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We sit down with coach and endurance athlete Jonny Pain to talk about what actually creates resilience, not the social media kind, but the kind that holds up when you’re tired, stressed, and tempted to quit.

Jonny breaks down Project Vertical, his attempt to complete a “vertical marathon” by climbing Ben Nevis again and again until the total elevation gain equals 26.2 miles. He shares what changed between the first attempt and the successful second run, including going self-supported, managing sleep deprivation, staying safe under accumulating fatigue, and learning how quickly anger burns out as fuel. We also dig into how community support can keep you moving when your own thoughts turn against you.

From special forces selection prep to everyday mental health, we get practical about fatigue management, allostatic load, HRV, and why your body just hears “stress,” whether it comes from squats, poor sleep, work pressure, or relationship strain. We push back on arbitrary targets like 10,000 steps and one-size-fits-all coaching numbers, then land on a simple theme: climb your own mountain by taking the next step, even when fear shows up. If you get something from this one, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave us a review.

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He told his brother he felt depressed and suicidal, then added the sentence so many men have been trained to say: “I just need to man up.” Not long after, Jamie was gone. And the people left behind were handed a kind of grief that comes with questions, guilt, anger, and the awful silence of a topic most people still avoid.

We’re joined by Gaz Mullen from West Yorkshire, who’s riding roughly 1,600 miles from Bradford to Benidorm on Jamie’s bike to raise money for Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) and to push suicide prevention conversations into the open. Gaz shares who Jamie was beyond the headlines, why returning to Benidorm matters so much, and what it’s like to carry a loss that can make friends and strangers visibly uncomfortable.

We also get practical about men’s mental health: how stigma shows up when someone says they’re in therapy, why bullying and social media can make young people feel trapped, and what actually helped Gaz stay upright when everything collapsed. We talk medication, the need for follow-up and real support, and why a “magic pill” mindset can leave people alone at the worst moment. Along the way, Gaz explains how training, routine, and purpose can turn raw grief into something survivable, mile by mile.

If you want to support Gaz’s ride, follow his journey, or share this with someone who needs a nudge to speak up, hit play. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people who need this conversation can find it.

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Your phone is not just a device, it is a habit engine that follows you into lines, meals, conversations, and bed. We sit down with Leeds-based creative and author Paul Robinson to talk about his new book, Braindead, and the personal moments that made him realize how quickly smartphone use can become automatic. The conversation gets honest fast: the “queue without a phone” panic, the constant urge to check for something new, and how digital overload leaves us mentally tired even when we have not done anything “hard.”

We dig into the mechanics behind smartphone addiction and doomscrolling, including dopamine anticipation and the attention economy that rewards endless engagement. We also talk about what this does to kids and teens, from the challenge of “dumbing down” a smartphone to the way screen time rises the moment more apps appear, even if it is not social media. School phone policies, notifications, and the pressure to be reachable all come up, along with a bigger question: what happens to creativity, patience, and real human connection when every pause gets filled by a screen?

This is not a tech-hate rant. We share practical digital wellbeing moves that actually work in real life: turning off most notifications, reclaiming small in-between moments, reducing blue light at night, and building enough awareness to step out of the scroll before it steals your evening. We also touch on AI as a powerful tool that becomes risky when we start relying on it instead of thinking for ourselves. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with your best tip for using your phone more intentionally.

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