Between Two Beers Podcast

This one’s an adults-only episode - sexual themes and language throughout, so maybe not for the school drop-off. 18+.Melissa Vranjes is a certified holistic sex and relationship coach, and she joins us to tackle the stuff most couples never figure out how to talk about.Steve plays the sacrificial lamb on mismatched libido, and Melissa reframes the whole thing: it’s not a mismatch, it’s a discrepancy - just a difference, like one of you loving mushrooms and the other hating them.From there: why exhaustion kills desire in the early parenting years, the one tool she gives every couple in a sexless relationship, the weekly relationship check-in she swears by, what “choreplay” actually is and why the mental load is foreplay, and a no-holds-barred listener Q&A on everything from finishing too fast to dead bedrooms to keeping things alive after years together.Plus Melissa’s own story - seven years on superyachts to a workshop in Bali that changed her life - and a “sex lore” segment settling the myths you’ve always wondered about.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains frank discussion of addiction, depression, suicide and self-harm, and may not be suitable for all listeners. Please take care while listening. Support details are at the end of this description.Mike King is one of the most recognisable figures in New Zealand. Comedian, broadcaster, mental health campaigner, former New Zealander of the Year: he's been all of them, and he's spent the last few years at the centre of a national conversation about how we look after our young people.But the man behind the headlines is rarely the one the public gets to see. In this wide-ranging kōrero, King sits down for the longest and most personal conversation he's given in years.He traces the whole arc: a childhood spent certain he'd never be good enough, the delayed path through kitchens and the Merchant Navy, the comedy career that made him a household name, and the rock bottom that nearly ended everything.He talks with unusual honesty about getting clean, the moment that made him walk away from comedy for good, and how a late-night radio slot became the beginning of I Am Hope and Gumboot Friday. Along the way he reflects on the criticism that follows him, the toll of the work, and why he recently stepped back from the charity he built.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.If anything in this episode brings things up for you, support is available.Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time, 24 hours a day, to speak with a trained counsellor.Free counselling for young people is available through Gumboot Friday — http://iamhope.org.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He's one of New Zealand's greatest ever athletes - 7x Adventure Racing World Championships, a decade unbeaten on the biggest races on the planet, and a record-breaking 1,000-mile paddle down the Yukon. And he's done all of it with a heart condition.But this conversation goes way past the trophy cabinet. Nathan Fa'avae takes us from a lonely Pasifika kid in 1970s Nelson to the start line of the world's toughest races - and into the moments that actually shaped him: losing his mind after 72 hours without sleep, his outrigger breaking apart 25km out to sea in the dark while leading the World's Toughest Race, and the day his whole world changed on a chairlift when he lost his mum.Along the way: why he built the biggest adventure race on earth for women, the puddle that sums up how he parents, why he raises his kids to struggle on purpose, and why, for him, success isn't winning - it's freedom.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gilbert Enoka is back with the All Blacks. After 23 years and 304 tests as their mental skills coach - two World Cup wins along the way - he stepped away in 2023, worked with Chelsea and England cricket, and has now returned to the team as leadership and mental performance coach ahead of the 2027 World Cup.This is a big one, recorded during his time away. The first half is the man: a childhood in an orphanage from 18 months to 12, learning to work and fight, and how being "emotionally malnourished" turned into the skill that made him indispensable - reading a room before anyone said a word.The second half is the craft: the no-dickheads policy, standards over values, the "human library" of legends built for 2023, how close the All Blacks came to walking away from the haka, and the Gilbertisms - winge up not down, don't take the sausage, wishbone-backbone-funny-bone - he's spent a career distilling.His book Become Unstoppable is out now.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The thing that gets you to the top is rarely the thing that keeps you there. Dave Wood is the first guest ever invited back on Between Two Beers three times. A former lifeguard and intensive care paramedic, he turned his own battle with chronic pain into a career as one of the world's leading voices on stress, mindset and human performance — working with elite athletes and some of the country's biggest businesses.In his third visit, Dave gets into what pressure really does to high performers, and why pushing harder stops being the answer. He shares the moment that pulled him out of chronic pain, the story behind "be your own voice," knowing when to push and when to pull back, the stories we tell ourselves about our own bodies, becoming a dad —-and how his 79-year-old father's remarkable recovery says everything about the work we can all be doing now to stay healthy and present for the people we love.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The silent epidemic harming Kiwi kids - and the survivor determined to end it.For the first sixteen years of her life, Gloria Masters endured abuse most New Zealanders would refuse to believe happens here. She survived - and went on to become a teacher, a child psychotherapist and a communications trainer, dedicating her life to breaking the silence around child sexual abuse and giving parents the tools to protect their kids.In one of the most confronting and important conversations we've had on the show, Gloria shares how she found hope in the darkest place imaginable, why she chose to hand the shame back to where it belongs, and the practical signs every adult should learn to notice.⚠️ This episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse and suicide. Please take care listening.If anything in this episode raises something for you:Safe to Talk – Kōrero mai (sexual harm): call 0800 044 334 or text 4334, free and confidential, 24/7Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any timeWorried about a child? Oranga Tamariki: 0508 326 459In an emergency, call 111If you want to get in touch with Gloria and her Charity for support here: https://www.gloriamasters.com/Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Becki Ross was given two to three years to live. Diagnosed at 42 with stage four, incurable bowel cancer, she's a mum of two teenagers, a teacher, and one of those rare people who lights up a room the second she walks in.When we recorded this, Becki had just been told her treatment options had run out - that the cancer was, in her words, "declaring itself," and that her time is now very short.In one of the most powerful conversations we've ever had, Becki talks about planning her own funeral - the plywood coffin, the celebrant, the plan to climb in herself just to make everyone laugh - and about the parts that aren't funny at all: the fear, the reality of leaving her kids behind, and the perspective that's come with facing it head-on.It's a conversation full of light and shade. We talk about the Cancer Crushers, the village of friends carrying Becki and her kids, the health system she's had to fight through, her daughter Maddie's unforgettable words, and the humour that's got her through all of it.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel Dagg had everything he'd ever chased - a Rugby World Cup, a young family, the life a kid from a Hawke's Bay state house could only dream of. Then he retired, and the question underneath it all hit at once: “if I'm not an All Black, who am I?”In one of the most open conversations we've had on the show, Israel comes clean on the five years that followed - the addiction, the depression, and the spiral he kept hidden while the world saw a highlight reel.After his mum passed away he hit rock bottom: he left his family, moved to Auckland, and spent a Father's Day alone in an apartment wondering how it got so bad. He's honest about what it cost the people who loved him, and clear that no one could have pulled him out but himself.This is the story of how he did it - how ownership became the first step back, why nearly three years sober is the best decision he's ever made, and how he came to see that the happiness he'd been chasing had been in front of him the whole time.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.