Mind Cake: Wandering Through Wellbeing

Part two of Lee and Paul's conversation with Prince Stash de Rola. This time it gets deeper: witnessing Syd Barrett's psychedelic breakdown in the Black Mountains, meeting Timothy Leary as a fugitive in Switzerland, decades of psychedelic and spiritual practice — and a sharp take on why social media and phone addiction are quietly wrecking people's mental health and attention spans today.Mind Cake is a comedy wellbeing podcast — not self-help, just slightly more helpful than doing nothing. Honest conversations about mental health, coping with anxiety, and the real stuff nobody tells you, with a laugh along the way.Missed Part 1? Go back and catch Stash's stories of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and life in a 1,300-year-old castle first.Guest: Prince Stash de RolaTopics: psychedelics, Timothy Leary, Syd Barrett, social media and mental health, phone addiction, anxiety, spirituality

This week ... Prince Stash de Rola.Friend of the Rolling Stones, housemate of Paul McCartney, model, musician, and current resident of a 1,300-year-old Italian castle, joins Lee on Mind Cake for the first of a two-part conversation. From surviving Vince Taylor's public breakdown to being arrested alongside the Stones and taken in by the Beatles, Stash shares stories from the heart of 60s rock stardom most people have never heard first-hand.Mind Cake is a comedy wellbeing podcast . Not self-help, just slightly more helpful than doing nothing. Honest conversations about mental health, coping with anxiety, and the real stuff nobody tells you, with a laugh along the way.Part 2, where the conversation turns to psychedelics, Timothy Leary, and why social media is lying to you, drops next Tuesday.Guest: Prince Stash de RolaTopics: rock and roll history, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, fame and mental health, celebrity breakdown, coping with anxiety.LINKSThe Prince Stash WebsiteMind Cake NewsletterMind Cake WhatsApp group

This week Lee heads to Drumchapel to meet Martin Melly from Men Matter Scotland ... and gets asked to rate his mental health battery before he's even sat down.Martin explains how a simple check-in question has become the backbone of a talking group that started as a dads' group in 2019 and has since grown into hubs in Glasgow and Cumbernauld. They get into why social media comparison culture makes everyone feel like they're the only one struggling, why "no advice, just listen" works better than most people expect, and the small, unglamorous habits - gym, meditation, a walk with the dog - that keep Martin's own battery charged.As Martin puts it: the hardest part is getting through the door. Everything after that gets easier.Find Men Matter Scotland: open Monday–Friday, 10:30am–8pm at their Drum Chapel hub, plus Fridays 10am–8pm in Cumbernauld. Drop in, phone, message on Facebook/Instagram, or self-refer via their website.Men Matter Scotland websiteMind Cake Newsletter

Michael Redmond played Father Stone in Father Ted in the 1990s. He's never watched it. When they wheeled out a television at a gig in Glasgow and showed the whole thing without warning, he hated every minute of it. This is one of the most honest conversations Mind Cake has had. We chat about about burnout, bewilderment, finding contentment and why autistic children around the world see themselves in a deadpan Irish priest who just looks lost. Michael is 75, lives in Glasgow, posts about aliens on TikTok, and is one of the funniest people Lee has ever sat across from. Mind Cake is a comedy wellbeing podcast exploring honest mental health conversations and the stuff that actually helps, without the therapy speak.

The economy is a bit like a cake. Everyone keeps saying we need to grow it bigger. Everyone wants a bigger slice. But what if the oven is only so big? Katherine Trebeck is a political economist and advocate for the wellbeing economy, and this is one of the most mind-expanding honest mental health conversations Mind Cake has had. Not about therapy or coping with anxiety, but about the system underneath it all and why so many people feel ground down, burnt out and left behind. If you've ever felt the world isn't working the way it should, this conversation might explain why. Mind Cake is a comedy wellbeing podcast exploring honest mental health conversations and the stuff that actually helps, without the therapy speak.