www.whoisyourhero.com.au
Who Is Your Hero is an unapologetically real Australian podcast created and hosted by Matthew “Buzz” Fidler, built on one simple belief:👉 Everyone has a story that can change someone’s life.Born from a personal journey through kidney failure, footy fields, PNG jungles, construction sites, and some of life’s toughest setbacks, Who Is Your Hero has become a national movement of resilience, mateship, truth-telling, and everyday heroes.Each episode dives deep into the lives of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things — survivors, soldiers, footy legends, community leaders, domestic-violence warriors, tradies, battlers, advocates, and the quiet achievers who keep this country rolli...
EPISODE 58 — BRAD LINDSAY: STILL HERE
EPISODE 57 — BRAD LINDSAY: STILL HERE
How the fuck do you learn to live when life keeps asking you to survive?
In this raw and honest episode of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with his Whitsunday Bald Eagles mate Brad Lindsay—a husband, father, footballer and survivor whose life changed after discovering a swollen testicle.
Brad was diagnosed with a rare testicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma—diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—which later found its way to his brain. What followed was surgery, R-CHOP chemotherapy, high-dose methotrexate, radiation and an exhausting physical and mental battle.
Bra...
🎙️ Episode 5 – James "Jack" Kennett | Brotherhood, Motorbikes & Building a Life Worth Living
🎙️ Episode 5 – James "Jack" Kennett | Brotherhood, Motorbikes & Building a Life Worth Living
What makes a great mate?
Is it loyalty? Reliability? Turning up when it matters most?
In Episode 5 of Beers, Bonfires & Bullshit – The Brotherhood Series, we sit down with James "Jack" Kennett—a respected businessman, passionate adventurer, and one of the genuine characters behind the Auswide Adventures family.
From growing up around one of Australia's oldest family building companies to tackling the Victorian High Country, the Gibb River Road and everything in between, Jack shares stories of adventure...
Episode 4: Paul “PMac” McVay — Business, Brotherhood, Adventure and Beating Cancer
Some blokes are tested in business. Others are tested by adventure. Paul “PMac” McVay has been tested by life itself—and he’s still standing, still smiling and still ready to share a cold one around the fire.
In Episode 4 of Beers, Bonfires & Bullshit, we sit down with Paul McVay for a raw, honest and inspiring conversation about building a business, embracing adventure, surviving cancer and discovering what truly matters when life gets serious.
Paul takes us behind the scenes of his journey with SEQ Concreting Group, sharing the dete...
🎙️ Episode 57 – Part 2 | Paul McVay – When Life Changes Forever One phone call.
🎙️ Episode 57 – Part 2 | Paul McVay – When Life Changes Forever
One phone call.
One diagnosis.
One moment that changed everything.
In Part 2 of this unforgettable conversation, Paul McVay opens up about the day he was told the words no man ever wants to hear:
"You have prostate cancer."
What follows is one of the most honest, emotional and inspiring conversations ever shared on Who Is Your Hero.
Paul takes us inside the fear, uncertainty and mental battle that comes with a cancer diagnosis. He speaks candidly...
Episode 57 – Part 1 | Paul McVay – The Fight of His Life
Episode 57 – Part 1 | Paul McVay – The Fight of His Life
Before the diagnosis... there was a life full of adventure.
In Part 1 of this powerful two-part series, Matthew Fidler sits down with Paul McVay—a devoted family man, tradesman, surfer, AFL Masters footballer, and passionate dirt bike rider with the Auswide Adventures crew.
This isn't the story of cancer...
It's the story of the man before cancer.
Paul reflects on growing up in Brisbane, the values his parents instilled in him, lifelong friendships, the import...
⛳🎙️ GOLF CART CHRONICLES – EPISODE 4 PATRICK MURDOCK – “16 GOING ON 30”
⛳🎙️ GOLF CART CHRONICLES – EPISODE 4
PATRICK MURDOCK – “16 GOING ON 30”
He’s only 16 years old…
but spend five minutes with Patrick Murdock and you’ll swear this young bloke is going on 30.
Respectful. Driven. Grounded.
And already trying to build something bigger than himself through junior golf at Townsville Golf Club.
This episode isn’t just about golf.
It’s about:
⛳ Resilience
⛳ Family hardship
⛳ Mental health
⛳ Belonging
⛳ Young leadership
⛳ And becoming the person you wish you had growing up
There’s laughs… shocking golf shots… raw honest...
🎙️ Episode 56: Predator on the Pulpit – Kathleen Walsh (Part 2)
🎙️ Episode 56: Predator on the Pulpit – Kathleen Walsh (Part 2)
There are episodes you listen to…
And there are episodes that stay with you.
Part 2 of Predator on the Pulpit with Kathleen Walsh takes us deeper into the lived reality of abuse, silence, and the devastating ripple effects that follow when systems fail to protect the vulnerable.
Kathleen speaks with raw honesty about her childhood—about being just a young girl navigating a world where what was happening to her was not only known… but ignored.
This episode explores the confusion...
🎙️ Episode 56: Predator on the Pulpit – Kathleen Walsh (Part 1)
🎙️ Episode 56: Predator on the Pulpit – Kathleen Walsh (Part 1)
This is not an easy listen…
But it’s an important one.
Recorded live at C-Bar on The Strand, overlooking Magnetic Island, this episode pulls back the curtain on a story that should never have happened — and a truth that should never have been hidden.
In Part 1, Buzz sits down with Kathleen Walsh — a survivor, advocate, and voice for those who were silenced.
What unfolds is raw, confronting, and deeply personal.
This is a story about:
Trust that was broken ...🎙️ Episode 55: THE HARRY DEAKES COMEBACK – PART 1 From the edge… to a second chance
🎙️ THE HARRY DEAKES COMEBACK – PART 1
From the edge… to a second chance
There are episodes you record…
And then there are episodes that stay with you.
This is one of them.
This isn’t about fame.
This isn’t about headlines.
This is about a 24-year-old bloke who went toe-to-toe with the black dog…
and somehow found his way back.
Not perfectly.
Not overnight.
But day by day.
Step by step.
⚠️ THE REALITY FOR YOUNG BLOKES RIGHT NOW
Episode 54🎙️ Clint Mackay – Part 2 | Breath, Truth & Becoming Your Own Hero.
🎙️ Clint Mackay – Part 2 | Breath, Truth & Becoming Your Own Hero
In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Buzz sits back down with Clint Mackay — and this is where things go deeper.
From the beaches of Australia to the birthplace of yoga in India, Clint shares how his journey through injury, pain, and self-discovery opened his eyes to a completely different way of living.
This episode dives into:
🔥 What India really taught him about life, presence, and simplicity
🔥 Why modern life is keeping people distracted, busy… but unfulfilled
🔥 The truth about “freedom” — and...
🔥 EPISODE 52 – PART 3 (FINAL): REN PEDERSEN OAM 🎙️ Pain Into Purpose – The Final Chapter
🔥 EPISODE 52 – PART 3 (FINAL): REN PEDERSEN OAM
🎙️ Pain Into Purpose – The Final Chapter
This is it, legends… the final chapter of one of the most powerful stories ever told on Who Is Your Hero.
If you’ve followed Part 1 and Part 2, you already know — this isn’t just a podcast… this is a journey.
A journey through:
💔 heartbreak
💪 resilience
👨👧 fatherhood
🔥 purpose
🇦🇺 mateship
…and what happens when a man refuses to let tragedy be the end of the story.
In Part 3, we go deeper than ever.
This is w...
Episode 52 – Ren Pedersen (Part 2): Pain into Purpose
Episode 52 – Ren Pedersen (Part 2): Pain into Purpose
In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Buzz sits back down with Ren Pedersen to go deeper into the mission, the mindset, and the fight that grew from unimaginable loss.
After sharing the heartbreak of losing his daughter Amy to DIPG in Part 1, Ren now opens up about what came next — rebuilding after devastation, recalibrating through divorce and burnout, earning his commercial helicopter licence in his fifties, and returning to unfinished business with a mission that is now creating real hope for fami...
