Take It From Us with Kent Johns

"You don't feel Kiwi enough for the Kiwis, but you don't feel Arab enough for the Arabs." Eman Ghandour was 10 when her family moved from Jordan to Dunedin. Growing up, she tried to get her "ratio" to 50/50 Kiwi and Arab, and it kept landing at 80/20. While at Otago Uni she lived as a Kiwi with her friends, then came home to Arab Muslim parents and a constant sense of...

Jason Blyth was nine years old when he asked his psychiatrist a question no child should have to ask: why was he the one being brought in for treatment, when his mother was the one abusing him? Between the ages of two and fifteen, Jason saw around 20 different clinicians. He begged, repeatedly, to be taken away from a home where his own reports describe genuine fear for his life. Nothing changed....

Flynn Mitchell spent three years in a Dunedin university flat built for wheelchair users — accessible kitchen, accessible bathroom, full independence. Then he moved home to Auckland and lost all of it. Now he needs a carer just to wash his own dishes. He's not alone. Ray Finch, CEO of the Laura Ferguson Trust , says nearly 4,000 physically disabled adults across New Zealand are living with ag...

On New Year's Eve 2022, Sam Cox went through the windscreen of a car doing over 100km/h down a gravel road outside Rangiora. His best friend Kaide, who was driving, didn't survive. Sam did — with a brain injury so severe it took him five months to even understand Kaide was gone. Now 19, Sam talks to Kent about memory loss, losing his old friend group, the dad he lost not long after and t...

Shane Cameron spent 17 years as a professional heavyweight boxer — a Commonwealth Games bronze, a world title shot and the 2009 fight against David Tua that ended with him in an ambulance. He didn't watch the footage back until last year.  In this episode, Shane talks to Kent about the memory loss, anger and mood swings he now lives with day to day, and what happened when he asked to be teste...

At 22, Tai Tupou learned that the man who raised him wasn't his biological father. He told no one. For three years he isolated himself, burned bridges and had no idea he was living with depression — until a colleague asked him a simple question. Twice. In this episode, Tai — founder of the The Last Chance Project and a mental health advocate of 14 years — talks about growing up in a Samoan ho...

Five years ago, Meg Vardy was a UK-based researcher studying treatment for anorexia. What most of her colleagues didn't know: she'd been living with anorexia herself for 15 years. She's since stepped away from academia to launch JourneyED , a Dunedin-based charity offering free peer support to people across Aotearoa navigating eating disorders — because, in her words, no one should...

"Who the f*** you really are underneath all the other shit." That's the question Rob Brown puts to every man he coaches — and it's the one he couldn't answer himself for most of his life. Two businesses built and lost, a marriage that ended and a throat cancer diagnosis at 45 - Rob finally sat down with it. In this episode, Rob takes Kent through the anger that surfaced th...

"I'm a catastrophiser," admits Grant Robertson, New Zealand's former Deputy Prime Minister.  It's a confession that sits behind a high-profile political career — years of COVID decisions, and eventually, a panic attack he didn't see coming. As pressure mounted for him to take over from Jacinda Ardern, Grant was ready to reluctantly say yes, until one sentence from his...

Blain Collinge was once the reason his parents started Red Door Recovery — refusing help, deep in addiction, with "no desire to change." Over a decade later, he co-leads the very organisation built to save him. Justine Hamill came to Red Door after her own relapse and recovery, bringing a background in psychotherapy and yoga. Together, they now run a 24/7 recovery service in Upper Hutt —...

She took her first drink at 14 — and for a moment, everything made sense. Suzy Morrison chased that feeling for years, through other substances and eventually heroin, before it nearly cost her everything. She's been in recovery since 1987 — not as an endpoint, but as an ongoing practice she's still learning.  Now a counsellor and clinical supervisor, Suzy sits down with Kent to talk hone...

Jamie Summers thought he was invincible. At 39, working in construction, high stress and no downtime felt like just part of the job. Then he had a stroke. Six and a half years later, he's still living with it — fatigue that doesn't let up, and a mental health toll he doesn't sugarcoat. Now co-founder of Health15, Jamie goes onto construction sites testing workers' blood pressur...

