Shows
The Heart of StorytellingMarcus Pibworth and Building Men’s SpacesMarcus Pibworth is a storyteller who uses story to entertain, explore the magic of the world, and facilitate change. Two years ago he moved with his wife and two young daughters to the foothills of the Black Mountains just on the English side of the Welsh border, where he has been working tirelessly to explore the intersection between story and the natural world, rewild and restory 10acres of land, and use the ancient wisdom of story to bring groups of dads together to explore fatherhood in the magical Rock Cottage yurt, and provide a peaceful rural haven for storytellers. Marcus...2025-05-0145 min
Do Good PodcastEp 76: Marcus Pibworth on navigating the difficult bits of life and what it really means to be humanMarcus Pibworth is a storyteller based in England but known to pop up around the globe, running storytelling workshops. He is an alumni of ‘The International School of Storytelling’. One of the key focuses of Marcus’ current work is on using storytelling to explore masculinity through his ‘Stories For Men’ series.
I first came across Marcus in Positive News Magazine a few years back, feeling inspired by his nomadic lifestyle living in a van and travelling around the UK & Europe recording his Ministry of Change podcast. Which is conversations about mental health, navigating the difficult bits of life and what it really...2022-03-091h 07
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Six SwansWelcome to Stories For Men - This session features The Brothers Grimm story, The Six Swans, and ensuing discussions recorded with a small group of men in November 2020. A special thanks to those men for allowing their contributions to be shared to a wider audience via this podcasst.
The next live session will be held via Zoom on Wednesday 31st March 2021 at 7pm UK time - tickets are now available via my website
If you enjoy and/or find value in these sessions please do share them with your friends. Thank you to those who h...2021-03-201h 30
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Lindworm: Under the Skin (Part 3/3)Welcome back to Part 3/3 of this telling of wonderful Scandinavian Wonder tale, The Lindworm, sometimes know as Prince Lindworm. If you haven't yet listened to PART 1 then I would urge you to go back and listen to that first. Then the story and discussion will make a lot more sense!
It was recorded online in November 2020 with a lovely group of men, and we had some rich discussions around the themes of the story and what it brought up for us in our own lives. I think this is a fabulous story for exploring our shadows and...2021-02-1334 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Lindworm: Under the Skin (Part 2/3)Welcome back to Part 2/3 of this telling of wonderful Scandinavian Wonder tale, The Lindworm, sometimes know as Prince Lindworm. If you haven't yet listened to PART 1 then I would urge you to go back and listen to that first. Then the story and discussion will make a lot more sense!
It was recorded online in November 2020 with a lovely group of men, and we had some rich discussions around the themes of the story and what it brought up for us in our own lives. I think this is a wonderful story for exploring our shadows and u...2021-02-1029 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Lindworm: Under the Skin (Part 1/3)Welcome to this Stories For Men session - which features a telling of the wonderful Scandinavian Wonder tale, The Lindworm, sometimes know as Prince Lindworm. It was recorded online in November 2020 with a lovely group of men, and we had some rich discussions around the themes of the story and what it brought up for us in our own lives. I think this is a wonderful story for exploring our shadows and uncovering what is going on in the metaphorical tangle at the periphery of our lives.
I've split the audio up into what I think are t...2021-02-0823 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Speedy Messenger : Part 3/3Welcome back to Part 3 of The Speedy Messenger. What will happen with Little Semyon? Did he survive the fall? Will all be well in the end? Is the story resonating with anything in your life? Are there characters that you relate to? Are there characters that make your blood boil?
Your input into this conversation is really valued, so please do leave comments about your experiences with both the story and the discussions.
Please do support my work at: www.buymeacoffee.com/marcuspibworth
To find out information about upcoming storytelling workshops, to watch vi...2021-01-2932 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Speedy Messenger : Part 2/3Welcome back to part 2 of The Speedy Messenger
If you haven't already listened to Part 1, then I'd encourage you to do so before proceeding with part 2, then the story and discussion will make a lot more sense.
How are you finding the story so far? Do you have anything to add to the discussion? It would be great to hear from you.
If you are finding value here, then please do think about supporting my work on my Buy Me a Coffee page
For more of my work as a storyteller and...2021-01-2628 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityThe Speedy Messenger : Part 1/3Welcome to the first episode of the Stories For Men Sessions.
I recorded this session with a small group of men on Zoom, in September 2020, and with their kind permission I am sharing it here with you.
In this session, I told the Russian Fairytale, The Speedy Messenger, as story that follows the protagonist, Little Semyon on a journey of transformation, hardship and discovery. Each session was about 1.5 hours long, so I have split the Speedy Messenger into 3 more manageable parts. Each starts with me telling a section of the story, followed by a short di...2021-01-2335 min
Stories For Men: Reimagining MasculinityStories For Men: ManifestoSupport Marcus and Stories For Men: www.buymeacoffee.com/marcuspibworth
Hello everyone.
Welcome to Stories for Men
I’m Marcus Pibworth. Amongst other things, I am a man, a storyteller, a husband and an expectant father.
At the end of last year I finally brought into fruition a project that I’ve been mulling over for a while now - and that is to use my love of storytelling to delve into questions about what it means to be a man today, how current restrictive notions of masculinity are having a detr...2021-01-2005 min
Ministry of ChangeStory: Depression and a Cat Called DorisIn this short episode I tell an autobiographical story about depression and a cat called Doris.
As humans we like to share stories, and when it comes to mental health and wellbeing being able to share our stories is so valuable. When we can discover the gift in seemingly negative experiences (trust me, there is always a gift buried in there somewhere) and share our story it becomes a powerful healing tool, not only for us as the storyteller but also for those listening. It stops being our own story and reenters the sea of human...2019-12-2213 min
Ministry of ChangeLiz Slade: Spirituality, Community and Collective WellbeingIn this episode I chatted with Liz Slade - the Chief Officer of the Unitarian Churches in the UK - about different interpretations of spirituality, being supported to find our own way in the world and the power of mixing with people with different beliefs to your own.
If you enjoy the podcasts then please do support me on Patreon to enable me to continue to create.
The music during the intro and outro was made especially for me by the very talented Graeme Walker
To find out more about my journey with...2019-12-0849 min
Ministry of ChangeAni Lhamo: Buddhism, Compassion and Loving KindnessThis episode features a conversation I had with Ani Lhamo, who has been a Tibetan Buddhist nun for over 30 years and who is also the secretary of Lama Yeshe the abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Scotland (featured in the previous episode - I'd recommend listening to that one first if you haven't already). We talk about Ani Lhamo's path from Glaswegian Computer Programmer to Tibetan Buddhist Nun, the importance of training the mind and the importance of the down as well as the up parts of life.
If you enjoy the podcasts...2019-11-2434 min
Ministry of ChangeLama Yeshe: Tibetan Buddhism and Compassionate ChangeFor this episode I traveled up to Scotland to meet Lama Yeshe, the head abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery to talk to him about the role of Buddhism and spirituality in connection with mental health, environmental and social change.
If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to support me to make more please do take a look at my Patreon Page
Read the transcript here
To find out more about my journey visit the Ministry of Change website
Thanks to the talented Graeme Walker for making...2019-11-1038 min
Ministry of ChangeRadha Mohan Das: Hare Krishna and Social ChangeIn my on going exploration into how we can navigate the difficult bits of life and what it means to be human, I have been searching out people who have dedicated their lives to answering these questions through walking a spiritual path. This episode is a conversation I had recently at the Hare Krishna Bhaktivedanta Temple with Krishna Devotee Radha Mohan Das.
If you like what I'm doing then please do support me via Patreon
To stay up to date with my journey visit the Ministry of Change website
Thank you to...2019-10-2846 min
The Happy EntrepreneurCreating space for meaningful conversations with Line MorkbakAt Summercamp we devote much of the middle Saturday afternoon to hosting an Open Space session. This is a chance for all the attendees to have the conversations and curate the discussions that they want to have. We've found it a powerful way to connect people and to surface the real needs of our attendees. It's a bit scary for people not used to it but if you open yourself up to possibility and ride the uncertainty you WILL find the person and have the conversation that is most important for you.2019-05-1554 min
Growing WildBeware of the mouse pee in your allotment shed mugs.This month Charlotte Petts meets up with story gatherer and teller, Marcus Pibworth of Ministry of Change; She goes exploring with Fergus the forager for birch trees to drink some sap from and hangs out with gardener Sophie Eliades on her allotment to talk about spuds and mouse pee in cups.2019-04-2941 min
Ministry of Change38 Remembering Polly Higgins: Ecocide and Protecting the EarthA conversation recored in 2017 with Ecocide Lawyer, Polly Higgins, who sadly passed away at the weekend2019-04-221h 13
Ministry of Change37 Sally-Anne Airey: How To Be A Mindful LeaderIn this episode Sally-Anne shares her story of transitioning from her role as a commander in the Royal Navy to her work as a Mindful Leadership coach in the French Alps.2019-02-1655 min
Ministry of Change#36 Anneli Roberts (Pigletish): You Are Not AloneAnneli Roberts from the Pigletish Podcast discusses mental health, social media, PTSD, Anxiety and the fact that whatever you are feeling like, you are not alone2019-02-0358 min
Ministry of Change#35 James Arnoldi: The Messiah Complex & Growing into the UnknownIn this episode I chatted with James Arnoldi about a period in his life a few years ago when he experienced a spiritual awakening / psychotic episode where he believed that he was Jesus.2019-01-2256 min
Ministry of Change#34 Lucy Purdy: Positive News and How To Change The WorldLucy Purdy (editor of Positive News Magazine) and I chat about positive news and how to change the world2019-01-1127 min
Ministry of Change2019 Update: What's Next For Ministry of Change?An update of where Ministry of Change is now and where it is going as we enter 20192019-01-0607 min
Ministry of Change#33 A Year On The Road: Ministry of Change 2018 ReviewAdam Bates interviews me about the evolution of Ministry of Change over the past year2018-12-2653 min
Ministry of Change#32 Kai Brouwer: What Happens When Adults Forget to PlayKai Brouwer from Funbase talks about depression and what happens when we forget to play as adults2018-12-1837 min
Ministry of Change#31 Chrissy Kelly: No One Is BrokenChrissy Kelly is a wonderful person and she does lots of amazing work around the psychology of thinking with children in the care system and teenagers, to empower them to access their wisdom and use their own agency.2018-12-1158 min
Ministry of Change(Interlude) Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?Interlude: Are you Freddie Mercury?2018-12-0904 min
Ministry of Change#30 Bipolar Barbie: Mental Illness, Social Media & Your Authentic SelfIn this episode I chatted with Bipolar Barbie - a mental health advocate and social media influencer from Australia, who blogs and vlogs about her experiences living with Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder.2018-11-301h 12
Ministry of Change#29 My Story: Depression, Anxiety & Learning that I am EnoughPeople often ask me if I'm going to share my own story on the podcast - well here it is. Last week I had the opportunity to speak at an event in Brighton run by Dave Perrins (featured in Ep.5 of the podcast) called Share Your Story.2018-11-2142 min
Ministry of Change#28 Kitty's Story: A Change of PerspectiveKitty's story revolves around depression, anxiety, PTSD and the road to rediscovering herself and using her second chance at life to make the difference she wants to see in the world.2018-11-0631 min
Ministry of Change#27 Dara Blumenthal: What Does it Really Mean to Be Human in the 21st Century?Dara is a facilitator and coach, but more than that, she is someone with a deep love for people and the planet. We talk about how to self-author your life, the power of vulnerability and how we can change the world through having open conversations and allowing ourselves to experience pain and suffering.2018-11-0157 min
Ministry of Change#26 Kitchen Table Chat: On Anxiety with Steph, Charlie, Dave and Marcus“Anxiety is trying to tell you something I think. I think that's why it's so different for everyone. It's not this one size fits all ‘this is an illness’. It's about what's behind it.”Earlier in the year I was sitting at my friend Steph’s house in Bristol, having a cup of tea and a chat with here around the kitchen table. The conversation naturally flowed into talking about anxiety, something that is a part of both of our lives. I realised then that this was the kind of conversation I wanted to record. A friendly chat aroun...2018-10-171h 09
Ministry of Change#25 On Anxiety and Wild Swimming with Joe MinihaneIn this episode I chat with Joe Minihane, author of 'Floating: A Life Regained' about anxiety and wild swimming2018-10-1049 min
Ministry of Change#24 Mark's Story: A Powerful Story of Addiction, Recovery and TransformationA few months ago I was on the Isle of Wight and I was fortunate enough to meet Mark Langford. Mark has a powerful story about his struggles with addiction and his mental wellbeing. A word of warning, Mark is very open and honest, and his story contains some difficult parts regarding drug taking and suicide ideation/ attempts, so please bare this in mind if this is something that could be a trigger to you.2018-10-0239 min
Ministry of Change#23 Transforming the Way We Live and Learn with Nadežda & JustusExploring how alternative education and community can create a healthier society. A conversation with Nadia and Justus from DNS Necessary Teacher Training College, Denmark.2018-09-2234 min
Ministry of Change#22 Charles Eisenstein: Mental Health and InterbeingIn this podcast I chat to Charles Eisenstein about mental health, wholeness and the deeper social, political and economic problems that lay behind the high levels of depression and anxiety in our culture today2018-09-1044 min
Ministry of Change#21 Reclaiming Cornwall From Depression (an audio adventure)This episode is a bit of an experiment - earlier in the year I filmed a mini 'documentary' about a journey I made to reclaim Cornwall, UK from the dark and stormy memories of depression that I had associated with it on a former trip while depressed a year or so earlier. I decided it worked quite well as an audio story as well, so this is what I've uploaded here.2018-08-2915 min
Ministry of Change#20 Kim Brown's Story: Wolf Medicine and Connecting with NatureKim talks about her work with wolves, mental health and helping people to connect with themselves through nature2018-07-1639 min
Ministry of Change#19 Bethan Christopher's Story: Grow Your Own GorgeousnessA few years ago Bethan wrote a book called ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness’, with the mission of tackling body image issues and empowering girls to be and to love themselves. Bethan has since developed this into the ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness Programme’ which she delivers directly to schools.2018-07-0933 min
Ministry of Change#18 The Neanderthal Bard's Story: Borderline Personality Disorder and the Spoken WordIn this episode spoken word artist Stephan Gambrell, a.k.a The Neanderthal Bard, shares his experiences of his diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, over stretched and under funded mental health services and the power of the spoken word, interspersed with some of his amazing poems.2018-06-2632 min
Ministry of Change#17 Esther's Story: Addiction, Recovery and YogaThis week Esther shares her story of alcohol addiction, recovery and how yoga helped her stop looking externally for answers and to start looking inside to find more peace.2018-06-1432 min
Ministry of Change#16 Scott's Story: Depression and the Journey of Self Discovery"Why is this happening FOR me" - Scott shares his story about depression, grief and the journey of deeper understanding of the self that this has allowed him to take2018-06-0438 min
Ministry of Change#15 Sian's Story: Alcohol Addiction and beyondSian tells her story of moving from being a functioning alcoholic with a young child to being sober, and the journey of discovery and understanding things about herself this has led her on2018-05-2222 min
Ministry of Change#14 Monique's Story: Growing Up with a Bipolar ParentMonique shares her experience of growing up in Canada with her mum, who has Bipolar II, and the highs and lows that came with that for her and her family.2018-05-1831 min
Ministry of Change#13 Mental Health Stories: Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DiD)A story about living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DiD)2018-05-1638 min
Ministry of Change#12 Simon's Story: Acute Anxiety Following a Car CrashSimon Richards shares his story of dealing with acute anxiety following a car crash 7 years ago2018-05-1420 min
Ministry of Change#11 Depression, Confronting our Fear of Death and Grieving for our Planet with Simon MedhurstExploring difficulties accessing statutory mental health services, why we need to confront our fear of death, and how we can heal the planet with Simon Medhurst in Thanet2018-05-0928 min
Ministry of Change#10 Qigong and Connecting with Your Self with Max St.JohnMax discusses his relationship to depression and how martial arts and his Qigong practice have helped him navigate life more easily2018-05-0238 min
Ministry of Change#9 Finding Strength in Grief with Toby MooreToby Moore shares his experience of losing his father and we discuss how we deal with death and difficult emotions as a society2018-04-1246 min
Ministry of Change#8 Finding Your Own Rhythm in Life with Henrietta JadinHen and I discuss how to stop following your 'shoulds' and find your own rhythm in life and how to slow down and improve your mental health2018-04-0627 min
Ministry of Change#7 How To Go Slow And Avoid Burnout with Rik TurnerAt the end of the month I had to opportunity to go to Portugal for a retreat organised by two friends Henrietta Jadin and Rik Turner, which was very appropriately a Slow working retreat, focused on just that - slowing down and reassessing our priorities.Wow - what a week - it was just what I needed. On this podcast I chatted with Rik, at his flat in Lisbon, the day after we got back from the retreat. This was our second attempt, as we tried to record an alfresco podcast in the Portuguese countryside a few days earlier, but...2018-03-3124 min
Ministry of Change(Bonus: Walking Interlude) The Importance of Space and How to Use itA short bonus interlude. 5 minutes of musings on space, slowing the pace and listening to your deeper self, as I walk through the fields of rural Buckinghamshire, UK2018-03-0605 min
Ministry of Change#6 How to Build a Happy Business with Laurence McCahill (The Happy Startup School)The startup world can be a real minefield when it comes to creating a work life balance. Being an entrepreneur can be quite a lonely experience, and there can be a lot of pressure for people who are starting their own businesses - a feat which requires you to go out on a limb and put your vulnerabilities out there. Stories of mental health being neglected in the startup world are rife. Of people wearing their lack of sleep and long hours at work as a badge of honour. Of people putting profit and growth above everything else. Burn out...2018-02-1929 min
Ministry of Change#5 The Importance of Sharing the Difficult Bits with Dave PerrinsFor this episode I went for a chat with my friend Dave Perrins at his house in Brighton. I first met Dave a couple of years ago, at an event run by our mutual friend, Adam. Over the past few years we’ve had many a chat over cups of tea about mental wellbeing, productivity and getting stuff done, and also about the importance of sharing the lows and the struggles and not just the high points. Dave is the brains behind, Share Your Story, a popular event in Brighton which as the name suggests creates a platform for people to...2018-02-1440 min
Ministry of Change#4 Permaculture: Reconnecting With What Being Human is All About (with Shift Bristol)As part of my mental health trip around the UK I’m keen on getting off the beaten track, and exploring projects that may not immediately shout, “Mental Health!”, at you, but are in some way looking into the way we live our lives or have structured society.Permaculture is something that has been on my radar for a few years now, but I haven’t really had the chance to explore fully. I first came across permaculture through my work with systems change and was intrigued by how the principles of nature can be applied to make human systems more eff...2018-02-0528 min
Ministry of Change#3 "Helping Young People Talk About Mental Health" with Off The Record BristolDiscussing our mental health can be hard at the best of times. We are in a world that is increasingly hard to navigate. For young people especially talking about what they are experiencing on the inside, social pressures, misconceptions and lack of understanding can make it seem nearly impossible. Organisations such as Off the Record do great work in normalising the discussion around mental health, and helping young people to make sense of the world and really thrive. In this episode I met with Liam and Laura from OTR to talk about the work they are doing to help end...2018-01-2843 min
Ministry of Change#2 Mental Health In The Work Place with Sanctus founder James RoutledgeA few weeks ago I travelled to London to meet James Routledge, the founder of Sanctus, an organisation who focus on improving mental health in the workplace. There mission is to change the brand of mental health and bring awareness around it into the mainstream. In the interview, James discusses his journey and talks about the lessons he has learned in business and the art of slowing down and focusing on what is important. Check out their website: sanctus.io for lots of blogs and articles around mental health and startup culture.For more about Ministry of Change and my...2018-01-2245 min
Ministry of ChangeAnxiety Interlude: It's Okay to Cry in ScrewfixThis is a monologue I wrote about an anxiety attack I had in the UK DIY shop Screwfix. This isn’t a very polished piece — it’s really a stream of consciousness I just wrote without much thought for editing and making it logical and beautiful. Maybe that is quite apt, as what goes on inside my head often isn’t logical or beautiful (at least in the generally perceived interpretations of these concepts!)
This is a link to the original blog post: https://medium.com/ministry-of-change/dont-cry-in-screwfix-a-glimpse-inside-my-head-21bcb66438222017-11-0504 min
Ministry of Change#1 A Space for Men to Talk and Celebrating Mental Health with Kate Mabbett and Ella MarshallI recently took the Ministry of Change down to Bristol to Freedom of Mind, a festival designed to celebrate mental health, conceived two years ago by Ella Marshall when she was just 16 years old. One of the most captivating events I attended was 'Creating a Space for Men to Talk' organised by men's mental health organisation Man Up Man Down. In this podcast I sat down with the co-founder of Man Up Man Down, Kate Mabbett and then with Ella Marshall, to talk about mental health.2017-10-2026 min