Roll With The Punches

I reckon we've all met someone who makes you think... holy snapping ducksh*t, how the hell do you fit all that into one life? Yeah, well that's Dale. He's designed underground explosions, now designs mine ventilation systems, built a bloody pub in his backyard during lockdown, brews his own beer, smokes meat like he's training for a world championship, plays guitar, cooks restaurant-quality food,...

Keith's life reads like a bloody movie. Undercover cop. Drug dealers. Gunfights. Tactical policing. But the stories that grabbed me most weren't even the action scenes... They were the moments where we talked about identity, trauma, therapy, why so many people carry things for decades before asking for help, and how we've somehow forgotten the simple art of connecting with other humans. It's...

This chat started with plenty of laughs before we even hit record, but it quickly turned into one of those conversations that reminds you what real friendship actually looks like. Mike and I unpacked why making genuine friendships as adults is so bloody hard, how easy it is to let relationships drift without ever saying what we're really thinking, and why communication matters far more than most o...

This ep started with Craig giving an unsolicited TED Talk on fibre, psyllium husk and bowel movements... and somehow ended with us talking about grief, emotional avoidance, ageing parents, self-awareness and what it actually means to process life's hard stuff. It's perhaps one of the most honest chats I've had in a while as I shared some of the things I've been wrestling with lately... losing...

In this episode I sat down with the bloody brilliant Holly Bailey, founder of Play Like A Girl, and honestly, this one felt like watching a mate realise she’s not just building a 'thing' anymore. She’s building (and built) a movement. We talked about her recent corporate golf day event, the surreal moment of seeing her work reflected back through other people’s pride, and the wei...

In this episode I sit down with Professor Linda Byrne, clinical neuropsychologist and Dean of the Cairnmillar Institute, to unpack what’s going on in the world of psychology, neuropsychology, mental health care, and the messy intersection of labels, titles, coaches, influencers, algorithms, and self-diagnosis floating around out there. We get into the difference between psychologists, neurop...

In this solo riff I’m unpacking the wonderfully chaotic, occasionally brilliant, sometimes slightly questionable world of ideas. You know, the ones that arrive like a lightning bolt and suddenly I’m building a program, launching a thing, reimagining my whole life and wondering if everyone else is watching going, “Here she bloody goes again.” But this one is really about kno...

Jess Kelly is one of those humans who walks into a room, says hell yes before she’s fully qualified, figures it out on the fly, and somehow makes the rest of us feel a little braver for existing near her. In this episode, we talk about business, risk, failure, family, starting again, and what happens when the thing you’ve poured everything into comes crashing down. Jess and her husband...

Scott Anthony Douglas is back on the pod, and as always, his brain is doing 47 things at once while simultaneously making total sense of chaos, trust, travel, danger, discipline, trauma, intuition, and why sometimes you just have to climb on the bloody roof and ask questions later. From paramedic work to mining, hospitality, motorcycles, skateboarding, oil rigs, Ireland, big-wave surfing, hitchhik...

Dave Greenberg is one of those blokes who has done more wild sh*t before breakfast than most of us will do in a lifetime. Born in New York, he knew at eight years old he wanted to be a fireman, saved his first life at thirteen doing CPR on a stranger in the street, then somehow ended up in New Zealand doing more than 4,000 missions on the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Ya know, just easing into life g...

Winter punched me in the face this week, and it got me thinking about all the things that influence who we are, how we feel, and how we show up. In this solo riff, I unpack the sneaky invisible shit steering the ship... from food, movement, recovery, stress, and hormones, through to the people we spend time with, the information we consume, and the environments we put ourselves in. I share why win...

In this ep Bobby and I wandered through ambition, expectations, creativity, performance, fear, trauma responses, authenticity, and the strange ways we can get in our own way. We talked about what happens when life gets chaotic, why some people thrive in a crisis but freeze over the smallest decisions, and how often we're trying to be who we think we're supposed to be instead of who we actually are...

