Content note: This episode includes discussion of depression and suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, there are organisations you can call now. In the UK, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123. In the US, you can call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. As always, the advice is to speak to a GP or mental health professional. Martin Pemberton became a professional footballer twice, achieving the a...
Aug 29
48 min
Growing up with a single mother in a one-bedroom apartment on the French Riviera, Tom Papasian saw extraordinary wealth all around him but experienced a very different reality at home. As a young boy, he quietly decided that he would make enough money to ensure that neither he nor his mother ever felt financially vulnerable again. That decision shaped the next two decades of his life. Tom worked relentlessly, moved between countries and pursued one opportunity after another. Yet however much ...
Aug 22
39 min
Content note: This episode includes a frank discussion of depression, suicidal thoughts, a suicide attempt and psychiatric treatment. Please listen with care. If the issues raised affect you, speak to someone you trust or seek appropriate professional support. From the outside, Ian Kinnery appeared to have everything: a successful business, financial security and the status he had worked relentlessly to achieve. Behind that success, however, he felt increasingly trapped by respon...
Aug 16
40 min
Everything looked successful from the outside. A thriving business. A modern apartment. A career many people would envy. Yet behind closed doors, Lewis Hackney found himself standing on a balcony, overwhelmed by the urge to jump. In this deeply honest conversation, Lewis shares the story behind that moment, what led him there, and why so many men silently find themselves questioning their purpose long before anyone else notices something is wrong. Today, Lewis has transformed thos...
Aug 6
35 min
Most of us assume antidepressants are there to help. For many people, they do. But for Erik Peers, the experience was very different. In this deeply personal conversation, Erik shares how he was prescribed antidepressants during a stressful period in his life, despite believing he wasn't depressed. What followed was nearly ten years of medication, repeated attempts to stop, severe withdrawal, and a growing realisation that the treatment he trusted was actually keeping him trapped. Today, Erik...
Jul 27
34 min
From the outside, many of the men Alfie Ruffell knew looked like they were doing just fine. They were working, laughing with their mates and getting on with life. But behind the smiles, some were carrying struggles no one else could see. Several of them would later take their own lives. After experiencing his own breakdown and losing close friends to suicide, Alfie realised that awareness alone isn't enough. The real challenge is reaching the men who never say they're struggling in the ...
Jul 17
46 min
What do men really talk about when they're together? In this special crossover episode, I'm joined by the four hosts - Sean, Aaron, Mike and Niall - of the Friends in Low Places (FILP) podcast to have a candid conversation about topics they never thought they'd discuss. What follows is an honest, funny and surprisingly open conversation about the things men often avoid discussing - even with their closest friends. We explore why so many men find it difficult to open up, the unwritten rules of...
Jul 11
48 min
For most of our lives, we're known by what we do. Our work shapes our identity, gives us purpose and often becomes the measure of our self-worth. But what happens when that chapter ends? When the career finishes, the business is sold or retirement finally arrives, many men are left asking a question they never expected: Who am I now? George Jerjian has spent years helping people answer that question. But his own journey began after being told he had what doctors believed was a terminal ...
Jul 4
45 min
In this episode, we talk to Paul Drugan, who carried the emotional scars of growing up with a father who, behind closed doors, was controlling, violent and emotionally abusive. From the outside, his family looked successful and respectable. Inside the home, he was living in fear, convinced that somehow he deserved what was happening. Like many men, Paul never spoke about it. Instead, he buried the pain beneath achievement, alcohol, drugs and a lifetime of believing he wasn't good ...
Jun 27
44 min
Many men spend decades chasing the next thing. The next promotion. The next pay rise. The next business success. The next milestone. The belief is simple: once I get there, I'll finally be happy. But what happens when you get there and something still feels missing? In this episode of Mid-Life Men, I talk to former CEO and executive coach Bill Williams about a question that many successful men quietly wrestle with: Why don't I feel happier? Bill shares the story of a life spent striving. From...
Jun 15
51 min
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