I had a chat with children's author Brenton Cullen this week about his beautiful, warm and deeply relevant book The Prime Minister Problem

"Old folks might feel a little left out. Lonely. So they hide away. They can seem angry or sad — but they might just want a friend."

This is a children's book. Yet it captures something that researchers, clinicians and community workers spend entire careers trying to articulate with the same depth. It gently points to something many of us are sensing — that ​as we fragment and become too 'busy' as a community, so too does our everyday experience of connection and belonging

Brenton Cullen writes about a boy, his grandmother, Meals on Wheels rounds, and the quiet devastation of an older person being moved far from the community that knows them.

It is a story written for children, but it is most definitely a story for all of us. After over 7 years working on ways to increase intergenerational connection, this is the first episode of Bringing Community Back Together — and I could not have asked for a better place to begin.

For more info go to heartandsoulstory.com

Pre order the Book https://rivetedpress.com.au/bookshop/the-prime-minister-problem-pre-order

Bringing Community Back Together is a podcast about what happens when we stop trying to solve wellbeing in isolation — and start rebuilding connection across generations, roles, and communities.

Hosted by Samantha Heron, founder of Heart & Soul Story, this series explores the growing impact of social fragmentation on our mental health — from rising anxiety in young people to loneliness and loss of role in older adults — and asks a simple but powerful question: what if the answer lies between us, not within us?

Through conversations with a diverse range of voices — educators, aged care leaders, young people, authors, and social commentators — this podcast uncovers the moments, ideas, and initiatives that are quietly reshaping how we relate to one another.

From a young boy whose mission to help his grandmother sparks change across an entire town, to school communities rethinking what wellbeing really means, each episode reveals the ripple effect that connection can have — not just on individuals, but on the systems we live within.

This is not just a podcast about ageing, or youth, or mental health in silos. It’s about the space in between.
It’s about contribution, belonging, and the human need to feel that we matter — at every stage of life.

If you’ve ever felt that something is missing in how we do community today…
you’re not alone.

And you’re in the right place.