Five Seasons of Out of the Fishbowl podcast

Out of the Fishbowl: The Podcast begins…

So on July 26, 2021, the very first episode of my podcast, titled Out of the Fishbowl [corresponding with a column i used to write for a magazine called Vision] was launched. Pineapple on Pizza was very well received [urgh, even writing that!] and it continues to be my most popular episode, currently on 771 listens, but very much looking forward to crossing that 1000 mark, maybe even this year [who can you share it with right now?]

Using a bit of Misdirection as is my thing [my favourite form of comedy!], Pineapple on Pizza invited people to consider topics they might hold prejudice to that don’t matter, so things like crocs and man buns and which premier league football team you support, and inviting you to celebrate your friends who do enjoy those, rather than trying to make them feel bad.

Season 1

The second ever most popular episode so far has been ‘All you need is Love’ which closed off Season 1. This episode that looked at a different definition of Love than the one we grew up with that either equated Sex or Feelings with Love and instead looked at the Choice aspect – choosing to stay engaged when the feeling may not be there, etc – really seemed to resonate with people, and despite being far behind Pineapple on Pizza in lessons, it has edged a huge gap ahead of the chasing pack and is soon set to be the second member of the 500 club.

The other episode that connected well this season was the oddly named ‘Diverse vs. Divers’ which through the odd lens of near-drowning experiences in my life, invited people to be more intentional about seeking Diversity, but only when it leads to Inclusion and Belonging.

i was really happy at the end of Season 1 as listeners seemed to be growing and people were really engaging and commenting positively on the episodes and it really felt like Out of the Fishbowl had found a small spot to land…

Season 2

The second season of the podcast began just a few months after season 1 had left off. Starting with ‘The Define Line’, an episode which challenged the idea that you should be defined by your worst action or mistake [as well as your best!] and invited space for redemption. For anyone. Which, in the world today, can feel like quite a controversial call, but especially tied to my faith in Jesus i believe it to be true.

Once again, saving the best episodes for first and last, it was the final episode, weirdly titled, ‘That’s Not what i Meant… or…’ which put forward the not too unrealistic notion that every single one of us should be involved in mentoring in some way or the other. And also speaks to being mentored and whether or not that was something we experienced. But by creating the simplest of invitations [a once a month coffee chat or beach walk or meal] any of us can walk alongside someone else and at the very least listen to them, but hopefully add some depth to their lives [and vice versa, because i always see mentorship as a two-way thing].

Season 3

On November 7, 2022, we hit the ground running with ‘Killing Cats’ which remains one of my absolute favourite episodes to date.

With the disclaimer that no cats were injured during the recording of this episode – and one might have actually been saved, Killing Cats explores Curiosity and the epiphany notion i had while making it, that what if the cat from the ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ proverb was in fact so deeply transformed by embracing Curiosity that it no longer resembled the cat it had been before and so in a metaphoric sense Curiosity had killed the old not-curious version of the cat and replaced it with one that was so much more alive and amped for life? Chills!

Two other 300 Club episodes appear in this season, starting with ‘When your Ship hits the Fan’ which i made during the lowest point of my life, after my marriage had been ended in front of me and for three years i struggled to really get back to being myself fully and being over the sadness, loneliness, and rejection [and confusion!]. But that episode has really resonated with other people who feel like they are up against it or in the dark tunnel, and the mantra ‘This Too Shall Pass’ [which became an episode in my most recent season, recorded on the other side of the bleak tunnel] which was a source of comfort and hope for me, has also spurred others on, and continues to.

The other more surprising hit for me was ‘One Good Thing’ which simply took a practical view to changing the world by actively just putting your hand to the one good thing that is in front of you to do, doing it with Love and Enthusiasm, and then repeating. This really seemed to resonate with many of you!

Season 4

This is where it got a little bit wild. You might suspiciously recognise the style of the logo that changed quite dramatically as i headed into the 4th season of Out of the Fishbowl, and you might be completely correct:

i have been friends with Rico Schacherl, who is the illustrator of the Madam and Eve cartoons on the Twitterer for the longest time and we have had various interactions and he has shared some of my posts and we really seemed to have a vibe. At the time AI was just coming into play and so i was experimenting and coming up with some very fun styles of logo for the next season. But then someone challenged me about using real humans and supporting local and so i thought, well it can’t hurt to ask. Dropped him a message asked if he would consider drawing a logo for my season and he graciously offered to do it for me [and then repeated the gift for Season 5] which is why Out of the Fishbowl suddenly took on a bit of a Madam and Eve twist. 

