Gambling, in one form or another, has been part of human societies for centuries. Those wanting a betting opportunity could find one if they looked hard enough, but it was a far cry from the gambling bombardment we’re exposed to in the Western world today.

Australians lose more than $30 billion a year to gambling, and new figures show New South Wales residents lost $2.5 billion on the pokies alone in just three months in 2025.

The barrage of odds, ads and the growing prevalence of gambling influencers can feel inescapable, drawing millions of young men into a dangerous game with virtually no winners.

Dr Michael Zhang is a psychologist specialising in behavioural addictions. His work led to the creation of Incumental, a new app designed to support recovery from gambling problems. He says it’s not about willpower, it’s about learning new ways to respond, building new habits, and finding people who understand.

This is Dr Michael Zhang…

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https://incumental.com/

When you hear the word psychiatrist, you might think medicating mental illness, but there’s more nuance to it than that.

Psychiatry brings together biology, psychology medicine and lived experience to understand what’s going on in someone’s mind and how to treat it.

Aleem is a Pakistani Australian who migrated here 16 years ago, became a psychiatrist and in doing so recognised a major need to increase access to psychiatric services particularly for people in regional areas. He’s since founded HelloDoc, a nationwide telehealth service connecting thousands of people with psychiatrists across Australia.

We discuss the ins and outs of psychiatry, where medication fits in, how culture shapes the way mental health is understood, why so many adults are being diagnosed with ADHD later in life and more.

This is Aleem Khan…

Sydni grew up on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, in a tight-knit community with a culture she says expects men to be tough and keep their emotions to themselves.

Her father was one of those men. Loving and strong, but never one to share what he was going through.

When her younger sister went missing in late 2023, Sydni and her family were thrust into the national spotlight overnight, facing huge stress and the brutal commentary of countless strangers online.

Sydni’s dad flew to Los Angeles to search, and tragically never returned home, the immense distress of the situation contributing to his suicide.

It pushed Sydni into the darkest period of her life, grieving her father and questioning everything while trying to protect her son.

Now, a year on, she’s slowly rebuilding herself, launching her own mental health brand to create change and raising her son to be able to share his feelings.

This is Sydni Kobayashi...

Five years ago, Flynn was on this podcast as a teenager living with cystic fibrosis. CF is a genetic condition that affects one in 2,500 Australians, causing mucus to clog the lungs and digestive system, requiring constant physio, medication and hospital check-ins to stay well.

Thanks to modern medicine, many people with CF now live into their 40s and beyond, but it means staying ever vigilant and factoring the disease into their future.

Now in his early twenties, Flynn’s back to share the journey he’s been on since we first met. He’s had setbacks, success and the pressure of managing a condition that never quits, all while trying to mature into the man he wants to be.

This is Flynn Gill...

No guest this week. Instead, here's my rambling about life and the podcast in the following order:

- Australian of the Year Awards

- Getting married

- Contemplating fatherhood

- Getting in the best shape of my life

- Showing up as the best version of me

- The future of the podcast

- Protecting piece of mind

Around 70% of Aussie men are overweight or obese, and most of us would say we’d like to lose some fat and drop a pants size or two.

Maintaining a lean, healthy body we feel happy in, is relatively simple, but it's far from easy. We generally know the importance of exercise and the basics of nutrition, but the way our emotions drive our eating habits is much less talked about.

When life gets stressful, food becomes an easy form of comfort, a socially acceptable, readily available coping mechanism to distract ourselves from having to feel uncomfortable emotions. Whether we’re sad, bored, tired or frustrated, the promise of a quick dopamine hit from junk food can be too good to resist. And if we're in the habit of pairing it with alcohol, it creates the perfect storm for an expanding waistline.

As life gets busier, it only gets harder. With work, bills, kids and relationships to manage, looking after your body can quickly fall down the list of priorities, left unchecked it can lead to hardly recognising yourself in the mirror.

This is Zac's bread and butter.

He’s a personal trainer and fitness coach who's helped hundreds of men in their 30s, 40s and 50s lose fat, gain muscle and build a sustainable healthy lifestyle, without needing to live in the gym and sacrifice everything they enjoy.

This is Zac Mason...

Corporal James Overall served as an Australian Army medic for a decade, deploying overseas on multiple occasions, including to Afghanistan in 2015. He was instrumental in 6 mass casualty events, as a highly skilled trauma care provider and auxiliary security force member, awarded the United States Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM) for his outstanding service.

Frequently under immense pressure to perform in life or death situations, Jimmy didn't have the awareness to recognise the trauma he was internalising or the ability to process it.

Suppressing his emotions and soldiering on seemed to work, until it all caught up with him, manifesting in symptoms that couldn't be ignored.

• No longer able to meet his own expectations as a serviceman, he discharged and became a paramedic.

  Then in 2021, Jimmy and his wife lost their baby boy Luke at birth, a tragedy that broke their hearts and left him numb.

  He reached a crossroads and made the choice to finally open up and lean on others for help, allowing him to grow into the husband and father he is today, a man worthy of his own respect.

  
  

  This is James Overall...

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• Gambling’s been baked into Australian culture for generations.
  Having a punt with your mates is as normalised today as a beer and schnitty at the pub, but for a lot of young men in particular, it quickly grows into a monster that destroys lives.

  Australians lose around $32 billion every year gambling, making us the biggest losers in the world, and the fastest-growing part of that is online sports betting.

  Research shows that among Australians aged 18 to 34 who gamble online, more than 80% are at risk of harm, and about one in four are already in the high-risk category.

  Mark started betting as a teenager and spent more than a decade trapped in the cycle of chasing his losses, lying to the people he loved, and slowly losing himself, almost costing him everything.

  Now six years free from gambling, Mark’s fighting for systemic change to help others escape harm from this insidious industry.

  This is Mark Kempster...