Episode 54 – Clint Mackay (Part 1): From Pain to Presence – Breath, Tribe & Awakening
Episode 54 – Clint Mackay (Part 1): From Pain to Presence – Breath, Tribe & Awakening
In Part 1 of this powerful chat, Buzz sits down with Clint Mackay — son of Greg Mackay, a man known for grit, storytelling and never giving up — for a deep conversation about family, toughness, pain, purpose and waking up to life.
Clint opens up about growing up in the Mackay tribe, the lessons his father passed down, and the early moments that made him question the normal path society lays out for us. The conversation then turns raw as Clint shares the serious back inj...
Episode 53: Kara Robinson — Laughter, Service & Shellshocked Comedy
pisode Name
Episode 53: Kara Robinson — Laughter, Service & Shellshocked Comedy
Buzzsprout Description
What happens when comedy becomes more than just a laugh?
In Episode 53 of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with Kara Robinson — Brisbane comedian, community-minded storyteller, and a driving force behind Shellshocked Comedy, a project helping veterans and their families reconnect through humour, honesty, and shared experience.
This is a powerful conversation about far more than stand-up.
Kara opens up about her early life in Papua New...
Episode 52 – Ren Pedersen (Part 1): Pain Into Purpose
Episode 52 – Ren Pedersen (Part 1): Pain Into Purpose
In this deeply moving episode of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with Ren Pedersen at the C-Bar in Townsville for one of the most powerful conversations yet.
Ren is many things — a Burdekin local, a crane driver, a father, and a man who has lived through every parent’s worst nightmare. After losing his young daughter Amy to DIPG, one of the most aggressive childhood brain cancers, Ren made a promise that would change the course of his life f...
Episode 51: Maurie Soars, The Push up king
🎙️ EPISODE BLOG — WHO IS YOUR HERO
“The One We Couldn’t Cut”
Some episodes you plan…
Some you structure…
Some you split into clean little parts so they fit nice and tidy…
👉 This wasn’t one of them.
This episode…
Just kept going — and for all the right reasons.
Because when the conversation is real…
When the walls come down…
When truth starts flowing without filters…
You don’t interrupt that.
You don’t force a break.
You let it breathe...
Episode 50 Awakenings In Real Life – Dan Cohen (Part 2)
Episode 50
Awakenings In Real Life – Dan Cohen (Part 2)
What if the person you thought you lost… was still there?
In Part 2 of our powerful conversation with Dan Cohen, author of Awakenings In Real Life, we dive deeper into the extraordinary moments that inspired his book and the lessons that came from witnessing his father’s awakening from dementia.
After years in the grip of dementia, Dan experienced a moment that changed everything — a brief but powerful return of awareness that reminded his family that the man they loved was still in...
Front Porch America – Rick White (Part 3) Episode 49 – Who Is Your Hero
Front Porch America – Rick White (Part 3)
Episode 49 – Who Is Your Hero
Sometimes the best conversations in life don’t happen in boardrooms, studios, or big stages.
They happen on a front porch.
A place where people sit down, slow down, and finally tell the stories that matter.
In Episode 49 of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz continues his powerful conversation with Rick White, host of the podcast Front Porch America. This is Part 3 of a remarkable series that explores storytelling, human connection, and wh...
Episode 50: Dan Cohen, Part 1, The Day My Father Came Back – Dan Cohen (Awakenings In Real Life)
What happens when someone you love slowly disappears… and then suddenly comes back?
In this powerful episode of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with Dan Cohen, author of the memoir Awakenings In Real Life and host of the podcast of the same name.
Dan shares the deeply personal story of his father, Herbie — a loving, larger-than-life man who spent years battling dementia after suffering a stroke. Like many families facing this cruel disease, Dan watched the man he admired and relied on slowly fade away.
But then some...
Episode 49 – Rick White (Part 2) Front Porch America | Different Countries. Same Mission.
Episode 49 – Rick White (Part 2)
Front Porch America | Different Countries. Same Mission.
What happens when two podcasters from opposite sides of the world realise they’re chasing the exact same thing?
