# Changing Australia: Shay Leighton and creating the Tough Guy Book Club

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-national-breakfast-572135/changing-australia-shay-leighton-and-creating-the-tough-guy-book-club
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-national-breakfast-572135/changing-australia-shay-leighton-and-creating-the-tough-guy-book-club.md
Podcast: [Radio National Breakfast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-national-breakfast-572135)
Published: 2026-06-28T22:15:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/changing-oz-shay-leighton-tough-guy-book-club/106849800
Audio file: https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/lv/Z/n7.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/radio-national-breakfast-572135/episodes/changing-australia-shay-leighton-and-creating-the-tough-guy-book-club
Duration seconds: 713

## Resource

As a teen, a good sci-fi novel was among Shay Leighton's favourite books to read. But as he grew older and life took over; he read less, worked too much and wasn't very happy. So, he decided to start a book club, but one designed to focus on connecting men, address isolation and improve mental health. This group, the Tough Guy Book Club, first met in a pub in Melbourne in 2012 and has now become an international sensation with more than 180 chapters in Australia around the world.

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## Transcript

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