. Thanks so much for listening. I'll see you next Tuesday
12 years ago, when I went on a walk around the edge of our fair island to highlight the experience of people with mental health problems, mental maladies, mental illness, however you’d like to refer to them, I encountered swathes of people who had the audacity to use the wrong language. Very rapidly, I discovered that this was the language they had – and that there was no ill-intent behind their words. Equally rapidly, I found out that if I challenged people too early on or too vociferously, I’d end up sleeping in my tent with nothing to eat. These are challenging times – and we really do have more similarities than differences. Yes, there are dickheads out there, but please take some time before you make irrevocable decisions about the character of another human. Join me and Stephen as we pick our way through that particular minefield – I’d like to think we do it pretty successfully and respectfully. If you have any comments on this week’s episode, or any of the other 4 (yes, I know this isn’t the 6th – remind me to bore you with the details of that in a later show), or if you’d like to be guest, please get in touch. You can find me on twitter @dialoguespenis or email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com Until the next time… Thanks so much for listening, I’ve been Chris Young, and you’ve been rather fabulous See you next Tuesday
Welcome back, dear listeners. This is a bit of a challenging listen. We talk about men's behaviour in the context of the nature/ nurture argument and change...what do we have to do to affect real change? I'd love to hear your thoughts on our conversation. You can get in touch with me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com or on Twitter @dialoguespenis If you want to connect with all my shenanigans over the past few years, including how to help fund the whole thing, just follow this link Once again, thanks so much for listening I'm Chris Young, You're rather fabulous and I'll see you next Tuesday
Welcome back to The Penis Dialogues! We’re 3 shows in, and we’ve still got more questions than answers – which is exactly how it should be. In this episode we talk about…well, all the staples of the penis dialogues. I’m sure you’ll agree Jack was a great guest. If you think the penis dialogues is for you – or, just as importantly, for someone you know, then please get in touch, I’d love to have you on the show. If you have any thoughts on this episode, or any of the others, you can find me on twitter @dialoguespenis or email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com Until the next time Thanks so much for listening I’ve been Chris Young And I’ll see you next Tuesday
Yes, I know it's not Tuesday! Look, I've got a lot on tomorrow, and on Tuesday, well, it's Ella's birthday...so all my focus will be on that I think this is all going rather well! Yes, I know it's long - but...go and grab a cup of tea, go for a walk, hoover the cat...just listen to Tom being a great guest. Men are in crisis - it's up to us to dig ourselves out of the smooth-sided hole we've dug for ourselves. I need to change - we need to change - you need to change. If you are someone who identifies as male, get in touch, I'd be delighted to have you on the show. If you're someone who doesn't - get in touch - tell me what you think. I'm fairly sure you'll know people who would benefit from being part of this. Here's the link to the Open Door charity Tom mentions You can find Tom's 'Proper Mental' podcast here Remember, you can find me on twitter @dialoguespenis and you can email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com Do have a look for Chris Hemmings and his theory of the sphere of influence - he is truly wise Thanks for listening See you next Tuesday...or possibly before Chris
Welcome to the Penis Dialogues! I'm your host, Chris Young, and over the next weeks, months and years I'll be inviting men to be part of this conversation. Before you get too hung up on the title, this is not a safe space for trans-exclusionary types; I believe trans people, more than any of us, have explored the question, 'What is it to be a man?' I believe, as a group, they have a massive contribution to make towards this project. I hope to interview a number of trans people as we go along. 'The Penis dialogues' is a metaphor for where we find ourselves today. Men are in crisis. In the UK, we are responsible for 120 thousand rapes and the vast majority of the 850 thousand reported incidents of domestic violence every year. 95% of the prison population are male. Men account for the majority of the ever increasing reports of hate crimes across our lovely country. Three quarters of the 6,000 people who take their own lives every year, a men. We are at risk of, and are responsible for the vast majority of violent crimes. Most addicts, whether it be problem gamblers, or folk addicted to crystal meth, are men. Men are responsible for the majority of fatal road accidents. This needs to change. Weirdly, perhaps paradoxically, there are more men in positions of power than ever before. 95% of armed service personnel are men; two thirds of all our MPs are men and 95% of CEOs in the FTSE 500 are men. This needs to change. With a favourable wind, it's my hope to take this project on the road, where we can talk together about many of the arse-clenchingly difficult issues that I speak with Jim about in this episode. Hopefully you'll hear it's far easier to talk about all these issues than you could have imagined. I'll be putting out an episode every Tuesday until you, or I decide that's enough. Please get in touch if you have any comments on this episode, or the project in general, or if you'd like to be part of the conversation...or, if there are any men you know who should be part of the conversation. You can find me on twitter @dialoguespenis (yes, someone beat me to it!) or you can email me at thepenisdialogues@gmail.com Thanks for listening See You next Tuesday Chris