From Morrissey to Laurence Olivier, public figures through history have channelled shyness and stage-fright into their work. But is shyness a useful tool, or is uninhibited confidence a better way to navigate the modern world? Backstage at the Southbank Centre’s ‘Being A Man’ festival, social and cultural historian Joe Moran talks to Olly about the implicit difficulty of silence, the internal monologues that plague him in social situations, and how shy people can weaponise irony, distance and aloofness to their advantage. His book, ‘Shrinking Violets: A Field Guide to Shyness’, is out now. Meanwhile, over in The Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart explains how your car can interact with your ‘environmental happenings’, previews a forthcoming political bout, and reveals where you can buy a ‘Breaking Bad’ lego set. And, down The Foxhole, Alix Fox ponders why she is having some difficulty finding the perfect partner, and offers some advice for a listener whose partner suffers from vaginismus. If you have a question of sex for next week’s show, just fill in the feedback form on our website, MODERNMANN.CO.UK. The Foxhole is sponsored by our friends at MyCondom.com - use the code ‘FOXHOLE’ at Checkout to receive an astonishing 15% OFF. Finally,our song of the week comes from Artificial Pleasure. It’s called ‘All I Got’, and it’s out now. You can catch the band touring in April. If you’d like to be a Mannbassador, just leave us a review at itunes.com/mann If you’d like to buy us a beer and support the show, visit our website and click ‘Beer Money’ See You Next Tuesday! Presenter: Olly Mann. Contributors: Ollie Peart, Alix Fox. Producer: Matt Hill. Theme Music: 'Skies Over Cairo' by Django Django. Graphic Design: Jenny Mann Design. Copyright: Olly Mann / Rethink Audio 2017. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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