In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Matthew “Buzz” Fidler sits down again with Rick White, host of the American podcast Front Porch America.
Buzz is in Australia.
Rick is in Kentucky, USA.
They’ve only known each other 72 hours… yet the connection is immediate.
Because both men believe something the...
Episode 48 – Tim McKee (Part 2) | Standards, Service & Second Chances
Episode 48 – Tim McKee (Part 2) | Standards, Service & Second Chances
In Part 2 of the Tim McKee story, the conversation moves beyond career and into the deeper question of why some people choose a life of service.
Tim McKee isn’t a man who chased recognition.He simply kept showing up.
For decades, Tim has quietly helped shape the Townsville community through law, mentorship, Rotary, Apex, and countless acts of service that changed lives behind the scenes.
In this episode we talk about:
• The real meaning behind service to community• The Rotary projects that changed...
Episode 49 – Rick White (Part 1) Front Porch America | Different Countries. Same Mission.
Episode 49 – Rick White (Part 1)Front Porch America | Different Countries. Same Mission.
It’s 1:00am in Australia.Morning in Kentucky.Different hemispheres — same belief.
In Part 1 of this powerful international crossover, Buzz sits down with Rick White, founder of Front Porch America, a podcast built on one simple idea: people deserve to be heard.
Rick didn’t start with a blueprint.No production team.No grand strategy.
Just a microphone, a servant’s heart, and a desire to create space for real stories.
From his life as a firefighter and emergency...
Episode 48 – Tim McKee (Part 1) Standards, Service & Second Chances
Episode 48 – Tim McKee (Part 1)Standards, Service & Second Chances
Some men are forged quietly.
Not by spotlight.Not by applause.But by responsibility.
In this powerful Part 1 conversation, Buzz sits down with Townsville’s own Tim McKee — not to talk about titles, but to uncover the foundations behind a life built on service, standards, and duty.
From a young boy learning gratitude from his father…To watching his aunt build hospitals in India and give her life to others…To driving trucks while studying law…To losing his job during the slump and landing in Townsvill...
Episode 47: Roland Allbrook — (Part 2) Ink Across Empires.
Episode 47: Roland Allbrook — Ink Across Empires (Part 2)Who Is Your Hero with Buzz (Matthew Fidler)
Welcome back legends — this is Part 2 of my sit-down with Roland Allbrook, and I’m telling you now… this one goes deeper.
Roland’s memoir “Ink Across Empires” isn’t a victory lap. It’s not nostalgia. It’s not propaganda. It’s a raw, honest reflection on empire, identity, power, culture, youth, ego… and what happens when life forces you to look back and tell the truth without polishing the edges.
In this episode we kick off with a question that hit...
Episode 47: Rolland Allbrook , Ink Across Empires Part 1
🎙️ Episode 47 – Roland Allbrook (Part 1)Empire, Boarding School & The Blindfolded Boy
This episode is different.
No hype.No outrage clips.No culture-war bait.
Just a manuscript.
In Episode 47 (Part 1), I sit down with Roland Allbrook — a man I first met in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, between Kimbe and Rabaul. We were both teaching there between 2017 and 2020. I was teaching construction. Roland was teaching literature.
At night, over a few “Scooby Doos” in the PNG humidity, the stories would start.
Kenya Highlands.Missionary boarding schools.Union Jacks raised at sunrise.Bambo...
Episode 46: Brady Gunn — Standing Alone, A Stand in the park.
Episode 46: Brady Gunn — Standing Alone
What does real courage look like?
Not the loud kind.Not the social media kind.Not the “I told you so” kind.
The quiet kind.
The kind where a man stands in a park… alone… for nearly three months… before anyone stands beside him.
In Episode 46 of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with Brady Gunn — founder of Stand In The Park — for a conversation that goes far deeper than politics.
This isn’t a COVID episode.It’s a character episode.
Brady opens up abo...
Episode 45: Part 2, Rock Bottom to Real Talk: Dane Miller — Pottsville
Rock Bottom to Real Talk: Dane Miller (Part 2) — Pottsville
Part 2 hits different, legends… this is where the story gets raw and a bit teary.
