You're Not An Actor, You're Just Unemployed: Lucid Dreaming with Lauren Edwards

Hellooo, and welcome to Season 10 of Mads World! You're about to listen to I'm Bi, Actually: Navigating Bisexuality & Sex Education with Cassie Rattray! This week I am joined by two-time award-winning sex-positive, queer, neuro-divergent content creator, Cassie Rattray! Cassie co-hosts the podcast, From Tops to Bottoms, with her best friend, where they talk about sex, queer life, and feminism. Cassie is an accredited sex educator who prides herself on her honest, inclusive, consent-focused RSE. She is a feminist activist who admittedly spends a lot of her time being angry at the world. Aside from the rage, Cassie is heavily involved in her local kink scene, is a big Liverpool fan, and loves a thriller novel! In this episode, we discuss defining bisexuality, coming to terms with bisexuality, Cassie’s experiences dating as a bisexual person, navigating sexuality in everyday life, how we can make sex ed more inclusive, myths and tropes in the media about bisexual people and so much more! Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

11 Dec 202348min

Hellooo, and welcome to Season 10 of Mads World! You're about to listen to A Voice for Choice: Abortion & Reproductive Rights with Comedian Lilly Burton! This week I am joined by performer, writer, and creative: Lilly Burton! An Executive Committee Member for Abortion Rights UK, Lilly is aiming her slingshot at no-go social constructs with song, comedy storytelling, and of course, she loves to throw in some dance moves too. We caught up just as Lilly was hot off the heels of her debut show at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival “All Aboard! At Termination Station”, a comedy cabaret about her personal experiences of abortion. In this episode, we chat about Lilly’s comedy journey, finding balance in creating a comedy show centred around abortion, how she hopes the show will contribute to the wider conversation of reproductive rights, backlash she's received as a result of her show, her personal challenges when creating a show around such a sensitive subject, and so much more! Trigger warning for this episode, there is in-depth discussion about abortion, reproductive rights and sexual assault. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

4 Dec 202352min

Hellooo, and welcome to Season 10 of Mads World! You're about to listen to When Love Gets Lit: Writing Romantic Comedy Fiction with Sophie Gravia! This week I am joined by best-selling author, Sophie Gravia. Sophie grew up in a town just outside Glasgow and has always had a love for the English language. At a young age, she found herself writing funny stories or poems to friends and family for special occasions, and after high school, she undertook a performing arts diploma, flourishing in her creative writing class. Sophie now works full-time as a nurse in a busy city hospital. In 2020, Sophie started writing again as a distraction from the ongoing pandemic, cheered on by fans of her hilarious blog: Sex in the Glasgow City. Sophie is now the author of three best-selling novels. Her first book ‘A Glasgow Kiss’ quickly became an overnight sensation as it topped the number one spot on Amazon, and her second sequel novel ‘What Happens in Dubai’ shot straight to number one in the charts. Sophie’s third book ‘Meet Me in Milan’ was released in August this year! In this episode, we discuss Sophie's journey as a writer, how she finds the inspiration to write romantic comedy fiction, what she loves about the genre, her writing process, creating authentic characters, and approaching deeper themes without overshadowing the core of her stories. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

27 Nov 202338min

Helloooo, and welcome to Season 9 of Mads World! You're about to listen to Beyond Stereotypes: Being Queer & Working Class with @SophGalustian aka TikTok Lesbian! This week I am joined by writer, actor comedian, and author Soph Galustian. Hailing from Manchester, Soph says she specializes in being gay and working class, whilst also being working class and gay. She has written and starred in her own comedy on BBC Three called Peck Eds, appeared as a series regular alongside Simon Bird in Everyone Else Burns, and her debut book, No Worries If Not, has just been released coming in at No.1 in Lesbian Poetry! Soph started posting TikTok's less than 6 months ago and she has already amassed over 130k followers, and has gone viral many times for her stereotypical impression of a TikTok lesbian, which is why I've asked her on the podcast! In this episode, we discuss the funniest comments on Soph's videos, opportunities she's encountered through her growth on TikTok, misconceptions, and stereotypes, how being queer and working class has defined her, the role models she had growing up, and how she hopes to impact people's lives within the gay working-class community. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

5 Sep 202339min

Helloooo, and welcome to Season 9 of Mads World! You're about to listen to Silver Linings: The Positive Side of Ghosting with Emma Kenny! This week I am joined by psychologist, TV presenter, writer and expert media commentator Emma Kenny! Emma is recognised as one of the UK’s leading TV psychological experts. She is perhaps best known for her role as resident therapist and agony aunt on ITV’s This Morning where, during the viewer phone-in segment of the show, she provides expert advice on a whole range of sensitive issues. A regular voice on the airwaves, Emma provides expert opinion on many radio stations, including BBC Radio, Heart, Magic and many of the popular stations across the globe. Emma has featured on popular podcasts including Russell Brand’s Under the Skin and True Geordie. Contributing regularly to editorial for publications including Grazia and Cosmopolitan, Emma’s weekly column and On the Couch therapy sessions are a popular feature in Closer magazine. Emma has been working with Plenty of Fish on some research aiming to flip the narrative on ghosting so single people can explore the silver lining of ghosting! The research has shown that: Singles save nine days every year from being ghosted 54% actually welcome being ghosted Singles are using the time to invest in themselves including practising more self-care (33%), and prioritising relationships with family and friends (31%) 56% are choosing to reflect positively on the times they have been ghosted 47% of Brits would raise a toast to their ghost In this episode, we discuss how mental health impacts our dating experiences, how self-esteem and mental health are intertwined, how handling ghosting appropriately can be seen as a positive tool for self-preservation, communication techniques or strategies, viewing ghosting as an opportunity and how ghosting could be seen as a healthy option. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

29 Aug 202354min

Helloooo, and welcome to Season 9 of Mads World! You're about to listen to Better Together: Female Friendships with comedian Rosalie Minnitt aka Lady Clementine! This week I am joined by London-based writer and comedian, Rosalie Minnitt! Rosalie is an alumnus of the award-winning sketch comedy group The Durham Revue, the Soho Comedy Labs and is currently training in improv at the Free Association in London. She is a member of the VAULT Festival Young Company and won the Hello Grads Writing Award in 2020. She has written for Funny Women, Times Higher Education and her writing has been featured on BBC Radio and CBBC. She also has recently taken her debut character comedy show, Clementine, up the Edinburgh Fringe this year. In this episode, we discuss the unique challenges and joys of female friendships, how comedy plays a role in friendship, female friendship tropes in pop culture, life lessons from our female friends, what we can learn about ourselves through friendship, and how female relationships have changed throughout history. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

22 Aug 202346min

Helloooo, and welcome to Season 9 of Mads World! You're about to listen to Marvellously Mismatched: Poland Syndrome Chest Deformity with Becca Butcher! This week I am joined by social media sensation Becca Butcher, who was born with a rare chest muscle deformity condition called Poland Syndrome. Poland Syndrome is a condition that causes a lack of muscle development on one side of the body. It’s primarily characterized by the lack of chest wall muscles, so as a result, Becca only developed one boob. Becca uses her social media pages to share her story, educate people and raise awareness of Poland Syndrome. She's a bloody rockstar and I loved recording this episode with her so much. In this episode, we discuss her experiences with a catfish, her personal experience with Poland Syndrome, her diagnosis journey, the impact it has on her daily life, the misconceptions people have about the syndrome, societal pressures around femininity, and how society can better support people with differences. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

15 Aug 202340min

Helloooo, and welcome to Season 9 of Mads World! You're about to listen to Look Who Loves Me: Erectile Dysfunction & Dating Out of Your League with Rich Spalding! This week I am joined by award-winning comedian and writer, Rich Spalding! A regular at comedy clubs in London and around the country, his cerebral, story-telling stand-up has seen him win a couple of awards and not get booed off anywhere yet. He’s recently supported Eshaan Akbar on tour and is currently missing, presumed dead. In this episode, we discuss the themes explored in Rich's latest comedy show, Look Who Loves Me, including his experience dating someone out of his league, navigating insecurities, sexual and erectile dysfunction, societal expectations on men and sex and using comedy to challenge the perceptions around all these things. Click here to find Mads World social media, submit questions to the website, or buy me a coffee. Cover Art: Veredien Music: The.Jones.Project_93

8 Aug 202338min