Becki Ross was given two to three years to live. Diagnosed at 42 with stage four, incurable bowel cancer, she's a mum of two teenagers, a teacher, and one of those rare people who lights up a room the second she walks in.

When we recorded this, Becki had just been told her treatment options had run out - that the cancer was, in her words, "declaring itself," and that her time is now very short.

In one of the most powerful conversations we've ever had, Becki talks about planning her own funeral - the plywood coffin, the celebrant, the plan to climb in herself just to make everyone laugh - and about the parts that aren't funny at all: the fear, the reality of leaving her kids behind, and the perspective that's come with facing it head-on.

It's a conversation full of light and shade. We talk about the Cancer Crushers, the village of friends carrying Becki and her kids, the health system she's had to fight through, her daughter Maddie's unforgettable words, and the humour that's got her through all of it.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

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Steven and Seamus go behind the scenes of the Izzy Dagg episode that's gone massive - the research calls, why Izzy almost didn't tell his story, and the reaction that's followed since.

Plus: the new dream guest list - who's next after Graham Norton - a big week for the team, emceeing the Master Builders House of the Year awards, and commentating Auckland FC v Tottenham.

A very special episode drops next Sunday too, and it’s very different to anything we’ve done before. Full tease in the episode!

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Israel Dagg had everything he'd ever chased - a Rugby World Cup, a young family, the life a kid from a Hawke's Bay state house could only dream of. Then he retired, and the question underneath it all hit at once: “if I'm not an All Black, who am I?”

In one of the most open conversations we've had on the show, Israel comes clean on the five years that followed - the addiction, the depression, and the spiral he kept hidden while the world saw a highlight reel.

After his mum passed away he hit rock bottom: he left his family, moved to Auckland, and spent a Father's Day alone in an apartment wondering how it got so bad. He's honest about what it cost the people who loved him, and clear that no one could have pulled him out but himself.

This is the story of how he did it - how ownership became the first step back, why nearly three years sober is the best decision he's ever made, and how he came to see that the happiness he'd been chasing had been in front of him the whole time.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back from the World Cup with a case of post-event blues and a bigger question: we built our dream - but, is it still the dream?

In this consolidation episode, we share our lists about what we want the next two and a half years to look like - and discover how closely aligned we’ve become. Di digs into what "important" means now that the podcast is commercially sound, why neither of us is a natural galvaniser, and what it takes to bring the wider product team into the vision.

Along the way: the "multiplier" that makes a business partnership work, why your best hire is the one that clears your own roadblock, dream guests (the Obama-tier bar), Steve's hips, and a time-audit report card that doesn't quite go to plan.

A useful listen for anyone building something and trying to work out when to stop chasing and start consolidating.

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Justine Smith has been a fixture of New Zealand comedy for more than 30 years - a Seven Days regular and one of the few women who lasted in a room that pushed most others out.

She opens up on the comedy environment younger women were up against, the treatment she swallowed to keep going, and how she turned that guilt into becoming the person the next generation of female comics now comes to. She's also very funny about the rest of it - falling into comedy almost by accident, the terror of her first gig, and three decades of standing in front of a crowd talking about herself for a living.

And she tells the remarkable story of her own beginning: adopted as a baby, and reunited with her sister through a single phone call that almost didn't happen.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We debrief on Seamus' dream guest, Graham Norton - with Sammy and Char on the mics to break down how it went, and how dusty Steve was at the 5.30am start.

Then the boys dig into whether there's anything to the Argentina World Cup conspiracy doing the rounds, before Steve gets Che’s take on surviving the school holidays and the "spare part" phase of early parenting (plus the questions kids fire at you when you least expect it - did you know Baby Shark has 17 billion views?).

There's also a quieter moment as Seamus opens up about presiding over a close friend's dad's funeral, and what a room full of people saying goodbye teaches you about what actually matters. Plus the week's TAB bet and Che’s TVNZ punditry debut, Dr Evil jumper and all.

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He's spent nearly 30 years getting the world's biggest stars to open up - but Graham Norton rarely sits on the other side of the mic.

The most famous chat show host on the planet pulls back the curtain on his craft: the psychology of who sits where on that famous sofa, why the guests always outrank him, and the research ritual that's funnier than the show itself.

He also goes somewhere he almost never does - the San Francisco hippie commune that set him on his path, nearly dying in his twenties, becoming a debut novelist at 52, and how a chance love of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc became millions of bottles with his name on it.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can pour everything into the biggest thing you'll ever build - and still find the part you remember has nothing to do with the work.

Fresh off three weeks at the FIFA World Cup in North America, Steven and Seamus sit down with their business coach Di Foster for a proper mid-year debrief: the enormity of what they pulled off (19 daily shows, four partners, a whole TV operation), the studio they spent tens of thousands building and then didn't need, and the honest look at what they'd do differently.

Along the way: how you actually measure whether a big bet worked, the hire that changed everything, and the case for building rest into growth instead of chasing momentum forever.

Plus a listener question - how do you keep the core things humming while you're on the road? - brought to you by Odoo. Try Odoo free, no credit card required: http://odoo.com

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He's got a championship ring his own kids have never seen - it lives in a closet.

Scott Goldman is a high-performance psychologist who's spent 30 years inside some of the biggest teams in world sport, including the Golden State Warriors, and works across five professional franchises at once.

His whole philosophy flips how you think about success: you're not your talent, you're your talent times your environment. Get the environment wrong and the most gifted person in the room fails.

Recorded in a hotel room at the Football World Cup - this is Between Two Beers' first-ever episode made overseas - Steve and Seamus go deep with Scott on what actually separates the best teams from the rest, the science of intelligence in sport, why he keeps his trophies hidden, the luxury of choosing your own hardship, and how he stays a present dad while doing "cool shit with cool people" on the other side of the world.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The boys are back on home soil to unpack the most chaotic three weeks of the show's life.

They relive the Radio & Podcast Awards and unpack the World Cup experience: 19 daily shows in a row for Between Two Goals, the flying Kiwis march to the Egypt game, Finn Surman's header, and 45 minutes of the best football either of them has ever watched - before the Belgium reality check.

Along the way: a 6am video call with bucket-list guest Graham Norton (glass of wine and all), Steven Adams bounding up the stairs to find them at the Belgium game, Eli Just rounding out the tournament as the breakout star, a $666 game of credit card roulette, and one very hard-won premium economy upgrade.

Plus a look ahead to Monday's Between Two Beers with Golden State Warriors performance psychologist Dr Scott Goldman - recorded in San Diego.

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Jason Gunn is one of New Zealand's most beloved entertainers - but behind the energy, the warmth, and the laugh, is a man who has faced some of life's hardest moments.

In this episode, Jase opens up about suffering a heart attack at 47, and the moment lying in a hospital bed when his life's priorities became crystal clear. He talks about his son Louis - then a teenager - ripping up his radio contract and telling him "that's not what success looks like, Dad." And he shares the story of losing his mum Janice, the world's greatest storyteller, and what it means to carry someone with you after they're gone.

We also get into the rise of the Son of a Gunn show, the magic behind Jason and Thingy, hosting Dancing with the Stars, and why the most confident man in any room still gets incredibly nervous.

One of our favourite episodes we've ever done, recorded in 2024 and re-released this week for all our new listeners.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.