Tom Jenkins looked functional from the outside. He held down jobs, travelled the world and kept life moving forward. But underneath, he was trapped in a cycle of binge drinking, gambling, shame, self-destruction and trying to outrun himself.

In this brutally honest conversation, Tom talks openly about:

• blackouts, cocaine and waking up in places he couldn’t remember
• the loneliness and low self-worth driving his behaviour
• erectile dysfunction, porn and why so many men suffer in silence
• why “having fun” slowly became a way of escaping himself
• the moment he realised he couldn’t keep living this way

But this episode isn’t just about addiction. It’s about the deeper question underneath it all: What are men really trying to numb, avoid or hide from?

Tom also shares how he slowly began rebuilding his life through honesty, changing his environment, self-reflection, healthier habits and eventually exploring psychedelics and ayahuasca in a controlled setting.

This is a raw conversation about shame, masculinity, loneliness, self-forgiveness and what recovery actually looks like when you stop pretending everything is fine.

You can find Tom’s book 'The Drunk Gambler with Erectile Dysfunction: Searching for Something More' on Amazon and through other online retailers. If you want to contact Tom, you can do so via his website: https://www.thedrunkgambler.com/.

When Samuel Shepherd was diagnosed with a rare terminal blood cancer, doctors told him there was no treatment, no cure, and possibly very little time left. For many people, that would have been the end of the story. For Samuel, it became the beginning of an obsession.

A physicist, engineer and inventor with decades of experience across biochemistry, environmental science and high-level government projects, Samuel turned all of his knowledge towards one goal: staying alive. What followed was years of relentless research, experimentation and a refusal to accept inevitability.

This conversation is different from most episodes of Mid-Life Men. It’s part survival story, part deep dive into inflammation, disease and the science behind Samuel’s discovery of a naturally occurring molecule called 'astaxanthin' – and why he believes it changed everything for him.

But beneath the science is something more human:

• what happens psychologically when you’re told your life may be ending
• how fear can completely change shape
• why purpose matters when everything familiar falls away
• and what relentless determination really looks like in practice

Whether you agree with Samuel’s conclusions or not, this is a fascinating conversation about resilience, mortality, curiosity and refusing to give up when the odds look impossible.

If you want to find independent research on astaxanthin, go to the National Institute of Health website or the National Center for Biotechnology Information. To find out more about ValAsta as a supplement, visit Valasta.net.

At 47, Jack Clifford was told he had a 100% blocked LAD “widowmaker” artery and needed emergency triple bypass surgery.

Instead, he walked out of the hospital.

Partly because he didn’t feel like the kind of man this was supposed to happen to. Partly because he’d watched his mother suffer cognitive decline after heart surgery and was terrified of losing himself in the process.

What followed was a five-year journey that completely changed how he thought about health, ageing, and survival.

In this episode, Jack explains why he chose not to follow the path doctors recommended and instead turned to biohacking, lifestyle change, and a little-known non-invasive treatment called EECP (Enhanced External Counterpulsation) - a therapy designed to help the body grow new collateral blood vessels naturally.

Now 52, Jack says he’s running faster than he was at 40 and living without cardiac symptoms.

This is not a reckless “ignore doctors” conversation or a miracle cure story. It’s a grounded discussion about fear, midlife health, identity, and what happens when men realise the life they’ve built has come at a physical cost.

We discuss:

• The shock of being told your heart is failing
• Why so many men ignore warning signs
• Fear around surgery and loss of identity
• Biohacking, recovery, and cardiovascular health
• What EECP therapy actually is
• Diet, fasting, exercise, stress, and long-term change
• Why nothing changed overnight

If you want to find out more about EECP, Jack and his book, then visit his website https://eecpbook.com/

This episode contains an open and honest conversation about suicidal thoughts. We've chosen not to shy away from the reality of what that experience feels like because we believe that hearing it spoken about directly can help people feel less alone. If you're affected by what you hear, we'll share contact information at the end of the show notes of organisations you can reach out to right now.

For a long time, Graham Noble looked like a man handling life. Career. Family. Five children. Constantly working. From the outside thriving. But whenever pressure built, another thought would creep in: there is always a way out.

At first it was just a quiet voice in the background. As the years went on - money pressure, work stress, divorce, alcohol, trying to carry everything - that voice got louder, and sometimes it stopped being abstract.

Sometimes Graham became convinced that ending his life might be the only way to make everything stop.

This is a brutally honest conversation about what that looked like behind closed doors while outwardly still appearing to function.

Graham talks about the drinking that became routine, the isolation of spending night after night alone in hotels, the guilt of feeling he had to keep fixing everything, the day his children found him collapsed, and the point at which suicidal thoughts became not just feelings but practical planning.

He also talks about something many men will recognise: reaching for help, then pulling back because admitting the full truth feels too risky, too disruptive, and dealing with the consequences doesn't work to keep things from derailing.

What changed was not one dramatic breakthrough. It was the slow process of finding reasons to keep going.

Small goals. Future dates. Physical challenges. Honest conversations. Reconnecting with family. Eventually sharing how he left and letting other people in.

For Graham, one of the biggest turning points came through taking on Kilimanjaro, not because climbing a mountain magically solves anything, but because he found something ahead of him that required him to still be here.

This episode is about male pressure, alcohol, financial fear, carrying responsibility, hidden suicidal thoughts, and the dangerous gap between looking functional and actually being okay.

A very real and very important conversation.

If you want to contact Graham you can find him on LinkedIn just search for Graham Noble. You can also visit his website: https://www.vertical-sky.com/ to find out more about Kilimanjaro climbing trips.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, there are organisations you can call now. In the UK, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123. In the US, you can call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

As always, the advice is to speak to a GP or mental health professional.

Seejai was a Division I basketball player with a professional future in his sights.

Then, without warning, his body started telling a different story.

What he thought were manageable breathing issues became a serious heart condition, the end of the sporting path he had spent years working towards, and eventually two heart transplants.

In this conversation, Seejai talks openly about the shock of watching life veer away from the plan you had in your head and the mental toll that comes with trying to process that while still pretending you’re coping.

We talk about denial, drinking, anger, regret, and the strange pressure men put on themselves to stay strong when privately they feel frightened and completely out of control.

This is also a conversation about resilience, but not in the neat motivational sense. More the reality of waking up each day and deciding to keep going when your body has let you down and your future no longer looks familiar.

Seejai reflects on facing mortality twice, the survivor’s guilt that followed, the people who gave him strength when he needed it most, and why music became an outlet when almost everything else had been stripped away.

His circumstances are unusual. The experience of having life not go the way you planned is not.

This episode is for any man who has had to rethink who he is, where he’s heading, and how to keep moving when none of it looks the way he expected.

If you want to listen to Seejai’s music, you can find him on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and on other channels. You can also find his book: The Transplant Journey Journal on Amazon.

Most men know something is wrong before anything goes seriously wrong. The sleep getting worse. The energy is not quite there. The body that used to be forgiving and now isn't. The sense that somewhere along the way, you stopped being a priority even to yourself.

Dr. Ken Ro has spent decades in emergency medicine watching men arrive at crisis points that, in nearly every case, had been building for years. Not because they were careless or ignorant, but because the way men are wired - to provide, to absorb, to keep going - makes it almost impossible to stop and take inventory before something forces you to.

In this conversation, Ken talks honestly about what he saw in the ER, what he saw in himself, and what he now does about it.

This isn't an episode about quick fixes or supplements or hitting the gym five times a week. It's about something harder and more useful: understanding why men end up where they do and what it actually takes to change course.

What you'll hear in this episode:

Ken explains the "triple provider effect" - the invisible pressure that puts men in the middle of everyone else's needs with nothing coming back in and why the healthcare system is structurally set up to miss them entirely.

He talks about the physical warning signs men consistently dismiss as normal ageing - fractured sleep, afternoon crashes, declining eyesight, erectile dysfunction - and why these aren't just inconveniences but early signals of something systemic that can be addressed.

He challenges the idea that motivation is what you need to change. It isn't. He explains what actually works and it's simpler and more uncomfortable than most men want to hear.

He talks about identity. About how the story men tell about who they are - provider, problem solver, the one who holds it together - becomes the thing that prevents them from getting help. And about what it looks like to rewrite that story without losing yourself in the process.

And he shares what he tells men who feel like they've left it too late. They haven't. But the window doesn't stay open indefinitely.

If you're in your forties or fifties and you've been putting yourself last for long enough that you've stopped noticing you're doing it, this conversation is worth 40 minutes of your time.

Dr. Kenneth Ro is the author of Prime: Winning the Second Half of Life and practices at KennethRoMD.com.

Most men are good at one thing: Keeping going.

Through stress.
Through pain.
Through things not quite working.

Until eventually, it all starts catching up.

In this episode, I’m joined by Cam Cordin, who at 44 found himself physically broken, in constant pain, his marriage collapsing, his work unstable, and at a point where he didn’t want help.

Instead, he made a private contract with himself: 911 days to rebuild his body and his life, or he was out.

What followed wasn’t a dramatic turnaround. It was a slow, methodical rebuild, built on simple, repeatable actions rather than big promises.

What makes this episode different.

This isn’t about motivation or mindset.

It’s about doing basic things properly, consistently and how much difference that actually makes.

Cam talks about things most men overlook:

• being chronically dehydrated and how it affects your thinking, stress levels and energy
• how clutter — physical and mental — creates constant background pressure
• why making decisions all day drains you more than you realise
• the importance of having simple systems so you don’t rely on willpower
• why trying to do too much too fast usually leads to burnout

Why you should listen

Because a lot of men aren’t broken. They’re just:

• tired
• overloaded
• running on empty
• trying to think their way out of problems instead of simplifying things

This episode is a reminder that sometimes the fix isn’t complicated, it’s about getting the basics right.

What you’ll take from this conversation

• why dehydration is more common than you think — and how it quietly affects mood, focus and stress
• how clearing your environment can reduce mental noise almost immediately
• why planning simple routines removes pressure and decision fatigue
• how small, structured actions can stabilise things when life feels off
• why discipline works best when it’s simple and repeatable

This is a conversation about stripping things back. Not adding more.
Not chasing motivation. Just making your life easier to manage so you can think clearly again.

If you want to find out more about Cam, visit his website savagechillstyle.com. You can find his book Savage Chill, Die to Live by Cam Cordin on Amazon.

What if nothing is wrong in your life… but you don’t feel anything anymore?

Some men don’t break down. They just go numb.

They keep working, providing, showing up… but inside something has quietly switched off.

In this episode I speak with Kenyada Meadows, a former Wall Street executive who calls this “hollow man syndrome” - when you look successful on the outside but feel empty inside.

Kenyada talks openly about the slow realization that success doesn’t always equal fulfillment, the pressure many men feel to stay strong while feeling disconnected, and why so many men withdraw rather than speak when something isn’t right.

What makes this conversation different is the way he breaks down how men become “hollow”, not through failure, but through years of putting expectations, work, and responsibility ahead of themselves until they lose touch with who they are.

What we explore:

• Why many successful men still feel unfulfilled
• The hidden cost of always being “the strong one”
• Why men often express pain through silence rather than words
• How career success can sometimes mask deeper dissatisfaction
• Why many men don’t realise they’re struggling until relationships start to suffer
• How to start rebuilding a life that actually feels like yours.

Why might want to listen if you recognize any of these signs:

• Feeling flat when life should feel good
• Losing excitement for things you used to enjoy
• Feeling pressure to keep going even when something feels off
• Wondering if this is just what adulthood is supposed to feel like.

This episode is about recognising those signals early and asking better questions about how you want to live not just what you’re expected to achieve.

You can find out more about Kenyada by visiting his website The Executive Parent Company or you can listen to his podcast Executive Dad on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other channels.