Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis

A Brain Haemorrhage. Then Breast Cancer. Same Man. Two Years Apart. Dec Pierce Gets Completely Honest.
Most people know Dec Pierce as the voice of Block Rockin' Beats — the man who brought thousands together through music, through lockdown, through the nights they'll never forget. But behind the energy and the stage presence, the last three years of Dec's life have been extraordinary in the worst possible way.
In 2023, Dec suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage mid-run in Ringsend. In 2025, he was diagnosed with breast cancer — a condition so rare in men it accounts for just 1% of all cases. Two life-threatening illnesses in two years, in a man who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, exercises, eats well and does everything right.
Ryan sits down with Dec for one of the most important men's health conversations Made in Chaos has ever had.
What we get into:
Growing up as a quiet, bullied kid and how music became his alter ego
Recording his own pretend radio shows at 8 years old from a ghetto blaster
Dutch courage, a garden shed in Ballybrack and how pirate radio changed his life
Why dance music and nostalgia connect with people on a deeper level than almost anything else
Starting Block Rockin' Beats at his lowest professional point — and doing it for free for six months
How the birth of his daughter Ava removed every roadblock and fear of failure overnight
The bomb that went off in his head mid-run — and the sliding doors moment that saved his life
What a subarachnoid haemorrhage actually does to the body, and the long road back
The lump he found in New York in the shower — and almost let sit there
The phone call he got on the first day of his holiday in Spain
Why men don't check themselves — and why that silence costs lives
The youngest male diagnosis his specialist had ever made — and the earliest detection
Telling his 9-year-old daughter about the mastectomy scar
The nights when catastrophic thinking takes over — and how he got through them
What two life-threatening illnesses gave him that nothing else could
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who have turned adversity into something worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Was Addicted to Heroin for 15 Years. Now He Has a PhD in Neuroscience. The Same Brain Did Both.
Brian Pennie started using heroin at 16. By 20 he was chronically addicted, every single day for 15 years. He held down a job, sold drugs to fund his habit, and accumulated 50 grand in debt to dealers and money lenders. He had a violent seizure from benzo withdrawal, nearly died, and hit a moment of complete surrender in a hospital on a trolley at 35 years old.
What happened next is one of the most extraordinary personal transformations Ryan has ever had on Made in Chaos. Brian went to detox, discovered the human mind, met a doctor who told him he had a sharp brain, and four years later was teaching in Trinity College. He now has a PhD in neuroscience and lectures across Ireland and the world on addiction, trauma, habits and change.
What we get into:
The operation as a baby with no anaesthetic, and the trauma he didn't know he was carrying
Why heroin felt like "the anaesthetic I never got as a baby"
Why the choice theory of addiction is wrong, and what actually drives people to substances
The difference between Brian and his best mate who got addicted: two traumatised people in the same group
The ABC habit loop, why tackling the behaviour is completely the wrong starting point
Why the opposite of addiction is awareness, not sobriety
The eagle in the chicken coop, and why most people die thinking they're something they're not
Why your brain doesn't care about your happiness, it only cares about avoiding pain and chasing pleasure
Imposter syndrome reframed: it's not a warning sign, it's a compass pointing toward growth
Self-deception, limiting beliefs and building a wall of evidence instead of self-belief
Why motivation is bullshit, and what actually changes behaviour
Social media, AI and the terrifying perfect storm quietly destroying our ability to think
What Brian would say to someone who feels completely stuck right now
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

She Knew Before the Doctors Did. Carly Mahady on Cancer, Being Dismissed & Why Pity Never Saved Anyone.
At 16, Carly Mahady found a lump and was told she was fine. At 22, she noticed something else, and this time the doctors listened. What followed was a diagnosis of secretory carcinoma, a cancer so rare only 0.02% of people in the world have it, a mastectomy scheduled for her 25th birthday, chemotherapy during COVID, and a fight that most people never saw the full picture of.
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Carly for one of the most honest, funniest and most unexpectedly deep conversations Made in Chaos has ever had, about identity, illness, ADHD, avoidance and what it really means to come back as yourself.
What we get into:
Noticing a lump at 16 and being completely dismissed by her GP
How she decoded the body language of medical staff before they said a word
The man in the suit — how she figured out the waiting room system before anyone told her
Being diagnosed with secretory carcinoma: 0.02% of the world, no clear playbook
Scheduling her mastectomy on her 25th birthday and why she insisted
When the cancer spread to her lymph nodes — the second blow
Chemotherapy during COVID and finding genuine joy on the ward
Whether suppressed emotion and carried resentment caused her cancer — and why she believes it did
Pity vs results: you can have one, but you can't have both
ADHD, object permanence, protective pessimism and being violently avoidant of herself
Why she stopped talking about her cancer online — and what people misunderstood about that
Trauma porn, oversharing and finding the right delivery for a story that's still yours
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

Less Than 1% Chance of Walking Again. Three Doctors. Three Hammer Blows. One Decision to Never Give Up.
Niall McMahon opened Alfie's on South William Street in Dublin in 2008, the same year the recession began. He survived debt, pandemics, rising costs and 18 years of one of the toughest industries in the world. Then, in November 2023, a blood vessel in his spine burst without warning. Within days, he was paralysed.
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Niall for one of the most powerful conversations Made in Chaos has ever had, two men who've been through near-identical journeys comparing notes on paralysis, recovery, mindset and what it really takes to come back from the unthinkable.
What we get into:
Growing up in the restaurant business, his parents built Joelle's from a trucker café
Opening Alfie's the day before his 30th birthday during the worst recession in living memory
90 grand in debt with nothing in his pocket, and the walk on Bray beach that changed everything
The Japanese TV show that saved his menu and his business
The cavernoma, the blood vessel he was born with that nobody knew was there
Three consultants, three hammer blows: wheelchair for life, less than 1% chance, permanent bladder damage
The moment he lifted his knee 2 inches and said goodbye to the Bentley wheelchair
Pat, the roommate who gave him everything and was dead 4 months later
The hill, the biscuits and the last day at the NRH
Why the doctors who deliver bad news need to think about how they deliver it
What both Ryan and Niall believe is the real difference between people who come back and those who don't
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. He rebuilt his life from the ground up. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've faced real adversity and come out with wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

You Don't Have a Sleep Problem — You Have a Boundary Problem. Ireland's Leading Sleep Expert Explains Everything.
80% of Irish workers are sleep-deprived on any given day. And the solution isn't a supplement, a sleep tracker, or blue light glasses. Tom Coleman — Ireland's leading sleep expert, who has worked with Olympic athletes, global corporations, and shift workers — joins Ryan to dismantle everything you think you know about sleep.
What we get into:
Why you don't have a sleep problem — you have a boundary problem
The racing mind: the one thing almost every poor sleeper has in common
What alcohol is actually doing to your sleep cycles (it's worse than you think)
Melatonin — hormone or supplement, and why getting it wrong can backfire
The sleep aid sitting on pharmacy shelves that's linked to long-term dementia risk
Magnesium bisglycinate vs citrate — and which one actually helps sleep
Deep sleep vs light sleep vs REM — the biggest myths debunked
Your brain cleans itself every night — and what happens when it can't
Sleep trackers: why they're only 60% accurate and why you shouldn't let them dictate your mood
What waking up at 3am is actually telling you — and the counterintuitive strategy that works
Shift workers: the hidden health crisis affecting 20% of the Irish workforce
How sleep deprivation destroys relationships — including what newborns do to couples
What Tom has seen inside Coca-Cola, eBay and Pfizer behind closed doors
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio with over 5,000 five star Google reviews. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory