Iron John

With special guest:

• “Athol”.  

This weeks show deals with American author, Robert Bly’s insightful interpretation of the Grimms brothers fairy tale “Iron John”.  “Iron John” tells the story of a boy who is mentored by a wild man thru various trials and tribulations to emerge a hero and eventually marry the King’s daughter.  

Iron John is also the name of a men’s group based in Sydney that meets regularly and deals with issues arising in its member’s lives. We are privileged to interview one of the members of this group who identifies himself as Athol. 

In his book, ‘Iron John; a story about men’ Bly interprets the original tale, explaining its relevance to the development of the pre-industrial male psyche whilst lamenting the failures of modern society to correctly initiate boys into manhood and the subsequent disastrous impacts upon the lives of modern men and women.

The interview is dispersed amongst several readings by Robert Bly of his inspirational book, a text which forms the basis of the group’s philosophy. Athol speaks eloquently about how the principles enunciated in Bly’s work apply to modern men by sharing his own personal experiences both prior to and during his involvement in the group. He explains how he has attained a deeper understanding of his own life and has been able to overcome many of the negatives through the work conducted within the group    

Listen Now (MP3)