Why are so many of us are unknowingly blocking ourselves from feeling loved whilst desperately trying to chase it? Harry Reis is a renowned social psychologist and Professor at the University of Rochester who has spent decades researching love, intimacy, vulnerability, and what actually makes humans feel connected. He recently co-authored the book 'How to Feel More Loved' with Sonja Lyubomirsky, w...

Bloody hell… this one smacked me right in the chops. Stephen Jenkinson (my favourite guest, just quietly) is back on the show and this conversation was nothing like the others… and somehow also exactly like the others. We talked about Parkinson’s, terror, identity, regret, suffering, joy, and what happens when the bloke who helps people understand death and life gets blindsided...

Meet Maryellen MacDonald, she's joining me in this ep and we're talkin' about talkin'. Turns out talking isn’t just about getting words out… it sharpens how we think, helps us regulate emotions, and even slows cognitive decline.  We got into why talking is actually hard work (even if it doesn’t feel like it), why Gen Z are low-key avoiding it, and why retirees might be losi...

A little over a year ago I sat down at my mum’s kitchen table with my Pop, Frank Cook, and recorded what would become one of the most special conversations I’ve ever had. At the time he was 101 years old... sharp as a tack, funny as hell, still telling stories and cracking jokes like a bloke half his age. And now, after saying goodbye to him at 102 just this year, this episode is even...

Bloody hell, I knew this one was going to be a ripper the second I got off the phone with Mark the first time. You know when someone just has that energy and you’re like yep, this is gonna be a wild ride. Aaaaaand that it was. He's an epic communicator, incredible storyteller, and someone who has seen and done a thing or two. This is the first episode in a series I'm producing for...

Time for another ep where we pull back the curtain on the fitness industry and realise half of what we’ve been stressing about doesn’t actually matter. I sat down with Lauren Colenso-Semple to talk all things hormones, training, protein, fasting, supplements, wearables and more… all the stuff that gets thrown at us daily and leaves most women thinking they’re doing it wron...

Here's a bloke who was told he’d have a couple of years to live… and he’s now in his 40s, travelling the world, speaking, and might I add... bench pressing 150 kilos!!  But here’s the thing… his skin literally tears just from movement. Like… existing is enough to cause damage. So, everything he does is quite calculated. And yet… he’s not sit...

This one wasn’t planned… I woke up ready to record with Stephen Jenkinson… only to realise I’d stuffed the days. So instead of wasting a perfectly fired-up brain, I jumped on the mic and went for a wander through something that’s been quietly running the show in the background… the rules we make for ourselves. The sneaky ones. The unconscious ones. The ones t...

This is an episode with Don Gillies I recorded for the Conversations With Code 9 Podcast which I, of course, love to share with you legends on this show too.  We kicked off chatting about his time in Victoria Police initially followed by 37 years as a paramedic… and the reality of what that kind of life actually does to you. Not just mentally, but physically too. PTSD, yeah… but...

Kate spent 24 years as a NSW police officer, right in the thick of trauma, chaos, and humanity at its messiest. And instead of hardening into someone cold or shut down… she made a conscious decision to stay kind.  We got into trauma, coping, why so many people in high stress roles lose themselves, and what actually helped her not just survive it, but come out the other side still intac...

I met Ali at the Global Speakers Summit this year… within about five minutes I knew we were going to get along like a house on fire (mainly because he called me ‘jacked’… instant favourite human). But then he started sharing what life was actually like growing up as a refugee… and I knew straight away this was a conversation I wanted to bring to the show. We got in...

Steven Bouris grew up 'different'. He grew up with a visible birthmark covering a large part of his face and head. And get this… no one really talked about it. Not strangers, not family, not even him. For over 40 years. So, what happens when the thing everyone can see becomes the thing no one speaks about? You get a bloke walking around in full defensive mode… overthinking every inte...

Well, as an athlete (especially a boxer) this one sure hits a bit close to home… and I don’t just mean physically. I sat down with Professor Alan Pearce and we got right into the stuff most athletes don’t really want to look at too closely. Concussion, CTE, brain health, and what actually happens when you spend years copping hits… whether you realise it or not. We talked...