The R4R Rag

The R4R Podcast is our podcast. Stories from our community help strengthen the connection we have with each other, but they also give us a more believable story we can tell ourselves if we’re going through something similar. The information is already out there… how to get through hard times hasn’t just been discovered… but annoyingly so, it seems like it’s something we all need to discover on our own… And when we hear about different strategies from people we know, we’re more likely to listen.

Stephe sits down with Georgie MacDiarmid (Canberra Grammar), Mark Nicholson (Torrens Primary), and Mark Robson (Forrest Primary) — the teachers behind Recess for Resilience in Canberra. They unpack how a simple walk at recess is transforming school culture, building emotional language in kids, and supporting teacher wellbeing too. From student captains to a selectively mute student finding her voice, this episode is full of real stories about what happens when connection becomes a priority.

Yash Varma is a high performance coach, founder of Empress Capital — one of Australia's first AI-focused venture capital firms — and an early investor in Anthropic. Born in India and raised in Canberra, Yash spent 20 years building a global software business before turning his focus to backing the next generation of AI founders.

Ben Wilson is a Canberra-born ultra runner now based in Brisbane. He grew up running fire trails in Tuggeranong, spent a decade living life to the fullest, and when he moved to Brisbane he lost his social network and found himself in a pretty dark place. A psychologist told him to start moving again...

Normally we try and source our guests from the R4R community… but when it feels right, we look abroad… and when I came across Andrew Logan’s Instagram page about four months ago, there was something about him.

I really enjoy interviewing our community on the R4R Podcast. Funnily enough, the more stories I hear… the more obvious it is that all our experiences, while different… rhyme. How people feel, what they did to feel better, where they land after overcoming their hardship… it’s all so similar.

Last night, I was asked to share my story at the local footy club. It’s something I’ve done dozens of times, and when the request was made, I didn’t bat an eyelid. I knew what to say… I know my story… and I’ve done it before… But as I shared my story… finding my way to my Dad’s death… that familiar lump in my throat started to emerge. It had been a while between drinks and I’d forgotten how taxing these talks can be… I’d forgotten how much of a mark my Dad’s death has left on me.

Once upon a time, I was afraid I’d die the same way my Dad did… That somehow I was destined for suicide. But after leaning into this fear… trying to understand why I felt this way… I found that I was more afraid of two things… Losing control and dying.

Writing my story helped me understand what I’d been through, and sharing it helped me validate my conclusions. But it also helped give others a blueprint for their own struggles. And for each new story shared with the R4R Podcast, in one of our guest articles, or in the monologue of Murray’s story below… a new blueprint is offered to our community on how to find a way forward.

In the 1950s, heart attacks were an epidemic in the United States. They were the leading cause of death in men aged 65 and under... but in a little town called Roseto, nestled in the hills of eastern Pennsylvania, there was no heart disease to be found. When a physician named Stewart Wolf heard of Roseto, he investigated further, finding that “people were dying of old age.