The World needs more men like Osher Gunsberg. And it has nothing to do with his hair.

Here’s the thing about Osher Gunsberg.

He’s smooth. Polished. Professional. You look at him on The Bachelor and you think “A man like that looks like he’s got life together.”

Outside TV-land, he has a successful podcast, he runs marathons, is a vegan Buddhist whose is smart, considered, emotionally intelligent and apparently a gun in the sack.

But none of these things are as remotely impressive as what he told us on this week’s podcast.

Because this smooth, calm, handsome guy has battled mental illness for years. And he’s not afraid to say it.

In fact, he’s not afraid to talk about lots of things.

He co-hosted this week’s episode of Mamamia Out Loud and boy, we covered some ground. Transgender pride. Racism. Indigenous issues. The struggles of rural Australia. Whether The Bachelor contestants should have sex.  Whether Fifty Shades of Grey has changed the way women have sex.  How as part of the human condition, we need to feel sadness. How as consumers, we need to think about what we buy. How as Australians, we have a responsibility to stamp out racism. How we need to stop being scared of the “other”, the people who we perceive as different in life, and instead, put them front and centre so we can normalise difference.

But most of  all, it’s the way he describes his mental illness so matter-of-factly.  No beating around the bush. No tip-toeing around the outside. Not even a skerrick of apologetic shrug.  Just ‘this is how it is, this is who I am.”

This is the kind of discussion you never get anymore. Particularly from anyone with a reasonably high profile.  Usually they’re cagey, careful, scripted.

Here is a guy whose job is to be calm, and smooth, and professional in that false, shiny TV world. And yet on the podcast, he was so authentic, real, and so honest, that at the end of it, you feel like you’ve been slapped in the face, dunked in cold water, and had your eyes opened that little bit wider.

Yep. The world needs more of this.  Authentic, compassionate, emotionally intelligent men.

Osher Gunsberg. A rose to you sir.  And to all the honest, interesting and authentic people like you.  You’re a breath of fresh air.

The full episode is here:
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