For something different - I'm flying solo this week, and I've got a LOT to fill you in on.

I've been in New Zealand for the past week visiting family, and while I can't go into all the personal stuff just yet, I figured I'd take you through some of the nutty stuff I discovered.

Exhibit A: my wife's cousin runs a water blasting operation working on helicopters and in the gold mines, and uses machines that cost a million dollars!

We also went to the Southern tip of the South Island, (pretty sure I saw Antarctica) and managed to do possibly the dumbest thing you could do on school holidays... 🤦

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Two Indian blokes walked past the Podvan while I was recording with Billy Mac, and what started as a casual chat turned into one of the most eye-opening conversations I've had on the podcast!

Jag and Lakshman are from a country of 1.46 billion people!! (Whaaaaaat?!?)

We chat through the biggest differences between Indian and Australian culture, cricket obsession, the constant friendliness of Indian people, and the fact that food habits vary massively between North and South India.

They also mock me and my love of butter chicken, and we look at how differently we handle our neighbours here in Australia compared to how they do in India...

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I've been quietly building something for the last year. It launches on July 1st. And I'm absolutely terrified.

Edit the Pod is an online podcast editing site that does all the heavy lifting before you even open the project.

You upload your recording (audio or video) and behind the scenes it's transcribing, working out who's talking when, automatically cutting the camera angles if it's a video, cutting all the filler words, and learning your editing style as it goes! Then you just hop in and finesse it.

It's everything I've ever wanted from every other piece of software I've used - all in one place.

This episode is full of Julie workshopping what it actually does, testing it out, breaking it, and me trying to explain why I'm so nervous about putting it out into the world!

Plus there's the reveal of my new motorbike, some spirited debate about that Harlan Coben "I Will Find You" series, and the evil demon pigeon lamps make another appearance.

If you've ever wanted to start a podcast but you've got no idea how to edit — or if you edit heaps of stuff and just want it to be faster — go check out editthepod.com and grab a free seven-day trial!

Also, feel free drop a comment - and I'd love it if you'd hit the FOLLOW button!

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Billy Mac is back!

Last time we talked trauma, footy, and what it's really like to carry PTSD for decades. This time we get into what happens to the people around you when you're living with it.

Warning:

There's a story early on about a baby seat he found in a car accident. It's really heavy (we don't go into details - but and can easily skip past that bit), but it stayed with Billy for 15 years before he even realised how much it had affected him. There's also a mate who medically discharged after the same call — and a really stark conversation Billy had with his son years later in a therapist's office that changed everything.

Billy's wife Kathy now facilitates spouse retreats for the Fire Brigade — something that didn't exist until Billy pushed for it. That part of the conversation is where he properly breaks. In the best way.

This one's raw, funny, and real.

Just like Billy.

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When your homebrew hobby wins competitions, you might think: I could do this for a living! Well... Chris thought that.

What followed was 13 years of growth, a stunning new venue, and then a twist they just didn't see coming.

Today, I'm sitting down with Chris and Sharon, the owners of Six String Brewing Co, to talk about what happens when demand suddenly disappears, when costs triple during a build, and when you end up having external administrators managing your finances while you're still trying to run the place day-to-day.

We dig into what "administration" actually means, why the brewing industry is hurting right now, and what genuine community support looks like when things get hard.

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Last year, I got diagnosed with ADHD, and it explains literally everything.

If you liked last week's episode with my guest Kylie (KK), you'll enjoy this one. We started chatting about my diagnosis. It turns out I've spent my entire life running on ADHD energy without knowing it. The psychiatrist told me I've essentially forged an entire career out of it. Which, when you think about it, is 100% correct.

We dig into what that actually looks like: the anxiety that comes with it, the side effects of the medication, the time management stuff that drives people nuts, and all the random things I didn't realise were ADHD things until I started learning about it. (Like how I used to think I had a gluten intolerance for 10 years, only to realise it might've been anxiety the whole time.)

There's also a chat about hyper-focusing, the constant creative ideas, finishing nothing, beating yourself up about it, and trying to explain all of this to people who just don't get it!

And we end up talking about people like Cosi from South Aussie with Cosi, someone who's clearly got that same kind of energy and has built something incredible because of it, not despite it.

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In this sprawling, hilarious, and surprisingly moving conversation, I catch up with a long-time mate from Adelaide radio days who (in her new job) has learned to castrate goats, keep bees, run three massive fundraising gala balls, and personally escort a fugitive through Cambodia - all while never missing a single sports day for her kids.

The story is awesome. 10 years ago, our mate Cosi started a TV show from the dining room table in his house. That show became South Aussie with Cosi – and it's now in Season 15 on Channel 7 with a team of 11. Along the way, KK learned about bull semen, giant Santas, paperwork you can't imagine, and the kind of teamwork that makes impossible things happen.

We also chat about how a single Cambodian cow lead to the most important thing she's ever helped create – a charity that's since gifted over 150 cows and built a world-class cattle facility in the middle of nowhere.

This episode is all about saying yes without knowing the answer, burning the boats, handpicking good people, and the absolute chaos of building something from nothing!

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What happens when a Canadian psychologist becomes a high school teacher on the Central Coast and decides her Year 9 students need to see the world?

That's Brenda's story, and it's the kind of thing that makes you wonder why more people aren't doing this. (I reckon you'll love this episode!)

Brenda's been organising community give-back trips for her students – building houses with Habitat for Humanity in Cambodia, immersing Year 9s in First Nations culture on homeland in Cape York, and connecting kids with experiences that literally change who they are. We're talking about 24 students, 5 teachers, raising over $50,000 in 9 months, and doing all the fundraising themselves.

And here's the thing: the kids who showed up weren't always the 'model students.' Some had behaviour stuff to work out. But when they got there? They totally stepped up.

The stories Brenda shares – kids without passports getting on a plane for the first time, not a single one asking for their phone back while on homeland, watching a shy student lead an entire group - they're the kind of moments that remind you what education could actually be about.

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