The Unforgiving60

This episode is a rerelease of our interview with Tim 'Robbo' Robertson. 'Robbo' was tragically killed in an aircraft accident in Queensland. Forever the professional. Forever the character. Forever the Chronic Overachiever. Forever in our memories. Vale Robbo. To where the Wandering Warriors roam.   ***** Tim Robertson is an ex F18 fighter pilot who got bored of that and then successfully complet...

In this RV Ben and Tim discuss the years events, trends and ‘best ofs’ now that the world has opened back up and life has returned to having velocity. From books, global change, travel, music ….. and what challenges have the boys set themselves for 2023.   01:30       What is an RV? 03:15       Let’s start with some stats 05:30       What is the 5th rated country by download? You’ll be surprised!...

Ben and Tim are interviewed by Emily and Callum from Golds Gym. *********** The SAS guys with MBA's and Authors of the best-selling book 'The Resilience Shield' join us on the Gold's Gym podcast! Tim Curtis and Ben Pronk are leaders in their field and chat to us about all things resilience. You can also take their test to find out how resilient you are. Assess, understand and improve your resilien...

Senator David Van is a Liberal Senator for Victoria, who was elected to the Senate in 2019.   As part of this, and arguably as the main reason many Australians might recognise him, David has recently been very prominent in his support for the people of Ukraine.  In this discussion, we speak with David about what this cause means to him and what the situation there might mean for all of us in Austr...

TRIGGER WARNING. This episode discusses the 2002 Bali Bombing and involves content that some might find disturbing. ‘Macca’ is a knock about Aussie guy who 20 years ago at 19 years old played some pretty sub amateur footy at Kingsley Football Club in Perth. In October 2002, they won the team's first premiership and 20 people flew to Bali for an end-of-season trip to celebrate their victory. But on...

Through their work with The Resilience Shield, Ben and Tim have become fascinated with the topic – and in particular, with evidence-based research related to it.  A few months back, they saw an article talking about an Australian academic conducting a range of ground-breaking research into this exact topic and reached out to see if she would be interested in sharing her perspectives with the Unfor...

Our chat today is with world champion para-surfer Sam Bloom, and her husband Cam. Born on the Northern  Beaches of Sydney, Sam had everything she had always dreamed of. She’d travelled extensively, fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a nurse and was a happily married mother of three young boys. But without warning, the dream turned into a nightmare when on a 2013 family holiday in Thailand,...

We first spoke to David way back in Season 3 , when he was kind enough to dial in from Antarctica and talk about his experiences as an Australian Antarctic Division Station Leader.  At the time of that episode, David’s team’s trip had already been extended due to COVID, however at that point, he didn’t realise just how long he would be on the ice for, nor what sorts of challenges his trip would pr...

Beau Miles is an award winning filmmaker,  PhD, a poly-jobist, speaker, writer and oddball. His YouTube Channel houses his movies which have been watched millions of times. One short film, ‘Running a marathon a mile at a time’ has been viewed over 4 millions times.  It’s a bit better that our YouTube channel! We talk life and living. The importance of art and where Beau gets his mad ideas!  Tune i...

When many of us think about marijuana, our immediate thoughts are of illicit use. But across the world, this attitude is changing as researchers uncover the benefits of medicinal marijuana across a range of conditions.  Progression within Australia has been relatively slow, however our guest this week aims to speed things up in this groundbreaking area.    Dr Michael Mumford started his career as...

Let’s talk how to focus! Nir Eyal’s is an incredible thinker- describing himself as a ‘behavioural design expert’- which is the point of intersection between psychology, technology, and business. Then add some behavioural economics, and a twist of neuroscience. Our conversation in this episode ranges from how to be ‘indistractable’- the title of Nir’s book (and a word he invented), but also what t...

Mark Wales is one of our favourite guests – so much so that Ben can’t remember how many times he’s been on the show (turns out this is only the second).  But each time has been a great conversation, and this is certainly no exception.  Mark, fresh off his momentous half-million dollar Survivor: Blood and Water victory, joins Ben and Tim to talk all things reality TV, tough luxury, fathering, books...

This is a very special episode of the Unforgiving 60 podcast.  Over the years, we’ve spoken with a number of people who have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – and a number of people who are helping those who are suffering.  But while a lot of the focus is – rightly – placed on the individual with this diagnosis, it’s rarely just that person who is impacted.  In this episode, we get to...

