The Hook Up

The conversation around men feeling lonely has become a lightning rod for social, political and cultural weigh-ins by everyone - but how do guys actually feel about their loneliness? We asked you to cut through the noise to give your honest experiences of loneliness and male friendship, and we investigate the research to find out if this can even be called an ‘epidemic’. 

Mensline Australia: 1300 789 978

Lifeline: 13 11 14 

SHOW NOTES:

The State Of Loneliness 2023 data

Social Isolation And Loneliness in Australia

‘An uphill battle’: why are men struggling to make – and keep – friends?

https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-interactive/2025/jul/10/male-friendships-midlife#:~:text=According%20to%20data%20from%20the%20Survey%20Center,in%202021%2C%20compared%20with%203%25%20in%201990.

Male loneliness and isolation: What the data shows

The surprising truth about loneliness in America

Side talk: Half of men feel more comfortable having difficult conversations shoulder-to-shoulder

Is Male Loneliness an Epidemic? A Gendered and Structural Reframing

The men's loneliness epidemic might not exist

Vulga Drawings instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFVr4eXopWw/?img_index=1

Females were more likely to have mental health conditions

Theorizing Mankeeping: The Male Friendship Recession and Women’s Associated Labor as a Structural Component of Gender Inequality

Men value romantic relationships more and suffer greater consequences from breakups than women

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Have you got a different sex drive to your partner? When your libido is out of sync, you can feel guilt, shame and rejection, making you question if your relationship is compatible. We get advice from sexologist and psychologist Laura Lee on how to work through those feelings and how to find a balance. 

SHOW NOTES:

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Everyone’s got a number in mind but whether you’re hitting that goal is a different story. From hormones and medication to the mental load and mismatched libidos, we find out the factors that affect how much sex you’re having - and if there’s a magic number.

SHOW NOTES:

Don’t Blame Women For Low Libido, Sparks Fly When Partners Do Their Share Of Chores: https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-women-for-low-libido-sexual-sparks-fly-when-partners-do-their-share-of-chores-including-calling-the-plumber-185401

Is a Man's Sex Drive Really Much Stronger Than a Woman's?

Sex Drive: How Do Men and Women Compare?

Is a Man's Sex Drive Really Much Stronger Than a Woman's?

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

If you have irregular periods, excess body hair, acne, weight gain and are struggling to get pregnant, you might have polycystic ovarian syndrome. PCOS is a chronic hormonal condition that impacts around one in ten people with ovaries, but many people go undiagnosed and it’s the leading cause of infertility. In this episode, we find out signs to look for, and how you can treat it.

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

If you're dating as a queer woman, have you ever felt like there’s an assumption that you’ll always “end up back with a man”? It seems like it’s a unique challenge faced by bisexual women and lesbians - where their identity, sexuality, and where they belong in both hetero and homosexual communities is constantly questioned or invalidated. We hear your experiences of internalised biphobia/lesphobia, label policing and sexual fluidity - and how it’s affecting your love lives.

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Going through a break up right now and don’t know if you’ve made the right decision?

In this episode, Dee chats to couples therapist Liz Neal about when to know if you should get back with an ex or move on. Plus, if you do decide to get back together - here’s how to do it well.

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

So you wanna get back with your ex. It’s a pretty universal experience and you told us heaps of reasons why you tried to rekindle the relationship - whether it’s emotional dependency, needing closure or the whole “it’ll be different this time!”. We hear your stories from when it’s worked, when it hasn’t, and if there’s a formula to getting it right. 

SHOW NOTES:

Full Stop Australia helpline: 1800 385 578 

1800 Respect: 1800 737 732

Mensline Australia: 1300 789 978

Lifeline: 13 11 14 

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Are you using dating apps, or in a relationship with someone you met online? 

Well, new global research found that couples who met through a screen aren’t as happy, satisfied, in love, or committed as those who met irl. So what’s going on? 

Dee chats to co-author of the study Adam Bode about their results and unpacks the research further with Associate Professor Gery Keranzas.

SHOW NOTES:

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

All over the globe, birth rates are falling and hitting critically low levels like we’ve never seen before. From the state of the economy and political/gender divides to fertility issues and climate change, we investigate why you’re choosing not to have kids - and what might happen if our population keeps aging.

SHOW NOTES

Birth rates are falling in Australia

World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says

Cradle To Grave - Freakonomics podcast

Young women are leaving men behind (and not only at uni)

Why Women Are Weary of the Emotional Labor of ‘Mankeeping’

Housing crisis stats

Women are still doing more domestic labour than men despite working more

Why Humans Are Vanishing - Kurzgesagt 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ

Paid parental leave Australia - ABC

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-17/fact-check-australia-paid-parental-leave/11270456?utm_source=chatgpt.com

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Ever struggled to get hard during sex? Or maybe you had an erection but then you lost it?

In this ep, we find out why erectile dysfunction happens, how to navigate it, and how to talk about it with a partner. 

DM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: [email protected]

You can catch more episodes of The Hook Up with Dee Salmin and Pip Rasmussen chatting to people like Angela White, Dr Tara, Esme Louise James, Girthmasterr and more on the triple j app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.