Life In Westminster (Season 5, Ep 9)

The Modern Mann

Would you be an MP, at a time when public trust in politicians has fallen to the lowest level in living memory? Could you dedicate yourself to your constituents, yet also make time for your family, fighting fires on social media and keeping the media on-side? Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North since 2015, entered the fray in time to experience the Brexit vote, the murder of his colleague Jo Cox, and the Palace of Westminster coming under terrorist attack. In this candid interview with Olly, he lifts the lid on day-to-day life as a young MP in the House of Commons, from his experiences adapting to the weird traditions of voting and speaking in the House, to the perils of navigating Westminster’s gossipy backstairs bars and their modern-day digital equivalents on WhatsApp.

Also this week, Ollie Peart completes even more of his challenges - experiencing a home-cooked Indian meal from Hersha Patel, securing VIP access to a festival, trying out the latest frankincense face-cream, and, er, pissing off the PR lady from the UK transfer of ‘Hamilton’. He even finds time to discuss a couple of actual trends for this week's Zeitgeist, namely the boom in crypto-currency Ethereum, and the teenage girl who loved K-Pop so much she put a hammer in her mouth.

Meanwhile, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox, fresh from a launch party in ‘a posh strip club’, reassures a listener who feels that having herpes may prevent her from ever having sex again. Turns out, there’s even a dating app to meet other herpes-positive people! #ShoutYourStatus If you have a question of sex for a future edition of the show, or some feedback about how Alix's advice has helped you previously, please do reach out using the Feedback form on our website, MODERNMANN.CO.UK The Foxhole is sponsored by our arousing and delightfully lubricated friends at MyCondom.Com - remember, as a Mann-fan, you can get an astonishing 15% OFF by using our code ‘FOXHOLE’ at Checkout.

Finally, our record of the week is ‘Was It Love?’, by Isabella ‘Machine’ Summers, out now on Island Records. * We’re a completely independent podcast. That means we raise the funds for the show ourselves. If you enjoy what we do, please support us. You can buy us a beer, donate via PayPal, leave us an iTunes review, or offer to sponsor an episode - all links are on our website, MODERNMANN.CO.UK

See You Next Tuesday!

Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Ollie Peart, Alix Fox. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: 'Skies Over Cairo' by Django Django. Graphic Design: Jenny Mann Design. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2017.

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