Brain Yapping: Battle Damaged will launch on Monday 8th February, then weekly. 

In 2019, neuroscience writer Dr Dean Burnett and journalist Rachel England launched the Brain Yapping podcast, where they engaged in unplanned discussions of how the human brain works in surreal-but-recognisable situations. Much fun was had by all, and they vowed to return with a new series ASAP.

Then 2020 happened

While everyone struggled with the pandemic and lockdown, Dean and Rachel were hit especially hard. Rachel has dealt with mental health issues her whole life, and lockdown and isolation haven’t helped. Meanwhile, Dean was hit with multiple losses and had to endure the subsequent grief and trauma largely alone. It was, to put it mildly, an awful time, mentally.

But now it’s 2021, and they’re ready to talk about it all. In the new series, Dean and Rachel will cover all manner of issues concerning mental health, in the context of lockdown and beyond. Drawing on established science, eye-watering real-world experiences, and contributions from listeners, and to coincide with Dean’s new book Psycho-Logical, which is all about this exact subject (and which Rachel is in), the new series of Brain Yapping explores mental health like never before, via two people who have been through the wringer with theirs

Cosmic Shambles will launch on Thursday 4th February, which will coincide the publication date of Psycho-Logical.

But data and abstract information can only go so far. Therefore, for help with the writing of his book, Burnett enlisted many contributors who have their own unique and interesting experiences of dealing with mental health matters. 

To celebrate the publication of Psycho-Logical, Dean, along with his regular podcast co-host journalist Rachel England, has gathered many guests who helped with the book to discuss how the science and real-world expression of mental health problems intermingle and combine, and what to do about them. Comedians, actors, teachers, eroticists, and more will share their interesting and informative takes on what life is like with mental health issues, as well as answering audience questions.

Dean shares: ‘Mental health is a very real everyday issue that affects the world around us and everyone in it in countless ways. Therefore, I set out to find out all about the hows and whys of mental health problems, and what exactly is going on in the brain when mental health goes awry, as far as modern science knows.’