Forget the manosphere: The Inspired Unemployed’s weakness is their greatest strength

It is not a clear head, strong coffee or a workout that fuels the often deeply unserious antics of The Inspired Unemployed’s goofy skits or podcasts. Instead, it’s fear.

Often likened to Hamish & Andy, the Australian comedy duo of Matt “Falcon” Ford and Jack Steele began posting skits on Instagram as The Inspired Unemployed while on holiday in the French Alps in 2019, and soon amassed millions of followers.

After playing a game of padel – their latest obsession, a sport combining tennis and squash – the pair spoke about what motivated them to return to their popular podcast, The Inspired Unemployed, after a two-year hiatus.

“We both have the mindset of ‘if we died tomorrow, would we be satisfied with everything we did?’ ” Ford, 30, said. “We were both [tradies] on job sites before we started [posting videos and podcasting].”

“We actually turned down the podcast for so long, and then we were like, ‘Oh, it could be good learning how to talk’ … We didn’t really have any expectations … I didn’t think we knew how much of an impact it had on the community and how much fun it’d be.”

Steele, 31, agrees: “That is the biggest force, knowing what we don’t want to go back to … we actually live in fear that it’s not going to work out. We’ve got to keep striving.”

“We actually live in fear that it’s not going to work out. We’ve got to keep striving.”

Jack Steele

Audio entertainment company LiSTNR bought the podcast from Spotify after the show ended in August 2024 and returned it last week with a 50-minute episode titled Jack Pocket Dialled His Ex.

And that is one venture on their résumé. The high school friends command 4.2 million followers across their social media platforms, have co-founded two companies – Better Beer and Arrival Travel – and pursued a television show, The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers.

They also hinted at a work in progress. “We’re very interested in the future of maybe writing our own show, which may or may not be in the process at the moment,” Steele said.

But a return to podcasting also means the pair get to reconnect with their audience. “We feel like we lost that,” Ford said about the hiatus. “It’s so nice being able to interact with them weekly.”

One particular moment sticks out in Ford’s mind, when he was with Steele eating at a cafe three years ago, and a waitress came over and delivered the news: a patron had paid for their meals.

Confused, the duo asked who it was, and the waitress said the customer wished to remain anonymous but had left a message “that when their dad was sick in hospital, the last time they heard their dad laugh was because of one of our podcasts or skits. They bought us food, and that was insane,” Ford recalled.

“I literally get teary thinking about that. But that was – holy crap.”

Steele remembers another moment from two years ago. “When we were at [a] festival … this girl came up to me, and she was just crying,” he said.

“[She said] ‘Oh my God, my boyfriend hasn’t spoken about anything, his feelings and his depression in so many years and after hearing one of your episodes when [you] opened up about stuff [you’re] insecure about … he spoke for the first time about it.’

“That stuff is so cool.”

The impact of the podcast on that male listener is not an isolated story. Ford and Steele have received hundreds of messages from young men online and in person, thanking them for allowing them to open up.

In the era of “looksmaxxing” and the “manosphere” – terms used by young men to describe either acting or wanting to look hypermasculine – The Inspired Unemployed’s popularity comes as a stark contrast.

“That’s just ridiculous stuff,” Steele said. “We get a lot of messages and people coming up to us, especially girlfriends talking about their boyfriends opening up for the first time because of our podcast.”

On the podcast, the men divulge their insecurities relating to women, as well as their mental health struggles with panic attacks and anxiety.

“We’re not really scared to be vulnerable and show the ins and outs of our brains and how we’re sensitive and sometimes scared and feel insecure,” Steele said. “We talk so openly about it that it makes a lot of people listening realise it’s not cool … to be too tough and try not to show your emotions and have your walls up. Like the traditional old-school way of being a man.

“Times have changed, obviously. It feels nice to be a part of, or hopefully be that movement of stop trying to be so alpha and tough if you don’t need to be.”

Ford said the duo often don’t discuss these vulnerabilities with each other until they start recording their podcast.

“For some reason, it feels like easier for us,” he said. “We do it in the hope that maybe it might help someone who’s gone through a similar thing.”

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