Relating to Men

With special guest:

• Jasmin Newman

Why would a mother of two children living in the idyllic town of Merimbula on the south coast of NSW become an advocate for men and their children? Jasmin Newman is the right person to ask.

Jasmin tells us she was affronted by the lack of social justice towards men in our society where the pain of many men is ignored and dismissed as irrelevant. At the extreme end of this pain is the despair and hopelessness associated with suicide. We hear from Jasmin the truly extraordinary information that on average 39 men are recorded in the Australian statistics every week as “death by suicide.”

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Walk Across Borders

With special guest:

• Steven Monk-Dalton

Our guest today Steven Monk-Dalton has not seen his daughter for five years despite making every effort through the legal system to be reunited. Steven is a victim of International Parental Child Abduction with the relevant countries on this occasion being Spain and England. The frustration after being let down many times got Steven thinking about other options because as he tells us he will never give up trying to see his daughter .

Steven always said that he would walk through any borders if it meant seeing his daughter again so the idea formed of walking from Orihuela Court in Spain to the Royal Court of Justice in London England. This involves walking across France in a 44 day journey doing on average 42 kilometres a day which is the Olympic marathon distance.

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Living with Prostate Cancer

With special guest:

• Max Michell

We hear a lot of statistics relating to community health. We see major campaigns that raise the awareness of different threats to our everyday life. But the knowledge and awareness of prostate cancer has a long way to go if it is going to arrive at good community awareness.

The sad part is that if more men went for regular check-ups they could be getting the diagnosis and treatment that would save their lives. Prostate cancer after diagnosis has one of the highest 5 year survival rates compared with other cancers at 92%.

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National Emergency – Suicide Rates for Our Men

With special guest:

• Anthony Smith

1901 male deaths by suicide were recorded in 2012 along with another 634 females meaning a total of 2,535 Australians lost their lives in this way. There has been no significant improvement in the period since these figures became available.

Our guest today, Anthony Smith, argues that these figures are conservative and the belief of the people working in this area is that the figure for men should be some 500 higher. Reasons for this conservatism include the shortfall in the number of Coronial enquiries and the general reluctance of Coroners to brand a sudden death as suicide because this only makes it harder for the surviving family members to deal with the tragedy.

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Father’s Day: Sad for some Dads

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

In our interview today Karen tells us that she was asked by a Dad in May 2013 to do some research on the injustices in the Family Court and Child Support systems. This Dad was desperate to spend more time with his own children and suspected there was more going on than the general population is aware of.

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Man Code

With special guest:

• Carolyn Managh

Carolyn Managh, the Man Whisperer, comes to our program today to lift the lid on what Australian men think about masculinity, women, and brands treating them like idiots. To do this Carolyn interviewed 140 Australian men including influential leaders and role models from diverse aspects of Australian life. These included Australian men in business, sport, men’s brands, military, popular culture, health, hospitality, construction and more.

The resulting data is statistically significant and it also paints a picture of what Australian men think on issues such as whether chivalry is dead. On the question of whether Australian men are romantic Carolyn’s conclusion is that Aussie men do want the romance but they want to include an element of surprise.

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Torn

With special guest:

• Simon Williams

Simon Williams is a big strong Queenslander. We find him living in Florida USA, a long way from home with a heartbreaking story to tell.

Simon left Queensland for the USA with his qualifications as a Physiotherapist in his back pocket. After landing a job in Florida he joined the local rugby team where he was instantly identified by his accent as being from a strong rugby nation. While not reaching the heights of Wallaby selection Simon was selected for the Florida state rugby team and went on tour to Uruguay. This is one of the many adventures described by Simon in his new book Torn: The Story of an Undeserving Wallaby Drowning in a Septic Tank. This book is earthy, funny and provides a fresh look at our friends on the other side of the Pacific but there is an undercurrent throughout the book which is what we pick up on in the interview.

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Daddy’s OK

With special guest:

• Dean Mason

In his book Daddy’s OK: Fathers’ stories of separation, divorce and rebuilding author Dean Mason takes us into the world of 14 families that have been through the trauma of separation and divorce. The 2006 Census showed that 50% of children in single parent families never have an overnight stay with the other parent, normally the Dad. But if our eyes glass over when contemplating the tens of thousands of Dads in this situation Dean brings it back to the individual personal level with these real life stories from his days as National Chairman of Dads in Distress Support Services.

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Justice 4 Liam Magill

With special guest:

• Cheryl King

Cheryl King is a strong believer in social justice and a loyal friend who does not shy away from a fight with the biggest institutions in the country.

Cheryl met Liam Magill in 1999 when Liam had to contend not only with the trauma many men face after marriage breakdown but also a twist that turned into a nightmare.

At first Liam ignored the strong indications that maybe he was not the biological father of his three children from the marriage but DNA testing confirmed his worst fears. Two of the three children were not his but resulted from an affair that his then wife Meredith had engaged in with a family friend. Worse, the children had been turned against him and the Child Support Agency was after his life savings.

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Mendemic: Inside the man cave

With special guest:

• Cindy Rochstein

Cindy Rochstein is very clear about this. She is not a man and her book Mendemic is not telling her story.

However this outsider has been granted access in an unprecedented way to the complex lives of her male subjects. The stories Cindy chooses to include will help all of us understand the difference between the stereotypical male and the individual male as she takes us on adventure. Mendemic presents the raw voices of the male contributors, some forty men of many different ages and backgrounds who surprised Cindy and sometimes themselves with their openness and rare insights.

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Reservoir Dad

With special guest:

• Clint Greagen

Our guest today provides us with an entertaining peek into what is still an unusual career in our society. Clint Greagen is a stay-at-home Dad with the skills of an award-winning blogger who tells us about his life in suburban Melbourne with four boy-children and a loving working wife.

There is nothing un-masculine about Clint’s struggles as he is assigned to buy breast pads for his wife and to do the cooking / washing / cleaning for the family. He has to juggle these responsibilities and apply some logic in the middle of the chaos and craziness.

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The other glass ceiling: fathers stepping up, mothers letting go

With special guest:

• Charles Areni

In the news lately there have been frequent references to pay differentials between males and females. This is often put down to the different opportunities available in the workplace because of gender roles that are a hangover from a less-enlightened past. But what about the denial of opportunities to look after the children and get involved in other areas around the home? In brief, Mums have too many roles, Dads have too few.

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NAIDOC Week 2015

With special guest:

• Dale Huddleston

We hear a lot about “the Intervention”, Aboriginal incarceration rates, and problems in Aboriginal communities. Not so much about the positive stories relating to the original inhabitants of Australia.

In today’s program we have an opportunity to listen to Dale Huddleston who is a renowned Aboriginal artist and musician, Chairman of the Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation and Outreach Worker for the Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation in Canberra.

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SAMSN (Survivors & Mates Support Network)

With special guest:

• Mark Griffiths

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is increasing our awareness of the harm done to the vulnerable children in our midst. But while we wait for a government response to the revelations, one group is out there now healing the distress for victims.

SAMSN was established in 2010 by two survivors of childhood sexual abuse when they discovered that there were no support groups to help them. SAMSN is a not-for-profit organisation that is not affiliated with any religious organisation.

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Still a Pygmy

With special guest:

• Isaac Bacirongo

When you are born and raised in Australia you know little about life as a refugee despite it being a frequent topic for conversation and opinion. Most of us have never spoken to a refugee.

Our guest today is Isaac Bacirongo who arrived in Sydney in 2003 with his wife and ten children as refugees after surviving the effects of Rwanda’s civil war in his own country, Congo.

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Men's Health Week 2015

With special guest:

• Prof Gary Richardson

There is a health crisis affecting 49% of the Australian population, namely Australian men.

The establishment of Foundation 49: Men’s Health is a direct response aimed at improving the health of Australian men. The figures are mind-blowing with more than four men dying every hour from potentially preventable conditions.

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Schools of Fish

With special guest:

• Alan Sampson

Schools of Fish won the 2015 Finch Memoir Prize for author Alan Sampson, a Queenslander, who by telling us about his own experiences lets us find out much about the importance of a father’s relationship with his children. A big part of the story relates to Alan’s role as Principal at the well-known Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane. There are times at school when personal courage is required as well as unshakable integrity if favourable results are to be achieved.

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COOKING for Kids BY DADS

With special guest:

• Mick Both

When you listen to Mick’s interview, just like when you see his face looking straight at you on the cover of his new book you know the sort of bloke he is. Mick is a straight shooter with a background in the military who takes us into the kitchen on a practical mission. COOKING for Kids BY DADS does not assume any prior knowledge of the essential art of cooking. In language we can all understand and with gorgeous photos we get the picture on how Dad can go from zero to hero with his kids and his family generally.

This book is most needed when Dad suddenly realises that for whatever reason he should be the one doing the cooking. This could be due to one-off events or when a more permanent arrangement is required and Dad cannot rely on a significant other to feed the hungry. Not that some Mums haven’t caught up with the benefits of being able to leave Dad in the kitchen or to brush up themselves on a few basics.

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Fathers and Daughters – What are the issues?

With special guest:

• Professor Linda Nielsen

Our guest, Professor Linda Nielsen speaks to us today from North Carolina in the United States about a topic that nearly everyone has a stake in but on which there is very little guidance. How important is the relationship between a daughter and her father? This topic has been explored by Dr Nielsen in her latest book Father-Daughter Relationships: Contemporary Research & Issues.

Many studies have been directed at the importance of a mother’s relationships with her children. But a father may need some reassurance about the value of his relationship with his daughter particularly if he feels more comfortable with his son. The first thing we get to check with Dr Nielsen is what is it that fathers do for their daughters? Are they really needed?

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International Missing Children’s Day – 25 May

With special guest:

• Rebecca Kotz

The Global Missing Children’s Network (GMCN) is a network of 22 partner agencies co-chaired by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). Participating countries range from Albania to the USA. The global campaign of this network is called Help Bring Them Home and it is being led by the AFP.

May 25, International Missing Children’s Day, is the day when people in Australia and around the world commemorate the missing children who have found their way home, the victims who did not come back and the continuing efforts to find those still missing.

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