Welcome to Men Do Talk podcast, a supportive space for fathers grieving the loss of a child or raising a child with a life-limiting condition or chronic illness. Our guests share coping mechanisms and offer a supportive community to help dads navigate these challenges. We aim to inspire & bring hope & humour to the conversations. Join us to find comfort in knowing you’re not alone. #griefjourney #mendotalk 💜
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Speaking of Suicide is made in support of and in collaboration with the Highland based charity Mikeysline. As well as hearing from people who have either suffered from mental health problems themselves or have lost someone to suicide Mikeysline provides insight and ideas for how to recognise if you’re vulnerable and what to do if you’re struggling. If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri- ...
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Male Fertility and Infertility is a topic which gets little airtime, however The Fertility Podcast had discussed what causes it, what can be done about it, how it can be improved before having to have fertility treatment, what treatment is available and what is life like for childless men.
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"He'd come into the kitchen, obviously, to eat his lunch, and something in his head thought, nah, like, just do it now" Key takeaways from this podcast There are some risk factors that can lead to suicidal thoughts which can be identified Suicide is nobody's fault, there is no blame linked to suicide. There isn’t a day that goes by that Georgia doe…
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Tom van den Hurk & David Barbour – Sharing stories of survival
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"When I was a teenager I just felt I couldn't carry this pain any longer, it was just too much" Key takeaways from this podcast There is huge value in just pausing and taking a little while longer before taking any actions. If you stop and pause then hopefully you will find other routes out of your pain. Every 2 hours a man in the UK takes his own …
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Kate Forbes MSP – juggling parenthood, politics and crippling post-natal depression
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“I got home and that’s when the sort of night terrors and the day terrors started. I was overwhelmed by fear for the baby’s health, I assumed I would be the person that would cause her pain and suffering and therefore it would have been better for me to be elsewhere” Key takeaways from this podcast We need to normalise the conversation about post-n…
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Episode 6: Men Do Talk to Lenny Hunt about transforming the grief dialogue
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Join us on the 6th episode of the "Men Do Talk Podcast" as we sit down with our first guest Lenny Hunt, a remarkable self proclaimed Grief Coach and former Pastor, who has touched the hearts of nearly 280,000 followers on TikTok with his daily messages of hope, resilience, and the power of communication in the face of his own child loss. Lenny's jo…
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Catherine Simpson – a love letter to Tricia, a lost sister
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Episode take-away: Find out what the specific thing is which helps you deal with losing someone you love and if you come from a world where silence is the norm, find a way to break it. It’s coming up for 10 years since Catherine Simpson’s sister, Tricia, took her own life. In the aftermath of Tricia’s death Catherine – who’s a journalist and writer…
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Gemma - an inspirational story of loving life after an eating disorder
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Episode takeaways: support makes all the difference and breaking the shame cycle means change can happen. Struggling with an eating disorder significantly increases your risk of suicide so don't struggle on your own. Gemma's takeaway is “please don’t give up on yourself, seek support, reach out…it is possible to have a life after an eating disorder…
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Xani Byrne - Tandem Against Suicide in memory of Alice
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Episode takeaway: Everyone is different. Xani found cycling as his way forward but yours might be writing or journaling or walking or something else, work with whatever helps you to make sense of the grief of suicide. Xani had planned that it would be his sister Alice helping him cycle his tandem but after she took her own life at the start of 2022…
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Neve and Joanne Herron – a hugely inspirational tale of sharing from a Moray teen
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Episode take-away: how to build resilience in the face of bullying through drawing on your support network, asking for help, growing your confidence and your sense of perspective. “He was the smiley one that everyone would go to for a laugh” 16 year old Neve lost a good friend to suicide when he was just 13, now, in a bid to inspire other teens to …
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Episode 5: Men Do Talk about Battling Anxiety and the Road to Resilience
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In this episode we talk about anxiety, coping mechanisms and the usual other mix of our own sometimes different opinions. Welcome to the latest episode of Men Do Talk where we delve deep into the complex journey of coping with loss. In this episode, we take about anxiety that often accompanies grief and everything it brings with it. We definitely d…
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Victoria Noone – A raw and painful account of the early stages of grief
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Episode take-away: The value of finding a vehicle to process our grief journey through suicide and why writing might be a good way to process pain. Heartbreakingly honest and deeply thought provoking. Only a few weeks after Victoria lost her younger brother Sean to suicide she asked to share her experience of loss with us. Victoria felt really stro…
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Rachel Smart – And how she escaped from a ‘life in the shadows’
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Episode take-away: The value of honesty and how to break the cycle of shame, isolation and helplessness that comes with addiction. “We need to change how we view addiction so that people from all walks of life feel able to emerge from the shadows and seek help”. Open, brave, honest and seriously inspiring, in this episode Rachel Smart, a journalist…
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Episode 4: Men Do Talk about zero tolerance
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The newest episode of "The Men Do Talk" podcast delves deep into the topic of zero tolerance and the complex evolution of anger as it intertwines with the grief journey. Hosts Serge and Lee open up about their personal emotions, feelings, and their perspectives on the stages of grief — which, they argue, are not confined to just five stages. They p…
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Episode 3: Men Do Talk about the morning Serge woke up
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🎙️ New Episode Alert! 🎧 Join us on an emotive journey of loss and resilience in the latest episode of the Men do Talk Podcast. In this heart-wrenching instalment, we delve into the profound experience of Serge, a grieving father who woke up one fateful morning to discover that his life would never be the same again. Serge bravely opens up about the…
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Episode 2: Men Do talk about the start of Lee’s grief journey
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In the powerful Episode 2 of Men Do Talk, about the start of Lee's grief journey. We delve deep into Lee's heartbreaking grief journey following the loss of his beloved daughter. Prepare yourself for an emotional and raw exploration of Lee's experiences, as he candidly shares the lead-up to his daughter's passing and the overwhelming wave of emotio…
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Episode 1: Men Do Talk about Coincidences on the Grief Journey
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Welcome to "Men Do Talk," a podcast about the many faces of grief and the journey of navigating through it. Join Serge and Lee, two fathers who have experienced the heartbreak of losing their daughters, as they share their personal stories, insights, and experiences of managing grief. In the First Chapter, Serge and Lee introduce themselves and tal…
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In June 2022 John Gibson started walking the length of Great Britain, 1200 miles from Land’s End to John O' Groats, with the aim of starting a national conversation around suicide. His walk was in response to the moment in 2019, when John’s son, Cameron, took his life without warning. Left reeling and feeling utterly helpless in the aftermath of th…
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Kev Stacey - Respite Rides with 42 Cycling
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In this episode of Speaking of Suicide Dan joins Kev Stacey from Inverness’s 42 Cycling to explore the benefits of the wide-open environment on our mental health. Former Black Watch soldier, Kev takes Dan on a #RespiteRide and along the way talks about his experience of being injured in Iraq by an IED. The aftermath of the attack led Kev to struggl…
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Mike McCathy’s son wrote him a farewell letter. Ross asked his dad to campaign for better mental health support for people like him, people in need. That was all Mike needed to pick up the baton and devote himself to developing one of the biggest suicide awareness and prevention initiatives the UK has ever seen - The Baton of Hope. Dan Holland talk…
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Imagine you are a cancer doctor who starts to worry that you too have cancer but that worry then grows and grows into an all-consuming obsession. Every day, day after day you go into work where you are having to diagnose and treat people with cancer, which all the while feeds your own horror that you might have it too. Sounds like a version of hell…
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International Shinty legend, BBC Radio Scotland presenter and acclaimed musician Gary Innes was 16 years old when one of his friends took their own life. At school it wasn’t talked about, it was moved silently to the side. Over the next 20 years a further 5 of his Lochaber Shinty Club teammates would do the same thing. This horror shook not just th…
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At 18, Sandy Clunas left Nairn in the north of Scotland and headed off to Australia to become a windsurfing instructor. In the following 10 years he travelled the world competing and teaching windsurfing, on the surface of it he was living the dream until it all came crashing down and he found himself in a very dark and difficult place, contemplati…
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Pennie talks to Dylan Cathcart about how he managed to transform his life and ability to be open about his ups and downs after he decided to take the brave step of talking to a therapist. In Dylan’s words therapy has been ‘a tornado of an experience’ but he’s really passionate about how it’s helped him, and it’s fuelled his hope that he can help ot…
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In this episode Pennie talks to her oldest friend, Bastie Morrison. Although they’ve known each other their whole lives, they’ve never discussed the fact that Bastie’s mum Jill took her own life when he was only 5 years’ old. Bastie wasn’t ever directly told about his mum’s suicide – something he feels was seriously misjudged at the time – and it w…
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What do I need to know about male infertility?
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Thanks to our episode sponsor Examenlab who has created Exact tests to give a clear picture of the quality of sperm DNA, you can see whether or not there is a possibility of improving it. Visit examenlab.com to find out more You've heard a snippet of our chat with professor Sheryl Homa explaining the big gap in treatment for men at the GP surgery a…
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The Early Years: Why isn't there more research on Male Infertility?
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Why are there such gaps in our knowledge when it comes to male reproductive health? Well as we continue with our Early Years theme we're in conversation with Rene Almeling - sociologist and author of a new book called Guynecology, a smart book with a smart title. The Fertility Podcast is dedicated to giving a voice to male fertility issues, both wi…
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How can Men feel more confident to talk more about infertility?
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Meet Rod Silvers, our latest guest on 'Talk Fertility' the show I'm co-hosting with Kate Davies for UK Health Radio. We caught up with Rod, Actor, and Writer about the impact of infertility on men, why medical professionals need to include men in the conversations, and the importance of getting men talking. Rod’s film and play covering the topic of…
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Why GP’s should consider referring men to a Urologist or Andrologist early on in fertility investigations.
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Male Infertility Meet Professor Sheryl Homa – Clinical Scientist and director of Andrology Solutions, an HFEA licensed male fertility clinic offering expert care and advice on men's fertility. Sheryl spoke about how we currently deal with infertility is wrong and how Sheryl she believes the triaging for fertility is inappropriate. Women are fully i…
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Meet Gareth James, who spoke to me to share his experience of male factor infertility and how, when it comes to fertility investigations, men are often the ignored partner. Here he is with his wife Sarah. Gareth and Sarah had an initial diagnosis of PCOS and Gareth was diagnosed with poor sperm parameters but very little consideration was given to …
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What would you say right now to someone, a friend, a family member if they came to you and said they felt that life wasn’t worth living? It’s tough isn’t it. Even harder if you’re not expecting it. For this episode of Speaking of Suicide, Dan Holland is in Edinburgh to meet and go for a walk with Christo Hudson. Christo is a former commercial pilot…
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What can men do to improve their fertility?
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MEN MATTER TOO All too often men feel overlooked or invisible when it comes to talking about fertility issues. It's not your average conversation for the pub, we know! But with infertility being a 50/50 issue between men and women and sperm count being on the decline across the world, we want to help the conversation along, so the brilliant group o…
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Why men feel so invisible when it comes to infertility.
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The Invisible Man For too long the male experience has been invisible. Traditionally the vast majority of tests and treatments have been focused on women. It’s been assumed that men have the ‘easy bit’ – all they need to do is go into a room with their favorite porn movie or magazine and wank! But is this really true? You'll hear Actor and Writer R…
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Sperm Banter Meet Paul and Helen and a little bundle of joy! I spoke with Paul about his experience of treatment, after the couple had been through two failed rounds of IVF - with their embryos only getting to day three and despite having transfers, they never made it through their two-week wait. Having been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, …
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When it comes to Male Fertility, there's so much to talk about in today's episode we're getting under the skin of sperm issues... it's the science bit, discussed by two male fertility experts. GETTING TECHNICAL There is a lot of information in here from discussions about the surgery that can be performed to assist with sperm blockages to explaining…
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A real story of hope this episode as Pennie Stuart and Matt Wallace, founder of Clarity Walk, take a walk and talk through Reelig Glen. Matt talks about how a move to Glasgow left him isolated and increasingly depressed, so much so he became suicidal. His mental health started to impact on his physical health, and he became locked in a circle of mi…
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Have you heard of Klinefelters Syndrome and want to find out more? My latest guest is Raj Baksi, Vice-Chair of Trustees and FB Coordinator of The Klinefelter's Syndrome Association (KSA) Here's a picture of Raj, which he wanted to show himself rowing in a Cornish gig in the sea & river in Newhaven, East Sussex because Klinefelter's (KS) is often po…
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What does an extra x chromosome mean to Male fertility?
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An extra X Chromosome and male fertility I can't actually believe I made it to 100. Well, I can as there's so much that needs to be discussed when it comes to fertility. When I started on this podcasting journey, I had no idea there were so many different factors affecting our success in getting pregnant. First of all, I want to say thank you for b…
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What is Andrology? My episode today takes another look at male infertility. Dr. Sheryl Homa is why she set up Andrology Solutions and the tests she offers men faced with an infertility diagnosis. We discuss why she believes Andrology is often overlooked when couples are struggling to conceive. It doesn't make sense when it provides such insight int…
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Did you know, Poor sperm doesn't have to lead straight to fertility treatment. Instead, it could result in intervention. which could improve your mobility, motility and although it might not mean you can pregnant naturally, it could mean your fertility treatment works sooner rather than on a repeat cycle. Can you believe that this isn't common know…
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Is there online support for Men struggling to conceive?
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Did you know there is a men-only Facebook group, where Guys can go and openly vent about how they're feeling, get advice and support? Well there is and I caught up with its founder Gareth Downs to talk about his infertility struggles, how lumps he found in his testicles at 18 led to a diagnosis of azoospermia. As his fertility journey got more comp…
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How many men are struggling with infertility?
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This week a new survey released by IVI showed the number of men deeply affected by infertility blues was higher than women. As many as 7 out of 10 talked about the negative emotional impact of having IVF. Twice as many men as women talked about the impact of the fertility blues lasting up to five years. To understand more about the findings, I spok…
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Are men being told enough about male infertility?
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Male infertility needs to be spoken about more as in the UK along 50% of infertility cases are due to the malefactor. ICSI is a breakthrough treatment that is specifically for men with low sperm count and in my chat with ManInfertile who I met on Twitter, he was amazed to have never heard of this treatment, despite talking to professionals about wh…
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Where do I find out more about male infertility?
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Meet Kristen, she's a lovely lady who left me a message via my website ( which you can too), and in this episode, you'll hear her share her story of her and her husband's journey to starting a family, which hasn't been in any way straight forward. Kristen's husband was diagnosed with azoospermia and the pair have been trying for over four years. Yo…
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Why men don't have it easy when TTC? Tom Webb talks about his film project
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You'll hear from Tom who tells their story and is now crowdfunding to make a documentary called The Easy Bit, about how men are affected during fertility treatment. As Tom states very clearly in our chat "I’m very conscious of the fact I never want to compare what men go through to what women go through as it is so very different". Tom however is k…
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How men deal with involuntary childlessness with my guest in this episode, Dr. Robin Hadley. Robin's research has explored the experience of involuntarily childless older men and following my chat with Jody Day and Kelly Da Silva talking about Childlessness at Christmas I was keen to get Robin's perspective on how men deal with both! He discusses s…
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Male Fertility explained with Dr Allan Pacey and Dr Zhai
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Expert advice on Male Fertility and how to improve it from Dr. Allan Pacey and Dr. Zhai GUEST 1: About Dr. Allan Pacey Dr. Allan Pacey is an expert in male infertility. He works as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield School of Medicine and Biomedical Science, Department of Human Metabolism, and the Head of Andrology for Sheffield Teach…
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WannabeDad is a blogger who shares his journey in becoming a Dad, as he describes it his fight to become a father -he openly talks about what is involved in men's tests, how men can deal with finding out it's their problem, working through it with a partner and dealing with ICSI I found Wanna Be Dad on Twitter and have been enthralled by his blog. …
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Cromarty is s a small tight knit, highland community where everyone knows everyone else. Katie Mackay and her elder brother Calum grew up there , Calum was always seen with a beaming smile around the village, he’d speak to anyone, he was proud and protective of his wee sister. But Calum was hard on himself, judging himself against others. His death…
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A topic that needs much more airtime and this archive series of The Fertility Podcast explains a lot about what is missing in terms of research around male infertility and access to care. We speak to experts about what Men can do to improve sperm health, how they should avoid protein shakes, the tests that are available both at home and with the GP…
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This episode is a bit different because it takes the form of a conversation between Shona Macpherson and Professor Rory O’Connor. Shona is a counsellor and life coach who works with Mikeysline and will be a familiar voice to you if you listen to the podcast regularly. Rory is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of suicide prevention, he…
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SoS 12 Days of Christmas. Day 12 ”Self As the Watcher”
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Each day across the 12 Days of Christmas Counsellor Shona Macpherson is joining Pennie Stuart, in collaboration with Mikeysline, to share some mental health skills, practical tips you can try which might just help when you’re finding life a struggle. Today Shona encourages us to stand back and observe ourselves with more distance, watching our thou…
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