The Hushed® isn’t about advice or answers. It’s about what happens when men drop the armour and talk about real life – the messy, funny, tender, human bits: work, love, loss, ageing, identity, fear, fatherhood. All of it.
In 2025, The Hushed was recognised in Spotify UnWrapped as an Instant Hit, a Most Shared Show, and one of the platform’s most talked-about new podcasts.
Each episode brings together men from different walks of life and corners of the globe to share what’s really going on beneath the surface. No job titles. No résumés. No egos. Just men showing up as themselves, trying to make sense of life – out loud.
For generations, men have been taught to keep it together, stay strong, and push through. But silence has never saved anyone. When men talk honestly, about the things that don’t fit neatly into small talk, something shifts. Connection happens.
For men, that connection can be a relief: I’m not the only one carrying this. For women, partners, sisters, friends, daughters – it can be a window into what often goes unsaid. The Hushed® grew out of that need. A space to be heard, not fixed. Unashamedly a podcast for men, by men and for those who want to better understand, support, and walk alongside them.
The Hushed® is created and hosted by Martin Coul, founder of OTII®.
OTII’s work focuses on understanding mental health risk earlier and bringing a more human, evidence-led approach to well-being across work, education, and life. The Hushed sits alongside this work as a listening space – exploring the lived experiences, unspoken pressures, and quiet realities that don’t always show up in data.
As you’ll hear in the introduction to Episode 1, this work is personal. Losing a parent to schizophrenia at a young age, and later navigating his own experiences of depression and PTSD, shaped how Martin understands mental health – not as something abstract or clinical, but as part of everyday life. As he puts it, “mental health chose me – not the other way around.””
PS: The journey began as an independent passion project, guided by honesty, curiosity, and quiet conviction. Season 1 has been made intentionally and without excess, because these conversations matter. If it resonates and you see a thoughtful way to help it reach more people, you’re welcome to reach out via hello@otii.io.
Loved listening to this podcast mate, thank you for sharing this.
A fantastic and much-needed podcast that will inspire men to be more open, more vulnerable, and better able to navigate life’s challenges – for their sakes, and for their loved ones. I can’t wait to listen to the next episodes.
Loved this. As a daughter and a mother of two boys, it’s been eye opening to see how they struggle, too…
Wow great start I was hook from the simple introduction to the personal perspective. Great facilitation and real life stories that helped me connect. Thank you for sharing.
What a terrific podcast and one to share. Thank you for facilities such a rich discussion, some of which I can truly identify with.
I really enjoyed that first podcast of what I hope will be a long string of conversations that will enlightened us. I always found it fascinating that men do not build a tribe they can talk to similar to what women do . Thru find it easier to speak to their wives but not their friends . Time to change that . Thank you Martin
I’ve just finished episode 1 and WOW!!! I think this is the first time of my entire life that I can heard a true, profound and honest conversation between mens and I really loved it!! Their life stories, their differents experiences, their accomplishment! Very inspiring! Can’t wait to listen to the other episodes !! Thank you guys for sharing and thank you Martin! ❤️
We open the series with a conversation about why so many men struggle to talk about what really matters, not because they don’t care, but because they’ve been taught not to. This first episode sets the tone: open, human, and unpolished. We explore why silence isn’t strength, and how honest conversations, even the messy ones, can help us feel more connected, understood, and less alone.
What does it mean to be a man? In this episode, we look at the early blueprints we were handed from dads, coaches, media, or mates, and how those roles shaped us. We explore how bravado can mask vulnerability, and what it takes to step outside the stories we were taught and find our own way.
Being a dad is often framed as provider first, person second. This episode brings together three fathers to explore the joys, worries, and unspoken weight of raising children. We talk about identity, guilt, pride, and the invisible pressures that come with wanting to be a good dad. From neurodivergence to legacy, we ask: what do we pass on, what do we carry, and what does ‘showing up’ really mean?
From “provider first” to the quiet pressure to always deliver, this episode explores why so many men still measure their value in work, and what happens when that stops feeling enough. Three voices, American, British, and Finnish share how success, stress, and self-worth collide, and what they learned when stepping back became the only way forward. At its heart, we ask: if you’re not what you do, who are you?
Many men have mates, but few they can be fully open with. This episode explores the gap between banter and real connection – and why isolation can persist even in a room full of people. We ask why male friendships so often feel passive compared to the way women tend to nurture theirs, and what it might take for men to move beyond surface-level camaraderie toward deeper, sustaining bonds.
As men move into middle age, the body becomes a quieter, more complicated place. This episode explores how men think about appearance, ageing, and the things we tend to avoid – from unspoken dress codes to check-ups we delay. We look at how denial shows up, why so many men downplay what they notice, and what it might take to stop treating our bodies as afterthoughts. It’s an honest conversation about noticing change, paying attention, and learning to show up before something breaks.
Gay men often move through the world carrying stories they’ve never said out loud – about rejection, desire, trust, and the search for a love that feels like home. In this episode, they share those quieter truths: what intimacy costs, what it gives back, and how masculinity can expand when you’re no longer performing for it. These are stories about connection, heartbreak, healing, and the power of being seen as you really are.
Some emotions are easier to show than others. For many men, anger, fear, and grief are learned early as things to manage, suppress, or carry alone. In this episode, two men reflect on what happens when those feelings are buried for too long, how they surface, how they shape relationships, and what it takes to give them space without causing harm. These are honest conversations about restraint, release, and the quiet strength that can emerge when men learn to face what they’ve been taught to hide.
From testicular cancer to vasectomies, this episode explores what happens when men are forced to confront their bodies, sometimes by choice, sometimes without one. It’s not about oversharing. It’s about how illness, surgery, and survival can shake identity, surface fear, and quietly reshape how men see themselves. Caring for your health doesn’t make you less of a man. It means you’re planning to stick around – and to understand what comes after.
