Mid-life Men: the mental health podcast

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Brian Livesay , a trauma therapist and Director of Clinical Research at Arise Alliance , and we explore how men can heal from unspoken trauma, not by suppressing or avoiding it, but by facing it differently. Drawing from his personal story of loss, military service, and years working with veterans and first responders, Brian introduces a groundbreaking approach t...

What happens when the work stops, the job title is no longer relevant, and the role that defined you disappears? In this episode, Nick Shelton tells the story so many midlife men silently live: achieving everything you thought you wanted… only to find yourself fading, drifting, or feeling strangely empty once the structure and purpose of working life falls away. Nick retired young, thinking it wou...

What if midlife wasn’t the beginning of decline, but a second chance to feel alive again? In this episode, my guest is Louis Bezich , men’s health advocate, and author of Saving Men from Themselves . After years of juggling leadership, divorce, and single parenthood, Louis discovered that taking care of himself wasn’t selfish - it was survival. Louis shares how purpose, relationships, and everyday...

In this episode, Merlin Matthews , founder of Man Academy , explores how men can move from isolation to connection, from being “lone warriors” who suppress emotions to connected men who grow through community and accountability .  From childhood trauma and dissociation to running a global charity and now creating a movement to halve the male suicide rate, Merlin’s story is as complex as it is hope...

In this powerful conversation, transformational coach Anthony Cudjo shares a no-excuses roadmap for men who are tired of living small, disconnected lives. With the passion of a preacher and the precision of a scientist, he explains how to reclaim your physical, emotional, and spiritual power by aligning with the natural laws that govern human performance.  Coach Cudjo doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. Hi...

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Gary Jader, a lifelong advocate for men’s mental health, talks about growing up in a house full of conflict, the long shadow of a verbally abusive father, and how that early pain became fuel for a life spent helping others heal. Gary’s story is not one of overnight transformation. It’s about persistence, learning to “ dance with our imperfections ,”...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to suicide, which you may find distressing, so please listen with care. So many men grow up hearing the same messages: figure it out yourself, don’t cry, just get on with it. The result? A lot of us go through life carrying heavy stuff on our own, even when it’s slowly crushing us. In this conversation, I talk to Tom Karrell about what happens when...

What happens when a successful career suddenly disappears overnight? In this frank conversation, we explore the hidden reality of job loss in today's brutal employment market and its devastating impact on mental health, identity, and self-worth. Joe built a thriving career as a copywriter for major brands before being made redundant alongside thousands of others in the tech industry bloodbath...

TRIGGER WARNING This episode contains a reference to suicidal thoughts, which you may find distressing, so please listen with care. In this powerful episode, we hear the remarkable story of a man who turned years of bullying into fuel for resilience and achievement. Ben shares how relentless bullying at school - much of it focused on the way he ran - left him feeling isolated, stripped of confiden...

In this episode of the Mid-Life Men Podcast , I sit down with career strategist Mike Dwyer to tackle one of the biggest midlife challenges: how to stay relevant, employable, and fulfilled in a world of shifting technology, corporate upheaval, and age bias.  Mike brings decades of experience helping men navigate uncertainty, and he shares practical strategies for fighting back against the forces th...

TRIGGER WARNING : This episode contains a raw and honest account of a suicide attempt. Some of what you will hear may be distressing, so please listen with care.   What happens when life strips you of everything - family, security, even the will to live? Jack Muldoon knows. From losing both parents as a child to battling addiction, homelessness, and a suicide attempt, Jack’s story is raw, brutal,...

What happens when fame fades, money runs out, and identity slips away?   In 2005, Anthony Hutton became an overnight celebrity after winning Big Brother . aged just 23.  Within days, he had agents, photo shoots, and hundreds of thousands of pounds in the bank. But when the cameras switched off, eventually life unravelled into drink, drugs, and even passive thoughts of suicide.  Today, his story lo...

What happens when the life you’ve built no longer feels like the life you’re meant to live?  At 54, Erik walked away from a long marriage, left the country he’d called home for 25 years, rebuilt in Spain, survived a stroke, and is now creating a new business in AI. His story isn’t one of reckless reinvention, but of deliberate choices, awareness, and courage to face change head-on.  In this conver...

What if the root of many problems faced by middle-aged men - burnout, broken relationships, anxiety, aggression - stemmed from something hiding in plain sight: entitlement and narcissism ?  In this fascinating conversation, psychologist and Dean of the University of Wollengong in Australia, Simon Moss explains why our culture's emphasis on status, dominance, and self-importance might be makin...

Tik Maynard is an internationally respected horseman, author, and dad who hit midlife before realising that life is less about striving and external validation and more about understanding who you truly are and how to live from that place with honesty and purpose.  Through his journey training wild horses for a high-stakes competition, Tik uncovered something deeper: how presence, vulnerability, a...

What happens when the big job ends and no one’s lining up to offer another? For Andrew Middleton, that moment sparked an identity crisis, financial panic, and ultimately, a radical reinvention.  In this honest and hopeful episode, Andrew shares how it felt to be “ airlifted out of relevance ” in his 50s, facing ageism, self-doubt, and the loss of structure that once defined his life. But he didn’t...

In this powerful and quietly revealing episode, Mike Flynn talks about a mid-life experience that will sound painfully familiar to many men: ticking all the boxes, doing everything “right”, yet feeling completely disconnected inside.  Mike describes how success masked an emotional emptiness he didn’t fully understand until it almost broke him. He speaks candidly about the subtle slide into burnout...

 In this extraordinary episode, Kenny Mammarella-D’Cruz - known as The Man Whisperer - opens up about a life that began in chaos and fear: fleeing Idi Amin’s Uganda, growing up in a refugee camp, and becoming the emotional crutch for his family at just seven years old. He shares how these early traumas buried his identity and left him riddled with compulsions, anxiety, and isolation.  It’s not jus...

What happens when the body that carried you through life starts to break? For Waldemar, an architect and explorer from Mexico City, who built his identity around physical endurance, the answer wasn’t to stop moving but to start moving differently.  In this powerful conversation, Waldemar shares how knee surgeries shattered not just his meniscus, but his sense of self. What followed was a deep pers...

In this episode, we're joined by Josh Fineman . Josh had the career, the young family, the success but behind it all was exhaustion, self-doubt, and a relentless voice asking, “Is this it?”   In this honest and revealing conversation, Josh shares how growing up as the ‘good boy’ in a high-achieving North London household shaped his adult identity. He talks about the unspoken grief that filled...

Trigger warning : This episode includes honest discussions about suicide attempts, mental illness, domestic violence, and trauma.  Adam Smith’s story is unlike anything you’ve heard - and exactly what so many men need to hear.  Sectioned at 11. In prison by 21. Found unresponsive in a car after trying to end his life. This could’ve been the end - but it wasn’t. Instead, Adam’s journey is one of re...

T rigger warning: includes frank discussion of eating disorders, body image, and mental health.   How do you find laughter in something that nearly kills you?  In this episode, comedian and mental health advocate Dave Chawner takes us on a bold, brutally honest - and often hilarious - journey through his experience of living with anorexia.  But this isn’t your typical “overcoming adversity” tale. ...

In this episode, we’re joined by Mark Lawry, a former lawyer and long-time stay-at-home dad, who offers a frank and considered account of what it’s like to live with depressive illness across much of adult life. Mark brings a calm, articulate perspective to a subject often misrepresented or oversimplified.  He speaks plainly about how symptoms first appeared, why he delayed seeking help, and what...

In this powerful and compassionate conversation, we explore what really happens when life knocks down every support structure you thought you could rely on. We talk to Matt, a qualified therapist and podcaster about his own lived experience of emotional collapse in his twenties, the slow journey into therapy, and how healing unfolds - not through instant fixes, but through trust, honesty, and rebu...

In this episode, we meet the incomparable John Ryan, award-winning comedian, social commentator, and all-around force for good. With a sharp tongue and a massive heart, John has made it his mission to reach people on the topic of mental health where they least expect it: through laughter.  We explore how John’s stand-up shows have turned into standing-room-only sessions on suicide awareness, PTSD,...