Local conversations matter.

Chris "Hendo" Henderson was a life-long "pretty decent" country footy player and corporate head kicker. Then, around 9 years ago, he was diagnosed with MS. What began as devastating news, soon made him reassess his values in life. He then followed an opportunity to try out for wheelchair footy and, within weeks was playing wheelchair AFL for Richmond. He then went on to captain Richmond and is the current captain-coach of Essendon.

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Hendo then went on to found Freedom Sports Foundation, a not-for-profit connecting kids and adults to wheelchair sports and providing pathways for people in wheelchairs to play sport at an elite level.

Hendo has also represented Australia at world championships for para beach volleyball and European handball.

This is an important conversation about how a life-shaking event can create purpose in a person's life and can lead to helping others find opportunity, connection and meaning, when previously there was only hurdles, isolation and lack of support.

To learn more or get involved with Freedom Sports Foundation visit their website here.

To listen to past episodes of Freedom Radio visit The Pulse website here or tune into 94.7 The Pulse on Mondays from 4-5pm.

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Vasili is the kind of household name in Australia that doesn't need a second name. Gardener, entrepreneur, musician and media identity, Vasili has been a part of the our TV screens and radio waves since the 1990's. Vasili has produced and hosted TV programs on Channel 31, SBS, and 7Two, and now has his own You Tube channel. Vasili has also hosts a greek language program on SBS radio has been a regular co-host on 3AW alongside Denis Walter for over 15 years.

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Vasili brings with him to the Rambling studio the kind of energy and enthusiasm that has made him a much loved part of our media landscape. He chats with Brian and Scott about growing up in a fish and chip shop in Coburg, what inspired him to dedicate his career and life to gardening, his rivalry with TVs other Greek gardening guru Costa Georgiadis, and how music has been a massive part of his life. He even brings in one of his piano-accordians to entertain and delight the Rambling lads.

This is one of our most freewheeling and fun episodes and we know you'll love listening to it!

You can follow Vasili on his website here or check out his show on You Tube here.

Shay Leighton is the founder and driving force behind Tough Guys Book Club. TGBC started as 2 blokes meeting in a pub beer garden in Collingwood because they needed a hobby, to now boasting almost 200 chapters and 10,000 members meeting in pubs across the world.

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The story of how TGBC has grown is inspiring; from an excuse to get out of the house, to a organisation helping blokes around the world to find a love of reading and to connect socially. Shay chats about his own challenges with reading and undiagnosed dyslexia when he was younger and how that has inspired him to help blokes challenge their reading habits and see literature as a way of making their lives fuller and more rewarding.

in the 14 years of running TGBC, Shay has stuck to his guns in the face of pressure to sell out, in particular in the face of a large sponsorship offer from a major sports betting agency which he knocked back to maintain the integrity of what he has built.

This episode is a must listen.

Tough Guys Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7pm and becoming a member is free. To find a chapter near you click here.

Shay Leighton is the founder and driving force behind Tough Guys Book Club. TGBC started as 2 blokes meeting in a pub beer garden in Collingwood because they needed a hobby, to now boasting almost 200 chapters and 10,000 members meeting in pubs across the world.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

The story of how TGBC has grown is inspiring; from an excuse to get out of the house, to a organisation helping blokes around the world to find a love of reading and to connect socially. Shay chats about his own challenges with reading and undiagnosed dyslexia when he was younger and how that has inspired him to help blokes challenge their reading habits and see literature as a way of making their lives fuller and more rewarding.

in the 14 years of running TGBC, Shay has stuck to his guns in the face of pressure to sell out, in particular in the face of a large sponsorship offer from a major sports betting agency which he knocked back to maintain the integrity of what he has built.

This episode is a must listen.

Tough Guys Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7pm and becoming a member is free. To find a chapter near you click here.

Jem Fuller is a leadership and communication coach on a mission to help people reconnect with themselves and with each other.

Jem reveals how, while camping on a secluded beach in India, he met an Englishman named Dave, which then led him to be adopted by a "holy family" living in a mountain temple in the Himalayas. This experience then inspired him to help others connect to their true selves and to the people in their lives. Jem and his partner Talia now lead mindfulness retreats in India, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Australia.

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We also chat to Jem about how AI is affecting our ability to connect with each other and our communities, how the age of AI presents an opportunity to bring back meaningful human interaction, and how we can improve our ability to communicate with others by removing our own prejudices from the conversations we have with them.

