
Shrink The Box
Ever wondered why Frasier Crane is such a snob?
How Tyrion Lannister’s bawdy humour saves him in Game of Thrones?
What makes Schitts Creek’s Moira Rose a narcissist?
‘Shrink the Box’ is where actor comedian Ben Bailey Smith and psychotherapist Nemone Metaxas put their favourite fictional characters such Tommy from Peaky Blinders and Sydney from The Bear on the couch - to analyse why their behaviour causes them so much drama.
Nemone and Ben explore why these characters make certain decisions, what would happen if they made different ones and what we can learn from their mistakes. The perfect combination of psychology, self-help and the best TV since the birth of the box-set.
We would love to hear your theories: shrinkthebox@sonymusic.com
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us at @sonypodcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Latest episodes

Apr 4, 2023 • 51min
10: Killing Eve - Eve Polastri
Thrills, state secrets, and international assassins. Eve Polastri has always been wanted to be a MI6 spy. When she stumbles across Villanelle, she gets just that.
We explore what happens when a romantically charged obsession goes too far and what happens when people start to want different things out of a relationship.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of Killing Eve to avoid spoilers.
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 28, 2023 • 49min
9: Bloodlines - Danny Rayburn
Meet the Rayburn’s.
They are upstanding pillars of the community, hugely admired, and entirely dysfunctional.
We delve into why Danny is actually the scapegoat, what the sympathetic ghost signifies, and just how sticky familial roles can be.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of Bloodlines to avoid spoilers.
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 21, 2023 • 49min
8: I May Destroy You - Arabella Essiedu
Black, British and kind of famous, Michaela Coel’s Arabella colours outside of the lines; misses deadlines, and, can’t *quite* remember what happened to her last night?
One woman’s search for the truth raises questions around agency, relationships and whether or not there’s ever such a thing as shades of grey - when it comes to consent.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of I May Destroy You to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 14, 2023 • 47min
7: Wandavision - Wanda Maximoff
Transporting viewers to the idyllic, suburban world of Westview, New Jersey, but all is not how it seems. Despite her otherworldly powers, Wanda experiences grief and loss, just like the rest of us.
Plus a deep dive into the strength of nostalgia, what the mysterious beekeepers mean, and how sometimes, destruction is the only thing that helps us heal.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of Wandavision to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 7, 2023 • 47min
6: Mad Men - Don Draper
Advertising sells - and Don Draper knows how to sell it better than anyone: a product, the American dream, and even himself.
We look at why the ad-men of the ‘60s were so terrified of therapy, how sex is power, and why faking who you are - is actually the hardest sell of all.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of Mad Men to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 28, 2023 • 48min
5: Fleabag - Fleabag
Falling in love with a priest - whilst being deathly afraid of intimacy? What’s that about?
Join us as we delve into the world of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag and find out why she is so intent on being quite so ‘naughty’.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 and 2 of Fleabag to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 21, 2023 • 49min
4: The Wire - Omar Little
Omar is only Barack Obama's favourite fictional character of all time. And perhaps ours too?
We find out why we're on the side of the gun-toting, duster-coat wearing stick-up badass who robs drug dealers for a living.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of The Wire to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shrink Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 14, 2023 • 41min
3: The Queen's Gambit - Beth Harmon
The often enigmatic chess genius that is Beth Harmon - is the Queen of this week’s episode.
Ben and Sasha explore why Beth feels so compelled to clean up after parties - and how her controlled prowess at the chessboard, becomes utter chaos away from it.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of The Queen’s Gambit to avoid spoilers.
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/.
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 7, 2023 • 45min
2: Breaking Bad - Walter White
Sliding on their gloves, and stepping into their Hazmat suits, Ben and Sasha distil one of TV’s most infamous characters: The mighty Heisenburg.
On this week’s Shrink the Box we uncover why Walter White is often in his underpants, how he taps into his ‘shadow side’ and we explore if the ‘Revenge of the Nerd’ is really a thing.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of Breaking Bad to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/.
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 31, 2023 • 45min
1: The Sopranos - Tony Soprano
Unravelling the complex (and surprisingly endearing) layers of the OG mobster: Mr Tony Soprano, all roads lead to New Jersey on the first episode of Shrink the Box!
We find out why talking to a therapist is a ‘whackable’ offence, how falling in love with your shrink is not THAT uncommon and why his mother, Livia Soprano could be the real villain of the show.
Don’t forget to check out Season 1 of The Sopranos to avoid spoilers.
Do you have a character suggestion for us? Get in touch! Please email shrinkthebox@somethinelse.com
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode: For the UK, call SAMARITANS on 116 123 samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
Internationally: https://www.befrienders.org/.
For UK help via talking therapies contact your GP or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy bacp.co.uk
Shrink The Box is a Somethin’ Else Production with Sony Music Entertainment.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices