Latest news with #MarcusBrigstocke
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Newscast The Newscast Summer Tour
Recorded live at Hay Festival, Adam and Alex look at whether President Trump has changed his mind about President Putin and how politician's use statistics. Plus, Newscast continues trying to work out if the goverment's change of policy on winter fuel allowance counts as a U-Turn. They are joined by Anne Applebaum, journalist, historian and author of Autocracy Inc, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter statistician and author of The Art of Uncertainty, and comedian and broadcaster Marcus Brigstocke. If you want to come and see an episode of Newscast recorded live you can find us at Crossed Wires on the 4th July, Latitude on the 24th July, and at the Edinburgh Fringe from the 4th August! You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast'. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming and Alex Forsyth. It was made by Anna Harris. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Huge thanks to the BBC team at Hay, as well as Chris the festival organisers.
Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Marcus Brigstocke review — an engaging evening about toxic masculinity
The world is full of talk of 'toxic masculinity', and often for good reason. Not only does Marcus Brigstocke avoid using that one-size-fits-all phrase in this ambling yet fitfully acute look at the state of men today, he also tries to look for the upsides. Yes, Trump — one of several sharp impressions here — and Vance are poor adverts for the male of the species. And yes, men account for 96 per cent of the prison population. Yet the leading cause of death for men under 50, Brigstocke reminds us, is suicide. Something is awry. As the father of a three-year-old boy — he also has two grown-up children from his first marriage — Brigstocke has to look for better ways to be a
The Independent
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Marcus Brigstocke opens up about ‘shameful' and ‘lonely' porn addiction
Comedian Marcus Brigstocke has opened up about a difficult porn addiction, which he says left him in a 'terrible place'. The 59-year-old actor, known for his stand-up comedy and acting, including a cameo in Love Actually, said he's been in recovery for over seven years. 'It changed my sexual self completely,' he told The i about his challenges. 'The things I was into sexually were altered by what I was seeing. I won't go into specifics but it taught me there is so much elasticity in our sexuality.' He added that porn addicts have 'really f**king awful sex if they're having sex at all', describing his experience as 'awful, shameful, lonely'. He added: 'It's unhappy. Unhappy making. Afterwards, porn addicts will lie there thinking: 'Well that seems to have made us really quite miserable'.' Brigstocke said that it 'one hundred per cent' changed the way he interacted with women, leaving him in a cycle of shame and isolation and creating a 'hole' that left him feeling unlovable. The comedian split from his first wife Sophie Prideaux after an affair with his 2010 Spamalot co-star Hayley Tammadon. 'It's a terrible place to find yourself in, because even if somebody looks you directly in the eyes and says 'I love you', you're thinking, 'That's because you don't know what I did,' he said. 'You wouldn't love me if you knew'.' After a difficult detox that took months, Brigstocke says that these days he is overly cautious and is unaffected even by images on social media. 'You can start to be in the world and enjoy the simple things again,' he said. 'I've quit it in all its forms. Even a scantily clothed person on Facebook, I scroll past and do not pause for a split second. Now I have rediscovered the joy of simple things, of living in the moment again.' Describing the effect on children, he explained that he'd had a frank discussion with his son about porn and its dangers. 'I had a conversation with my oldest son about it when he was in his early teens,' he explained. 'I said: 'You're going to see things that don't look like love, don't look like sex, don't look like how people in the real world should treat each other.'
