Manned Up Conversations

Send us Fan Mail In this raw and deeply personal episode of Manned Up Conversations, I link up with Joe Fleming, a US Army Infantry veteran turned South African community leader. Recorded just moments after Joe finished a therapy session, the dialogue dives straight into the meat of men's mental health, vulnerability, and the long journey back from rock bottom. Joe opens up about his battle w...

Send us Fan Mail This Mental Health Awareness Month, we welcome long-time supporter Delile Ndumo to share his powerful story of life following his 2012 diagnosis with Bipolar Mood Disorder. Delile's struggles were awakened by the suppressed grief following his father's passing in 2009. He details the challenging journey of finding the right combination of medication and ultimately experi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I reflect on a key tension in men's healing work: empathy vs. judgment, and whether my voice as an African man should only be directed toward African men. While firmly committed to centering African stories, I explores what it means to be a bridge—not an apologist—by creating space for honest conversations with men from all backgrounds. From mental health and...

Send us Fan Mail Tune into this deeply personal conversation with Alex Abraham, author of Trauma and Ecstasy .  Alex shares his deeply personal journey through repressed childhood trauma, including sexual abuse and its physical manifestations. He candidly discusses the limitations of traditional healing methods like talk therapy in addressing deep-seated issues and how guided experiences with psyc...

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply personal interview, Police Captain, Adam Meyers bravely shares his journey following a critical shooting incident in 2016, the subsequent struggles with trauma, depression, and unhealthy coping mechanisms, and his eventual path to recovery and mental health advocacy. This powerful conversation cuts through the often stoic exterior of law enforcement to reveal the em...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Kgaugelo Habyane engages in an insightful discussion with Chelepe Mocwana. We explore the complexities of positive masculinities as a vital tool for achieving gender equity . Chelepe shares his experiences and perspectives on redefining masculinity beyond patriarchal norms, emphasising the importance of empathy, self-awareness, and accountability for men . Our conv...

Send us Fan Mail Join Kgaugelo Habyane in this insightful conversation with Charles Achampong as they explore the importance of family time, the transformative power of travel, and the necessity of creating moments of pause in our busy lives. Charles shares his experiences from taking a year-long trip around the world with his family and the profound lessons he learned about presence, intentionali...

Send us Fan Mail "What are you trying to take care of?" – a simple yet powerful question that shifts the way we engage in conversations. In a world where men are often told to suppress emotions, solve problems alone, and dominate rather than dialog, how do we create space for deeper, more meaningful connections? Rooken Podesta is the perfect man to explore this question. A facilitator an...

Send us Fan Mail In a world where violence, disconnection, and individualism seem to overshadow compassion, we ask: Where’s the love? In this episode of Manned Up Conversations , we explore the concept of communal love a love that affirms, nurtures, and holds space for men to express care, support, and connection. We dive into African philosophies like Botho / Ubuntu , insights from thought leader...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. The first episode for 2025 is inspired by Ms Lauryn Hill's Motives and Thoughts, The Trial of Socrates and some of Carl Jung's shadow work. As we go into this transition period (our last pefect square year was 89 years ago in 1939) w...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. In this episode, I speak former 6x boxing champ Cassius Hitman Baloyi about his glory days in the ring. The name named after Muhammad Ali by his father after the classic, Rumble in Jumgle fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali shares st...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. In this episode, I speak with artist extraordinaire Batsile "BOY Wonder" Ramasodi on his artistic path and growth as a man. We talk about growing up in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, and how he pursued his creative talents and developed t...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. In this episode we expand on a conversation we had with Tshegofatso Sephula on a mental health awareness campaign we did with John Craig to discuss some highlights from his book, Mental Decay. Tshegofatso talks about identity issues, navigatin...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated.   We've covered many conversations over the last three years, while going through some books, research and conversations with friends and listening to the online community, I've been reflecting on the idea of male privilege or to be...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. I was intrigued by an article shared by Ground Up and the Daily Maverick titled, “Battered woman syndrome”: law to be challenged." The Centre for Applied Legal Studies has laid out a strong argument for women who kill in self defence argu...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. In this episode we explore an uncommon but interesting story of a US Army conscientious objector and social work graduate student, Kyle Toon to talk about his decision to leave the army after serving for 10 years where he enrolled at 17 years...

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. We talk about men's coping mechanisms and how seeking help—or not—can lead to mental health issues and suicidal thoughts in this courageous interview with Leon De Beer, the deputy director of the South African Federation of Mental Health....

Send us Fan Mail Shoutout to you if you're joining us for the first time, and thank you for coming back to listen; your support is greatly appreciated. In this exciting talk with the quantum leaping physicist, we discuss knowing thyself from several of viewpoints, including history, education, and tools to aid you on your own journey. We also discuss some challenging issues regarding the repr...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for listening if you are joining for the first time, hope you enjoy the conversation and peace and love to you for coming back to listen. Although the term "safe spaces" is frequently used in casual conversations, what does it actually mean?  We explore the impportance and quality of conversations held in such spaces and highlight some essential elements of design...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for listening if you are joining for the first time, hope you enjoy the conversation and peace and love to you for coming back to listen. Many males avoid using the word patriarchy because they perceive it as an attack on their gender. Some activists have even asserted that men of African origin are not entitled to privilege or patriarchy. Despite this, many people are stil...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for listening if you are joining for the first time, hope you enjoy the conversation and peace and love to you for coming back to listen. On episode 60 we explore men's emotional language with Clinical Psychologist, Matthew Steele. We discuss the impact of testosterone and men’s emotions. Looking at family as a space for teaching emotional literacy, we also discuss how...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for listening if you are joining for the first time, hope you enjoy the conversation and peace and love to you for coming back to listen. On episode 59 I met with Malose Langa at The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg to discuss his insights and reflections on working with men and boys. We discuss the impact of father wounds, why many men and boys feel the pressu...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for listening if you are joining for the first time, hope you enjoy the conversation and peace and love to you for coming back to listen. On episode 58 I speak to Marketing Executive, Podcast and Radio host Ratiba Mohale about his views on faith and being a man of value, he also shares why he views family as a cornerstone of leadership and the changing role of men in family...

Send us Fan Mail Through reading his books, articles and watching Tom Golden on ​⁠his YouTube channel, Men Are Good , his work opened my eyes to the misconceptions and subtle signs that go unnoticed in men’s emotional domain. I’ve reflected on how his work relates to me as a South African man and how some of the observations he shared in his books and talks still hold true, though there are some c...

Send us Fan Mail  Welcome to Season 4 of Manned Up Conversations. If you are new to the platform, thank you for tuning in. I invite you to listen in with an open mind, our stories and conversations give you a refreshing perspective on manhood, reflections on issues affecting men and some suggestions on what we can do to enjoy a wholistic life experience. We do not claim to have all the answers, we...