Men At Work

Relics

This episode is an exploration of relics. Objects, memories and ideas that exist past their intended end, they hold a significance whether we like it or not. Relics have a life of their own, some we search for, others finding us.  One way or another, they hold power.  - Kareem Rahma, the host of New York City’s underground talkshow ‘Subway Takes’ opens up about the time he 'threw away a museum' - Kala, an archaeology student, tells us about digging. - Razza waxes lyrical about why he makes time to speak to the older generations. - The first black musician to win the BBC Young Musician Award since its launch in 1978, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, talks to us about his cello - 'Tat Vision', a self proclaimed plastic addict tells us about how his love of plastic triumphs his environmental responsibilities.

Men At Work

Men at work have been romanticised and documented in art, music and literature for millennia, it's about time we feature some of them in a podcast! * Alistair works in Hyde Park. Whether it's planting rose gardens, or litter picking, he finds solace and calm in his daily routine. * Mo has been a postman for 17 years, and sees it as his job for life. He lets us into the ups and downs of being a London mail man. * Andre talks about the stigma attached to homelessness and how he has shrugged off the shame of being a ‘Big Issue’ seller.

I'm ALIVE

This episode is about moments which have provoked the primal instincts reminding us that we are in fact alive. Everyone listening to this podcast is alive, however what that means is entirely different for each and every one of us- it’s a spectrum.  * Kae Tempest speaks about embracing themselves, their identity and how that freedom has made them finally feel alive. * After a fairground ride on the teacups, Junelala found herself faced with existential thoughts on what it means to be alive.  * During a near fatal car accident, Actress May Elghety saw everything in slow motion and high definition.  * At a motorway service station on the M6, Craig lets us into his world, and the daily battle he has with life itself.

Bodies!

From birth, our bodies are initiated into a complex web of politics, sexuality, hierarchies and trends.  Today, we feature stories about people’s relationships with their form. People can have ever changing relationships with their bodies, some want to be seen while others are simply wanting to be ignored.  * Adrain, a professional life model, a job which see’s him posing naked in front of multiple people every day reflects on his career after 25 years in the biz. * Gwyneth vents about the systemic problems of unrealistic beauty standards, and how they took hold of her relationship with her body and subsequently her life. * Su talks about how she’s learnt to deal with strangers' relentless comments about her body. * After years of holding on to thinning hair, Leo made the Bold choice to shave it all off. Life was never the same again.

Leaving Home

Home can be the house you grew up in. The country you were born in. It can be a person, a feeling, or an unidentifiable sense of safety. Sometimes people leave home because it isn’t safe, sometimes they leave to become who they are supposed to be, and sometimes the decision to leave is made for them. The search for safety, or the decision to leave it behind is something that joins all of today's stories. * Dymtro, a teenager confronted with a decision, after the Russian invasion of his home country, Ukraine. * Elnaz shares a story about her Mother who, against all odds, took a leap of faith when leaving Iran with her children, to find a new home in the UK. * Fleeing Singapore, from a life of transphobia, asylum seeker Yuna explores some of the moral complications which this journey to London has opened up. * Bradley, a university student who has left the comforts of his family home, figures out how to run a washing machine and what it really means to be self-sufficient.  * Matty, who, with the distance of time, reflects on being made homeless at 15, and the subsequent years that followed