Dane takes us back to the years after moving to Melbourne — the loneliness, the chronic depression he didn’t even recognise at first (sleeping 18 hours a day and thinking he was physically dying), and the way quick labels and quick fixes can numb a bloke instead of truly helping him heal.
Then we get into the slippery slope: weekends, pubs, coke… and then the moment ice shows up — and how fast it...
Episode 45: Rock Bottom to Real Talk: Dane Miller (Part 1)
Rock Bottom to Real Talk: Dane Miller (Part 1)When Drift Turns Into Decision
There’s a moment in every man’s life where he either keeps drifting… or draws a line in the sand.
Episode 45 of Who Is Your Hero isn’t about success.It’s about survival.
It’s about how easy it is to lose direction when you’re young, adapting, trying to fit in, trying to belong — and sometimes rebelling against systems you don’t fully understand yet.
And it’s about what happens when life starts looking like a dead end.
From By...🐎 Episode 44 – kim daley - Horses Don’t Lie (Part 2)
🐎 Episode 44 – Horses Don’t Lie (Part 2)Pause. Breath. Freedom.
Part 2 of this conversation goes somewhere different.
If Part 1 was about survival — anxiety, addiction, and the weight people carry quietly — Part 2 is about what comes after.What happens when you stop pushing, stop forcing, and finally learn to pause.
In this episode, Buzz and Kim Daley explore freedom — not the loud, flashy kind, but the calm that comes from self-regulation, awareness, and letting go of the need to control everything.
Kim speaks openly about:
Surrender versus forcing outcomes
Health before wealth — and...
🐎 Episode 44 – Kim Daley - Horses Don’t Lie (Part 1)
🐎 Episode 44 – Horses Don’t Lie (Part 1)
Some lessons don’t come from words.They come from presence.
In this episode of Who Is Your Hero, Buzz sits down with Kim Daley for a raw, unscripted conversation about horses, humans, and the things we carry beneath the surface.
Horses don’t respond to ego, pressure, or performance.They respond to who you are when everything else is stripped away.
This episode goes deep into awareness, anxiety, addiction, self-worth, and why the horse is so often just the mirror. If you’ve ever felt stuck, reactive, or...
Episode 43 (Part 4) – Paul Fidler: Radio Pranks, Record Labels & The Songs That Never Made It
EPISODE 43 – PART 4 is LIVE 🔥Paul Fidler (aka Freddy Fiddler / “Jim Morrison”) takes us behind the curtain of commercial radio and the music industry…
🎧 Record label parcels every day🎶 The songs that should’ve been hits🐒 The infamous “monkey on air” story (YES it’s real)🚨 The smoke machine “fire” prank that… may have ended a job 😳🎤 Why talent isn’t enough — marketing + momentum matters🔥 And we finish by rolling out with Paul’s track “The Soon Army”
This one is raw, funny, and full of proper radio war stories — cousins yarning, no filters.
Stay safe. Hero up. 💪
#WhoIsYourHero #HeroUp #BuzzTa...
Paul Fidler: From Record Shop to Radio Royalty — Episode 43, Part 3
In Episode 43, Part 3, Paul Fidler takes us from teenage DJing and record-shop life to a 30-year career behind the mic, where he created the on-air alter ego Jim Morrison and helped shape playlists across regional Australia.
The episode explores music programming, the shift from local stations to networked shows, the responsibility of influencing daily soundtracks, and how love for music and community kept him going through an industry in flux.
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Episode 43: Part 2 , Paul Fidler , Family First Edition
A candid family conversation between cousins exploring their grandfather's wartime return, how toughness, humour and silence were passed down, and the everyday stories that bind a family.
They mix laughter and honesty while discussing aging fathers, music, pranks and the realities of health—especially the importance of blood tests, blood pressure checks and mental wellbeing.
This episode is a warm, honest reminder to check on loved ones and to book those long‑avoided GP appointments. Part three will continue into Paul Fiddler's radio years.
