What happens when everything you thought defined you is taken away?

In Episode 3 of Boys Will Be Boys, we sit down with Dave Smith MBE — a man who has lived through cancer, paralysis, repeated spinal surgeries, and the constant reality that his life could change overnight.

But this isn’t a story about fighting. It’s about what comes after. After the identity. After the ego. After the drive to prove something.

This is a conversation about stillness, acceptance, and what it actually means to live well when time becomes real.

In this episode Dave opens up about:

• Living with a tumour that could end his life at any time
• Why chasing highs can become a way of avoiding reality
• Losing identity through sport, injury, and illness
• The role of ego in recovery and resilience
• Learning to let go of control
• The difference between happiness and true contentment
• Why most men struggle to sit with themselves
• The power of stillness, presence, and human connection

Boys Will Be Boys is hosted by Ed Jackson and Matt Pycroft.

We speak to men we respect, not for what they’ve achieved, but for how they think, how they’ve struggled, and what they’ve learned.

This is about modern masculinity, without the cliches and the bullshit.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Matt and Ed sit down with explorer and rope access specialist Waldo Etherington for a conversation that moves from childhood to the edge of survival.

Waldo grew up with almost nothing materially, raised by his mother and sister in Dorset, yet surrounded by unconditional love and a deep connection to nature. That combination shaped a life driven not by comfort, but by curiosity and risk.

What follows is a journey into:

• How early freedom, boredom, and unsupervised play shape resilience
• The absence of a father and redefining masculinity through vulnerability
• The tension between passion and practicality when choosing a life path
• The reality of building a career from obsession, not a plan
• Extreme expeditions, close calls, and the psychology of risk

This is not a story about luck. It is about persistence, identity, and choosing your own path when there is no obvious roadmap.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it actually mean to be a man today?

This is Boys Will Be Boys, a new podcast with Matt Pycroft and Ed Jackson, where we sit down with the best men we know to explore masculinity through proper stories.

This isn’t a podcast about telling you what to think. It’s about hearing honest conversations and deciding for yourself.

Our first guest is Jim Hamilton, former Scotland international, host of The Big Jim Show, and one of the most physically imposing players of his generation.

But this conversation isn’t about rugby. It’s about what happens after the identity disappears.

In this episode, we get into:

• Growing up without a father and finding identity through violence and sport
• The reality of aggression in men, and whether it should be suppressed or understood
• Fatherhood, responsibility, and what it means to raise good men
• The transition out of elite sport and the loss of purpose that follows
• Loneliness, relevance, and why so many men feel lost right now
• Marriage, respect, and the role women play in shaping better men
• Why “providing” still matters, and what that actually means today

This is raw, unfiltered, and at times uncomfortable. Exactly how it should be.

This episode sets the tone for everything that follows.

We’re not here to lecture.

We’re on our own journey, to better understand ourselves.

If you’re trying to figure out your place in the world, or what kind of man you want to be, this is for you.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.