In this week’s Action episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, host Sam Penny takes inspiration from one of the sharpest minds in modern feminism — Kathy Lette — the woman who turned outrage into comedy, sexism into satire, and shame into storytelling.

At just 17, Kathy co-wrote Puberty Blues, a book so raw and real it was banned from schools — but instead of backing down, she doubled down, using wit as her weapon and laughter as her form of protest. Across her career, she’s proved that humour can dismantle hypocrisy faster than fury ever could.

This episode is your invitation to take that same fearless approach and apply it in your own life. Because bravery doesn’t just happen in the extremes — it happens in everyday conversations, in workplaces, boardrooms, and dinner tables where the easy thing would be to stay silent.

Sam challenges you to complete one sentence:

Maybe it’s calling out a double standard. Maybe it’s sharing your true opinion in a meeting. Or maybe it’s finally admitting what you really want. Whatever it is, say it — with honesty, with kindness, and, if you can, with humour.

Because as Kathy reminds us, laughter doesn’t diminish truth; it makes it digestible. It opens hearts that anger closes. And when you use it with courage, it turns confrontation into connection.

This is your week to speak up anyway — to say the thing that scares you most, to turn your own fear into fuel, and to be part of a ripple effect that starts with one brave conversation.

Tune in, take the challenge, and discover why sometimes, bravery doesn’t roar — it giggles, it winks, and it writes a banned book.

At just 17, Kathy Lette co-wrote Puberty Blues — a brutally honest, hilarious and taboo-shattering take on Australian surf culture that shocked a nation, scandalised parents, and became a cult classic. Rather than apologising, she leaned in. From Puberty Blues to How to Kill Your Husband, Mad Cows and The Boy Who Fell to Earth, Kathy has made a career out of turning taboo into comedy and pain into punchlines.

In this episode, Kathy joins Sam Penny to talk about:

• How she went from a rebellious teenager to an international bestselling author
• What Puberty Blues revealed about sexism, shame, and surf culture
• Why humour is her sharpest weapon in the fight for equality
• How raising an autistic son transformed her understanding of love, difference, and bravery
• Why women must stop apologising and start saying yes to the impossible

It’s cheeky. It’s sharp. And it’s classic Kathy — part stand-up, part masterclass in rebellion, and completely unapologetic.

💬 Key Quotes

🧩 Themes Explored

• Rebellion through humour: How satire can change culture.
• Feminism with a wink: Making gender politics laugh-out-loud funny.
• Motherhood & autism: What her son Jules taught her about compassion and courage.
• From scandal to empowerment: Lessons from surviving the spotlight.
• Bravery: Saying what others won’t — and doing it with wit.

🔥 The Brave Moment

When Kathy’s son Jules was diagnosed with autism, she says it was the hardest — and most defining — chapter of her life.

📚 Kathy’s Books Mentioned

• Puberty Blues
• Girls’ Night Out
• How to Kill Your Husband (and Other Handy Household Hints)
• HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy
• The Boy Who Fell to Earth
• The Revenge Club

🧭 Where to Find Kathy

📖 kathylette.com

📸 Instagram @kathylette

🐦 Twitter @kathylette

💡 Takeaway

Bravery doesn’t always mean charging into battle — sometimes it means writing down the truth about your world and refusing to apologise when people tell you to be quiet.

As Kathy says:

At seventeen, Kathy Lette lit a fuse that still burns bright today. She co-wrote Puberty Blues — the raw, funny, and confronting book that cracked open a national conversation about sexism, consent, and what it really meant to grow up female in Australia. It was banned. It was criticised. And it changed everything.

In this episode, host Sam Penny explores Kathy’s Spark, Struggle, and Breakthrough — how she turned outrage into art, pain into punchlines, and laughter into liberation. From fighting censorship in her teens to redefining modern feminism through wit, Kathy’s story is a masterclass in how honesty, courage, and a well-aimed joke can shift culture.

You’ll walk away inspired to speak up, laugh louder, and stop apologising for your truth.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How Puberty Blues became an act of rebellion that redefined Australian feminism
• Why humour is Kathy’s greatest weapon — and how you can use it to tell hard truths
• The difference between being liked and being heard
• What Kathy learned about resilience, motherhood, and bravery from raising her autistic son
• How to find your voice — and keep it — even when the world pushes back

Reflection Prompts from the Episode:

• Spark: I want to… / I am going to…
• Struggle: I am afraid that…
• Breakthrough: Even though I am afraid of… I will… anyway.

🎧 Listen to this episode wherever you get your podcasts — and don’t miss the full interview dropping Thursday.

👉 Watch the full video interview and explore Kathy’s Guest Hub at sampenny.com/kathy-lette

All week we’ve been exploring the story of Lachie Smart, who at just 18 became the youngest person to fly solo around the world. We heard the spark at his kitchen table, the struggles of sponsorship setbacks and near disaster, and the breakthrough that carried him 45,000 km across the globe.

But today isn’t about Lachie’s story — it’s about yours.

In this Action Friday episode, Sam Penny guides you to take the final step in the Spark → Struggle → Breakthrough → Action arc. You’ll:

• Reflect on Lachie’s lessons of bravery and persistence
• Complete the final sentence: “One thing I will do this week to make a difference is…”
• Choose one small, practical action that moves you closer to your own impossible goal
• Learn why accountability matters and how to make your action real by sharing it with someone you trust

Your spark, your struggle, your breakthrough — they all lead here. One action. This week. Because bravery isn’t about being fearless. It’s about doing the thing even with fear right beside you.

👉 Explore Lachie’s full guest hub: sampenny.com/lachie-smart

If this episode sparked something in you, share it with a friend who needs the same nudge — and don’t forget to subscribe to Why’d You Think You Could Do That? so you never miss your next spark.

#ActionFriday #LachieSmart #Bravery #WhyDidYouThinkYouCouldDoThat

At just 18 years old, Lachie Smart became the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world — a record-breaking journey of 45,000 kilometres, 24 countries, and 54 days alone in a single-engine plane. But this conversation goes deeper than the headline.

In this full interview with Sam Penny on Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, Lachie reveals how an ordinary teenager with no money, no flying background, and no certainty turned a kitchen-table spark into a world record. You’ll hear:

• The moment at 15 when he first declared, “I’m going to fly around the world”
• A year of rejection and sponsorship failures — and the pitch that finally worked
• The near-crash over Tasmania that almost ended the mission before it began
• Crossing the Pacific solo: fatigue, fear, and 13 hours with nowhere to land
• Bureaucratic battles, bribery attempts, and the kindness that broke him open in Sri Lanka
• The decision to trust his own eyes over air traffic control in Indonesia
• The emotional homecoming — and why he says “we,” not “I,” when he tells this story
• What life was really like after the record: the post-goal slump and the surprising lesson of empathy

Lachie’s story isn’t about being fearless. It’s about what happens when you keep moving forward with fear right beside you.

📍 Explore Lachie’s guest hub: sampenny.com/lachie-smart

If this episode sparked something in you, don’t keep it to yourself — share it with a friend who needs to hear that bravery doesn’t wait for permission. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss the next conversation that could be the spark for your own impossible.

#LachieSmart #SoloFlight #YoungestPilot #Bravery #ImpossibleGoals #WhyDidYouThinkYouCouldDoThat

At just 18 years old, Lachie Smart became the youngest person to fly solo around the world. But the real story isn’t the record he broke — it’s how he faced fear, doubt, and near disaster and still kept moving forward.

In this short Spark > Struggle > Breakthrough episode, Sam Penny helps you take Lachie’s lessons and apply them to your own life. You’ll complete three simple but powerful prompts:

• Spark: “I want to… I am going to…”
• Struggle: “I am afraid that…”
• Breakthrough: “Even though I am afraid of… I will… anyway.”

By the end, you’ll have your own map to bravery — and the next step towards your impossible goal.

🔥 Don’t miss the full interview with Lachie Smart, dropping this Thursday on Why’d You Think You Could Do That? You’ll hear the full story of how an ordinary teenager from the Sunshine Coast took on a dream the world thought was impossible.

👉 If this episode sparked something in you, share it with a friend who needs that same push.
👉 And be sure to subscribe to Why’d You Think You Could Do That? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — because the next story could be the spark you need.

This week, we’ve walked through the extraordinary journey of Mark Agnew.
On Tuesday, we explored his Spark, Struggle, and Breakthrough.
On Thursday, you heard the full interview — the humiliations, the storms, the polar bears, and the redemption of becoming the first to kayak the Northwest Passage.

Today, it’s about bringing it all together — because stories inspire us, but action transforms us.

In this Action episode, I’ll guide you through three practical steps inspired by Mark’s story:

• Reframe failure — Don’t label it as the end. Call it Act Two of your story and ask: What could this moment be preparing me for?
• Resilience is not toughness — Flexibility, humour, and leaning on others make us stronger than grit alone.
• Take a small act of courage — Complete the sentence: “Even though I’m afraid of ____, I will ____ anyway.”

And to close the loop on the Spark → Struggle → Breakthrough → Interview → Action arc, you’ll finish this sentence:

👉 “One thing I will do to make a difference…”

It doesn’t need to be big. It just needs to be yours.

Mark’s story reminds us that failure isn’t the opposite of success — it’s part of it.

🌍 Links

• Explore Mark’s story: sampenny.com/mark-agnew

• Take your own impossible goal seriously — work with me 1:1: sampenny.com/action

Episode: Mark Agnew — Failure, Resilience, and the Northwest Passage

Twice he set out to row the Atlantic. Twice he failed. One attempt ended in humiliation, splashed across newspapers as “Captain Calamity.” The second haunted him for years as he questioned whether he was truly an adventurer at all.

But failure didn’t end Mark Agnew’s story. It became the foundation of it.

In 2023, after 103 days in the Arctic, Mark and his team became the first to kayak the entire Northwest Passage — one of the last great polar challenges. Along the way, he faced polar bears, storms, fractured relationships, and the ghosts of his past.

What he discovered is that resilience isn’t about gritting your teeth. It’s about reframing failure, adapting, and finding meaning in the struggle

🔑 In This Episode

• Growing up in the shadow of adventure — his father mapping Patagonia and his mother travelling solo across Asia
• The humiliation of being rescued after just 48 hours at sea — and why he immediately wanted to try again
• The crushing weight of his second Atlantic failure, and how it became his “fork in the road”
• How a £50,000 scam nearly ended his dream before it began
• The polar bear encounter that tested his courage
• What 103 days in the Arctic taught him about resilience, camaraderie, and the meaning of adventure

🌟 Key Quotes

• “If you’re too tough, you can’t be resilient. Real resilience is about adapting, laughing at yourself, and being brave enough to know that asking for help isn’t weakness.”
• “Frame your struggles as part of the hero’s journey. The darkest moment isn’t the end — it’s the turning point.”
• “Failure didn’t define me. It refined me.”

🌍 Learn More

• Explore Mark’s world: sampenny.com/mark-agnew
• Work 1:1 with me to tackle your own bold goals: sampenny.com/action

Mark’s story is proof that failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s part of it.