Man Down: The Anti-Man-Up Movement

Join Zak and I as we discuss his new track 'Less of a Man', which explores our relationship with masculinity and what it means to be a man in today's society. We also chat about Zak's experiences of mental health, his exceptional table tennis talent, mental health within the music industry and the impact of our mums in our lives. To me, Zak is a true example of authenticity and vulnerability, in his ability to share this truth openly and from a place of curiosity. About Zak: Zak Abel is a British singer / songwriter, who first rose to fame after supplying guest vocals on Gorgon City’s UK Top 20 hit single ‘Unmissable’. Born in London, Zak’s journey into music was not predetermined, as despite this always being where his true passions lay, he once ranked Number 1 in England and had a position on the Olympic Squad for Table Tennis. Travelling around the world to train and play games, Zak’s earliest musical memory is listening to Magic FM in the car and being brought up on a diet of Ray Charles, Amy Winehouse and James Brown – soul music in the most classical sense. The depth and feeling that those artists packed into their lyrics were never lost on Zak, who started penning his own songs as a 14-year-old and uploading videos of his work to YouTube, which eventually led to him signing a record deal in 2014 and meeting influential electronic music producer, Joker.  Zak and Joker released the four-track EP, ‘Joker Presents: Zak Abel’, in 2015 – a record Zak credits with opening his mind to new ways of thinking about music and a gateway for meeting other creative minds to collaborate with like in the career-defining tracks ‘Beautiful Escape’ with Tom Misch and Kaytranada on ’Say Sumthin’. Through these early collaborations, Zak felt both emboldened as a writer and confident as a performer, setting him up perfectly for the release of his 2017 debut album, ‘Only When We’re Naked’. This body of work saw him channel his creativity into pop spheres for the first time and it was a record that significantly increased his stock as a writer too – being asked to pen hit records for the likes of Kygo (‘Freedom’) Avicii (‘Ten More Days’), ZAYN (Flames), Paloma Faith and John Legend (I’ll Be Gentle) and Don Diablo (Bad). Now signed to Vertigo Berlin (Universal Music Germany) and Island Records in the US, his own music never fails to disappoint, too: blending soulful vocals with R&B and pop, the smokey 2021 release “Be Kind”, which made it into AirPlay Charts in various European countries and Top 40 HOT AC in the USA has been the defining direction for his upcoming second album. Alongside music, Zak is an Ambassador for mental health charity CALM and speaks openly about issues surrounding this topic as well as channeling themes of identity and mental struggle into his lyrics.

This week's very special episode of Man Down is with the brilliant Mo Gawdat. Mo is the former Chief Business Officer of Google X (Google's so-called 'moonshot factory' responsible for off-the-wall ideas such as self-driving cars and a balloon-powered internet) but for many years, despite his success, he found himself deeply unhappy. After experiencing the tragic loss of his son, he set out to find out what it truly means to be happy and to share the teachings of his son with the masses. Mo is the author of Solve for Happy and host of the Slo Mo Podcast, and his most recent book, Scary Smart, a call to action for all of us to wake up to the reality of Artificial Intelligence. Mo and I discuss what it means to be truly happy, the role of masculinity within this and of course, the rise of A.I and what we all need to be thinking about when it comes to the so called 'rise' of the machines. I hope you enjoy it! Mo's new book, Scary Smart, is now available for pre-orders. Pre-order your copy from Amazon and send an email titled 'Man Down' with a screenshot of your order confirmation to [email protected]. Mo will pick 50 winners over the course of the next few weeks who will all win a signed copy of the limited edition pre-lease copy. It gets even better, if you can come to London, UK, you may win an invitation to spend the evening with Mo, myself, and a small group of 3 other readers as he buys us all dinner in London in September. Spread the word and tell others to preorder too!

This week's episode is with the brilliant Lars Wilde, co-founder of Compass Pathways. We talk about Lars' own journey with mental health, which led him to his first experience with psilocybin (the active ingredient in 'magic' mushrooms), as well as the incredible work that's being done in the psychedelic therapy space in relationship to changing the game in mental health treatment. Lars is an active serial entrepreneur in tech and biotech and a business angel, and has helped to successfully build several companies. Before joining COMPASS, Lars was the founder and CEO of Springlane, a leading European direct-to-consumer kitchen and BBQ brand and the largest German cooking magazine. Lars previously worked as an investor at Waterland Private Equity, one of the world’s best performing private equity funds. Amongst other buy-and-build investments, he focused on building VivaNeo, the largest European in-vitro fertilisation group, providing patients with cutting edge medical solutions. Lars has also spent time with Boston Consulting Group in Munich and São Paulo. Lars holds a master’s degree in Finance from IE Business School in Spain and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands. He spent exchange semesters at the University of Münster, the Copenhagen Business School and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Russell Kennedy specializes in the art and neuroscience of helping people recover from anxiety disorders. He knows anxiety from the inside out, as he developed his own anxiety disorder as a result of growing up with a dad with severe schizophrenia. Dr Kennedy has degrees and advanced training in medicine, neuroscience and developmental psychology — but it’s not all science, as he is also a certified yoga and meditation teacher and was a professional stand-up comedian for over a decade (no joke!)  In his award winning book, ANXIETY RX, he shows a practical, actionable program for anxiety relief that incorporates the grounding wisdom of the unconscious body to alleviate the anxious thoughts of the conscious mind. Using a combination of neuroscience (think "The Body Keeps the Score") and blending that science with a more artistic approach he learned through living at a temple in India, taking psychedelics, and being a natural and gifted intuitive, Dr Kennedy gives a unique and never before seen understanding of what anxiety truly is,  and further, exactly how it can be successfully treated. Dr Russ wants to make sure that nobody has to suffer with anxiety as he did. I speak with Dr. Russ about his own experiences of anxiety (and some of mine!), a new approach to healing, psychedelics, breathwork, neuroscience and much more!

