The British Army is recruiting gamers, 'phone zombies', and 'selfie addicts' as it broadens its skills for modern military ops. But who are the young men getting these jobs, and what impact does it have on their lives? 

Former Grenadier Guardsman Julian Perreira served as a J-TAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) in Afghanistan. As he monitored a 60-inch TV screen relaying live feeds from surveillance balloons and drones, it was his job to decide when and where to deploy ‘kinetic effects’ that could, and did, kill people. 

It was, he tells Olly, ‘a bit like playing a computer game’.

The experience inflicted lasting damage on his mental health; now treated with CBT only thanks to the philanthropy of a fellow veteran. 

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Julian is now a journalist who blogs at jakbrew.co.uk, where he has also established an outdoor drinkware company.

If YOU have a story you’d like to share with Olly and our listeners, we’d love to hear from you: please reach out using the Feedback form on our website, modernmann.co.uk.

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Elsewhere, for this month’s Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart chats to couples who are ‘child-free by choice’.

Along the way he discovers ‘antinatalism’, swots up on some intriguing statistics about parental unhappiness, and disrupts a childfree sub-Reddit that definitely ISN’T ‘a movement’.

If YOU would like to challenge Ollie to explore a current trend for a future edition of the show, get in touch via the Feedback form on our website, modernmann.co.uk

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Meanwhile, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox - fresh from judging a talent competition that is unlikely to be televised - considers the dilemma of a listener who ‘bears down’ during orgasm, frequently finding herself the victim of inconvenient farts.

If YOU have a question of sex you’d like Alix to answer on a future edition of the show, don’t be shy - send it in via our Feedback form on our website, modernmann.co.uk.

Our thanks to pelvic floor physiotherapist Elaine Miller, AKA ‘Gussie Grippers’. If you think you may be suffering from a hypertonic pelvic floor, resources and support are available via the International Pelvic Pain Society and the Pelvic Pain Support Network.

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Music this month comes from Modern Mann favourites Another Sky and their new song, ‘Fell In Love With The City’. 

You’ll find it on their new album ‘I Slept on the Floor’, out Aug 7th.

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If you enjoy the show, and value what we do, here are THREE GREAT WAYS to support us:

Buy us a beer now via our website, modernmann.co.uk. It’s completely secure and there are links to use PayPal if you prefer.

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That’s it for the Summer - we’ll be back, as per our new release schedule, on September 10th.

See you then!

Presenter: Olly Mann. Producer: Matt Hill. Contributors: Ollie Peart, Alix Fox, Julian Perriera, Another Sky. Theme Music: Django Django. Graphic Design: Jenny Mann Design. Production Assistance: Rebecca Grisedale-Sherry. Copyright Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2020. modernmann.co.uk

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