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Episode 43, Part 1: Behind the Mic: Cousins, Country and Radio Secrets
Two cousins sit down to talk family, upbringing and the hidden costs of a life behind the radio mic. They trace how mothers, fathers and childhood shaped a man who spent decades shaping the sound of regional Australia.
This episode explores memory, responsibility and identity — from Sunday lunches and Johnny's story to the roots that forged a gatekeeper of music and culture. Part two will dive deeper into the fathers, war and work that followed.
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Episode 42:Never Stop: Sam Childers, Machine Gun Preacher
Host Buzz sits down with Sam Childers, the Machine Gun Preacher, to hear his raw testimony: a violent past, a radical conversion, and nearly three decades rescuing and protecting children in Uganda through schools, trade training, wells and daily feeding programs.
This episode highlights Sam’s faith-driven obedience, the challenges he’s faced with governments and personal loss, and the new documentary MGP Never Stop — a call to support real, on-the-ground impact.
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Episode 41 :Before the Headlines: How Sam Childers Changed a Mate's Life
Episode 41, is a prelude with Greg Mackay about Sam Childers — the man known as the "machine gun preacher." Greg shares lived experiences, showing how Sam's faith, sacrifice and action changed his life and inspired real, ongoing work to protect children.
This short episode focuses on impact over controversy, personal stories of mentorship and courage, and sets up the full interview with Sam Childers coming next. It highlights the work on the ground and points listeners toward the documentary MGP Never Stop and ways to support the mission.
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Episode 40 | Sunday Sessions with Buzz & Gypsy “The Truth Hits Harder Than Tinsel”
🎙️ NEW EPISODE DROPPEDEpisode 40 | Sunday Sessions with Buzz & Gypsy“The Truth Hits Harder Than Tinsel”
This one isn’t comfortable — and it was never meant to be.
We’re not cancelling Christmas.We’re not anti-kids.We’re not anti-joy.
We are questioning one of the biggest stories we’re told never to question.
In this episode, Buzz and Gypsy unpack:• The Santa myth — and why adults get more defensive than kids• Reward, obedience, comparison and shame systems• Why poor kids and single parents carry the real cost of Christmas• Consumerism, debt, January anxiety and silent pres...
Episode 39: Melissa Thomson ,The School That Said: “Nah… We’re Doing This Properly.”
Episode 39 – Part 2: Strength & Softness
The School That Said: “Nah… We’re Doing This Properly.”
G’day tribe — Buzz here.
This one’s a ripper… and I’m not saying that because I’m biased (I am), I’m saying it because Melissa Thomson is the real deal.
In Episode 39 (Part 2), we yarn with Melissa from Agnes Water — and we kick off with something genuinely hero-level:she helped bring a real school to life. Not a theory. Not a rant. Not a “someone should do something” post.
A proper independent Steiner school, government funded, on the beac...
EP38 (Part 4) — The Schuey Story: Own the Fear. Call Out the BS. Be the Mate.
📝 PODBEAN BLOG POST (Episode 38 — Part 4)
Title: EP38 (Part 4) — The Schuey Story: Own the Fear. Call Out the BS. Be the Mate.
Body:This is the grand final quarter. The final beer. The last chapter of a 4-part series that turned into something way bigger than a normal interview.
In Episode 38 — Part 4, Shuey and I go straight into the stuff most blokes avoid:✅ why men still struggle to talk about hardship✅ why doctors label people too fast✅ why fear is real… but it doesn’t get to own you✅ why we need mates who tell us the truth (not just “...
Episode 38: Part 3,The Schuey Story: "I've got your back"
Podbean Blog Post — Episode 38 (Part 3)The Schuey Story: Standards, Respect & Raising Young Men
Welcome back, tribe — Buzz here — and this is Episode 38: Part 3 of The Schuey Story with Steve “Schuey” Schuman.
If Part 1 and Part 2 were the foundation — the medals, the military, the hard-earned discipline — Part 3 is the real battlefield… the one happening right now in Aussie homes, schools, clubs, and communities:
How we raise young men.How we keep families connected.How we bring back standards, respect, and proper role models.
This episode kicks off exactly where we left it — with one simple question:<...