Almost a year passed between Season 3 and Season 4 [i think it was Season 3 where i paid my mate Jeremy Koeries to record and edit my podcast and suddenly the quality got so much better, but sadly he moved and lost the studio and so i had to return to awful setup in my lounge trying to do the best i could with my untechnical self] and so it was important for me to return with a bang, and although this episode has not been one of the big ones i expected it would be – and still hope it might be some day [go take a listen!!!] Holding Two Things feels like one of the absolute best episodes i have done. This conversation explores the challenge of sitting with two strongly opposing emotions [your dad just died but your sister is having a baby, or your friend is about to graduate but Israel/Palestine is happening] and how do we manage in those situations to not go completely mad… very much worth a listen!

But the episode that did blow up this season was actually a Bonus episode i snuck in titled, ‘What if the Church left the building?’ which talks about one of my absolute favourite topics of Church being the people, not the place. i think especially for people who have become a little disillusioned or felt burn out or hurt by church, this one helps give a fresh perspective on what and who the group of Jesus-followers were always meant to be in the first place and so maybe that thing you experienced was not actually church…

As well as an episode that feels somewhat similar to One Good Thing which did so well, which is ‘Choose to be SignifiCAN!’ which invites you to be intentional and significant in the way you live and engage and change the world around you for the better. At the time of posting this is sitting on 299 listens and so if you have the time and intention, you might be the one to push it into the 300 club!

Season 5

Which brings us to the latest Season [so far] and a couple of extra Bonus two-people conversations… 

All in all, to this point, closing in on 9000 listens [looking forward to breaking 10, 000 this year, especially as Season 6 drops at some stage] and a whole lot of positive feedback and encourage conversations. It is hard to not get caught up with the numbers sometimes and when your top episode has 771 listens but you have more than 20 000 followers across social media platforms that can feel a bit painful at times. But the hope is that it always lands where it needs to and 9000 people taking a listen to your thoughts and ideas and challenges and stories is definitely not the worst of things.

One of my favourite stories with regards to Out of the Fishbowl concerns my wife Amanda’s parents. Her dad got hold of my book, ‘i, church’ quite early on in our relationship and he was reading it and as he did starting to understand why we were together. His brother Gert read it as well and refers to me as “My vriend Brett” even though we have only met a handful of times, but because he has also been listening to the podcasts. And both her dad and more particularly her mom started listening to the podcasts to get to know me better and are likely two of a very small group of people who have listened to every single episode. In fact her brotherMorné would download episodes and listen to them on his long road trips and then send me voice notes sharing his thoughts and reflections. So has been such a beautiful family connection. 

Another episode i expected would do a lot better than it has, this season started off in March 2025 with ‘This Too Shall Pass’ which is the flipside episode to the ‘When your Ship hits the Fan’ that spoke of my darkest hardest times. This was recorded when things were looking up, after i had met Amanda and was heading to a marriage with someone who Loves me so very well and just invites me to thrive in all the very best ways i can. And definitely worth sharing with people you know who are really struggling right now.

This season has struggled to get the same kind of traction as previous seasons and i am not sure why it is and if we didn’t have a very exciting plan for Season 6 which is still very much in the works, i might be asking questions about whether to continue or not. But one episode that keeps on being discovered and which gives a bit of a trailer to what is next, is the most recent Bonus episode: Meet my wife, Amanda – on Singleness and Marriage where we have a conversation about some of our story of ending up together but also challenging some of the notions of Singleness and inviting people to be more Curious about how they speak about Singleness and Marriage and how we create community well for all of the people around us.

The hope is that each episode of the coming season will be a little shorter, and then Amanda will listen to the episode and we will have conversation about what she heard and didn’t hear and thinks with regards to the topic. So will be a kind of duel focus for a podcast episode which i am quite excited about. Amanda is so wise and has such fresh perspectives on so many things that i can’t wait to get more of her voice on the pod. 

And that brings us to where we are today. If you made it this far, please head up and click on any of the links for any of the episodes you haven’t yet listened to, or you can find the whole catalogue over here. But also consider sharing specifically with people you know who might appreciate a particular episode or just directing people generally to it. Any time there is a repost or share or comment or engagement it helps it to receive new eyes and is completely appreciated. i don’t make any money for doing this and in fact pay a bunch of money to make the podcast happen, so if it has been something that has encouraged or challenged or made any kind of difference to you, you may consider becoming a more active supporter. i dream of the day when the tech stuff is done by the tech people and we can just show up and have the important conversations. Much Love to you all!