From Arrested at 16 to Briefing U.S. Senators: Andrew Drasen's Full Story

What Would You Say to a Man Who Has Nothing Left? - with Joe Tuia'ana

This episode covers men's mental health, male suicide, the I Love You Bro Project, Joe Tuia'ana, men's support groups, male connection, and men and isolation. All of it, backed by data and story. A few years ago, Joe was two weeks sober and had double pneumonia. On the way to a basketball game, he pulled over at an overpass. A man was in crisis on the railing. Joe climbed up and said the only words that came to him: I love you, bro. The man came down. That moment became the I Love You Bro Project, now the only evidence-based men's mental health organization in the country. Fifteen weekly support groups across Utah. Thousands of data points collected directly from the men who show up. A mission to catch men before they ever reach an overpass. In this episode, Joe breaks down what men actually need to hear from each other, why 'reach out if you need anything' is one of the least effective things we say, what tunnel vision looks like for a man in crisis, and why consistency and structure are what keep men coming back to community. This one is worth sharing with someone. --- CHAPTERS --- 00:00 Introduction 01:28 The Day Joe Pulled Over at an Overpass 07:13 The 80% Statistic and Why Men Don't Talk 09:02 Tunnel Vision: How Men Lose Peripheral Vision in Crisis 16:09 How the I Love You Bro Project Collects Data From Real Men 17:07 What Men Actually Need to Hear (The Survey Results) 21:25 Why Weekly Beats Monthly: The Structure Men Crave --- PLAYLISTS --- 📂 More Like This — Suggested Playlists: The Conversations Men Need to Be Having — This episode is exactly what that playlist is built for: a man talking honestly about loneliness, crisis, purpose, and what it means to show up for someone when the stakes are real. How to Build a Brotherhood as an Adult Man — Joe's entire work centers on building intentional, consistent male community, and this episode is a direct argument for why that structure matters and how to create it. 📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops.

Rebuilding Your Life When Nothing Makes Sense Anymore - with Randy Bishop

A conversation about the RE method, inherited beliefs, and what it actually takes for a man to reflect, reframe, and rebuild his identity. Randy Bishop joins KneeToKnee to talk men's mental health, vulnerability, brotherhood, and why adult male friendship and connection are harder to find than they should be. Men's groups, faith, and what it means to stop carrying a version of yourself you never chose. Randy spent twenty years in ministry, built a career as a singer-songwriter, went through divorce, and found himself sitting at a dinner table at four in the morning on Easter Sunday asking a question he'd avoided his whole life: Is this actually working? What came out of that night is the RE Method — a simple, self-built process of reflecting on your past, reframing what you actually believe, and rebuilding your life around what's true. Not a book. Not a program. Just a man who stopped and looked honestly at his own life. In this conversation, Randy and Mark get into inherited beliefs — the dinner-at-six-o'clock rules, the six-year-old convictions you've never questioned, and why so many men are cutting the ends off the roast without knowing why grandma started it in the first place. They also talk about men's groups, what makes a good one versus a waste of time, and why vulnerability is the one thing most men are still avoiding. Randy closes with one of the best lines of the season: "At the end of my life, I don't want to look back at all the stuff I collected. I want to look back at all the people I affected." That one's worth sitting with. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:12 What Is the RE Method 04:47 The Man Who Looked Like He Had It Together 07:20 What Makes a Men's Group Worth Showing Up To 12:48 The Beliefs You Never Chose (Dinner at Six O'Clock) 20:41 People Over Possessions — Collection vs. Affection More Like This — Suggested Playlists: The Conversations Men Need to Be Having — This episode belongs here. Randy's honest account of ministry, divorce, and self-examination is exactly the kind of conversation this playlist was built around. How to Build a Brotherhood as an Adult Man — Randy's perspective on what separates a real men's group from a sports-talk circle makes this a strong companion for men looking to build something that actually helps. Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf]

Just Show Up - Mark Marrott

I went back through four conversations from the KneeToKnee archive and pulled the moments that stopped me. Not the moments with the best talking points. The moments where someone just decided to show up.   Chris Williams lost his wife, two of his kids, and an unborn child in a single accident in 2007. He talks about the friend who came by every Sunday with a pie and never said a word. Ward Clapham ran a Canadian police department and started handing out positive tickets to kids who weren't doing anything wrong. Youth crime in his area dropped by half. Cotie Williams handed a 27-year-old man with a fresh spinal cord injury a handcycle and watched him find a reason to move again. That same man is now training for the 2028 LA Olympics. And Jeff Dodd and Kaylee Jenkins were my trauma nurse and physical therapist after I fell 40 feet out of a tree in 2008. Kaylee still remembers my room number: 1120.   None of these people had the perfect thing to say. They just went.   If this one hits you, share it with one specific person today. Not a group. One person you're thinking about right now.   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:06 Chris Williams and the Sunday Pies 02:16 Ward Clapham and the Positive Ticket 05:34 Mark's Accident and the Nurse Who Remembered 08:45 Cotie Williams and the Handcycle 12:00 Chris Williams on Forgiveness   📂 More Like This — Suggested Playlists: The Conversations Men Need to Be Having — This episode is exactly what that playlist promises: men talking honestly about what it means to show up for each other when it counts most. Why the Right People Change Everything — Each story in this episode proves the thesis, that the people who show up change outcomes, sometimes for decades.   Assign this episode to: The Conversations Men Need to Be Having and Why the Right People Change Everything   📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf] 🎙️ KneeToKnee — connection that compounds. https://youtu.be/D7K11RwC7kc [https://youtu.be/D7K11RwC7kc]

From Arrested at 16 to Briefing U.S. Senators: Andrew Drasen's Full Story

Andrew Drasen, author, addiction advocate, and identity repair speaker, joins KneeToKnee to talk about rebuilding your sense of self after addiction, loss, and incarceration. Andrew went through eight treatment programs before finding any meaningful change. He finished writing his memoir five minutes before walking out of prison in 2019. He lost the woman he loved to suicide. And now he's briefing U.S. senators on drug policy reform and speaking at international conferences on identity and relapse prevention. This conversation goes past the usual addiction story. Andrew breaks down what recovery actually means (hint: stopping the behavior is just the beginning), why identity is at the root of addiction, loss, and every major life transition, and why the story you tell yourself matters more than almost anything else. Key moments in this episode: • Why eight treatments failed before one thing finally clicked • How writing a memoir inside prison changed the lens Andrew sees life through • What Andrew means when he says he's blown up the word 'recovery' • How losing Caroline to suicide became its own identity crisis and how Eva the dog helped him through it • Why self-talk is the most overlooked variable in how men change or stay stuck • What compassion has to do with building real connection with other men Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:05 High School, Arrests, and the Beginning of the Battle 03:51 Writing a Memoir in Prison and the Mindset Shift It Created 08:04 Honesty, Acceptance, and Releasing the Past 14:37 Blowing Up the Word Recovery 16:06 Speaking, Advocacy, and Briefing Senators on Drug Policy 19:03 The One Thing Men Can Do to Build Deeper Connection Find Andrew's book and more at avisionofhopebook.com [http://avisionofhopebook.com] 📩 Get The One Thing - a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf] More Like This - Suggested Playlists: • The Conversations Men Need to Be Having - This episode goes exactly where that playlist lives: honest, unfiltered, and covering loss, identity, purpose, and what it takes to show up differently. • Start Here: The Episodes That Change How Men Think About Connection - Andrew's message on self-talk, compassion, and identity repair makes this a strong anchor episode for any new listener.

What If Your Body Has Been Telling You Something You've Been Ignoring? - with StreTch Rayner

This episode of KneeToKnee sits at the intersection of men's health, functional medicine, and what it actually means to lead yourself well in midlife. Mark Marrott sits down with Stretch Rayner, a personal trainer and health coach from Australia, to talk male burnout, blood work for men, genetics testing, gut health, sauna benefits, testosterone decline, and the warrior to king shift that men in midlife need to hear about. Stretch built a 300-member gym in London, burned himself out doing it, and came home with chest pain, chronic fatigue, and no real answers. When he finally went looking, a deep dive into functional medicine, blood work, and genetics testing revealed mercury toxicity, hemochromatosis, the MTHFR gene variant affecting his detoxification pathways, and a histamine intolerance that was making his healthiest foods the problem. Within six weeks of the right protocol, including sauna therapy to clear the mercury and targeted dietary changes for his gut health, he felt like himself again. Now Stretch works with men in midlife through his Sustainable Training Method and the Midlife Mavericks program, helping them take ownership of their health, build accountability into their lives, and make the shift from warrior to king. In this conversation we get into what blood work and genetics testing actually reveal, why testosterone decline and male burnout are showing up earlier than ever, how masculine archetypes play into men's mental health, and why strength training for men might be the single best gateway habit for building deeper men's connection and male friendship. Stretch also shares why he believes most men in midlife are waiting too long to look under the bonnet, and what happens when they finally do. You can find Stretch and the Sustainable Training Method at tstmethod.com [http://tstmethod.com]. 00:00 Introduction 01:07 How Stretch Got His Nickname and His Origin Story 03:42 Burnout in London and the Decision to Go Home 05:02 The Blood Work That Changed Everything 09:16 What Men Should Actually Test and How to Start 16:06 Midlife Mavericks and the Warrior to King Framework 22:05 The One Thing: Strength as the Gateway Habit 📂 More Like This — Suggested Playlists: The Men Who Got Their Energy Back After 35 The Conversations Men Need to Be Having 📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf]