A Passionate Inquiry

Sophie is the first person I met when I moved to Sydney at the start of the year, and has since been my closest friend here. In honour of this fact, and her solid viewership of the pod, there were few others in contention for the illustrious and highly-prized 50th episode slot! Cajoled to venture out on a recent Vietnam backpacking trip... Sophie returned with plenty to talk about in the classic (...

Max is one of the few guy mates I've made this year moving to Sydney. Testament to his general easy-going vibe and openness to new experiences and new people. It also was not made immediately obvious the exact level of success his online business 'Chill Chair' was generating. One late-night car ride he started to reveal the reality of journey. I was not just shocked, but incredibly...

Taher and I met sat outside a pop-up Bangladeshi restaurant in the middle of Lakemba, a suburb of Western Sydney famed as a stronghold of foreign immigration. That evening I was coming back from uni and couldn't help but take note of the fact that in two hours of eating and wandering these streets, I had not crossed paths with a single other person who looked like me (white, blond, blue-eyed)...

Wow Lawrence has lived just about the most extraordinary life one could imagine!!! Growing up in the prim and proper world of post-war England, his family moved to the wild and ancient Mexico in his teen years. To continue their departure from the 'norm', Lawrence, now with a doctorate in psycho-anthropolgy under his belt, and his late brother, Lorne, made their way to the exceedingly ex...

Angelo Somers is simply a weapon of an intellect! For those unfamiliar with him and his work, this video from his channel is mandatory viewing to set the scene:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3rTMd7WUtc  Building a recent Bali trip around this interview, I couldn't have been more excited to pick Angelo's brain in-person having gorged on his videos of the last year or so. Turns out I p...

I came across Ochan in a viral video he posted on insta (@letstalkwithochan) discussing loneliness in Australian society. It had almost a million views and a wild comment section with a full range of reactions from love to extreme hate. Having grown up in Melbourne with the ever-present news stories of Sudanese youth, and more recently fallen in love with aspects of African culture, food, and espe...

Brooks and I have known each other for about half our lives. Always a friend, always present in varying degrees of proximity, he has lived a life quite distinct from most of our peers growing up. As the title claims, even in the last few years of school, rocked by a near-death experience, a truly 'adult' relationship, the offshoots of divorce and plenty more, I always felt Brooks 'g...

On a recent trip to the Outback, I was lucky enough to be hosted by Alan in Yulara, the resort town which services Uluru. Like most young boy, once upon a time I wanted to be a fireman when I grew up and, for Alan, this dream simply never went away! Asking all kinds of questions about the realities of firefighting and life in the Outback, my curiosity left satisfied. Thanks again Alan mate for the...

'Wildman' as his social media tags and chest tattoo label him, sure lives up to the name! In recent years he has garnered a massive (1.5M+ followers) audience  filming and sharing lots of croc-centric wildlife action. However, what I think makes his voice particularly standout is the extreme candour in which he shares his own personal journey... highs and lows, ins and outs... both past...

As a second solo ep alongside 3 boys eps, Ted is a steady fixture on this pod. Full of stories and zest for life, I was keen to capture where his head and heart is at directly before flying off to ride his pushbike around Central Asia for a few months as well as various other adventures. We also managed to sneak in a few other tales which had still not yet made it in previous air-time.  Plenty mor...

Yet another pod from a character in the door-knocking days!!  Jade and I joined at a similar time and, early on, were flown up to Brisbane together for a week of checking out how different agencies do things. A unique and awesome opportunity which facilitated a friendship that likely wouldn't have existed otherwise (due purely to logistics). Anyways, the door-knocking industry is undoubtedly...

Benson and I have also knocked a helluva lot of doors together!! A lovely Italian boy hahaha... Benson, like all of us, has been on his boy-to-man journey through different career paths and, now, a wildly maturing relationship with a woman who brings two young kids to the table. Such interesting insights from quite a unique position in the scope of my social circle. Not to be outdone by plenty of...

Jamie and I met last year doing door-knocking sales and, well, there are few work environments that rival that one for making strong connections. That being said, throughout the thousands of doors knocked from opposing sides of the street… up until this chat I actually knew so little of Jamie’s story. I only knew the core character which always shines to the surface no matter the context. Hopefull...

My Nanna!! Having grown up close but not as close as might have otherwise been the vase with Nanna, her stories and character was always placed somewhat at a distance. Despite this interview really going into the weeds at times, that was exactly my selfish intention lol! To really squeeze as many details out as possible to develop the highest possible resolution image. And I can say listening back...

Known to me as ‘Uncle Jack’, Waifro is the uncle of Kimberlie Brown’s (Episode #21) partner Robbie. Being 90, the time to capture his stories, in his own voice, is clearly sooner rather than later… so here we go! I had never actually met Jack until 5 mins before rolling the camera and was pleasantly surprised at the strong will which runs through his story. A central spine of hard work for hard wo...

My little sister Charlotte returns to the pod for a more normal chat and life update! With her having started work at a funeral home, we discuss the ins and outs of what morticians actually do. Further yarns about relationships and literature were also had. . After a decent uploading break very glad to have the pod back out there!!

I have known Daniel briefly and really hadn't even conversed much with him before inviting him onto the pod as I knew his was a story I wanted to learn more about... Sure enough, it did not disappoint! Daniel is the chaplain coordinator of my University in Sydney, so is essentially attempting to offer the best support for 48,000 student's spiritual lives. The primary way this is achieved...

Grandma joins for her THIRD ep in which she was far more comfortable on the mic lol I have moved away but decided to come down and visit, arriving unannounced for a family weekend.  Was a lot of fun and obviously very special.  Super grateful to have this platform that hopefully will still be accessible in years and decades to come as a safeguard of these memories. As we'd previously dissecte...

Dan is the leader of a Bible study group at my uni. Having always been curious about this book and its incomprehensible impact on the world we live in, I have been going along for a listen. Not necessarily the space to ask all the weird and whacky questions I tend to have... I figured a pod ep is probably the due course of action. For anyone who may be curious as to what the religion which lies ne...

Xav was our first ever episode and has since joined for three boys eps on our recent Latin America trip. One of my favourite humans and one I intend to stay close to for many years to come... in our first interview we merely glazed over the story of his journey through Christianity. Many listeners mentioned to me how they would have loved to unpack that particular chapter further. And so, this is...

Charles was my neighbour next-door to the family home I lived in from 5 to 12 years old. His daughter and I, being the same age, grew up playing together over the shared fence. Recently, shortly after seeing him for the first time in years at his 70th birthday, I took him up on an offer to help me service and oil change my car. Thus ensued a few hours of chats and skimming the surface of what was...

Will was one of my best mates and favourite characters in my Lake Atitlan, Guatemala chapter of life! Initially judged by me as a loud American full of spiritual bullsh*t... his enthusiasm for my freediving offerings quickly turned me onto 'Team Will' and many fun times were had by us. An Archetype of masculine strength on the outside embodying a spirit of care and service... Will. I.am....

Dave and his wife Deedle (she's the real boss) run 'La Iguana Perdida' a boutique hotel meets backpacker hostel on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.  In late 2022 I arrived here with a backpack of my own and a declared dream of starting a Freediving School and the Iguana was where I landed. Over the years it has been an honour to witness (and benefit) from Dave's good humo...

Tom's cafe Trece Cielos is the single best space to hang out I know of on this planet. In my time living in Guatemala, Tom and his cafe served as a refuge for me to retreat to; A place filled with warmth, fun and abundant love. Central to mine and everyone else's experience of this place is Tom himself. He is the best example I have hereto witnessed of balancing the free-flowing hippie s...

The third and final instalment of Xav, Ted and I yarning on about our trip from scenic viewpoints!! This one will likely survive as my favourite of the three as we recount all the funny, crazy and downright dangerous experiences the trip provided. Filmed on the summit of Guatemala’s San Pedro volcano, overlooking Lake Atitlan where I lived and built my freediving school. A very special recording I...