A note before you listen

Radio Woodfordia reaches listeners around the world, and this episode includes discussion of bullying and suicide. Wherever you are, support is available.

Australia

Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7) | https://www.lifeline.org.au

QLife (LGBTQI+ peer support): 1800 184 527 (3pm–9pm daily) | https://www.qlife.org.au

United States

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (24/7) | https://www.988lifeline.org

The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth): 1-866-488-7386 (24/7) | https://www.thetrevorproject.org

United Kingdom

Samaritans: 116 123 (24/7) | https://www.samaritans.org

Switchboard (LGBTQ+): 0300 330 0630 (10am–10pm daily) | https://switchboard.lgbt

International

https://www.befrienders.org — connects to crisis support services worldwide

"I'm looking for hope in lots of places." — Shannon Molloy

Shannon Molloy started his first neighbourhood newspaper at age six — the Arthur Street Chronicle, covering the price of ham at Christmas and local goings-on. By 14 he was writing for online magazines from his bedroom in regional Queensland, using words the way some kids used escape routes. He needed one.

Shannon is an award-winning journalist and the bestselling author of Fourteen — a memoir about growing up gay at an all-boys NRL-mad Catholic school in Yeppoon, central Queensland, in the year 2000. The book began as a single opinion piece about the Safe Schools debate that generated thousands of responses from people who recognised themselves in his story. It became a bestseller, was longlisted for an ABIA Award, and was adapted into a sell-out stage production that went on a national tour after what was meant to be a one-off season at Brisbane Festival.

Harley Breen sits down with Shannon for a conversation that moves between the personal and the political with the ease of someone who has spent decades doing both. They talk about the fatigue of journalism in the age of relentless bad news and how Shannon has found an antidote in writing about hope and resilience. About the year that shaped everything — the violence, the isolation, the writing as refuge, and the small community of people, including a purple-haired youth worker in Yeppoon who insisted on drum circles, who made survival possible. About whether "it gets better" still holds as a message in a world that sometimes feels like it's moving backwards. And about men — where they're finding community now, why that matters, and what Shannon thinks is missing.

This episode is for:

• Anyone who has ever used creativity as a way to survive something
• People who believe that small acts of kindness have more power than we know
• Anyone thinking about what it means to build genuine community for men and boys in 2025

Dive in to hear about:

• The flea market typewriter Shannon's mum brought home when he was five — and how it became the most important object in his life
• Growing up gay at an all-boys Catholic school in Yeppoon, and the writing that got him through
• The Safe Schools opinion piece that generated thousands of responses and planted the seed for Fourteen
• Why Shannon thinks "it gets better" needs a more honest update — and what he'd say instead

Key topics: Shannon Molloy, Fourteen, memoir, LGBTQ+ Australia, journalism, men's health, community, hope, resilience, Queensland, bullying, Safe Schools, coming of age

To come to the Woodford Folk Festival this year visit: https://woodfordfolkfestival.com/

FOR MORE:

Harley Breen: https://www.harleybreen.com.au

Shannon Molloy: https://www.shannonmolloy.com.au

Fourteen and You Made Me This Way are available wherever books are sold.

CREDITS: Host: Harley Breen | Guest: Shannon Molloy | Executive Producer: Benny Wallington | Producers: Cameron Scurrah, Bree Hickson-Jamieson | Video Editing: Nick Haddow | Music by: The East Pointers | Recorded on Jinibara Country | Recorded November 2025

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Credits:

Host: Harley Breen

Executive Producers: Bree Hickson-Jamieson, Josh Weier, Benny Wallington

Audio mastering: Kieron Atkinson

Music by: The East Pointers

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