Roll With The Punches

Righto, Tony Pearce is back. And yep, he’s still head down, tail up, doing wildly wholesome and mildly unhinged things in the name of mental health.
We rewound to Tony’s Trek in 2023, when he looked at the brutal reality of mental injury and suicide risk in emergency services and basically went, nah, we can’t just keep talking about this and doing nothing. So he walked 1500km through fire-affected parts of northeast and east Victoria and raised serious money for early intervention wellbeing programs. The kind that step in early, before someone’s “clinically diagnosed” and completely cooked.
Then came Everest Base Camp in 2024. Casual. And now in 2026 he’s cranking the dial again, paddling 2400km down the Murray over 50 days. That’s 45 to 50km a day, about seven hours on the water, every day, to raise awareness and another 50k for more residential wellbeing programs.
What I loved most was the honesty. No platitudes, no tidy endings. Just real talk about emergency service workers, mental health, and how much still slips through the cracks. Tony doesn’t sugarcoat it. Sometimes people don’t make it, even with love, purpose, and community around them. And that’s hard to sit with. But it’s exactly why early intervention matters, and why these conversations matter.
SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: www.testartfamilylawyers.com.au
TONY PEARCE
Website: facebook.com
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
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This one is basically me and Harps doing what we do best. Taking the piss, accidentally saying something deeply meaningful, then laughing so it doesn’t get too serious.
We talked about goals, plans, and why ticking boxes doesn’t always fix how you feel. That weird moment where you get the thing you thought you wanted and realise it wasn’t the antidote. Identity, perceived value, and the stuff we chase without really checking the cost.
Then we went down a rabbit hole on perception. Same wine, different label, different brain response. Which is equal parts fascinating and mildly terrifying. Because it turns out we’re not just living our lives, we’re interpreting them.
The hill doesn’t change. We do. And apparently the solution is either adaptation… or a glass of wine.
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Nicole Liddell is doing her PhD on coercive control, specifically how technology gets used to keep the control going even after someone leaves. And honestly, the examples are equal parts terrifying and ridiculously sneaky. Bank transfers with threats in the reference line. Smart home systems taken over remotely. A bloody robovac being used like a creepy little spy cam on wheels.
But the part that really landed was the human cost of researching this stuff when you’ve lived it. Nicole talks about going in 'eyes wide open', thinking she had it handled… then realising she didn’t. The immersion, the algorithms, the constant exposure, the nervous system never switching off. And then her body basically calling time on the whole thing.
From there, it turned into this really honest convo about hypervigilance, dating after dodgy history, rigidity, and learning to live in the messy middle instead of either fawning or fleeing. We talked self-respect, boundaries, communicating needs, and why 'fun' is not a cute extra, it’s medicine. And Nicole’s 2026 word is stewardship, which feels like the most grown-up, grounded way to say, I’m not sacrificing myself to the mission anymore. BOOM!!

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: www.testartfamilylawyers.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'Big Dog' Jason Blyth is BACK! An origin story so massive I didn't even attempt to cover it all in our first chat in episode 967... In our second chat (as we dart off in multiple directions along the way) we essentially came together to talk about Jason's biological father... what it was like seeking him out and meeting him, and the way trauma can shape identity like a shadow you didn’t ask for. We talk forgiveness and launch into the hero’s journey stuff, choice points, the dark cave, the dragon, the moment where you either change or repeat the pattern until it eats you alive.
Jason is a weapon of a human and one I'm blessed to have met last year and call a friend.. you loved the first ep with him and I know you're gonna love this one too!

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: www.testartfamilylawyers.com.au
JASON BLYTH
Website: jasonblyth.com
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mick Harrington is back, aka the Mower Man, and honestly I could listen to that bloke sing the phone book and still get emotional. But this time round we are getting fired up on all things bushfires... Funding. Public land management. The gap between decisions made in Spring Street and the reality on the ground when your town is literally on fire. Mick talked about communities being left vulnerable, old trucks, not enough fuel reduction, not enough basic roadside slashing, and the mental toll that sits in people’s bodies for years after the flames are gone. And the part that hit hardest was the “doers” story. People being told “no resources, you’re on your own” and still saving farms, neighbours, and half a town with sheer grit, old gear, and guts.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: www.testartfamilylawyers.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.