Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis

Ryan Curtis
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Made In Chaos is a podcast about resilience, mental toughness, and rebuilding your life after everything collapses. Hosted by former MMA fighter Ryan Curtis, who survived a catastrophic training accident that left him paralysed from the neck down, this show explores what it really takes to recover - physically, mentally, and emotionally. Each episode digs into adversity, discipline, identity, trauma, growth, recovery, and personal development, sharing lessons that help you create lasting change and a stronger future.

  1. 11h ago

    How to Actually Get Rich in Ireland - Paul Merriman (Ask Paul)

    Ireland's Best-Known Financial Advisor on What We Get Wrong About Money, and Why You're Probably Doing Better Than Social Media Tells You. Paul Merriman, better known as Ask Paul, is one of Ireland's most recognisable financial advisors and CEO of Fairstone Ireland. In this conversation he cuts through the noise, the viral "skip your coffee" advice, the pressure to be a millionaire by sixty, the panic about pensions, and gives a refreshingly honest, jargon-free take on money in Ireland. Ryan sits down with Paul for a genuinely useful conversation about planning, property, pensions, investing and why the best investment most people can make is in themselves. What we get into: Why we don't plan enough, and the one habit that quietly changes everythingFinancial literacy in Ireland versus the US, and why we're actually good saversGood debt versus bad debt, and what wiped the country out in 2008Why he pushes back on the "cut out the coffee" advice, and when a "money diet" does make senseThe housing crisis, developers, planning, and why there's no will to fix itWhy you're probably doing better with money than social media makes you feelThe real biggest asset most people have, and it isn't their bank balancePensions, tax relief, ETFs and why there's no one-size-fits-all answerDeemed disposal, the savings account changes coming, and the noise around bothWhy investing in yourself beats an ETF in your twentiesLooking wealthy versus being wealthy, lifestyle creep and "Die With Zero"After 20 years, the one thing he's determined not to get wrong in his own lifeRyan 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. This conversation is general information, not personal financial advice. For advice specific to your situation, speak to a qualified financial advisor. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

  2. Sep 30

    Inside the Secret World of Professional Poker: Cheating, Millions & Reading People - Chris Dowling

    A Professional Poker Player on Risk, Luck, Reading People and Why You Can Make the Perfect Decision and Still Lose. Chris Dowling has spent well over a decade making a living at the poker table, from local card rooms in Ireland to the high-stakes rooms of Las Vegas. But this conversation is about far more than cards. It is about how to think clearly under pressure, how to read people, how to manage risk and emotion, and how to keep making good decisions when the outcome is out of your hands. Ryan sits down with Chris for a genuinely fascinating look inside the mind of a professional, and the mental habits that apply to anyone's life, whether you have ever played a hand or not. What we get into: How Chris went from the electrical trade to professional poker after the recessionThe three levels of poker, and where the real money and the real pros actually areWhy films get poker completely wrong, and how cheating really worksWhy poker is not gambling, and the maths that makes the house always winReading people: what you can actually tell from how someone acts, dresses and betsGame theory, exploiting mistakes, and the rock paper scissors trick that explains it allWhy the best players randomise their decisions using their watchGoing on tilt, and how the same emotional spiral shows up everywhere in lifeWhy most people badly misunderstand luck and probabilityWhat separates a calculated risk from being reckless, and when to walk awayHow experience, not talent, lets the best stay calm playing for millionsThe single most useful thing poker can teach you about decisions in real lifeRyan 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. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

  3. Sep 23

    The Mental Health Crisis Ireland Keeps Pretending Isn't Happening - Rob Connolly

    He Built One of Dublin's Best-Known Businesses While Addiction Nearly Took Everything. Rob Connolly on Success, Grief, Recovery and the Brother He Lost. Rob Connolly is the founder of The Ink Factory, one of the most recognisable tattoo studios in Ireland, and a serial entrepreneur since his teens. But behind the businesses is a life shaped by addiction from the age of twelve, the loss of his brother John to suicide, and a long, honest reckoning with what success is really worth. Ryan sits down with Rob for one of the most open and moving conversations Made in Chaos has had, about building a life while battling addiction, the loss that changed everything, and why he believes there is always a way back. What we get into: Getting into business as teenagers, from nightclubs to The Ink FactoryWhy he built The Ink Factory around community, not just tattoosGrowing up in an addicted household and using from the age of twelveHow success became the perfect place to hide an addictionMistaking net worth for self-worth, and the hole that no business could fillLosing his brother John to suicide, and the years of grief that followedThe conversation with Ryan that helped Rob reconnect with his brother in timeWhy there is always a way back, no matter how far downThe John Connolly Foundation and the mental health work it fundsThe loneliness and identity crisis facing young men in IrelandWhy Ireland's mental health system too often fails people until crisis pointRyan 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 and Alcohol Helpline is on 1800 459 459. 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

