All Mumu's People - Mustafa 1983

father, mother, grandmother/son & grandson

When I sit down with Mumu, I realise Harlem isn’t just where he is from. It is the place that raised him with rules you only learn by living them, from knowing which streets truly count as Harlem to understanding why being outside in the 90s felt like the whole world. We talk block parties, rap battles, water fights, and the way the crack epidemic of the 1980s lingered into childhood memories that still sit close to the surface. He tells a story every New Yorker feels in their bones: getting lost on the bus as a kid, ending up far from home at night, and relying on a stranger to help you find your way back.

From there, our conversation turns inward to family, faith, and the push and pull of identity. Mumu describes a father shaped by Islam and activism, determined to hold a huge blended family together, and a mum who is deeply loved but seriously unwell. He talks about what it feels like to be Black, raised Muslim, and know you are gay from early on while believing you must hide it to stay safe, even from the person you trust most. We explore the real friction between Islam and church, and what happens when religion becomes control rather than comfort.

We move into adulthood through music, work, and survival. Mumu shares the sounds that shaped Harlem culture, his job supervising security in New York City subway stations, and what the trains felt like during COVID when the city went quiet but danger did not. You will also hear the surprising turning point that comes from juggling, plus his plan to save, invest, travel, retire within a decade, and maybe leave New York for land where he can grow his own food.

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Ottelo Mola Benedetti - Mari 1968

grandfather/granddaughter

When I sit down with Mari, I begin with the bronze “Indian” head that lived in her family home. It was always described as Native American, and for years she and her cousins believed the story that came with it: their grandfather had once been an Indian, a fighter, a man whose adventures were too vivid to question. That single object becomes our doorway into a much wider family history, stretching from Catalonia and Barcelona back to Italy, and into the places where the record falls silent. As we talk, I find myself drawn to the tension of loving someone who could make you laugh and still leave you with questions you will never fully answer.

We trace her grandfather’s path through the Second World War, when he was a young Italian army driver, and then on to a tiny Sardinian town where a chance encounter turned into a romance that reshaped the entire family. There is post‑war survival in a bombed‑out house, improvised heating made from rolled newspaper, and the long, determined grind of migration as work pulled them from Turin to Murcia and eventually to Barcelona. Alongside all of this, we sit with the contradictions: the charm, the dreaming, the smuggled tobacco, and the way a man who could be a difficult husband still fought for his four daughters to study and build careers in a world that did not expect women to.

Threaded through the stories is an aching gap, an estranged family line that no one ever reconnects with, and a sense that identity is stitched together from many places at once. We finish with a plan to search for roots in Rome’s Trastevere, and a promise to keep the Native American “Indian” alive as a shared memory.

If you enjoy family storytelling, oral history, migration tales and wonderfully messy real‑life character portraits, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave us a review with the one family myth you still carry with you.

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Bill Sharman - Howard 1955

father/son

When I sat down with Howard, I quickly realised that a burger can be a time machine. What starts as a chat about Wimpy on one of the hottest days of the year becomes a walk straight back into post‑war Britain, when “hamburgers” were still a novelty and Wimpy was quietly inventing what we now think of as British fast food. Howard’s dad, Bill Sharman, isn’t just working in restaurants — he’s learning the product from the ground up, shaping standards, and helping to build a franchise model that felt genuinely new on the high street.

We get into the details that make business history feel human: where the name Wimpy came from, why quality control mattered more than any secret recipe, and how table service changed the whole feel of eating a burger in town. There are brilliant snapshots of the era, too, celebrity openings, the Savalas brothers drifting through the story, and the strange glamour of international travel when flying felt risky enough that you’d buy life insurance at the airport before boarding.

But the conversation soon shifts from brand building to the cost of it. Howard talks about a father who was kind, reserved, and often absent, shaped by wartime service and a generation that rarely showed affection out loud. We talk about retirement, regret, and the danger of life feeling hollow when the work stops. It’s a reminder that behind every iconic brand sits a family living with the consequences of ambition.

If you care about UK food culture, franchising, leadership, or simply the human side of building something that lasts, there’s a lot here to take away.

If this resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who remembers Wimpy, and tell me what Wimpy brings back for you — a taste, a person, or a moment in time.

Bits & Bobs

There's a slight bit of mic static (I don't know if it's on my mic or Howard’s mic), but it's okay, it's only for a few minutes.

