The Things we Carry is a title inspired by a book that had an indelible impact on me, and still does. Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ changed me in many ways. It explored the depths of the emotional experience of the Vietnam War for soldiers. As an 17 year old, going to a quality school, surrounded by wealth and privilege, it was an eyeopening exploration of things I’d thought about previously, but put to the side because o...

Jack Davis from It's Cool To Cry joins The Ebbs and The Flows for episode 31. There are some heavy themes relating to suicide in this episode, but we do tread lightly. There's also plenty of swears. Other than that, it's a bloody ripper chat with a bloody ripper bloke.

Jack has a message that really resonates with me, and many others, when it comes to emotional expression. Crying is cool. It's important to express your emotions, it'...

It's our thirtieth episode! And we want our fair share! How come artists and creatives are so often undervalued for their contribution to culture and society? Madeleine Thornton-Smith is an artist, a ceramicist, an art teacher and an activist fighting for fair conditions for creatives and artists across creative industries. She is passionate about the simplicity yet astounding power of what artists can produce, and how much more ca...

On this episode of The Ebbs and The Flows, Soft Chats about Hard Stuff, musician, advocate and writer Eliza Hull joins us for a gorgeous, moving and compelling conversation. Eliza is a musician living in rural Victoria, who has released 'Here They Come', an EP in 2023, representing her journey as a person who has come to terms with living with a disability and now performs and champions a vulnerability and acceptance that is contag...

On this episode of The Ebbs and The Flows, Soft Chats about Hard Stuff, Reagan Morel joins us for a chat with our youngest guest on le pod. Reagan is a 20 year old studying teaching, but it is at The Reach Foundation where he does some fine and compelling work with young people across Australia. A beacon of happiness and joy for others, but underneath the veneer is a person working through his own challenges. He is a captivating yo...

On this episode of The Ebbs and The Flows, Soft Chats about Hard Stuff, Kierren Robinson is a boxer, the founder of Awakened Warrior - a mentoring and coaching platform to connect people to a greater truth, a husband and a quiet leader seeking to find his voice.

We discuss empathy, compassion, leadership and the unending journey of grief on another Soft Chat about Hard Stuff. Kierren's beautiful 'Note To Self' is one of the highlig...

Matt LaFontine, founder of Safe Space Mornington and a man who belies expectation of a footy bloke is on a mission for mental health. On October 12, he will be Pulling Up for Mental Health. Join us as we discuss this venture, Safe Space, creating beautiful gardens (metaphorically and physically) and how he counters the notion of what it is to be a 'Footy Bloke' by opening his heart and working hard to be a better man.

On this episo...

Welcome to episode 25 of The Ebbs and The Flows with musician and creative Andy Bull who is currently writing an album in sixty days. This is a long form podcast because I just really enjoyed every last minute of this conversation. I know it’s not popular as we talk ourselves out of ‘the rambling man screaming into the wind’ length of anything these days – but I just found myself in the fortunate situation of talking to one of my f...

On the 24th episode of The Ebbs and the Flows and our first recorded remotely, Mia Dyson, multi-nominated ARIA artist, acclaimed musician and writer of the rugged and the radiant joins us to discuss her new album 'Tender Heart', how she faced panic and her deepest fears, her cataclysmic brush with the gap between life and death and her tender perspective on love, meditation and the study of the meaning of life and death. This is a ...

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.” 

Shane McCurry is the guest on the 23rd ...

The third and final installment of Remote Community Musings from Balgo in the Kimberley in the North East of Western Australia. A conversation about broken systems, the little wins, the power of community and an enormous nod to an experience I will never forget. An important acknowledgement of the community I worked within - The Wirrimanu Aboriginal Community. Thank you. 

The Ebbs and the Flows is an emotional health movement f...

Part II of our two part conversation with Raphael Wong, Opera and Musical Theatre performer who has just finished a run in The Phantom of The Opera at the Sydney Opera House. Raphael is a performer, but also a teacher, a mentor and a family man. Join us for a conversation about the highs and lows of performance, the bittersweet nature of rejection, fatherhood and which idol he'd bring along for a long lunch with his son. 

Part II fe...

Part I of our two part conversation with Raphael Wong, Opera and Musical Theatre performer who has just finished a run in The Phantom of The Opera at the Sydney Opera House. Raphael is a performer, but also a teacher, a mentor and a family man. Join us for a conversation about the highs and lows of performance, facing rejection and the changing face of Opera in our post-Covid world. 

This conversation focuses on Raphael's triumphs i...

Welcome back to The Ebbs and The Flows, Soft chats about Hard stuff. Today is our second edition of Remote Community Musings and we chat about despair. Why does despair send shivers down our spine? We look at the state of despair in the context of the recently released film 'The Iron Claw' which is a biopic based on the Von Erich family - a wrestling family out of Texas, who were struck by so many cruel blows they were deemed to be...

A twenty minute ramble with Willie from Balgo in remote WA - the Tanami desert. The first of the Remote Community musings. 

William mumbles and murmurs about wellbeing, misconceptions, January 26th and the implications of not observing history and whether there are any benefits to periods of isolation. A chance to reflect, regroup and rehash a busy start to the year and a good chance to do some thinking. 

A couple of numbers for Firs...

The remarkable Stephanie Williams joins us for this special episode of The Ebbs and The Flows. Stephanie is a woman on the move. AFLW player, artist, young leader and compassionate, resilient and big hearted - and just 21 years old. We chat footy, culture, grief, hope and love on this spellbinding episode. Stephanie is a Larrakia woman from the top end who moved down south for school and sport at the tender age of 11 - her journey ...

Carter O'Regan is our first guest on The Ebbs and The Flows for 2024. Carter is a fiancé, a footballer, a nurse and a creative soul. He also happens to be a trans advocate who affirmed his gender over the course of several years. I met Carter several years ago at Kew Football Club and have heard him speak as part of Pride Round, and while also acknowledging the excellent chats we always had at the football club, I have learnt a lot...

Welcome to The Ebbs and The Flows, soft chats about hard stuff.

Edited by The Ebbs and The Flows
Thank you to Chantelle Clark for designs used to promote this episode

On this episode of The Ebbs and The Flows, William talks about why Mental Health Matters in a solo chat about the challenges some of us face in a period where we are expected to feel joy and happiness, be it struggling to cut back, loneliness, difficult conversation...

For part I, check the episode out here (https://the-ebbs-and-the-flows.simplecast.com/episodes/s2-e3a-ebbs-with-pat-kennedy-a-candid-conversation-about-alcoholism-love-letters-to-the-things-that-are-destroying-us-crying-in-the-toilet-and-taking-vulnerable-risks-in-recovery)

Pat Kennedy joins The Ebbs and The Flows for episode 3 (Part II) of Season 2. This was initially supposed to be a discussion that fit into one episode, however t...