Pulling Threads

Hannah finally cracked the sourdough code, Coles got caught running one of the most genius scams in Australian retail history, and we found three small things that gave us outsized returns in life. Plus we get into whether your wife not taking your last name should be a deal breaker. Spoiler: we don't agree on everything.

In this episode:
- Hannah's cheese and jalapeno sourdough and the evolution from banana bread baddie to bread baking bad bitch
- The Coles down down scam broken down with real examples of how they inflated prices before fake discounts
- Three things that gave us outsized returns: making your bed, suck and sweet of the day, tracking calories for one month
- Moving away from your hometown and going backpacking as life-changing low-cost decisions
- Running without headphones and why 40km of silence hit different
- Fuelling for the Melbourne front yard ultra and going from 2000 to 3500 calories a day
- Would your wife not taking your last name be a deal breaker and why hyphenation is the lamest compromise
- Engagement rings, the psychology of price, and the bloke who recycled a ring to his next partner
- The early knock at work and why Melbourne city commuters look so depressed
- Scooters in the city as a genuine life hack and why motorbikes are too slow to dismount

Timestamps:
(01:05) Hannah's second sourdough attempt and the taste test
(04:30) Training for the Melbourne front yard ultra and fuelling properly
(12:38) Running without headphones and 40km of silence
(18:45) Stingy or smart: the Coles down down scam explained
(26:40) Toilet paper wars and the who gives a crap domestic
(38:37) Three things that gave outsized returns: making your bed
(43:18) Moving away from your hometown and backpacking alone
(46:58) Tracking calories for one month and why it blows your mind
(56:28) Life hack: owning a scooter in Melbourne
(59:41) Bitch act: high beaming someone doing the speed limit
(63:25) Life's little pleasures: the unexpected early knock
(68:34) Would your wife not taking your last name be a deal breaker
(78:16) Engagement ring psychology and the bloke who recycled a ring
(82:28) Wedding planning and not giving a fuck about tradition

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow the pod on Instagram: @pullingthreads

A bloke lost $98,000 on a house deposit because he was two days late and then decided to take it to court instead of taking the money back. That story alone tells you everything you need to know about this episode. Alex and Troy get into the dumbest financial decisions blokes make, why you need to move out of home before life moves on without you, and the quiet art of winding up your partner just enough.

In this episode:
- The $98,000 house deposit story that will make you sick to your stomach
- Why buying a two-door car is one of the worst financial decisions a young bloke can make
- Credit cards, buy now pay later, and why you cannot be trusted with either before 30
- The real cost of not saving while you're still living at home
- Why moving out of home is non-negotiable for becoming a functional man
- The case for cutting real estate agents out of the process entirely
- Triggering your partner: Troy's greatest hits and why it never gets old
- A prediction on Karl Stefanovic, his podcast, and a coming split from Channel 9

Timestamps:
(00:30) Weekend recap: runs, renovations, and the movies
(01:19) Troy's fun run gate-crash at Brimbank Park and taking souls
(04:12) How race pacing and finishing strong changes how you feel about the result
(06:34) The surgery pain perception trick that actually applies to racing
(10:10) Worst financial decision one: buying a two-door car
(14:20) Worst financial decision two: credit cards and buy now pay later
(16:46) Not saving money while living at home
(20:22) Europe trip on a personal loan and how the Barefoot Investor saved Alex
(24:35) Why not moving out is stunting your growth as a man
(28:31) Pokies, gambling, and where the line actually is
(33:58) Dog act of the week: hands on the stair stepper
(37:45) Life's little pleasures: triggering your partner
(42:49) Prediction: Carl Stefanovic leaves Channel 9 for the podcast full time
(48:44) Stingy or smart: should real estate agents even exist?
(57:33) The business idea that could replace real estate agents entirely
(61:24) The bloke who lost $98,000 and made it so much worse

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow the pod on Instagram: @pullingthreads

After watching the Manosphere documentary, Alex went straight to a Gordon Ramsay doco and couldn't stop thinking about the contrast. One side is a bunch of blokes getting rich telling young men women are objects. The other is a bloke with six kids, 70 restaurants, and the same wife for 20 years. This episode is a genuine conversation about what a good man actually looks like in 2025.

In this episode:
- The LA Marathon handed out medals to runners who quit at the 30K mark because it was 32 degrees
- Why the ultra running community would never, ever accept a participation medal
- The Pornhub ban in Australia and the government surveillance debate that came with it
- Louis Theroux's Manosphere documentary, what hit, and what was missing
- Gordon Ramsay as the antidote to every manosphere influencer you've ever seen
- The three questions Alex uses to decide whether someone is worth listening to
- Troy's gender studies course at uni and what he actually found inside the classroom
- The partner quiz, Hannah gets called into the studio, and Alex gets absolutely cooked

