“The films were my therapeutic outlet. Even now, if I’m having a bad day, or gearing up for a bad day, I’ll wear that Bond t-shirt under my shirt, or Bond socks. A little bit of something that reminds me of who I am or who I want to be. Bond connects you to something.”

We often think of Bond as someone who can move through the world effortlessly, fitting in wherever he goes. But the more we look, the more we find he’s someone who - like many of us - feels a disconnect with the world around him. And yet, Bond is also someone who can help us feel like we belong.

David first got to know Craig he was seeking to find a home for his emotionally raw article about the divisive reaction to No Time To Die - and what it meant for him personally. 

https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/no-crying-shame

This article touched on elements of his childhood, which he unpacks in detail for the first time here…

When he was nine years old, Craig Gent found himself living in a refuge for families experiencing domestic violence. Out of necessity, he had to grow up pretty quickly. Cut off from his previous life, he formed a deep connection with Bond through watching the films over and over again on VHS tapes.

As an adult, Craig’s love for Bond has not abated, although it’s faced some challenges over the years. Craig hates it when people attempt to apply reductive labels to Bond - ‘sexist’ ‘nationalistic’ ‘heterosexist’. Bond is simply more complex than that - and more interesting.

David and Craig debate the extent to which Bond can be considered an insider or an outsider; a figure of the Establishment or someone who is anti-Establishment. Ultimately, Craig argues, Bond works best when he’s irreverent, showing a comforting lack of respect for people in authority and the institutions they represent.

Craig Gent is the co-host of the Heart Reacts podcast: https://shows.acast.com/heart-reacts

He is the author of the book Cyberboss: The Rise of Algorithmic Management and the New Struggle for Control at Work (Versio Books, 2024)

Craig has also authored another brilliant piece for Licence to Queer about the toys and the formative effects they have on us:

https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/made-for-action 

“James Bond was always something I could escape to. If I was feeling down, I would put on a Bond, and that would sort me out mentally. No Time To Die is the only time Bond has negatively affected my mental health.” - Timothy Russenberger

How much of an influence do the fictional characters we admire have on our mental wellbeing? Stories can be particularly powerful - positively or negatively - when we’re feeling emotional vulnerable.

Upfront, Tim - who is an actor by profession - shares his own experiences of depression and self-harm. Tim connects this with how Fleming was invested in Bond’s mental health and how this has sometimes been translated into the films, including an interesting presentation of self-harm in Skyfall.

For many of us, Bond is such a relatable hero - this can be both a positive and negative thing.

Tim is a big film buff and 2006’s Casino Royale is the film out of all the thousands he admires which has had the very positive impact on him, encouraging him to be a more outgoing person. Conversely, No Time To Die had a negative impact on his own mental health.

And what about the Bonds beyond Craig? Can they help us eliminate problems in our own life?

Find Timothy on Instagram: timothystyleactor and X: TimStylesActor

What if we reframed the whole of the Bond franchise as the story of a man just trying to get a good night’s rest?

For some reason, no one has ever looked in any detail at Bond and sleep. So let's get under the covers with 007 to explore when he sleeps, if he’s really the early riser he claims to be (!) and why we should be concerned about his dreams.

Read the original article here: https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/whats-keeping-you-awake-james-bonds-battles-with-sleep

Michael Gillette’s art is nothing short of beloved by Bond fans. In 2008, he created a set of 15 instantly iconic covers for the Fleming centenary editions of the novels. Since then, he has also produced covers for continuation books. In October 2024, he releases his highly conceptual and utterly gorgeous covers for the new hardback editions of the Fleming originals. The project has been gestating for six years! Michael tells the full story here for the first time.

The episode’s title is a quote from Quantum of Solace, specifically the scene where Mathis attempts to get to the bottom of Bond’s sleep problems.

“When you focus your time and energy into the things you can change and influence, opportunities come to you and doors open that wouldn’t have been there before.” - John Able

John is a father and a writer of stories aimed at bringing children and their caregivers closer together. Earlier this year, he wrote an article about martial arts in Fleming which set off a chain of events leading to him becoming far more involved in the Bond community.

John also has a rare life-threatening heart condition. Here, he speaks openly about the feelings of grief he had after being diagnosed with the condition and how he approached making what changes he could to how he lived his life.

A lot of mental health difficulties stem from a feeling of being out of control, so we should try to focus on the things we can control. John uses two Bond films as a metaphor for how to approach the things life throws at us: we can be like Bond in Goldfinger and be the passive recipient of things happening to us or we can be like Bond in Quantum of Solace and continually adapt, creating new opportunities.

Although John speaks very candidly about his specific circumstances, he urges us to focus on the things all of us can control in all aspects of our lives.

While talking with John, David retrospectively realises he took this approach during the worst phase of his life - where negative thought patterns threatened to takeover - and it ultimately made him a much happier person.

John goes on to explain how he learned to defuse negative thoughts. It takes effort, but it’s worth it!

Finally, David and John discuss the extent to which Bond provides us with a fantasy of control.

Find John on Instagram: @writerjohnable

And check out his works on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/212Opi02PNbO64xqRRIytx?si=b8ac940c3bab4a56

“Just because someone seems happy, doesn’t mean it’s the reality of the situation. It’s good to check in and see how people are doing.” - Vinnie Harris

Vinnie Harris is an unfalteringly positive voice in the Bond community - his voice is also very deep and many of you will recognise it from his appearances on various podcasts!

As Anya Amasova tells Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me, “it’s very important to have a positive mental attitude.” This can be easier said than done however! So positive is Vinnie online that you might be surprised to learn about the challenges he has overcome and continues to battle in his everyday life. This is the first time Vinnie has opened up publicly about these and how he is learning to cope with them. 

Diagnosed with autism and ADHD early in life, Vinnie talks candidly about how, like Bond, he felt like he didn’t fit in. Two decades down the line, he shares his thoughts about combatting negative self-talk, taking advice from family and friends, how it’s important to live life at your own pace and learning to own your uniqueness.

You can follow Vinnie on X @Harris94Vinnie and Instagram @mrharris00794

“It shook my foundations. I flipped from being someone that was 'Just get on with it' to a person who felt far more empathy, understanding not everyone has the tools to be able to 'Just get on with it'.” - Natasha Stone

John is one of the fantastic lads who make up the Really, 007! podcast. While David has been honoured to be their guest multiple times and they've got to know each other well in real life, this is the first time John and David have publicly talked just the two of them.

The author of A Different Kind of Brave describes his novel as a “gay teen love letter to James Bond movies”, which is a pretty accurate description!