1. Joe Lyons & Wimpy
2. Wimpy
3. 1966 FIFA World Cup final
4. Savalas brothers

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Po, Kan, Lambert, Dai-Sensei & Zhong Ming Fashi - Simon 1960

mentors/student

When I sat down with Simon, he told me that everything began with one evening in childhood, three TV channels, and a single kung fu programme. That moment set him on a 52‑year martial arts journey that carried him from the Isle of Wight to Asia, and now to a quieter life in the Philippines, where he still trains every day and runs his school from afar.

In our conversation, we explore what he learned under his first sensei, why travel became part of his curriculum, and how training with so many teachers and traditions shaped his ideas about destiny, discipline, and self‑direction. We wander through monastery life in Thailand, Okinawan roots, research trips to China, and the belief that martial arts are ultimately less about winning fights and more about learning how not to fight.

A big part of our chat centres on San Shan Gong, Simon’s moving meditation built around the three battles of mind, body, and spirit. We also get wonderfully practical — posture, breath, and why something as simple as “standing” can teach you lessons that stay with you for years, even on a packed tube train. And yes, we talk about martial arts in films and TV: what Hollywood gets wrong, and what still rings true if you look past the myth.

If you’re drawn to kung fu philosophy, karate history, meditation, self‑defence mindset, or simply the idea of living with a bit more calm strength, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with someone who trains (or wants to), and tell me the biggest takeaway you’re carrying into your week.

Bits & Bobs

• A caulkhead is a colloquial nickname for a native-born resident of the Isle of Wight
• Master Po and Master Kan from the 1970s Kung Fu TV series, whose philosophy, depth of skill, and spirituality deeply impacted him.
• Mike Lambert, his first sensei, was instrumental in his journey and whom he modelled himself after.
• Higaonna Morio Dai-Sensei, a grandmaster from Okinawa, was his inspiration for five years in America and helped him take karate back to its roots.
• Zhong Ming Fashi was his Chan Zen meditation master and spiritual leader in China.
• TV Show Kung Fu
• The Champions is a British sci-fi, espionage, and adventure TV series
• The Isle of Wight man who devoted his life to KungFu: Simon Lailey’s decades of martial arts mastery

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

John 1958

father/son

“The Longtime-Ago-Person is Probably Me”

When I sit down with John, I’m taken straight into a childhood that feels almost impossible now. He grew up in a vicarage on the edge of Dartmoor, the kind of place where a boy could walk out after breakfast, vanish for the entire day, and nobody thought to worry — partly because there wasn’t a phone to reach for. As we talk through his own mind map of longtime ago people, the memories return with astonishing clarity: the huge lawn and orchard, ponies on the moor, bikes as transport, and the absolute normality of knocking on a stranger’s door for water and maybe an apple.

Being a vicar’s son in a small Devon village gives the story a unique texture. Sundays meant church, whether he liked it or not, sitting among older parishioners while his dad — the most recognisable man in the community — did the work of keeping people connected. John reflects on faith, on the tension between everyday humanity and spiritual authority, and on how those early years shaped his sense of community, care and responsibility.

Then come the stories that make rural 1960s Britain feel wonderfully alive: open fires that smoked out the room, ice on the inside of the windows, hot water bottles, the post office that doubled as a sweet shop, returnable bottles swapped for treats, and the pub hatch where children bought sweets — or sometimes just knocked and ran. John talks about camping with his younger siblings in a farmer’s field, a whole day spent wandering in search of an osprey that never appeared, and a perfect culture clash when teenage him played Black Sabbath’s Paranoid to his vicar father just to see the reaction.

If you love British nostalgia, Dartmoor history, village life, or the bigger question of what childhood freedom does to a person, this episode will speak to you. Hit play, share it with someone who grew up pre‑mobile, and leave a review telling us what you miss most about the analogue days.

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Rhys 1963

son/father/count/dj/islander

When I catch up with Rhys — or “The Count”, as he’s known on air — I’m taken straight back to 1976, when two twelve‑year‑olds (we are the two twelve-year-olds) walked into a school classroom and realised they were the entire class. From that moment, a friendship was built on shared trouble, fast laughs, and the kind of music discovery that rewires your brain for life.

I trace the soundtrack that shaped him: early punk, the Sex Pistols, The Jam, and those late‑night sessions with Radio Luxembourg under the pillow. We talk about the ritual of taping the Sunday chart, praying the DJ wouldn’t talk over the intro, and the thrill of buying your first record with pocket money. There are stories of Sid Vicious, chapel rebellion, and the gigs that still live in your chest decades later — from the emotional punch of Live Aid to festival moments that turn grown adults into emotional wrecks.