Timestamps:
(00:07) Welcome back, intro and Adelaide wedding recap
(01:34) Troy's running update and training schedule with Tim
(02:17) Running in the rain, wet shoes, and the Goggins mindset
(07:22) LA Marathon gives medals to DNF runners at 30K
(10:18) Participation medals, childhood trophies, and the ass end of a horse
(16:28) The toilet seat rule, Troy throws Alex under the bus, and the economics of who has to touch what
(31:04) The Pornhub ban, age verification, and Black Mirror government surveillance
(44:09) Louis Theroux's Manosphere documentary, first impressions
(49:57) Gordon Ramsay as the real example of what a man should be
(01:08:10) Troy's gender studies course and what he actually learned
(01:22:29) The partner quiz begins, eight questions from Immanuela and Hannah
(01:33:51) Hannah gets called into the studio live on mic
(01:40:08) Final scores and how well the brothers really know their partners

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow the pod on Instagram: @pullingthreads

Alex nearly got cooked alive on a recycling plant floor when an operator reached over his shoulder and switched a live circuit back on mid-job. Troy got pinned against a locomotive by a runaway bobcat. And that was before they got to the shaft inspection where a concrete door exploded at exactly the spot they were supposed to be standing. This episode is Crib Time Stories at its most unhinged — real near-death moments from real blokes who somehow lived to tell them.

In this episode:
- Alex's operator switches on a live circuit while his hands are on the cables — the lockout that wasn't
- Troy's runaway bobcat pins him against a locomotive and they try to cover the whole thing up
- The shaft inspection explosion: a 60-kilo concrete door blows off right where they were supposed to be standing — poured by Troy's girlfriend's mum
- Working in Africa where safety standards are a vibe not a policy, and two blokes get cleaned up by hundreds of metres of free-falling pipe
- Making your missus wait for the ring when you already know she's the one — why it makes you a bitch as a man
- The two-year rule for proposing and why dragging it out past that is just cowardice with extra steps
- Troy's blind taste test that settled the Coles vs Woolies mud cake debate once and for all
- The new segment: Life's Little Pleasures — including the art of calling hip hip at a birthday and why whoever does it first owns the room

Timestamps:
(00:09) Welcome back — Troy turns 29 and the Woolies vs Coles mud cake debate
(03:18) Blind taste test results: science bitch
(05:07) What losing 10 kilos in two months taught Alex about how hard it is to be overweight
(10:50) Hardcore Harry's Last One Standing update — Tim, Wizard of Run, and Maggie
(14:19) New segment: Life's Little Pleasures — making someone sit through Happy Birthday
(16:06) Calling hip hip at the end of Happy Birthday and why it makes you the dominant in the room
(18:31) Crib Time Stories: near-death experiences at work
(23:51) Alex's near-death: operator switches on a live circuit while his hands are still on the cables
(29:01) Troy's near-death: runaway bobcat, a locomotive, and a botched cover-up
(34:07) The shaft inspection explosion — concrete door blows off the exact spot they were about to stand
(44:21) Working in Africa: hundreds of metres of pipe falls on workers, trucks head-on in the dark
(51:00) What makes you a bitch as a man: making your missus wait for the ring
(53:05) The two-year rule — if you know, pull triggers
(59:15) Troy proposes to Emmanuelle with the ring burning a hole in his pocket for two weeks
(01:05:36) Reddit thread: blokes keeping a notes app of their partner's details — does it help or is it a red flag

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow the pod on Instagram: @pullingthreads

Mining perks are a different animal entirely. Free tools, supplier kickbacks, box seats at State of Origin, Lady Gaga tickets, and flying anywhere in the world on the company's dime — Alex and Troy break down the wildest job perks they've ever had, and some of them are genuinely unbelievable. Plus Troy's coworkers found the podcast, someone shit themselves on a run, and David Gatt just did 168 kilometres and 14,000 metres of vert in the Dandies for the Black Dog Institute.

In this episode:
- Troy's coworkers found the podcast and some of them are salty about it
- The universal mine site tradition of blaming every other crew
- Tim Kaprazi's training plan breaks Troy at the 6K mark of a pyramid run
- Harry of the Week: David Gatt's 168km, 14,000m vert Mega Saw Loop for the Black Dog Institute
- Listener story: shitting yourself on a run, waddling into a cafe, and finishing the last 4.5Ks with no jocks
- The great debate: cable ties vs zip ties, and the bloke who DM'd to call Troy low IQ
- Southern Cross tattoos — are they gone forever and is that a national tragedy?
- Crib time stories: the greatest job perks Alex and Troy have ever had
- Troy rebuilds his truck in a mine workshop for a year, completely unregistered
- Alex travels all of Western Australia for free with Emmanuela during COVID
- Free flights anywhere in the world from working in Africa — and the tax dodge that came with it

Timestamps:
(00:17) Welcome back — Troy's coworkers found the podcast
(01:03) Mine site tribalism and which crew is actually useless
(08:03) The leadership trainer who nailed mining culture in one line
(10:03) Tim Kaprazi's training plan — Troy's pyramid run blows up at 6K
(15:43) Lucky 13 workout puts Troy into a migraine for 24 hours
(19:30) Harry of the Week: David Gatt's 168km Mega Saw Loop
(28:12) Listener voice message — shitting yourself on a run with a witness
(35:21) Cable ties vs zip ties and the bloke who DM'd Alex to call him low IQ
(41:27) Southern Cross tattoos — where did they go and is Australian culture coming back?
(50:16) Crib time stories begin — the greatest job perks ever
(54:01) Troy rebuilds his truck in a mine workshop for a whole year
(57:14) Lady Gaga tickets and golf days from suppliers
(01:01:24) Traveling all of Western Australia for free during COVID
(01:09:00) Free flights anywhere in the world — the Africa perk
(01:25:02) The tax dodge that let Africa workers travel the world and barely pay tax

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow the pod on Instagram: @pt.pod

Tim Kacprzak grew up with a rough family environment, was 25 kilos overweight at 29, and couldn't button his shirt at a mate's suit fitting.

Now he's one of Australia's most decorated ultra endurance athletes with a 37% career podium rate. This one goes deep on fatherhood, breaking generational patterns, and what it actually costs to build a life worth admiring.

In this episode:

- Tim's upbringing and how Rachel saved his life

- Losing 15kg in 12 weeks for a mate's wedding suit

- The World Tough Mudder disaster that left him crying on Skype

- Why your kids copy what you do, not what you say

- Forgiving your parents for their mistakes

- Sport as the biggest educator for children

- Tim's insane stats: 69% top 10, 37% podium rate, 1055 career race hours- Sydney backyard ultra predictions and the push for 100 loops

Timestamps:

(00:16) Welcome and intro

(01:12) Introducing Tim Kacprzak

(07:05) How Tim and Rachel met

(13:58) How your upbringing shapes your parenting

(22:51) Forgiving your parents for what they got wrong

(34:13) Do your kids need to suffer more?

(36:42) Sport as the biggest educator for children

(38:18) Having kids young and unsolicited advice

(48:33) Tim's weight loss origin story

(56:40) The World Tough Mudder failure

(01:03:06) Board of directors vs NPCs in your life

(01:05:07) Tim's race stats breakdown

(01:12:47) Finding your limit in a backyard ultra

(01:22:06) Sydney backyard ultra predictions

(01:33:48) Pushing into injury and what you gain from it

(01:42:38) King of the Hill and what's next

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Follow the pod on Instagram: @pullingthreads

AI agents just did in 10 minutes what used to take days of research, and it scared the shit out of both of us. This week we also break down a 12,345 pull-up world record, a family who scammed a $600 steak dinner with an armpit hair, and a Norwegian Olympic medalist who confessed to cheating on live TV. If you reckon AI won't touch your life, this is the episode that'll change your mind.

Check out the AI article here

If you’re in a relationship, where’s the line between “we’re mates” and “this is getting a bit too close”? We get stuck into the best-friend boundary, the situations that look innocent on paper, and why the door being “slightly open” is still a problem.

From there it turns into the usual Pulling Threads chaos: anonymous accounts talking big without putting their name to it, why that’s a bitch move, and why accountability feels like it’s disappearing in real life too.

Plus Harry of the Week is a different species: Man Sharma doing the world’s first burpee broad jump marathon (yep… a full marathon), the maths on how cooked that actually is, and a yarn about someone trying to beat it.

And we finish with a proper list: top things that make you irrationally angry (parking out front, Facebook Marketplace fuckwits), sparky beef like “zip ties vs cable ties,” and a surprisingly solid breakdown on why cheap LEDs flicker and why 50Hz can literally kill you.

Someone out there is deadset calling themselves a “public figure” on Facebook, in their actual name. Not the bio, not the grey little tag, the name. We saw it, nearly threw up, and had to unpack what kind of person does that, and why it feels so criminal.

Before we get there though, we kick off with the post-challenge slump, Strava tax drama, and Troy getting absolutely rinsed for butchering the Swiss Army Knife “doctor’s ABCD”, so we made him an AI jingle like the petty blokes we are. Then we go on a proper tangent about trailers, jet skis, and the weird things men think make you useful or pathetic.

Harry of the Week is unreal, a 13-year-old swims 4km and runs 2km to save his family, and it turns into a full reality check on what you are capable of when it’s life or death. We also talk crewing at MVP, how everyone looks fine but feels cooked, and why backyard ultras are way more tactical and mental than most people realise, especially if you want to go deep.

Then we finish with “stingy or smart” from Reddit, including the bloke stealing single-ply toilet paper from work as his share house contribution, mine site food theft, and what people get sacked for vs what they get away with. You’ll either agree, argue, or feel personally attacked.

There was a moment mid-event where the ticket sales just kept popping off, and the fear flipped into this one thought: holy shit, it actually worked. Not just “the race went well”… but the whole idea of what we’re building.

We talk about how the livestream turned king of the hill into proper background test cricket. Something you chuck on in the workshop, get distracted, come back, talk shit, then get sucked back in. It wasn’t just athletes running up a hill, it became this weird little community where people at home are messaging, coffees are magically appearing, and you can feel how invested everyone got.

Then we zoom out on the bigger stuff: paying the winner, what sponsors actually want, why this thing feels like a startup win you don’t get in normal jobs, and why hardcore harry’s is starting to mean more than just one brutal weekend. If you’ve ever wanted to build something real, or you’ve wondered why certain events hit different, this ep will make it click.