This is a great conversation with a bloke who has followed a path through life that seems to have been laid out for him and, in doing so, sees a way forward for us to become more human again.

To learn more about Jem, his coaching programs and his retreats visit his website here.

Listen to Jem's podcast The Unknown Path on Spotify here.

Nick Speak has been a professional cricketer and cricket coach since he was a teenager. Born in Manchester, Nick played first-class cricket for Lancashire from 1986 until 2000 including during their dominant era in the early to mid-nineties. Nick left Lancashire and moved to Durham where he played and captained from 2000-2001 when he retired.

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Nick then moved to Australia with his wife and children. He played and coached district cricket including for Melbourne and Dandenong, winning multiple premierships. Nick then became senior coach at Geelong Cricket Club until his retired last year.

Nick is also a writer and observer of the game. He publishes two Substack newsletters; Speaking Cricket, a cricketing newsletter, and A Different Sober, a daily observation of life and current affairs.

This is a fascinating and fun chat about a life playing cricket around the world. Nick chats about playing alongside some of the greats of the game such as Wasim Akram and Clive Lloyd and playing against some of the fiercest fast bowlers such as Malcom Marshall and Merv Highes. Nick also discussed some of the challenges facing professional sports people after retirement from the game they love.

To follow Nick on Substack subscribe to Speaking Cricket here or to A Different Sober here.

Check out the Play Stats app here.

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Graeme Stockton OAM has dedicated most of his life to caring and fighting for the local environment. He is the founder of the Surf Coast Environmental Group (SCEG) and the driving force behind the campaign to save the Spring Creek Valley from development. In June 2026 Graeme's tireless and selfless work was recognised when he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).

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In this important and enlightening conversation, Graeme reveals how a flier in local shop window changed the trajectory of his life forever, the damage human traffic has done to the clifftops around Bells Beach and surrounding areas, the work SCEG does to reverse that damage, and the importance of the Spring Creek Valley to the local Surf Coast eco-system. He also reveals how working at the local community level is the most effective way to make the change needed to save our planet from irreversible damage.

Graeme is incredibly passionate and knowledgable about the local environment and is fighting every day to make a difference locally and globally. His story is inspiring and incredibly important.

To get involved, support, or learn more about the Surf Coast Environment Group visit their website here.

RSVP for the the Spring Valley film and art exhibition here.

Contact the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny via email at sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au

To learn more about the Mount Rothwell sanctuary visit the website here.

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To support these conversations and to gain early access to episodes and access to exclusive, members only content, visit our Patreon page and become a member for just $5 per month.

Chris Moore is the publican of the Sir Charles Hotham Hotel in Geelong's CBD, a family owned and run pub in which 4 generations of Chris' family have worked behind the bar. "The Hoth" as it's affectionately known by regulars is still a classic, old-school inner-city pub in a time when developers are turning pubs in up-market dining experiences or pokies venues.

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Chris chats to the Rambling lads about the challenges facing pubs these days, what a pub means as a social gathering place to regulars, and how they managed to stay in touch with regulars during COVID-era lockdowns. He also talks about some of the incidents that have been a part of the Sir Charles Hotham's history, and why he considers himself an accidental publican after first running the pub when he was 18 years old and still running it with his wife 30 years later.

Chris is also the head coach the senior mens team of the Inverleigh Football Netball Club in the Geelong District Football League. He talks about how he took over the role in 2023 and led the club to their first senior premiership in 31 years. He also chats about the challenges facing local footy these days, what footy clubs mean to their local communities, and some of the challenges facing young men and how footy helps them in challenging times.

Check out the Sir Charles Hotham Hotel's website here.

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Patrick O'Callaghan is the lead singer of Irish rock band Double Shot Maggie, 2nd dan black belt in karate, and a facilitator of change and culture for government, not-for-profit, and government organisations. Patrick is a bloke who loves to live life to the fullest by challenging himself and always learning something new.

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In this episode Patrick chats with the Rambling lads about how a passion to always be learning new skills, a love of music and his Irish heritage, and his fascination as a kid with super-kangaroo Skippy lead him to where he is today.

This is a fun and rambling chat that covers everything from music, martial arts, organisational change, and how always being outside your comfort zone leads to a full and rewarding life.

Check out Patrick's band Double Shot Maggie here.

Learn more about Patrick's consulting work here.

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Rod "Rocket" Craig has life a full and fascinating life where career, family and footy have all intertwined. At the age of 62, Rod is still playing footy each week in the Victorian Metro Masters League and has always incorporated his love of playing footy and being around footy clubs into his life not matter where his career has taken him.

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Rod's career in logistics and project management has taken him all around the world, including Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. His vast experience has given him a unique outlook on life and he chat's to Brian and Scott about what he has learned and how he sees the world today.

Along the way Rod has played for 50 different footy clubs over the years and, along with his senior roles in multi-national companies, he has developed a keen sense of what makes a successful club and work culture.

We expected this conversation to be mostly about footy, but in the end it become so much more.

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Mark Smith is Surf Coast based author of five novels, including his critically acclaimed Winter Trilogy. The Road to Winter was shortlisted for multiple awards and is on the school curriculum around Australia. The sequel, Wilder Country won the 2018 Australian Indie Book Award for Young Adults. His first adult fiction novel, Three Boys Gone, was published in 2025 and his latest Where Truth Ends, has just been released.

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Mark's own story of how he became a professional writer is a classic sliding doors moment.

In this fascinating conversation we discover how Mark incorporates Country within his stories, his methodology of writing, and how his passion for teaching young people to love reading has shaped his career.

You can learn more about Mark here.

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Darren "Dags" Aitken is a market farmer with a life-long love of plants and the soil. He is champion of biodynamic farming and its importance in maintaining healthy and sustainable farming practices in the face of corporate industrial intervention in food production.

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Dags chats with Scott and Brian about the relationship between the soil and biodynamic farming practices and how small farms are struggling to stay relevant in the face of lack of government support and increasing bureaucracy. He also make a fascinating comparison between how farmers in China are supported by the government while in Australia they are increasingly being left to fend for themselves.

In typically Rambling fashion, the conversation twists and turns to finally ends up at Dags' love of Australian punk music and the live music scene in Geelong and Melbourne in the late 80's and early 90's.

To learn more about Darren Aitken and his farm Vortex Veggies, click here

or join him on his field day here.

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Rob Lytzki is one of the founders and directors of Foundation 61, a community organisation offering residential rehabilitation programs to men and women with drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues. Rob is a former Senior Australian of the Year nominee and an official Surf Coast Shire Local Legend.

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Rob discovered alcohol from a young age which led to years of sustained alcohol and drug abuse. He used drugs and alcohol as a way of hiding from trauma and grief he'd experienced throughout his life. Rob then found a way through his addiction and, long with his wife and 3 other founders began offering accommodation to recovering addicts. This evolved into what is now Foundation 61 a residential rehab facility in Mount Duneed between Geelong and Torquay offering a 15 bed facility for men and a 6 bed facility for women.

This is an incredibly heartfelt and revealing conversation with a bloke who has used the experience of his own emotional suffering and addiction issues to help others overcome theirs.

Learn more about Foundation 61 by visiting their website here.

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Shaun McLeod was working as a plumber when he had a life-changing experience in the Andes mountains in Peru which turned his focus toward permaculture and helping people connect with their gardens and make the best use of their backyards with intelligent design and permaculture principles of sustainability and zero waste.

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In this chat, Shaun explains what he means by "foodscaping" and "water harvesting" and how we can turn even the smallest spaces into productive gardens. We also discuss the importance of retaining the knowledge of how to grow our own food, composting as a key element to sustainable gardening, the role chickens can play in the suburban backyard, and we unpack what a shamanic permaculture course actually is and how undertaking one changed Shaun's life.

Shaun's radio program "Diggin' It", is on 94.7 The Pulse on Thursday afternoons from 2-3pm. You can listen it live on the Community Radio Plus app or listen back to it anytime on The Pulse website.

You can learn more about Shaun on his website Intuitive Garden Design or follow him on Instagram.

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To listen to this episode ad-free and to gain access to exclusive. members only content, visit our Patreon page and become a member for just $5 per month.

Jay Williams is the President of Surf Coast Suns Football Club. After 10 years of fielding junior football teams, the Suns have fielded a senior mens team in the Bellarine Football League for the first time this year. Against all expectations, the Suns had their first win in just their second game.

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Jay chats to Scott and Brian about the incredible journey from being a junior club to the newest senior club in a strong league, being the second club in a town that already boasts one of the strongest clubs in the region, and the expectations for the club both on and off the field.

Jay also talks reveals what drives him to be the founding President of a football club while also juggling family and running his own business.

This is a fascinating insight into the passion behind grassroots football and a welcome good news story when their so many country clubs struggling to survive.

To find out more about the Surf Coast Suns visit their website here.

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