F*ck, I’m Nearly 50!

Season 2 · Episode 10 | Charlie Puchala

We can make decisions all day, then find ourselves explaining away someone’s behaviour because we love who they could become. Charlie Puchala and I talk about dating potential, knowing what we want and what changes when we ask, “Would I actually choose him?”

Charlie is a businesswoman, mother, pilot and the author of Sex Money Control. We get into learned expectations, independence and the difference between analysing ourselves and giving ourselves a hard time. There are strong opinions, a few uncomfortable questions and some much more personal moments: leaving home at 22, finding adventure, and recognising that shutting down can hurt the people we love. I bring my own yearbook stress into the conversation too.

Inside our conversation

• Why we can fall for someone’s potential while overlooking the behaviour in front of us.
• Learning to question the expectations we grew up with, and getting clearer about our own boundaries.
• Charlie’s four pillars: emotional, mental, physical and financial, and how she uses them to reflect on her life.
• Analysing a behaviour without attacking your worth, and why an apology needs a change behind it.
• What Charlie’s research conversations with men actually involved, and the questions we ask in work but can overlook in relationships.
• Financial independence making life easier while introducing different challenges in love.
• A Greyhound trip, a love of adventure and Charlie’s admission that going quiet is something she wants to work on.
• Three questions to come back to: who are you, what do you want and why do you want it?

Take something from the chat into your week

Make a little time for those three questions. Then choose one small behaviour you would like to change in your own life, and think about what that could look like today.

Where shall we go next?

Vashti Whitfield on reframing your life - if the conversation about old patterns and what you want next stayed with you.

Ash BG on the mental load - to keep exploring expectations, relationships and shared responsibility.

Connect with Charlie

Charlie’s website
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Season 2 · Episode 9 | Camilla Thompson
Another test, another tracker, another thing we’re apparently supposed to be doing. Have we made health too complicated? Camilla Thompson and I ask whether looking after ourselves has become another bloody job, and how we make room for a life we actually want to live.
Camilla is the founder of BioHackMe. I confess that the word biohacking gives me the ick, even as I find myself drawn to the data and experiments. We get into individual differences, the pressure to optimise, biological-age tests and what deserves our time, money and attention. Camilla also shares experiments she wouldn’t repeat. There’s room to disagree, change your mind and find a little more joy.
Inside our conversation
What Camilla means by biohacking, and why the same routine won’t suit everybody.
Her experience of illness and the path that brought her to BioHackMe.
When tracking helps us understand ourselves, and when the numbers become another source of pressure.
Her “16 years younger” GlycanAge result, what that test measured and why another test gave her a different answer.
Supplements, recovery tools and emerging treatments: personal experiments, unanswered questions and where caution matters.
The experiments Camilla wouldn’t repeat, and giving ourselves permission to change our minds.
Connection, joy and the small routines we can actually keep doing.
This conversation includes personal health experiences and discussion of emerging treatments. A biological-age test result is not proof of added lifespan, and a personal experience does not establish that a treatment is safe or effective. Discuss decisions about your own health with an appropriately qualified clinician.
Take something from the chat into your week
The free companion guide includes eight everyday tips, an optional AI-admin shortcut, four questions before buying and Camilla’s simple starting points. Choose one thing for a seven-day experiment. No sign-up needed.
Visit this episode’s website page for the conversation notes and guide.
Where shall we go next?
Karen Van Esveld on bones and strength - to keep exploring what we want our bodies to keep doing in the years ahead.
Dr Mark Williams on screens and attention - if our chat about tracking and the things competing for our attention stayed with you.
Connect with Camilla
BioHackMe

Watch this conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVEsIelWOhM
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Season 2 · Episode 8 | Ash BG
The milk, the school bags, the appointment nobody else remembered. If you’re tired of being the person who notices everything, come and have a listen. Ash BG and I talk about the work that happens in our heads before anyone sees a task, and why sharing the jobs is only part of the conversation.
Ash is the writer behind You Wanted This and the founder of Tether. We get into motherhood, resentment, whose career bends when family life needs something, and what our children learn by watching us. Ash asks men to take more responsibility; I ask what all of us can do differently. We don’t agree on every starting point, and that’s part of what makes this such a worthwhile chat.
Inside our conversation
Why having a baby can pull even progressive couples into traditional roles, and why “give me a list” leaves the thinking with the same person.
Parental leave, workplace flexibility and the assumption that Mum’s career can absorb the disruption.
The milk example, my before-7.30-am list, and how Tether makes cognitive and emotional labour visible.
The manosphere, pornography, consent, healthy intimacy and the need for better male role models.
Our discussion of reported sexual violence involving young people, victim blaming, school culture, consistent discipline and leadership.
Why jokes about harm matter, the reluctance to speak up, and the barriers people describe around accountability.
Making room for boys’ emotions, questioning inherited relationship patterns, and what “decentring men” means to Ash.
The rapid-fire questions: apologising, shared responsibility, respect, hope and an honest conversation with yourself.
This conversation includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse.
Take something from the chat into your week
Get the free mental-load guide on the podcast website. Try the exercise or use the question to start a conversation.
Visit this episode’s website page for the guide, player and transcript.
Where shall we go next?
Vashti Whitfield on reframing your life: if our chat about old patterns and who you are beyond your roles stayed with you.
Dr Mark Williams on screens and attention: to keep exploring what our online habits model for our children.
Connect with Ash
You Wanted This · Tether · Tether on Instagram · Tether on the App Store

Watch this conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0JFfbZYMms

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Season 2 · Episode 7 | Dawid Naude
If AI feels like one more thing you’re supposed to understand already, you’re in good company. Dawid Naude and I talk about where to begin, what this change might mean for our work, and the experience we already bring to it. You don’t need a perfect prompt to have a go.
Dawid is the founder of Pathfindr. We move from AI as an adviser to tools that can carry out tasks, then get into small business, education, career changes and the human judgement that still matters. I share my 15-minutes-a-day learning plan and a very ordinary use for AI: sorting dinner from what’s in the fridge.
Inside our conversation
AI agents and computer use: Dawid’s insurance-refund story and turning ideas into prototypes.
How professional services and jobs may change, and why trust, empathy and relationships matter.
Opportunities for Australian small businesses, entrepreneurs and people changing direction.
AI as a personalised tutor, and Dawid’s use of it for reflection, resilience and leadership.
Education, degrees, attitude and work readiness, including what experience can bring in midlife.
Subscriptions, privacy, data and questions to ask before choosing a tool.
Three ways to give an AI tool useful context: use voice, let it ask five questions, and keep working through the answer together.
One thing to try
Pick one real task. Ask the tool to ask you five questions before it suggests an answer, then talk through the context. Start with something you can check and learn as you go.
Take the conversation with you
Get this episode’s free guide on the podcast website. Pick one idea to try this week.
Visit this episode’s website page for the guide and full conversation.
Where shall we go next?
Dr Mark Williams on screens and attention: if you’re wondering how to use technology while making room to think.
Lidia Ranieri on finding clarity: for the permission to be a beginner again.
From this episode
Pathfindr · Dawid on LinkedIn · Start Learning AI

Watch this conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzJrJdaBJ-I

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Season 2 · Episode 6 | Karen Van Esveld
For years, I thought eating well and exercising was enough. Then Karen asked whether I’d ever had a DEXA scan. That question took our chat somewhere quite different: what do I want my body to keep doing for the next 30 years?
Karen and I talk about bones, muscle, nutrition and understanding our own health information. We get into the difference between bone-density and body-composition scans, the changes around menopause, and why the answer isn’t simply another supplement. Carrying the bags, travelling, getting up off the floor. There’s a whole life behind the numbers.
Inside our conversation
Bone density, osteoporosis and osteopenia, and why menopause belongs in the conversation.
Diagnostic bone-density scans versus body-composition scans: what question is a test meant to answer?
Muscle, strength and everyday function, alongside weight and appearance.
Protein, calcium, food choices and the limits of a quick fix.
Blood tests, individual health information and interpreting results with professional help.
Sleep, movement, hormones and nutrition as parts of a bigger picture.
The health myths and supplement promises Karen questions.
Organising your health information and making room for the questions you keep putting off.
One thing to try
Write down one thing you want your body to keep doing, and one question you want to ask at your next health appointment. You don’t have to understand every number before asking for help.
Take the conversation with you
Get this episode’s free guide on the podcast website. Pick one idea to try this week.
Visit this episode’s website page for the guide and full conversation.
Where shall we go next?
Amelia Phillips on inflammation and movement: to keep exploring strength and manageable health habits.
Dr Mary Revelas on longevity: for another conversation about your own health questions and the noise around ageing.
From this episode
Wellset Nutrition & Pilates · LinkedIn · Instagram

Watch this conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6pXsJeHNZA

Let me know what you'd love to hear about next.
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