Heidi McIlroy teaches kids who can't make it into a regular classroom. They're too anxious, struggling with their mental health, autistic - kids who carry shame because they think they're broken. She gets it because she's been there. Years of agoraphobia, hiding it, convinced something was wrong with her. So she created a book called "This Is How It Feels". It's...

A different kind of episode this week. Host Kent recently slept rough for one night at the Big Sleepout. He bedded down on cardboard at the AUT campus, part of a group of 70 community leaders raising funds and awareness for people experiencing homelessness in Auckland. One night. Terrible sleep. But he was safe, fed, warm and dry. Which made him realise something: people living on the streets don&...

Joe Daymond is a Kiwi comedian who makes you laugh about the hard stuff - the things most of us hide. He talks about things like mental health and relationships on stage in a way that makes people feel less alone. He's had low times, including two periods where he slept rough in his car for a bit. The first time in 2018, nobody knew. The second time three years later, after he'd already...

Todd Muller was elected leader of the National Party in May 2020, a tantalising final step towards achieving a boyhood dream of one day being Prime Minister.  Within five days, he was experiencing waves of anxiety he'd never felt before - panic attacks so severe he could barely get through speeches, the words on the page constantly moving and disappearing. After 53 days, he stepped down as le...

Chris Bowden lost 5 friends to suicide when he was a young man. He coped badly - drinking, drugs, anger, violence, getting into fights. He was spiralling. A university lecturer noticed something wasn't right and pointed Chris toward help. That counsellor changed his life. Now Chris is a researcher passionate about understanding how young men grieve suicide loss. His PhD research revealed some...

Melanie Rauth grew up in Australia. When her parents separated at 13, she started making different choices - cannabis, the wrong crowd, trouble at school. She had her daughter and in 2010 they moved to New Zealand. Rural isolation and methamphetamine came next. Her life spiralled into crime and five prison stints between 2017 and 2021. But on her last arrest, her young daughter had had enough of e...

Dave Burnside started drinking at eight. He was drawn into the gang scene and drugs in Auckland. Multiple prison sentences followed - he was angry, railing against the system. Then one day in Spring Hill Prison, a man from his past appeared at his cell door. Another Dave, someone just like him - gangs, drugs, the same story. But this Dave had found recovery and peace. Dave didn't remember the...

In 2026, Auckland man Shelwin Khan is thriving as a peer support worker and lived experience advisor. But it wasn't always like this. Shelwin started drinking at 13. By his mid-20s he was, by his own admission, 'unemployable', had three stints in rehab he never completed, and wanted to end his life. He wanted to join the '27 Club' - a pop culture reference to a string of c...

Lotta Dann is a well-known author and advocate in the addiction recovery space. This year marks 15 years since her last drink. Six years ago, Lotta had a second awakening - this time about diet culture. She'd found a guru with strict rules: no snacking, weigh everything, eliminate flour and sugar. She lost over 15 kilos and the world loved her skinny body. The praise was intoxicating. Then th...

Dean Clarkson established Wana Charitable Trust in 2024 to help men and their families who've suffered family violence. Based in Takanini, South Auckland, Dean provides safe housing, group therapy, and one-on-one coaching. Dean spent 20 years in an abusive relationship - psychological abuse that escalated to physical violence. He ended up in a Pak'nSave car park in Mangere spitting blood...

Freddie Bennett co-founded Bay Paediatrics in Tauranga, and in his words, is leading the neurodiversity revolution. Less than 10 years ago, Freddie had the Porsche, the Rolex, the corporate life in the UK. From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, he was falling apart - stressed, depressed, seeking escape. When his dad died suddenly, Freddie spent six months drinking away his sorrows. Then...

Kevin Hollingsworth is a clinical practitioner, addiction counsellor, and executive director of Mana Enhancing Stop Group in Rotorua. He's been in recovery from methamphetamine addiction for over 16 years. Kevin started using cannabis at six. He transitioned to methamphetamine. In the grip of addiction, the desire to use was stronger than the desire to live. He was arrested 29 times and spent...

Kelsey Waghorn survived the Whakaari White Island volcanic eruption on December 9, 2019. In two minutes, the volcano changed the trajectory of her life. Kelsey made split-second decisions that saved lives - staying still when she wanted to run, getting everyone on the boat when help never came. She spent five days in a coma, weeks in hospital. The burns were catastrophic. But the darkest moment ca...