‘How’s your shame?’
Awareness of mental health issues has never been higher and while the stigmas attached to such an emotive subject are yet to totally melt away, as a society we seem to be much more comfortable in tackling mental health out in the open. Comedians John Robins and Elis James are veterans of the podcast scene, but their new effort How Do You Cope? brings something fairly unique to the table.
With guests as varied as author and comedy writer Adam Kay, journalist Poorna Bell and retired footballer David Cotterill, How Do You Cope? moves away from the more traditional podcast guests doing the rounds, in a pioneering effort to break new ground and to find more people to be impressed by John Robins and nonplussed by Elis James (for the record I adore Elis James).
One of the reasons that mental health remains an inaccessible subject (particularly for men) is that it is a subject that is always treated with such gravity and seriousness. By tackling the issue head-on, but with a levity that ensures things never get too heavy, Robins and James have lovingly crafted a podcast that will move the conversation around mental health out of the therapist’s office and into our cars, our homes and our workplaces. And it will do so whilst still featuring numerous references to cricket and Welsh football. If that’s not something we can all get behind then I don’t know what is.
On a serious note, mental health is such a vast, overwhelming topic that it is vital that there are safety valves here and there that allow us to let off some steam. How Do You Cope? is fighting that good fight.