The Cost of Suicide

With special guest:

• Carolyn Kelso

The construction industry has nearly one million workers in Australia and 98% of these workers are male. But interestingly our guest today to talk about that industry is female. Carolyn Kelso has the dual role of Case Manager and Field Officer for MATES in Construction (MIC) and she has had an interest in suicide prevention since her first introduction to construction through family and friends.

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The Making of Men

With special guest:

• Dr Arne Rubinstein

“If we don’t initiate our boys they will burn down the village to feel the heat.” This is an African proverb quoted by our guest today Dr Arne Rubinstein that could describe the situation for young men today in Australia and other societies far from Africa.

The Making of Men is a book that Dr Arne Rubinstein has written after seeing first-hand in his medical practice the disasters that can befall boys who are not initiated into life as a man in the community. Arne recognises the qualities valued in young boys when they are naturally loving, energetic, funny, creative and sensitive. What happens then, when so many kids get into trouble as teenagers?

In this program we talk about one of the most important ways in which the community or village can play a role in bringing the boy through to being a valuable man in the community.

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Ugly: A beaut story about one very ugly kid

With special guest:

• Robert Hoge

Robert Hoge has a daughter Imogen who sums it up best. She said about Robert’s book Ugly “It’s important to tell your story especially when you’re different.”

As one of the many roles that our guest today has filled with distinction he is an advocate for those with a disability and today we hear what it is like to grow up in a special club.

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WhiteRibbon.org

With special guest:

• Erin Pizzey

There is a constant barrage at this time of year in the press and on TV denouncing domestic violence against women. While this is in itself a worthy cause the zealots can not only overlook the information available but also lose track of the objective.

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insideMAN

With special guest:

• Glen Poole

International Men’s Day is upon us. Every year on 19 November there is a theme and this year it is to “Make A Difference for Men and Boys”.

Our guest today is the UK Coordinator of International Men’s Day, Glen Poole who is in Australia to attend the debate on what needs to change, men or society.

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The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men

With special guest:

• Prof Barry Golding

When we think of great Australian inventions we might be referring to the Black Box Flight Recorder, electronic pacemakers, cochlear implants or even the stump-jump plough. But today we talk about another Australian invention that has spread internationally and saved thousands of men’s lives.

Our guest today is Dr Barry Golding who is the honorary patron of the Australian Men’s Shed Association and he provides a fascinating insight into the development and growth of this iconic Australian success story. Barry Golding gives us the benefit of his fifteen years of research in his new book The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men. In talking to us today Barry lets us discover what actually goes on inside the Men’s Sheds we see as we pass through so many country towns.

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Sole Fathers United

With special guest:

• Tyrell Moore

Six years ago Tyrell Moore found himself in a place he had never been before. He was a single Dad with sole care of his then two year old daughter.

Tyrell recognised that he was in desperate need of support but when he searched for services catering for single Dads in Melbourne he came up with nothing. Tyrell knew that all fathers and children need a network where they can get together so he started his own support group and called it Sole Fathers United.

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Movember’s got a new MOVE

With special guest:

• Sam Gledhill

Since 2003 the month after October has had a new name which inspires men in 21 countries around the world to change their appearance. Yes it is Movember and that is when the upper lips of businessmen, sportsmen, young men, older men and males of all descriptions sprout for a good cause.

Our guest today is Sam Gledhill, Men’s Health Program Manager for Movember. Sam tells us about the storied beginnings of this great Australian charity. From a challenge over a few beers between mates it has now raised over $685 million and the proceeds have been applied in areas where there was little attention paid by health policy makers.

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Loving Nana/Collateral Damage

With special guest:

• Anne King

One grandmother’s story for Grandparents Day

Everyone seems to know a parent who has been affected by parental alienation, except the so-called experts in the Family Court who pretend it does not exist. But what about the other family members caught up in this insidious web of deceit? Children are deprived without a valid reason of the valuable love and unqualified support of the older generation who have so much life experience to pass on to their blood descendants.

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Dads on the Inside

With special guest:

• Edward Mosby

Ed Mosby is in the words of the Queensland Premier a “well-renowned Psychologist”. Ed has a background working as the Therapeutic Team Leader for Helem Yumba a Central Queensland Healing Centre located in Rockhampton.

Using all his expertise and experience in the area of behaviour change Ed developed the Dads on the Inside program to help the inmates at the Capricorn Correctional Centre to turn their lives around.

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Splitting ... World Mental Health Day

With special guest:

• Bill Eddy

Raising issues for World Mental Health Day and National Mental Health Week

The word Splitting brings to mind a number of possibilities but in Bill Eddy’s book Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with a Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder it is not the obvious meaning of breaking up with a partner. Here we are looking at “splitting” meaning a defence mechanism universally seen in people with Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. It means unconsciously seeing people as all good or all bad and is especially prevalent when there is stress such as in a break-up with someone the person afflicted sees as critical to emotional survival.