This is the trailer for episode 52 of Man Down. Dr. Russell Kennedy specializes in the art and neuroscience of helping people recover from anxiety disorders. He knows anxiety from the inside out, as he developed his own anxiety disorder as a result of growing up with a dad with severe schizophrenia. Dr Kennedy has degrees and advanced training in medicine, neuroscience and developmental psychology — but it’s not all science, as he is also a certified yoga and meditation teacher and was a professional stand-up comedian for over a decade (no joke!)  In his award winning book, ANXIETY RX, he shows a practical, actionable program for anxiety relief that incorporates the grounding wisdom of the unconscious body to alleviate the anxious thoughts of the conscious mind. Using a combination of neuroscience (think "The Body Keeps the Score") and blending that science with a more artistic approach he learned through living at a temple in India, taking psychedelics, and being a natural and gifted intuitive, Dr Kennedy gives a unique and never before seen understanding of what anxiety truly is,  and further, exactly how it can be successfully treated. Dr Russ wants to make sure that nobody has to suffer with anxiety as he did. I speak with Dr. Russ about his own experiences of anxiety (and some of mine!), a new approach to healing, psychedelics, breathwork, neuroscience and much more!

Welcome to episode 51 of Man Down with Asa Baav & David Chambers. As coaches and educators, they guide couples to experience new depths of intimacy, deepen their relationship with themselves and their partners, and discover new levels of pleasure by teaching powerful communication techniques, intimacy practices and the importance of prioritising your relationship. In this episode we discuss their relationship, the individual work they have done on themselves and the work they have done together and how that feeds into their relationship. As well as this we talk about the process of opening up their relationship and some of the rituals that helps them maintain a healthy and fulfilling partnership. Asa Baav is a matchmaker, female coach, educator and founder of Tailor Matched. David Chambers is men's dating & intimacy coach and the founder of The Authentic Man. For 10% off your first month of online therapy head to betterhelp.com/mandown @tailormatched @theauthenticman_ @coachwithasa

Welcome to the trailer for episode 51 of Man Down with Asa Baav & David Chambers. As coaches and educators, they guide couples to experience new depths of intimacy, deepen their relationship with themselves and their partners, and discover new levels of pleasure by teaching powerful communication techniques, intimacy practices and the importance of prioritising your relationship. In this episode we discuss their relationship, the individual work they have done on themselves and the work they have done together and how that feeds into their relationship. As well as this we talk about the process of opening up their relationship and some of the rituals that helps them maintain a healthy and fulfilling partnership. Asa Baav is a matchmaker, female coach, educator and founder of Tailor Matched. David Chambers is men's dating & intimacy coach and the founder of The Authentic Man. For 10% off your first month of online therapy head to betterhelp.com/mandown @tailormatched @theauthenticman_ @coachwithasa

Andrew Waddell is The MidLife Coach specialising in supporting men struggling with stuckness in their midlife. After 20 years in the world of marketing and experiencing turbulent times in his 40s, Andrew retrained and now works helping men refind their purpose and passion for life. We talk about Andrew's own experiences with mental health, fatherhood, leaving corporate work and so much more - a truly incredible guy, doing amazing work! www.midlife-coach.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/midlifecoach www.facebook.com/andrewthemidlifecoach

This is the trailer for episode 50 of Man Down! Andrew Waddell is The MidLife Coach specialising in supporting men struggling with stuckness in their midlife. After 20 years in the world of marketing and experiencing turbulent times in his 40s, Andrew retrained and now works helping men refind their purpose and passion for life. We talk about Andrew's own experiences with mental health, fatherhood, leaving corporate work and so much more - a truly incredible guy, doing amazing work! www.midlife-coach.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/midlifecoach www.facebook.com/andrewthemidlifecoach

Welcome to The Break Down, where today's focus is on CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Lorna Devine. We'll be talking about what CBT is, what it can help with and what the process actually looks like. Lorna is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and an accredited Coach. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and a Diploma in Life Coaching and Personal Performance Coaching. Lorna specialises in empowering high performers and overachievers to improve their psychological wellbeing and performance so that they can flourish in their personal and professional lives. She adopts an integrative approach to client work, combining different tools and techniques from coaching and evidence-based psychological models of therapy to specifically meet clients’ needs; enabling transformational and lasting changes. In addition to offering 1:1 online therapy and coaching, Lorna delivers a range of masterclasses, emotional wellness workshops and group programmes; and consults for companies, start-ups and wellness brands. Lorna has worked with and been featured in leading brands such as BBC News London, Harper’s Bazaar, Sweaty Betty, SheerLuxe and many more.