Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis

He Went From Addiction, Violence and a Seven-and-a-Half Year Prison Sentence to Studying the Very Behaviour That Destroyed His Life. Bob Cullen on Violence, Class and Whether People Can Really Change.
Bob Cullen grew up in Blanchardstown as, by his own account, a shy and sensitive kid — and became a violent, addicted young man who ended up serving over seven years in prison. What makes his story extraordinary is what he did next: he studied criminology from his cell, and is now finishing a master's, trying to understand exactly what turns an ordinary child into a violent criminal.
Ryan — who shares a lot of common ground with Bob — sits down for a genuinely thought-provoking, at times challenging conversation that pushes back on both sides.
What we get into:
What actually turns an ordinary kid into a violent criminal
Why Bob believes violence is a "pathogen" you catch through proximity
Masculinity, patriarchy, and how young men build status when they have nothing
Why he argues the harsher a system punishes, the more crime it creates
The difference between explaining your actions and excusing them
Systemic vs street crime: why a bike shed can cost more than people go to prison for stealing
Why the same few postcodes fill every prison in the country
Addiction, two suicide attempts, and the moment he decided to stop
Prison abolition — what it actually means, and the pushback he gets
Delusional self-confidence, luck, and the doors that have to open
Routine, discipline, neurodivergence, and how structure saved him
The one lesson he learned the hard way: the love you need has to come from you
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
If anything in this episode affects you, support is available in Ireland. Samaritans are free, 24/7, on 116 123. Pieta (suicide and self-harm support) is on 1800 247 247, or text HELP to 51444. The HSE Drugs & Alcohol Helpline is on 1800 459 459.
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

Doctors Told Him He Might Never Fight Again. Now He's One of the Best Fighters Ireland Has Ever Produced. Paul Hughes on Injuries, the Usman Fights, PEDs and the Real Cost of Winning.
Paul Hughes is one of the biggest names in Irish MMA — a former Cage Warriors world champion who's twice gone five rounds with Usman Nurmagomedov for a world title, and beaten some of the best fighters on the planet. But the road here nearly ended before it started: multiple hand fractures early in his career had doctors telling him he might have to retire.
Ryan — who's trained alongside Paul at Fight Academy Ireland — sits down with him for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about belief, sacrifice, and the parts of the fight game nobody sees.
What we get into:
Where his almost abnormal competitiveness actually comes from
The brutal reality of cutting weight, and why it's the hardest part of the sport
Delusional self-belief, "proof," and how confidence is really built
Four hand fractures, surgery, and two years out at 19 — and what got him through
The "filter": why every level weeds more people out, and how he uses that mindset
Why "success is just who's willing to suffer more" — and the real cost of winning
The two Usman fights, and how good Usman Nurmagomedov actually is
The untold story: fighting the second Usman fight on a badly broken body
Why he views MMA as "kill or be killed" in the cage, and pure respect after
Fighter pay, fighter welfare, and why so many leave the sport with nothing
The PED problem in MMA, out-of-competition testing, and why he's speaking out
Why he chose PFL over the UFC — and has no regrets
What he wants to do when fighting's over
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 Was Sober for 16 Years. Then She Lost It All, and at 53 Rebuilt Her Brain From Scratch. Angela Carney on Hypnosis, Addiction and the Subconscious Mind.
Angela Carney got sober in her early thirties and stayed sober for 16 years while building a successful business from nothing. Then her mother died, the pressure mounted, and a "harmless" habit reopened a door she thought was closed for good. What followed was years of cross-addiction, the loss of her business, and a rock-bottom moment at 53 where she sat down and Googled four words: "Can I fix my brain?"
What she found, neuroplasticity, the theta brainwave state, and the power of the subconscious mind, became the foundation of her recovery and her work today as a hypnotherapist helping others beat addiction.
Ryan sits down with Angela for a genuinely fascinating conversation about how the mind actually works.
What we get into:
How someone relapses after 16 years sober and what "cross-addiction" really means
Why your dopamine system never forgets, and how addiction hijacks the reward pathway
The conscious mind is 5% of you your subconscious runs the other 95%
Why you can consciously want to stop and still be unable to
Neuroplasticity: why your brain can change at any age, not just before 25
The theta brainwave state, and how the first 7 years quietly shape your whole life
The night Angela felt overwhelming joy in the middle of withdrawal, and what it taught her
Why advertising is a form of legal hypnosis, from Pringles to Nike
Why the subconscious doesn't hear the word "don't", and how to talk to it instead
Self-pity versus self-compassion, "mood hoovers," and training your brain toward the positive
Ryan's own visualisation story after his accident, and where it overlaps with Angela's
Her message to anyone who's tried to stop ten times and thinks this is just who they are
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
If anything in this episode affects you, support is available in Ireland. The HSE Drugs & Alcohol Helpline is free and confidential on 1800 459 459, and Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Grew Up in the Flats Obsessed With Money. Now He Runs 55 Properties Across Four Countries — Without Owning a Single One.
Adam McEnroe grew up in Dolphin's Barn, obsessed with money from the age of four — selling toys off the step, hustling card games, always looking for the next way up. What he didn't have was anyone around him who'd built real success, or the belief that someone from his area could. This episode is the story of how he built one anyway.
Ryan sits down with Adam for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about money, mindset, business and the reality behind the highlight reel.
What we get into:
Growing up money-obsessed in the flats, and what poverty really looked like
Why "the poorer the area, the bigger the brand" — and the trap of going broke to look rich
The boss and mentor who gave him one-on-one business lessons and changed everything
How he discovered the rent-to-rent Airbnb model everyone laughed at
The day he found out he was having a son and his mam had cancer — and why it lit the fire
Building the business from Dubai, the early losses, and getting scammed out of thousands
Airbnb and the housing crisis: genuine cause or easy scapegoat?
Why he believes most people buy houses for the wrong reasons
The reality of business nobody sees: the losses, the pressure, the day-to-day grind
Endurance, hardship and why not everyone is cut out for business
Taking accountability, ego, and what religion taught him about handling hard times
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

People Are Quick to Judge the Flats. Very Few Ever Stop to Listen. Richie Power Is Changing That.
Richie Power grew up in the Liberties and created Chats in the Flats — the Instagram page showcasing a side of working-class Dublin that rarely makes the headlines: the humour, the talent, the grief, the pride and the sense of community behind the concrete. In a media landscape built on clicks and the worst-case story, Richie set out to show the everyday people instead.
Ryan sits down with him for a warm, wide-ranging conversation about community, identity, the power of the mind and the Dublin we're at risk of losing.
What we get into:
Growing up in the Liberties and only realising later how different it was
Why he built Chats in the Flats one authentic take at a time, against the hook-and-chop grain of social media
How the local credit union helped him get it off the ground
Why the media only seems to notice the flats when something bad happens
The accent as identity — and why he'll pronounce his words but never change how he speaks
Old Dublin, and the fear that we're losing it block by block
Why he keeps his focus local — self, family, community — before anything else
The doctor's throwaway comment that changed how Richie's guest on the show, Ryan, thinks about the mind forever
His late mother's words: "Let yesterday's news get you through this journey. Don't let this journey ruin yesterday's news"
Why being Irish, and being proud of where you're from, is a kind of superpower
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 | and Chats in the Flats on Instagram
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory