The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: Culture, Identity & Fatherhood

Marvyn Harrison

Culture, identity, masculinity, relationships and fatherhood, in honest long-form conversations hosted by Marvyn Harrison, founder of Dope Black Dads and TV commentator (BBC, LBC, Channel 5). Formerly the Dope Black Dads Podcast. Guests include Sadiq Khan, Michelle Gayle, Marlon & Shawn Wayans, DJ Semtex, Christine Lahti, Johnny Nelson, Tyler West, Kate Ferdinand, Poppy Jay, Dane Baptiste and Bridget Phillipson. Each episode opens with photos and early memories, works through the turning points that shaped the guest, and closes with game segments that show their unexpected side. Topics: music, sport, film and TV; love and dating; men's mental health and the manosphere; ADHD and neurodivergence; race and identity in Britain; parenting, co-parenting and the father wound; and the UK politics that hits families. Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd2CF9uBPHy91ASAMWqDSOQ Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Sep 28

    Mak 10: The DJ Who Built Grime Then Nearly Lost Everything

    He built the sound of a genre from pirate radio. Then addiction almost took all of it. Mak 10 — the DJ behind Nasty Crew — on the rise, the fall, and coming up to three years clean. He talks about why "I had to be a bit delusional" to make it, the ADHD he's still waiting 18 months to have diagnosed, what fatherhood taught him about himself, and the night Wiley and Dizzee Rascal stood on the same stage for the first time in 20 years. Chapters: 0:00 The Power of an Iconic Voice 0:57 Finding Inspiration in Grime Roots 2:22 The Legacy of Nasty Crew 4:43 Ranking the Greatest Crews 5:48 Navigating Life Without a Map 8:26 Does Marcus Nasty Get His Flowers? 11:10 The Evolution of a Solo Career 14:33 Neurodivergence and ADHD 23:39 The Beautiful Complexity of Fatherhood 38:11 The Long Road to Recovery Listen on Acast wherever you get your podcasts. #grime #podcast #recovery The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Mak 10: The DJ Who Built Grime Then Nearly Lost Everything

  2. Sep 11

    The Guilt of Black progression w/ Amy Jephta, Playwright & Romantha Botha

    Marvyn Harrison and Samantha Porter sit down with South African playwright and screenwriter Amy Jephta to unpack her acclaimed play "A Good House." The conversation covers gentrification, class mobility, colonial language, the psychological cost of being "the first" in predominantly white spaces, and the tension between political blackness and coloured cultural identity in post-apartheid South Africa. Jephta discusses the personal experiences behind writing "A Good House," her London run's reception versus South Africa's, comedy as a tool for dissecting race, and her two upcoming plays — one set against a Kenyan genocide backdrop, the other a Caribbean period piece about a Black slave owner. Show Notes / Topics Covered: "A Good House" premise: a Black couple navigating a gated community dispute in JohannesburgBuying property in a gentrifying, historically coloured neighbourhoodReconciling capitalism with Black identity and community obligationLondon audience reception vs. South African audience reception"Politically Black, culturally coloured" — navigating identity terminology across contextsComedy and satire as vehicles for examining raceSurvivor's guilt and the psychology of upward mobilityReflections on South African xenophobia and the Zimbabwean embassy queuesUpcoming work: a play on inherited trauma tied to the Kenyan genocide; a Caribbean musical about a Black slave-owning entrepreneur Guest: Amy Jephta — South African playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Writer of "A Good House" and "Barakat." and Romantha Botha — Cultural Archivist and Filmaker The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Guilt of Black progression w/ Amy Jephta, Playwright & Romantha Botha

  3. Sep 7

    Oscar Nominee Christine Lahti on Surviving Hollywood's Misogyny

    Christine Lahti the Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe and Emmy winner sits down to unpack the autobiographical solo play that's been packing out London's Marylebone Theatre this summer: The Smile of Her. Known for Chicago Hope, Swing Shift, Running on Empty, Law & Order: SVU, and CBS's Evil and Fire Country, Lahti traces her journey from a repressive 1950s Michigan household to becoming one of second-wave feminism's most vocal torchbearers. In this conversation: growing up under a father who treated emotion as weakness, watching her mother silenced for decades, the internalized patriarchy she still fights at 76, why she believes love and dominance cannot coexist, the backlash she sees driving today's manosphere, and the night Robin Williams saved her Golden Globes win with an improvised stand-up routine while she was in the bathroom. \The Smile of Her ran at Marylebone Theatre, London, 10 July – 29 August 2026, directed by Mêlisa Annis, produced by Nina Tassler, Jenny Warburg and Wild Yak in association with Gloria Steinem. https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Oscar Nominee Christine Lahti on Surviving Hollywood's Misogyny

  4. Aug 10

    DO YOU KNOW BALL? ⚽ Margz (Filthy Fellas) Takes the Football Quiz Hot Seat

    Margz (No Behaviour Podcast, Filthy Fellas) sits in the hot seat for a rapid-fire football quiz — Premier League trivia on Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, West Brom, Derby County, Portsmouth, Wigan and Blackburn, played under a 10-second clock across two escalating rounds. The episode closes with a wide-ranging World Cup conversation covering predictions, underdog nations, the Argentina/Messi legacy narrative, and watching tournament football from different parts of the world. The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Jul 20

    Anti-Intellectualism, Trump and Andrew Tate with Romantha Botha and Kaira Ahmed

    Andrew Tate is trending again, but the bigger story isn't him, it's what made him possible. In this episode we break down anti-intellectualism: why comprehension is collapsing, why people trust vibes over evidence, and who actually benefits from keeping populations uncritical. We go back to Hofstadter's three strands of anti-intellectualism, cover South Africa's Bantu education system as intellectualism weaponised as policy, unpack the difference between academia and intellect, and ask whether you can be an intellectual without empathy. The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Anti-Intellectualism, Trump and Andrew Tate with Romantha Botha and Kaira Ahmed

  6. Jul 16

    Are Young People Mollycoddled?

    Every generation gets called soft by the one before it. But is this time different? We dig into the case that young people have lost resilience — less unsupervised play, more helicopter parenting, safe-space culture — against the case that the real story is economic: unaffordable housing, insecure work, and a mental health crisis that's more visibility than fragility. No easy verdict. Just the argument, both sides. The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Jul 13

    Should Benefit Claimants Be Forced to Pick Up Litter?

    A UK campaign group wants Universal Credit claimants to do four hours of litter picking a month or risk losing their benefit. Supporters call it fair contribution. Critics call it workfare — a policy with a documented history of failure, unpaid labour, and exemption gaps for disabled claimants. We break down the proposal, the precedent, and who gets left out of the conversation. The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Jul 13

    So you fell in love with someone who is Neurodivergent?

    Your partner isn't ignoring you, isn't cold, isn't careless — they might just be wired differently. This episode breaks down 7 neurodivergent traits (ASD/Asperger's, ADHD, ADD, OCD, NVLD, sensory processing differences, alexithymia) with plain-language explanations, phonetic pronunciations, and what each one actually looks like inside a relationship. Not a diagnosis. Not an excuse. A map. The Marvyn Harrison Podcast: culture, identity and fatherhood, hosted by the founder of Dope Black Dads. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarvynHarrison Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-marvyn-harrison-podcast/id1456522027 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cIh6ejnk3lUUVhqSKzPUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvynharrisonpodcast Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Culture, identity, masculinity, relationships and fatherhood, in honest long-form conversations hosted by Marvyn Harrison, founder of Dope Black Dads and TV commentator (BBC, LBC, Channel 5). Formerly the Dope Black Dads Podcast. Guests include Sadiq Khan, Michelle Gayle, Marlon & Shawn Wayans, DJ Semtex, Christine Lahti, Johnny Nelson, Tyler West, Kate Ferdinand, Poppy Jay, Dane Baptiste and Bridget Phillipson. Each episode opens with photos and early memories, works through the turning points that shaped the guest, and closes with game segments that show their unexpected side. Topics: music, sport, film and TV; love and dating; men's mental health and the manosphere; ADHD and neurodivergence; race and identity in Britain; parenting, co-parenting and the father wound; and the UK politics that hits families. Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd2CF9uBPHy91ASAMWqDSOQ Partnerships and sponsorship: marvyn@belovd.agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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