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Relating to Men

With special guest:

• Jasmin Newman

Why would a mother of two children living in the idyllic town of Merimbula on the south coast of NSW become an advocate for men and their children? Jasmin Newman is the right person to ask.

Jasmin tells us she was affronted by the lack of social justice towards men in our society where the pain of many men is ignored and dismissed as irrelevant. At the extreme end of this pain is the despair and hopelessness associated with suicide. We hear from Jasmin the truly extraordinary information that on average 39 men are recorded in the Australian statistics every week as “death by suicide.”

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Walk Across Borders

With special guest:

• Steven Monk-Dalton

Our guest today Steven Monk-Dalton has not seen his daughter for five years despite making every effort through the legal system to be reunited. Steven is a victim of International Parental Child Abduction with the relevant countries on this occasion being Spain and England. The frustration after being let down many times got Steven thinking about other options because as he tells us he will never give up trying to see his daughter .

Steven always said that he would walk through any borders if it meant seeing his daughter again so the idea formed of walking from Orihuela Court in Spain to the Royal Court of Justice in London England. This involves walking across France in a 44 day journey doing on average 42 kilometres a day which is the Olympic marathon distance.

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Living with Prostate Cancer

With special guest:

• Max Michell

We hear a lot of statistics relating to community health. We see major campaigns that raise the awareness of different threats to our everyday life. But the knowledge and awareness of prostate cancer has a long way to go if it is going to arrive at good community awareness.

The sad part is that if more men went for regular check-ups they could be getting the diagnosis and treatment that would save their lives. Prostate cancer after diagnosis has one of the highest 5 year survival rates compared with other cancers at 92%.

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National Emergency – Suicide Rates for Our Men

With special guest:

• Anthony Smith

1901 male deaths by suicide were recorded in 2012 along with another 634 females meaning a total of 2,535 Australians lost their lives in this way. There has been no significant improvement in the period since these figures became available.

Our guest today, Anthony Smith, argues that these figures are conservative and the belief of the people working in this area is that the figure for men should be some 500 higher. Reasons for this conservatism include the shortfall in the number of Coronial enquiries and the general reluctance of Coroners to brand a sudden death as suicide because this only makes it harder for the surviving family members to deal with the tragedy.

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Father’s Day: Sad for some Dads

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

In our interview today Karen tells us that she was asked by a Dad in May 2013 to do some research on the injustices in the Family Court and Child Support systems. This Dad was desperate to spend more time with his own children and suspected there was more going on than the general population is aware of.

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Man Code

With special guest:

• Carolyn Managh

Carolyn Managh, the Man Whisperer, comes to our program today to lift the lid on what Australian men think about masculinity, women, and brands treating them like idiots. To do this Carolyn interviewed 140 Australian men including influential leaders and role models from diverse aspects of Australian life. These included Australian men in business, sport, men’s brands, military, popular culture, health, hospitality, construction and more.

The resulting data is statistically significant and it also paints a picture of what Australian men think on issues such as whether chivalry is dead. On the question of whether Australian men are romantic Carolyn’s conclusion is that Aussie men do want the romance but they want to include an element of surprise.

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Torn

With special guest:

• Simon Williams

Simon Williams is a big strong Queenslander. We find him living in Florida USA, a long way from home with a heartbreaking story to tell.

Simon left Queensland for the USA with his qualifications as a Physiotherapist in his back pocket. After landing a job in Florida he joined the local rugby team where he was instantly identified by his accent as being from a strong rugby nation. While not reaching the heights of Wallaby selection Simon was selected for the Florida state rugby team and went on tour to Uruguay. This is one of the many adventures described by Simon in his new book Torn: The Story of an Undeserving Wallaby Drowning in a Septic Tank. This book is earthy, funny and provides a fresh look at our friends on the other side of the Pacific but there is an undercurrent throughout the book which is what we pick up on in the interview.

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Daddy’s OK

With special guest:

• Dean Mason

In his book Daddy’s OK: Fathers’ stories of separation, divorce and rebuilding author Dean Mason takes us into the world of 14 families that have been through the trauma of separation and divorce. The 2006 Census showed that 50% of children in single parent families never have an overnight stay with the other parent, normally the Dad. But if our eyes glass over when contemplating the tens of thousands of Dads in this situation Dean brings it back to the individual personal level with these real life stories from his days as National Chairman of Dads in Distress Support Services.

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Justice 4 Liam Magill

With special guest:

• Cheryl King

Cheryl King is a strong believer in social justice and a loyal friend who does not shy away from a fight with the biggest institutions in the country.

Cheryl met Liam Magill in 1999 when Liam had to contend not only with the trauma many men face after marriage breakdown but also a twist that turned into a nightmare.

At first Liam ignored the strong indications that maybe he was not the biological father of his three children from the marriage but DNA testing confirmed his worst fears. Two of the three children were not his but resulted from an affair that his then wife Meredith had engaged in with a family friend. Worse, the children had been turned against him and the Child Support Agency was after his life savings.

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