174: The 'D' Word with Pete Hill & guest Miles Bingham174: The 'D' Word with Pete Hill & guest Miles Bingham
UK Health Radio Podcast
Author Miles Bingham talks about *Deadheaded*, the memoir built from his mother’s dementia writings and his own, sharing family guilt, dark humour and frustration with fragmented Alzheimer’s care. He also reflects on his fears about his own brain health and why lifestyle choices, including alcohol use, now matter more to him.
35:13•3 Jul 2026
Deadheaded: A Son, Two Parents with Alzheimer’s and the Absurdity of Dementia Care
Episode Overview
- A dual narrative structure – mother and son describing the same events – shows how dementia affects both the hands-on carer and the more distant family member.
- Dementia care is portrayed as fragmented, with no single person taking an overview and families often left without clear information or guidance.
- Humour and a sense of absurdity help make extremely difficult experiences readable and slightly more bearable for both writer and reader.
- Having both parents die with Alzheimer’s pushes Miles to focus on his own brain health, including addressing lifestyle factors such as alcohol use and metabolic health.
- Standard memory tests are described as blunt tools that miss the complexity of dementia, which involves far more than forgetting words or drawing clocks.
“If only someone had explained things from the start.”
How do people cope when dementia doesn’t just affect one parent, but both? This conversation on The 'D' Word with author Miles Bingham digs into that question with honesty, sharp humour and a lot of heart. Miles talks about *Deadheaded*, the memoir he crafted using his late mother Valerie’s original writing about caring for his father through a 30–year Alzheimer’s journey, paired with his own reflections years later.
The result is a “dual narrative memoir” where, as he puts it, “my mother talks about an event and then I talk about the same event”, letting you see dementia from the hands-on carer and the distant, overworked son who’s “never quite in the right place at the right time”.
You’ll hear how dementia reshaped the whole family: the strain of being part of the “sandwich generation”, four-hour car journeys with a toddler to visit struggling parents, and that crushing line many families will recognise: “If only someone had explained things from the start.” Miles and host Pete Hill talk about fragmented services, a lack of clear pathways, and how dementia still isn’t treated like other major diseases.
There’s dark comedy too: an unexpected 12-page brain autopsy, mysterious “Charlie” appearing in his father’s conversations, and Miles’ fear that his naturally poor memory will see him fail standard tests long before any diagnosis is due. He also shares how losing both parents to Alzheimer’s has pushed him to focus on brain health, including keeping an eye on alcohol use as part of looking after metabolic health.
This is a conversation for anyone touched by dementia, anyone juggling caring with work and kids, and anyone quietly worrying about their own future. Could stories like Miles’ help you feel less alone with your own doubts and questions?
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