Back in 2014, Mark sat down to talk about grief on the eve of the first anniversary of his mother's death.  Using 'A Grief Observed', C.S. Lewis' short but poignant memoir on the loss of his wife, Mark tries to give language to the inexplicable psychological affect of loss.

Second part of Mark's talk about the craft of writing short stories.

In 2014 Mark was chin-deep in his Open Degree and the Advanced Creative Writing module.  Here he discusses the influence of Raymond Carver and reads from his own creation, 'The Plot'.

Back in 2014, Mark was incredibly anxious (update - he still is!).  In part 2 Mark picks apart his personal experiences of living with chronic anxiety and how he navigates it on a daily basis.

2014 was a time of high anxiety (update - it's definitely worsened).  Mark opens up with his characteristic candour about how he has lived with the condition and the moments he has reached out to primary care for help.

Back in 2014 Mark felt self-aware (update - on reflection it seems there was a distinct absence of self-awareness - the fact that he opened up by himself to his phone and then published his ramblings as a podcast supports this claim).

Mark has had quite a bit of time for our Franz over the years, although he did fail to visit the Kafka museum in Prague despite holidaying in the city twice. Mark would eventually use a quote from this episode's reading for one of his songs ('From Whose Womb Comes the Isolato?' by Mark James Hammond & The Slender Blind, available on all streaming platforms). Loads of people say 'Kakfa-esque', don't they?

In 2014, Mark Hammond of Gateshead in the UK had been enjoying podcasts for a couple of years.  He was particularly fond of The Nerdist and Marc Maron's WTF shows.  So, being 29 and full of vim and extremely warm air he thought 'EVERYONE will want to hear what I have to say!'  Now, everyone has a podcast.  Now, Mark is a very, very, very different person and is more than a bit cringe about his contribution to the podcast milieu.  However, as a monument to a time before it became de rigueur to record EVERY conversation for public consumption, Mark honours his 29 year old self by re-releasing these glorious little soliloquies back into the wilds of the web. In the inaugural episode, Mark sets the precedent for unscripted, impulsive divulgences as from a tepid bath he reads an excerpt from the novel, 'Stoner'.