The Codpast

In this episode of The Codpast, Sean is invited to GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters) to learn how dyslexic code breakers have helped keep the British isles safe for over a 100 years. The Government Communications Headquarters provides signals intelligence and information assurance to the government and armed forces of the UK.

Rowen Colman is an Award Winning New York and Sunday Times best-selling author; she's been writing professionally for over 15 years and has published over 30 books. However, she still finds it difficult to fill in online forms and sometimes gets lost on buses. In this episode of The Codpast, Rowen talks about how despite the general consensus dyslexics make fantastic writers, she shares her advice on writing with dyslexia and explains why sometimes non-dyslexics can be ‘a bit rubbish.'

Born entrepreneur Rob Manly, used school more as a business incubator than a place for gaining grades. Although he was persistent, full of drive and bursting with innovative ideas. By the age of 17, a string of failed ventures forced him into every entrepreneur's nightmare…working for the man! In this episode of The Codpast, we hear how Rob went from being a retail assistant to making the business pitch of his life to the panel of the BBC's Dragons Den. You can hear the full story on this month's episode of The Codpast.  

It's said that 50% of the prison population are dyslexic or struggle with reading and literacy. Jason Cook, a veteran member of the 50% club, for the second time found himself on the wrong side of prison bars. Although he'd become hardened to the crime, drugs and violence that came with the territory, there was one thing that still filled him with dread…facing his fear of education. That was until a prison teacher helped him unlock a part of him that he never knew existed. To hear the whole story, listen to this month's episode of The Codpast.

In this episode of The Codpast, we speak to Tina Crawford about how an incident that could have brought her life to a halt, instead became the starting point of her new career as one of the UK's most unique artists.  

It's the start of 2017 and as usual we like to take a look back at some of the great conversations we've featured throughout the last year. We've interviewed some great guests who've shared some truly entertaining and inspirational stories. This year we've got some great guests and shows lined up for you. So subscribe to our podcast and blog to make sure you don't miss any of the fantastic guests we've got lined up for you this year. But until then have a listen to some of the great moments from 2016 that you may have forgotten about. Happy 2017!

Like many Dyslexic entrepreneurs, Aggeliki Pappa was blessed with a set of skills and a head full of ideas that didn't quite fit into an established job role. So like many entrepreneurs that had come before her, Aggeliki was forced to build a business, to create the perfect role, to allow her to hire herself. Not only did Aggeliki build a one of a kind business that allowed her to reach her full potential. She's established herself as a driving force for change in her industry as a whole.

Creativity is often seen as the preserve of artists, musicians and writers, but Chris Arnold, founder of ad agency The Garage, sees creativity as an essential aptitude needed to make it in the world of business. With dyslexia and creativity tightly linked, Chris put his money where his mouth is and courted controversy when he posted a job ad stating, ‘Only dyslexics need apply'! Find out what happened next in this episode of  The Codpast.

As a kid, while her friends were watching TV dreaming of being the next 80's pop star or Sunderland United pinup, Emma was watching the news, dreaming of being a Westminster Politician. The problem is, the children of shipyard workers from northern industrial towns don't become politicians.  But as we all know, building the coping strategies to deal with dyspraxia or dyslexia gives us the tenacity to know, that a problem that seems impossible to some may just need some one to look at it from a slightly different point of view. In this episode of The Codpast, Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, shares how with a little dyspraxic thinking, she bucked all the trends.

For Lauren, acting had always been the perfect outlet for her to explore her talent for turning words on a 2D page, into the 3D characters that inhabited her drama classes. When, ‘just for experience,' she decided to audition for a top Hollywood casting director, she never imagined she'd land a role in the latest summer release buy Hollywood legend Tim Burrton. Hear how Lauren went, from stressing out about her A –Level revision to spending her gap year acting opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Dame Judi Dench.

Author, performance poet, theater maker and broadcaster Luke Wright joins us in the studio. This was an interesting one for me, as I often hear people that were diagnosed with dyslexia as a child; say in later life dyslexia is no longer a problem. One of the myths we at The Codpast want to bust, is that dyslexia has to be a problem that gets in the way of our ambition and stops us achieving our dreams. Initially Luke thought dyslexia was something that no longer influenced his life, but it soon became clear that Luke might be a little more dyslexic than he first thought. Rather than being a barrier, dyslexia seemed like more of a rudder that guided Luke through his journey to a successful career.

In this episode of The Codpast, stand up comic Michael Fabbri explains how his struggles in education and frustration in the workplace were the best grounding for a career in comedy. Michael's comedy career has seen him perform on some of comedy's most famous stages, write for Channel 4 ‘Stand Up for the Week', perform five solo comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and get his two part radio series commissioned for BBC Radio 4.

There are still employers that see dyslexic employees as resource hungry disruptors, rather than individuals that can bring a fresh approach to their business. Graham's story clearly illustrates the benefits that are brought to a business when it makes a decision to support diversity. If you are an employer, manager or HR professional. By the end of this episode, you'll be in no doubt about why investing in a diverse work force makes good business sense.

It's been said that focusing on reading writing or spelling is not the best way to help dyslexics thrive. For many, confidence is the biggest barrier that dyslexic individuals have to climb. In this months episode of The Codpast, we here the story of business development manager, Hannah Lord and her experience from both sides of the confidence divide. Hannah and her brother are both dyslexic and had almost identical journeys through work and education. The only difference was a small change in how they were taught before they started school. This one variable set up a series of events that shaped the way dyslexia and confidence combined, resulting in a drastic effect on their perceived intelligence throughout the rest of there lives.