Then the conversation widens into real life: leaving school, scraping together work, joining the Merchant Navy, even getting deported from the US, before eventually building a long career in a trade that somehow keeps brushing up against pop culture. The biggest pivot is Monster Radio Lanzarote, where Rhys explains how a modern community station really works: no playlists, real presenters, giveaways, listener interactivity, and a commitment to local charities. It’s a brilliant reminder that radio is far from dead — it’s simply evolved.

If you love music podcasts, radio stories, 1970s and 1980s nostalgia, or honest conversations about how songs help us carry joy and loss, you’ll feel right at home here.

And if you’re listening, share it with someone who still remembers their first Walkman, and leave us a review with the one song you’d play to your younger self.

Bits & Bobs

• Sex Pistols
• Pistol - TV Mini Series
• The Jam
• Listen to The Count on Monster Radio as he counts down all the number ones from his birthday in April 1963 to the present day.
• George Thorogood - Get A Haircut
• https://monsterradio.tv
• Monster Radio App
• My Isle of Wight Festival 2013 Boomtown Rats

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Season 2 Epilogue — Longtime Ago People

Season Two brings me back to what I’ve always believed about memory — how it hides in music, in family stories, and in the everyday influence of people who shaped us long before we realised it. Looking back over these ten conversations, across places, eras and lives, I’m reminded again that who we are is never just about us.

This season has taken me from the Welsh Valleys to the Somme and far beyond, meeting people whose stories carry humour, heartbreak, courage and connection.

1. Russell talked about a life shaped by central Scotland — the divides, the love, the work, and the lessons that carried him forward.
2. David traced a path from oil rigs to Wall Street and Napa Valley, built on mentorship and sheer resilience.
3. Sean brought London family stories to life — disinheritance, laughter, and a surprising cheeky reveal after loss.
4. Ian shared a cross‑continental family history marked by childhood loss and an enterprising grandfather known as “Smuggling Jim.”
5. Rupert took us deep into David Bowie’s world — the personas, the albums, the cultural pull that shaped a generation.
6. Matt unravelled a century‑old mystery, honouring his great‑great uncle through research and a moving Royal Marines ceremony.
7. Sarah celebrated her Welsh roots, her family’s resilience, and her community‑driven life on the Isle of Wight.
8. Steve reflected on loyalty, hard work and the people who helped him build a family business from the ground up.
9. Lee walked us through a life lived in motion — Navy diving, African overland journeys, DJ nights and tribute‑band touring.
10. And Loz brought us back to a carefree Southampton childhood, and into an honest conversation about reinvention and mental health in adulthood.

If any of these stories remind you of someone — a parent, a friend, a teacher, a neighbour — tell them. Or tell someone about them. That’s how memory stays alive. Thank you

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Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Loz 1964

son/father/grandfather

A noisy pub outside Petworth becomes a time machine the moment Loz starts talking, carrying us straight back to Southampton in the late sixties and seventies. We get into street football with one car a day, climbing trees, roaming until hunger called you home, and the wild logic of exploring half‑built housing estates with absolutely no health and safety in sight. If you’ve ever wondered what childhood freedom used to feel like in working‑class Britain, his memories are vivid, funny, and occasionally a little alarming.

Music threads through everything. We swap the songs that pull you back in an instant, the ritual of Top of the Pops, and the Sunday chart countdown you tried to tape without the DJ talking over the intro. From there, the conversation widens into class and expectation — being nudged towards trades, being told what you couldn’t do, and how rarely anyone explained a route to bigger dreams.

Then we shift into mental health and the pressures that arrive later in life. Loz speaks openly about anxiety and panic attacks, what sets them off, and the habits that help: slowing down, talking to someone, choosing the road over the sky when flying feels impossible. And at the end, a simple lesson lands with real weight: enjoy your days, treat people well, and if you feel the pull to change course, take the plunge.

If this episode resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who’ll relate, and leave a review with the memory — or the song — that takes you straight back.

At 9:45 there is a slight loss of sound for a second, “it’s not you, it’s me”.

Bits & Bobs

• Mud - Tiger Feet (Live TOTP 1974)
• Anxiety Help

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Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer.

Memory is Fragile

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."