  4. Sep 16

    Traveller Culture, Fighting & the Life Settled People Never See - Lucas Connor

    He's an Irish Traveller Who Speaks Five Languages, Reads Nietzsche in German, and Is Reviving a Dying Language. Lucas Connors on Culture, Community and Everything Settled Ireland Gets Wrong. When most people hear the word "Traveller," a set of assumptions follows. Lucas Connors spends this episode gently, brilliantly taking those assumptions apart. He's a jiu-jitsu black belt, a linguist reviving the Shelta language, a voracious reader of philosophy, and one of the most thoughtful guests Made in Chaos has had. Ryan sits down with Lucas for a warm, funny, genuinely eye-opening conversation about Traveller culture, identity, prejudice, community and curiosity. What we get into: Why Lucas says he doesn't really believe in bigotry — and his remarkable approach to changing prejudiced mindsWhat settled Ireland gets most wrong about Travellers, starting with the fact that it's an ethnicityThe Traveller sense of community — walk in, no knock, the company is the rewardShelta (or Gammon): the Traveller language, where it came from, and how Lucas is reviving itWhy so many young Travellers grow up believing they're "only simple" — and how that belief is passed downHow his mother refused to let him set his sights lowCuriosity as a superpower: from the Bible and the Quran to Jung, Freud and NietzscheWhy he reads Nietzsche in German — and journaling as a tool for thinkingMy Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, reality TV, and how stereotypes get manufactured and soldThe generation of educated young Travellers changing the culture from withinJiu-jitsu, "culchie strength," and the mindset of never staying downLucas turns the tables and interviews Ryan about the accident, gratitude, and living fullyRyan 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

  5. Sep 9

    Why Do So Many Working-Class Young Men End Up in Prison? - Bob Cullen

    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 criminalWhy Bob believes violence is a "pathogen" you catch through proximityMasculinity, patriarchy, and how young men build status when they have nothingWhy he argues the harsher a system punishes, the more crime it createsThe difference between explaining your actions and excusing themSystemic vs street crime: why a bike shed can cost more than people go to prison for stealingWhy the same few postcodes fill every prison in the countryAddiction, two suicide attempts, and the moment he decided to stopPrison abolition — what it actually means, and the pushback he getsDelusional self-confidence, luck, and the doors that have to openRoutine, discipline, neurodivergence, and how structure saved himThe one lesson he learned the hard way: the love you need has to come from youRyan 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

  6. Sep 2

    Paul Hughes: The Steroid Problem in MMA Is Worse Than You Think

    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 fromThe brutal reality of cutting weight, and why it's the hardest part of the sportDelusional self-belief, "proof," and how confidence is really builtFour hand fractures, surgery, and two years out at 19 — and what got him throughThe "filter": why every level weeds more people out, and how he uses that mindsetWhy "success is just who's willing to suffer more" — and the real cost of winningThe two Usman fights, and how good Usman Nurmagomedov actually isThe untold story: fighting the second Usman fight on a badly broken bodyWhy he views MMA as "kill or be killed" in the cage, and pure respect afterFighter pay, fighter welfare, and why so many leave the sport with nothingThe PED problem in MMA, out-of-competition testing, and why he's speaking outWhy he chose PFL over the UFC — and has no regretsWhat he wants to do when fighting's overRyan 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

  7. Aug 26

    How To Reprogram An Addicted Brain Through Hypnosis & Neuroplasticity - Angela Carney

    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 meansWhy your dopamine system never forgets, and how addiction hijacks the reward pathwayThe conscious mind is 5% of you your subconscious runs the other 95%Why you can consciously want to stop and still be unable toNeuroplasticity: why your brain can change at any age, not just before 25The theta brainwave state, and how the first 7 years quietly shape your whole lifeThe night Angela felt overwhelming joy in the middle of withdrawal, and what it taught herWhy advertising is a form of legal hypnosis, from Pringles to NikeWhy the subconscious doesn't hear the word "don't", and how to talk to it insteadSelf-pity versus self-compassion, "mood hoovers," and training your brain toward the positiveRyan's own visualisation story after his accident, and where it overlaps with Angela'sHer message to anyone who's tried to stop ten times and thinks this is just who they areRyan 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

    How To Reprogram An Addicted Brain Through Hypnosis & Neuroplasticity - Angela Carney

  8. Aug 19

    He Built a Property Empire Without Owning a Single Property - Adam McEnroe

    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 likeWhy "the poorer the area, the bigger the brand" — and the trap of going broke to look richThe boss and mentor who gave him one-on-one business lessons and changed everythingHow he discovered the rent-to-rent Airbnb model everyone laughed atThe day he found out he was having a son and his mam had cancer — and why it lit the fireBuilding the business from Dubai, the early losses, and getting scammed out of thousandsAirbnb and the housing crisis: genuine cause or easy scapegoat?Why he believes most people buy houses for the wrong reasonsThe reality of business nobody sees: the losses, the pressure, the day-to-day grindEndurance, hardship and why not everyone is cut out for businessTaking accountability, ego, and what religion taught him about handling hard timesRyan 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

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Made In Chaos is a podcast about resilience, mental toughness, and rebuilding your life after everything collapses. Hosted by former MMA fighter Ryan Curtis, who survived a catastrophic training accident that left him paralysed from the neck down, this show explores what it really takes to recover - physically, mentally, and emotionally. Each episode digs into adversity, discipline, identity, trauma, growth, recovery, and personal development, sharing lessons that help you create lasting change and a stronger future.

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