Dub Poet Benjamin Zephaniah has some impressive strings to his bow; writer, author, musician and professor of Humanities and Arts at Brunel University, to name a few. What's even more impressive is that he managed this all without ever going to university, college or even finishing high school. However far from being an ambassador for the university of life, Benjamin maintains that a formal education is the only path to a brighter future.   This episode takes us on a journey through some of the most influential times recent, politics, music and art, from the point of view of someone at the center of the action.

A look back on a great year of podcasting

It's a well known fact that around 50% of the prison population are dyslexic or have issues with literacy. What's lesser known, is the effect tackling this problem could have on violence in prisons and the rate of reoffending. If there's anyone that knows how tackling this problem could revolutionise prison rehabilitation, it's self-styled, ‘Prison Mary Poppins, 'Jackie Hewitt-Main. Through story telling, nurturing and a right brained approach to education, Jackie has achieved some mind blowing results. In some cases her methods have yielded a reoffending rate of 5.9%; the current average is 26% (ministry of justice). In this episode Jackie tells of how she went from being a mum and business woman. To working with and changing the lives of some of the UK's most notorious prisoners.

They say that knowledge is power and for Gavin Malcolm, this saying has some real significance. We've all heard the stories of tough kids from inner city neighborhoods finding a way out through football, boxing or making it big in the world of entertainment. However for Gavin, his way out came from behind the wheel of one of London's iconic Black Cabs.

This month master of the mind Jake O'Gorman pops into the studio to dazzle us with his superior memory skills.

  Mother and author, Margaret Rooke, once had the assumption that Dyslexia was something that happened to other families. Within a family that had always done well academically and had no history of Dyslexia, Margaret was shocked to find the tell tale signs of Dyslexia in her daughters homework. This revelation was the catalyst for Margaret's latest book.   ‘Creative, Successful, Dyslexic' features interviews from the likes of Richard Branson, Eddie Izzard, Sir Jackie Stewart OBE and 20 more of the worlds most prominent Dyslexics .   Margaret pops into The Codpast studio to tell us how she got many of the worlds most famous people to contribute to her book.  

In this episode we record on location with TV motorbike adventurer and dyslexic Charley Boorman. Learn how a crazy idea he and his mate Ewan McGregor had, to ride 20,000 miles around the world on motorbikes, changed the course of Charleys life.

When Rachel left school she had no qualifications and seemingly no hope of a bright future. The only thing she knew how to do was play football. At that time, a girl playing football was an oddity and a girl making a career out of playing football…well that was just unheard off. Fast forward to 2015 and Rachel Yanky is one of the UK's most celebrated and decorated football players. Listen to  how she made it happen and some of the unorthodox method she used along the way.

Listen to the second instalment of how Dean Stalham's  cycle of crime, drugs and prision was broken when he found a love of art.

Anna Parker-Naples shares her pick of Dyslexic friendly audiobooks for May.

This month Dean Stalham shares the story of how his cycle of crime, drugs and prision was broken when he found a love of art. A positive story of how harnessing the creative aspects of Dyslexia can make a positive change.

Mandy Ward shares her pick of audiobooks for April

This month Pamela Uddin from reality show The Aprentice pops into our studio. We get the lowdown on her new business venture, living life with a stammer and learn just what it's like to be fired by Lord Sugar.

Sarah Fearn shares her pick of audiobooks for March

This month U.S. comedian Liz Miele infects our studio with her highly contagious and uber funny presence.

Anna Parker-Naples shares her pick of February audiobooks just in time for Valentines Day.

Owner of MSFT Management, and one half of Dyspla (the Dyslexic theatre company) Lennie Varvaradies shares her views on how Dyslexia has helped shape her career, the thrill of launching her new film via kick starter, and the exciting new direction for Dyspla.    

Sarah Fearn shares her pick of audiobooks for the new year.

Brando Yelavich was going down the wrong path, until he made a pact with himself, “change my life and give myself opportunities in a way that school can't”. This resulted in one hell of a journey.

Sarah Chapman is a campaigner and entrepreneur. However her bubbly personality reveals little about her turbulent past. This episode really illustrates how the right support for Dyslexia can make a massive difference to ones personality, aspirations.

The Audioblog is part of our 'Dyslexia in the Workplace' guest blogs that were created as part of Dyslexia Awareness Week.

From humble beginnings Peter Stringfellow achieved the seemingly impossible. He rose to fame and fortune, rubbing shoulders with the who's who of popular culture and making millions along the way. Hear is legendary story.

Sarah Fearn shares her October pick of Dyslexia friendly audiobooks just in time for Halloween.

Having dyslexia, a vivid imagination and an urge to experience the world through more than just words. Formal education wasn't quite the right fit for Aakash Odedra. So at the age of  15, Aakash packed his bags for a journey of self-discovery. This is a wonderful coming of age story with some interesting plot twists, best of all it's 100% true!  

At school Jane's creative writing exercises would often be returned covered in red ink. Now a published author, Jane returns to those same books to find what her teachers had dismissed as lazy sloppy writing, were actually the early musings of a celebrated author.  

After finishing her GCSE's with grades including F's, G's and even U's. Natasha thought her journey in education had reached an impenetrable brick wall. Share her inspirational journey to academic at career success, inspite of her severe dyslexia.

In this episode musician and music teacher Trev William shares the story of his battles with dyslexia, metal health and the psychotic episodes, that he believes, his dyslexia played a part in.

In this show journalism graduate and creator of the House and Heals blog shares her struggles with dyslexia and how she successfully navigated school and university and the world of work.