Stompcast

In part two, Clare Pooley opens up about the feelings of shame that surrounded her early days of sobriety, and how starting her blog helped navigate the initial period of alcohol-free living.Plus, Clare and Dr Alex George debunk the myth that you can’t have fun when sober, and why it’s vital you continue socialising when taking part in Dry January… Follow @clare_pooley and check out her book The Sober Diaries. By using our affiliate bookshop you’ll help fund Stompcast by earning a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too!Pre-order Alex’s latest book Am I Normal? - out 15th JanuaryOrder Happy Habits - out now! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thestompcastGet the new, pocket guide version of The Mind Manual nowDownload Mettle: the mental fitness app for men Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy New Year Stompers! To mark Dry January, we’re releasing a special mini-series exploring what alcohol-free living is actually like, to hopefully encourage you to give it a go yourself in 2026.This week, Dr Alex George is joined by Clare Pooley. Clare is a best-selling author, blogger and public speaker who’s had her own journey with alcohol - and has been sober for the past ten years!In this episode, Clare shares how she first recognised she had a problem with alcohol, what inspired her to quit drinking and what her first sober month was like.Plus, Clare and Alex discuss the impact that stopping drinking has had on their lives, and why it’s so important to realise that alcohol was never your best friend in the first place…Follow @clare_pooley and check out her book The Sober Diaries. By using our affiliate bookshop you’ll help fund Stompcast by earning a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too!Pre-order Alex’s latest book Am I Normal? - out 15th JanuaryOrder Happy Habits - out now! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thestompcastGet the new, pocket guide version of The Mind Manual nowDownload Mettle: the mental fitness app for men Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part three, Professor Gina Rippon unpacks whether there are any tangible differences between male and female brains, what brain imaging can tell us about autism and how stereotypes and early childhood environments shape the male and female experience.Plus, Gina and Dr Alex George discuss how through understanding how autism shows up differently, we can create a more inclusive society.Follow @ginarippon1 and check out the books mentioned in this episode, The Lost Girls of Autism: The Untold Story of Women on the Spectrum and The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain. By using our affiliate bookshop you’ll help fund Stompcast by earning a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too!Pre-order Alex’s latest book Am I Normal? - out 15th JanuaryOrder Happy Habits - out now! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thestompcastGet the new, pocket guide version of The Mind Manual nowDownload Mettle: the mental fitness app for men Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part two, Professor Gina Rippon explains how autistic women have been historically overlooked, the ways autism presents differently in women compared to men and how the ‘male spotlight’ effect has impacted how autism is viewed in society.Plus, Gina and Dr Alex George discuss the common autistic trait of ‘masking’ and unpack how being othered socially could literally change your brain…Follow @ginarippon1 and check out the books mentioned in this episode, The Lost Girls of Autism: The Untold Story of Women on the Spectrum and The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain. By using our affiliate bookshop you’ll help fund Stompcast by earning a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too!Pre-order Alex’s latest book Am I Normal? - out 15th JanuaryOrder Happy Habits - out now! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thestompcastGet the new, pocket guide version of The Mind Manual nowDownload Mettle: the mental fitness app for men Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gina Rippon is Professor Emeritus of Cognitive NeuroImaging at Aston University, and is a leading researcher in understanding how autism shows up differently in women and girls.There seems to be a consensus in the media that there’s been an influx of autism diagnoses in recent years, and in part one Gina joins Dr Alex George to discuss whether this is actually the case, what the diagnosis process is like and whether being labelled as autistic is actually beneficial for the individual…Plus, Gina unpacks how autistic people see the world differently and whether we have become more or less accepting of difference as a society.Follow @ginarippon1 and check out the books mentioned in this episode, The Lost Girls of Autism: The Untold Story of Women on the Spectrum and The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain. By using our affiliate bookshop you’ll help fund Stompcast by earning a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too!Pre-order Alex’s latest book Am I Normal? - out 15th JanuaryOrder Happy Habits - out now! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thestompcastGet the new, pocket guide version of The Mind Manual nowDownload Mettle: the mental fitness app for men Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.