039: Becoming Donny - Todd Maguire

Todd Maguire never planned on becoming a police officer.

A conversation over a few schooners changed that — and began a career that would eventually take him deep into Queensland's undercover policing world.

But Todd's story is about much more than police work.

After the sudden death of his partner Karen, Todd found himself struggling with grief, guilt and a pain he didn't know how to process. Not long afterwards, he stepped into a new identity as undercover operative “Donny” — a world of crooks, drugs, weapons and high-risk operations that offered an escape from everything Todd was carrying.

In this episode, Todd joins us for a raw, funny and remarkably open conversation about policing, undercover work, loss, reckless behaviour, PTSD, nervous-system regulation, vulnerability and what he has learnt about himself along the way.

We also explore why lived experience matters, the conversations men often struggle to have, and Todd's simple idea of talking shoulder to shoulder rather than face to face.

This is a conversation about what happens when the job gives you somewhere to run — and what it takes to eventually stop running.

You can find out more about Todd and his book here:Donny - A raw Australian memoir by Todd Maguire

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