How many of us have had our sporting aspirations crushed by injuries? Not to mention the chronic aches and pains that can creep in, take hold and become part of who we are as we age into our ripe old 30s and 40s - on the fast track to our inevitable decline...BUT I've got some good news, my guest today says it doesn't have to be that way...

Suffering from osteitis pubis from his mid-teens, James's ability to play footy, and the identity that came with it, was slowly stripped away.

After being told by a specialist that his body was “cooked” in his twenties, and he may as well stop playing, the depression that had been building under the surface came crashing forward.

Now at 35 he's making a comeback to playing footy and running his own physio practice, working to free people from the cycle of pain and defeat, with the ethos that no one's too far gone to turn it around.

This is James Brown...

Bryce didn't think much about becoming a dad, until he started building a life with his wife Marie.

Their journey towards becoming parents got off to a rough start, enduring a miscarriage, before Marie eventually fell pregnant with their son, Harry. The pregnancy was healthy and normal all the way to full-term, when Marie noticed Harry wasn't moving.

They went to hospital expecting reassurance, but instead were met with utter devastation - their baby had stopped breathing.

In the days that followed, Marie gave birth to Harry, and together they spent time meeting and mourning their boy.

The pain of the loss was indescribable, and they still live with the grief every day, but despite it all, their hope has been restored.

Years on, Bryce is now a father to twin boys, two gifts he and Marie believe were sent to them by Harry, the boy they'll carry with them always.

This is Bryce Matthews...

After years trying to start a family, Mark and his wife Angela were deflated, and wondering if it was going to happen for them.

When they finally conceived, it felt like everything was going right — until a routine scan revealed their unborn son Hudson, had a serious heart condition.

Faced with the scary prognosis of future complications, they rejected the confronting option to terminate the pregnancy and pushed on.

And before Hudson had even entered the world, his parents had to prepare for the reality of multiple open heart surgeries.

Mark endured anxiety, fear and helplessness like never before, grappling with his total lack of control over the outcome.

Now five years on, Hudson's a healthy, happy boy, but not totally out of the woods.

Mark's sharing his story to help current and future dads living with pain and uncertainty.

This is Mark Pearce...

When a viral image of a football fan sticking a flare up his arse during England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy surfaced, it wasn’t just a meme, it was the most unlikely of doorways...

For UK stage performer Alex Hill, it became both the inspiration and the vehicle to explore loneliness, friendship, masculinity, mental health, and what it really means to belong.

His debut play, Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England, has enjoyed sell-out runs and international acclaim, returning to this year’s Adelaide Fringe after taking out Best Theatre in 2025.

Beneath the chaos and hilarious fun, Alex is posing serious questions and using his art to create space for connection and reflection.

This is Alex Hill...

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Adelaide Fringe tickets: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/why-i-stuck-a-flare-up-my-ar-for-england-af2026

Gambling, in one form or another, has been part of human societies for centuries. Those wanting a betting opportunity could find one if they looked hard enough, but it was a far cry from the gambling bombardment we’re exposed to in the Western world today.

Australians lose more than $30 billion a year to gambling, and new figures show New South Wales residents lost $2.5 billion on the pokies alone in just three months in 2025.

The barrage of odds, ads and the growing prevalence of gambling influencers can feel inescapable, drawing millions of young men into a dangerous game with virtually no winners.

Dr Michael Zhang is a psychologist specialising in behavioural addictions. His work led to the creation of Incumental, a new app designed to support recovery from gambling problems. He says it’s not about willpower, it’s about learning new ways to respond, building new habits, and finding people who understand.

This is Dr Michael Zhang…

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https://incumental.com/

When you hear the word psychiatrist, you might think medicating mental illness, but there’s more nuance to it than that.

Psychiatry brings together biology, psychology medicine and lived experience to understand what’s going on in someone’s mind and how to treat it. 

Aleem is a Pakistani Australian who migrated here 16 years ago, became a psychiatrist and in doing so recognised a major need to increase access to psychiatric services particularly for people in regional areas. He’s since founded HelloDoc, a nationwide telehealth service connecting thousands of people with psychiatrists across Australia. 

We discuss the ins and outs of psychiatry, where medication fits in, how culture shapes the way mental health is understood, why so many adults are being diagnosed with ADHD later in life and more.

This is Aleem Khan…

Sydni grew up on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, in a tight-knit community with a culture she says expects men to be tough and keep their emotions to themselves.

Her father was one of those men. Loving and strong, but never one to share what he was going through.

When her younger sister went missing in late 2023, Sydni and her family were thrust into the national spotlight overnight, facing huge stress and the brutal commentary of countless strangers online.

Sydni’s dad flew to Los Angeles to search, and tragically never returned home, the immense distress of the situation contributing to his suicide.

It pushed Sydni into the darkest period of her life, grieving her father and questioning everything while trying to protect her son.

Now, a year on, she’s slowly rebuilding herself, launching her own mental health brand to create change and raising her son to be able to share his feelings.

This is Sydni Kobayashi...

Five years ago, Flynn was on this podcast as a teenager living with cystic fibrosis. CF is a genetic condition that affects one in 2,500 Australians, causing mucus to clog the lungs and digestive system, requiring constant physio, medication and hospital check-ins to stay well.

Thanks to modern medicine, many people with CF now live into their 40s and beyond, but it means staying ever vigilant and factoring the disease into their future.

Now in his early twenties, Flynn’s back to share the journey he’s been on since we first met. He’s had setbacks, success and the pressure of managing a condition that never quits, all while trying to mature into the man he wants to be.

This is Flynn Gill...

No guest this week. Instead, here's my rambling about life and the podcast in the following order:

- Australian of the Year Awards

- Getting married

- Contemplating fatherhood

- Getting in the best shape of my life

- Showing up as the best version of me

- The future of the podcast

- Protecting piece of mind

Around 70% of Aussie men are overweight or obese, and most of us would say we’d like to lose some fat and drop a pants size or two.

Maintaining a lean, healthy body we feel happy in, is relatively simple, but it's far from easy. We generally know the importance of exercise and the basics of nutrition, but the way our emotions drive our eating habits is much less talked about.

When life gets stressful, food becomes an easy form of comfort, a socially acceptable, readily available coping mechanism to distract ourselves from having to feel uncomfortable emotions. Whether we’re sad, bored, tired or frustrated, the promise of a quick dopamine hit from junk food can be too good to resist. And if we're in the habit of pairing it with alcohol, it creates the perfect storm for an expanding waistline.

As life gets busier, it only gets harder. With work, bills, kids and relationships to manage, looking after your body can quickly fall down the list of priorities, left unchecked it can lead to hardly recognising yourself in the mirror.

This is Zac's bread and butter.

He’s a personal trainer and fitness coach who's helped hundreds of men in their 30s, 40s and 50s lose fat, gain muscle and build a sustainable healthy lifestyle, without needing to live in the gym and sacrifice everything they enjoy.

This is Zac Mason...

Corporal James Overall served as an Australian Army medic for a decade, deploying overseas on multiple occasions, including to Afghanistan in 2015. He was instrumental in 6 mass casualty events, as a highly skilled trauma care provider and auxiliary security force member, awarded the United States Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM) for his outstanding service.

Frequently under immense pressure to perform in life or death situations, Jimmy didn't have the awareness to recognise the trauma he was internalising or the ability to process it.

Suppressing his emotions and soldiering on seemed to work, until it all caught up with him, manifesting in symptoms that couldn't be ignored.

No longer able to meet his own expectations as a serviceman, he discharged and became a paramedic.

Then in 2021, Jimmy and his wife lost their baby boy Luke at birth, a tragedy that broke their hearts and left him numb.

He reached a crossroads and made the choice to finally open up and lean on others for help, allowing him to grow into the husband and father he is today, a man worthy of his own respect.

This is James Overall...