Matt Follain describes his journey from successful martial arts professional running his own cage-fighting club as a single dad, to a battle with addiction following life changing injuries in a vehicle 'incident', then finally reclaiming his identity and health management via spirit awakening techniques.

DREAMTIME COWBOY 🎧 Chapter 1 – Part 3:

Now a teenager, Francis escapes school and begins life as a drover and cowboy — living the fantasy of the comic book heroes he once adored. But the cost of survival is silence. He hides his Aboriginal identity, even as he starts a family and works across remote cattle stations. This section captures both the allure and the loneliness of the saddle, the beginning of a life lived between two worlds — and introduces the deep inner conflict that will shape the man to come.

🎧 Endnote If you’ve enjoyed this first glimpseinto Dreamtime Cowboy, you can help me continue editing and proofreading the full story — both for print and this podcast, and eventually for the audiobook to come.

This project was born from hundreds of recorded interviews, painstakingly transcribed and written into prose by award-winning Editor-in-Chief Adrian Beckingham as a true labour of love.

Every contribution helps bring the extraordinary life of Francis Firebrace, Aboriginal elder and storyteller, to completion and share it with the world. Francis is now aged 89 years and with the onset of dementia, cannot remember many of the events which he spoke of during the initial interviews.

Support the timely completion of this journey by making a financial donation here:

👉 ⁠www.ko-fi.com/adrianbeckingham⁠

Thank you for walking this path — keeping the fire of story alive.

DREAMTIME COWBOY 🎧 Chapter 1 – Part 2

Francis’ earliest memories emerge: a childhood shaped by the land, freedom, and silence — until the day he glimpses white society from across a riverbank. Shocked by its chaos, Francis is soon sent to school, where racism becomes a daily reality. A local constable steps in, teaching him to box. This chapter blends the innocence of the bush with the harsh awakening of discrimination, setting the tone for a life of endurance and quiet power.

🎧 Endnote If you’ve enjoyed this first glimpseinto Dreamtime Cowboy, you can help me continue editing andproofreading the full story — both for print and this podcast, and eventuallyfor the audiobook to come.

This project was bornfrom hundreds of recorded interviews, painstakingly transcribed and writteninto prose by award-winning Editor-in-Chief AdrianBeckingham as a true labour oflove.

Every contributionhelps bring the extraordinary life of FrancisFirebrace, Aboriginal elder andstoryteller, to completion and share it with the world. Francis is now aged 89years and with the onset of dementia, cannot remember many of the events which he spoke of during the initial interviews.

Support the timely completion of this journey by making a financial donation here: 👉 ⁠www.ko-fi.com/adrianbeckingham⁠

Thank you for walking this path — keeping the fire of story alive.

DREAMTIME COWBOY 🎧 Chapter 1 – Part 1:

In this opening section, we’re introduced to Francis Firebrace and the extraordinary circumstances of his birth. Born during a time when Aboriginal people were classified under the Flora and Fauna Act, Francis' parents fled into the Australian bush to avoid persecution. We glimpse a world where being born of mixed heritage was a crime — a world where survival depended on ancestral bush knowledge and secrecy. This episode lays the emotional and historical groundwork for what will become a breathtaking life story.

🎧 Endnote
If you’ve enjoyed this first glimpse into Dreamtime Cowboy, you can help me continue editing and proofreading the full story — both for print and this podcast, and eventually for the audiobook to come.

This project was born from hundreds of recorded interviews, painstakingly transcribed and written into prose by award-winning Editor-in-Chief Adrian Beckingham as a true labour of love.

Every contribution helps bring the extraordinary life of Francis Firebrace, Aboriginal elder and storyteller, to completion and share it with the world. Francis is now aged 89 years and with the onset of dementia, cannot remember many of the events which he spoke of during the initial interviews.

Support the timely completion of this journey by making a financial donation here:
👉 www.ko-fi.com/adrianbeckingham

Thank you for walking this path — keeping the fire of story alive.

Welcome to Dreamtime Cowboy
The Life and Legacy of Francis Firebrace
With Adrian Beckingham, Biographer

Created from hundreds of interviews and painstakingly transcribed into prose by award-winning Editor-in-Chief Adrian Beckingham, this labour of love honours the extraordinary life of Aboriginal elder Francis Firebrace.What if your earliest memory was bush survival… not in theory, but in practice? What if you had to hide your identity because your very birth could spark social rejection — or worse? What if the wisdom of a 60,000-year-old culture lived within you, yet the world refused to acknowledge your humanity?

Dreamtime Cowboy is a rare, intimate audio biography unlike anything you've heard before — a powerful blend of bushcraft, ancient Dreamtime knowledge, lived poetry, and raw Australiana. It’s the real-life story of Francis Firebrace, one of the most influential living Aboriginal Australians, told through over a decade of exclusive interviews with biographer and master storyteller Adrian Beckingham.

Francis’ life began in hiding. With a white mother and an Aboriginal father, his very existence defied the laws and racial taboos of 1930s Australia — a time when Aboriginal people were still classified under the Flora and Fauna Act. His family fled society on horseback, surviving in the wilderness for years using his father’s deep bush knowledge. As a child, Francis thought the world ended at the riverbank — until he saw a chaotic crowd of Depression-era settlers across the water and thought, “I never imagined that many people existed.”

From outback isolation to inner-city racism, from cowboy droving to international acclaim, Dreamtime Cowboy charts Francis’ breathtaking odyssey. You'll hear how a small-town police constable taught a bullied boy to box, how Francis became a real-life cowboy from the saddle, and how he went on to become Australia's first Aboriginal filmmaker to win the Moomba International Film Festival — all while hiding his heritage to survive.

But the journey doesn’t stop there.

Following personal tragedy, Francis withdrew from society and began a spiritual reawakening. Embracing the sacred teachings of the Dreamtime, he re-emerged as a cultural ambassador, artist, storyteller, and educator. His voice would go on to echo in schools, universities, embassies, townships, and palaces. His paintings adorned Australia House. His image appeared on stamps in both the UK and Australia. He stood as a mascot for the Olympic Games, spoke at the 250,000-strong Sydney Harbour Reconciliation Walk, and worked with the sick, the impoverished, and the elite alike.

This podcast invites you into that extraordinary legacy.

🎧 Why Listen?

• Experience a first-hand portal into a lost world of wilderness survival and ancient cultural wisdom.

• Discover the healing power of oral tradition and the resilience of the human spirit.

• Witness the personal cost of hiding — and the transcendence of reclaiming — cultural identity.

• Uncover Aboriginal philosophy, art, storytelling, and bush lore directly from one of its most passionate champions.

Dreamtime Cowboy is not just a podcast. It’s an education. A journey. A restoration. A defiance of history through story. It’s a bridge between ancient soul and modern heart — between a man once shunned and the world that came to celebrate him.

For lovers of oral tradition, spiritual insight, and real-life heroes forged in fire and silence, this show is your next profound listen.

🎧 Endnote
If you’ve enjoyed this first glimpse into Dreamtime Cowboy, you can help me continue editing and proofreading the full story — both for print and this podcast, and eventually for the audiobook to come. Every bit of support helps me bring Francis Firebrace’s remarkable life to completion and share it with the world.

Support the project here:
👉 ko-fi.com/adrianbeckingham

Thank you for walking this journey with us — keeping the fire of story alive.

🎙️ Give Peace A Chance – HOPE80 Hiroshima Anniversary Special
Published: August 6, 2025 | 80th Anniversary of Hiroshima

In this powerful and moving launch episode of Give Peace A Chance, recorded ahead of the historic HOPE80 Peace Tour, host Adrian Beckingham gathers five extraordinary individuals for an unforgettable roundtable conversation on remembrance, reconciliation, and the urgent call for peace in our time.

Joining Adrian are five international peace delegates, each with a deeply personal connection to global conflict and healing:

• Ven. Ryokyu Endo – Founder of the Flame of Hope, a flame first lit from the embers of post-bomb Hiroshima and now carried worldwide as a symbol of peace.

• Lawrence Lefcort – Executive Director of Flame of Hope International, championing global remembrance through action and solidarity.

• Lucy Sandys – Great-granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill, and a spokesperson for HOPE80, reflecting on legacy, truth, and the next generation’s role in peacekeeping.

• Jennifer Teege – Granddaughter of SS Commandant Amon Göth and author of My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me. As a Black German woman discovering her lineage, Jennifer speaks with rare insight into inherited trauma and personal transformation.

• Alice Dalsass – European Ambassador for Flame of Hope International, bringing youthful determination and coordination to the global movement for peace.

Together, this gathering of voices explores what it means to hold both memory and responsibility in a world still grappling with division and war. From Hiroshima to Gaza, Ukraine to London, they explore the deep personal stories and global stakes that define this moment in history.

This special episode honours those lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and offers a living flame of hope for generations to come.