WARNING- This powerful and inspiring episode also discusses eating disorders and related mental health struggles.  Liv Robinson’s first few decades of her life were a huge struggle. She found it hard to fit in to ‘normal life’. She battled with anorexia and related mental health illness which left Liv fighting for her life on a number of occasions.  Sport, creativity & Art were Liv’s invaluable to...

Shannon Polson was one of Americas first female gunship pilots. We talk flying and that incredible aircraft but also climbing, losing loved ones and grit and resilience. After a childhood in Alaska, Shannon studied English literature and art history at Duke University then commissioned into the Army to fly Apache helicopters, serving on three continents and leading two flight platoons and a line c...

Melissa Wu is an Australian treasure- and of course Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games Diving medallist! Starting diving at 10, Melissa immediately fell in love with the sport… and here we are 20 years later. In 2008 she was the youngest Australian ever to win an Olympic medal in diving, and she is still medalling including in Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she won Bronze in the 10metre platform. Bu...

Breathing is something most of us take for granted.  But the more we’ve looked into it, the more there seems to be to this ostensibly simple practice.  You don’t have to search far to find a wide range of advice on breathing – ranging from the obvious, to the counterintuitive, to the downright strange!  In this week’s episode, Ben and Tim take a deep dive into Buteyko breathing with one of Austral...

The 3-way….. (or is it 3-peat?) with Mick Neven is here! Either way for the 3rd time Mick joins us on the podcast. The first we were combatting the Zombie Apocalypse; the second Mick was Melon Head, and this time Mick is Fair Dinkum. We talk about the show and presenting in comedy festivals. How comedy IS a team sport. And the differences between festivals… including the uniqueness of Edinburgh Co...

In Ben and Tim’s book The Resilience Shield, they refer to Kev Toonen as a ‘superstar Army PTI (Physical Training Instructor)’ - and certainly when they first met him, that’s exactly what Kev was – a thought leader in the development of special operations physical capability, who helped evolved SAS training methodologies, as well as prepare the amazing Monika Georgieva (see Season 2 Episode 3 for...

In Ben and Tim’s book The Resilience Shield, they refer to Kev Toonen as a ‘superstar Army PTI (Physical Training Instructor)’ - and certainly when they first met him, that’s exactly what Kev was – a thought leader in the development of special operations physical capability, who helped evolved SAS training methodologies, as well as prepare the amazing Monika Georgieva (see Season 2 Episode 3 for...

For the second time Ben and Tim talk to psychologist Al Hill.  The first time Ali interviewed Ben, Tim and Dr Dan Pronk…. And Ben and Tim nicked the audio! This time around they interview Ali on ‘Stand Out Lives’. Talking ‘working from anywhere’, psychological transition and what leaders need to be aware of in this brave new world! Also- what are your moments Ali is CEO of AFR Fast 100 company  Pr...

Dean Fechner is a tough human.  From a first career as an Air Force Physical Training Instructor, through subsequent work in law enforcement in places ranging from the Australian Parliament House to the battlefields of Southern Iraq, he has demonstrated an incredible amount of character and resilience.  But his toughest challenge came not in uniform, but on the operating table.  In this episode, D...

Tom Moore is the CEO of WithYouWithMe (WYWM) a social impact company, founded by Veterans – it was started with the sole mission of solving veteran underemployment. Indeed when transitioning from the military to civilian life, Tom struggled to gain meaningful employment. WYWM now includes neurodivergent, gender-diverse, military spouses, and Indigenous populations. They support veterans and others...

Harry Garside is all about challenging stereotypes.  So let’s start by challenging some of yours.  What do you think of when you think ‘champion boxer’?  Is it someone who dances ballet?  Who paints their nails?  Who augments their training with meditation, juggling and Schulte tables?  If you answered no to these questions (or if you simply want to know what a Schulte table is!), this episode is...

Ben and Tim look back at 2021…. What a wild year it was and they give the key takeaways …. to takeaway! Plus, listener and guest feedback. ** We also talk about Shannon Lemanski who on 12 Mar will be conducting the Better-at-Life Sprint Triathlon as part of the Mooloolaba Triathlon festival. This will see him attempt a 750m open water swim in combat cams, a 20km bike ride in body armour, and a 5km...