People Are F***ing Awesome

My guest this episode is a writer, adventurer and broadcaster – essentially all things I want to be when I grow up (she is one year my senior). Pip Stewart has seen some serious SHIT! She cycled 10,000 miles from Malaysia to Britain, and has just completed kayaking the Essequibo River, the largest river in Guyana, with fellow adventurers Laura Bingham and Ness Knight; a world first! Pip, you don’t ‘half fit the bill... you are F***ing Awesome! Unlike my previous guests, Pip’s thirst for adventure and endurance wasn’t one born out of a personal crisis, it’s just in her blood! However the questions she puts to herself and those around her in her ‘Search For Happiness’ are very similar to the ones I put to myself, and after spending a fair bit of time scrolling through her socials I was compelled to make contact with her and invite her onto my podcast. In our conversation we discuss her time living wild in the jungle, how she was nearly bitten by a big old snake, and we delve into what it is to be human. We’re occasionally sidetracked by some local squirrels, but if anything they offer a bit of respite and comic relief between some topics that some would probably consider to be a bit deep. Not me, obviously, deep convos are my bread and butter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this episode. Apologies again for the slightly sub-par sound quality, I can’t wait for the day when I know how to properly work audio equipment but until that day comes this is just how it is I’m afraid. If you’re enjoying this series then please subscribe, rate the pod and leave a stonking review on itunes, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks for listening, enjoy Episode 4!

EPISODE 3 - Bryony Gordon Bryony and I first met at the Virgin London Marathon 2017, meeting again a couple of weeks later after both attending an event called Walking Out Of Darkness. Once the event finished Bryony invited me and a few friends back to her place for a barbie and to drink a substantial amount of booze. As ever, once the lager jacket was on I got embarrassingly honest and over familiar and ended up telling the whole table a cringeworthy tale about a sexual encounter I'd had in my tent while on the walk around Britain. We've been friends ever since. This episode of the podcast took a while to arrange, mostly down to ridiculously full work schedules, but we finally managed to lock it down last week in London. In our conversation Bryony and I discuss her relationship with OCD, the mental health movement of 2017 and a whole bunch of other stuff that I found, and hope you find, both compelling and thought provoking. Bryony's third book 'Eat. Drink. Run.' is out today, and if you already have a copy then this podcast will probably work as a good little intro to what it's about and to Bryony as a person: brazen, judicious and fucking hilarious.

EPISODE 2 - Peter Thompson I first heard about Peter Thompson about a year ago after stumbling across a story about him on the BBC Sport website. It blew my tiny mind to learn that he’d just arrived back home after running a marathon a day in every country in Europe... that’s 44 marathons in 44 countries, in 44 DAYS! Pete picked up a Pride Of Britain award last year for his exploits in Europe, and in a few weeks time he’s off again the crazy fool! Listen to this... Pete, Giving himself a 7 week head start over the riders, will attempt to run the entire 2069 mile route of the 2018 Tour de France, and attempt to make it to the finish line before the bikes do! It will involve running an Ultra marathon every day for 70 days and climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest over 3 times. WHAT A FUCKING CHAMPION!

EPISODE 1 - Ben Smith What makes a person run 401 marathons in 401 days..? (Warning: Episode contains candid and detailed accounts of trauma, suicide and other content that some listeners may find distressing) After being mercilessly bullied throughout boarding school, while simultaneously trying to come to terms with his sexuality, Ben made two separate attempts on his own life. In the years that followed he led a destructive existence, and suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (a mini stroke) at the age of 29. In 2016, the same man completed a challenge so phenomenal it defies belief. Enjoy. Walking Out Of Darkness dates : May 12th London - May 27th Nottingham - June 10th York - June 24th Brighton - September 9th Bristol - September 23rd Norwich - October 7th Birmingham

Teaser by Jake Tyler