Father Land S2E1: Brendan Cullen on Facing His Demons, Fatherhood and the Swim of His Life
Motherland AustraliaShow Notes
Brendan Cullen lived 600 kilometres from the nearest beach when he decided to become an open-water swimmer. Training before dawn in lakes and dams, he went on to swim the English Channel in 2022 - spending 17 hours in the water and covering 64 kilometres. But Brendan will tell you that wasn’t the hardest thing he’s ever done. A lifelong sheep and cattle farmer from Broken Hill, Brendan spent decades carrying childhood trauma he didn’t speak about. In 2015, struggling with depression, he walke...
More from Motherland Australia
George Henderson is a farmer, husband and dad of three, raising his family on the same property where he grew up, near Yass in New South Wales. But behind the scenes, George had battled depression and anxiety since his teenage years. For decades, he kept his struggles largely to himself, until eventually, he reached breaking point. As the pressures of farming and fatherhood grew, George struggled to find joy in the life he loved. In this episode, George shares how his wife Lan, family, friend...
Finding your place in a farming family isn't always easy, especially when you're raising children. Joy McClymont knows that feeling well. Joy lives on a sheep and cattle property west of Longreach, where she and her husband have raised four children. Before motherhood, Joy had travelled the world, competed in an Ironman World Championship and worked as a teacher. But moving onto her husband's family farm challenged her confidence. Between babies, distance education, drought and farm work, Joy...
Robert Mackenzie left school at 14. By 17, he was buying trucks and machinery. Today, he’s the man behind Maccas Australian Black Angus Beef, one of Australia’s most respected Angus beef enterprises. But behind the success is a story he’s never fully told, until now. Robert opens up about working 120-hour weeks, burnout, the breakdown of his 25-year marriage and losing his best mate to cancer. He also shares why he decided to walk away from his businesses and spend an entire year travelling A...
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and October 15 marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Sara Grant is a mum of four, but the rest of the world only sees her as a mum of two. Her first baby, Jesse, was stillborn after a devastating diagnosis at their 20-week scan. The following year, she welcomed her daughter Holley, and while living remotely in Mount Isa, found an important sense of connection through a local mothers’ group. Then in 2008, after an otherwise healt...
Many would describe Terry McCosker as one of Australia's most respected figures in agriculture. For more than 50 years, he's helped shape Australian farming through RCS, the organisation he co-founded in 1985, working with thousands of farming families to rethink the way they manage their land, their business and themselves. But this rare conversation isn't just about agriculture. Behind the success is a story of grit, heartbreak and resilience few people know. Terry opens up about losing his...