Introducing - Mates Under Fire

Deep within the stark reality of modern conflict, a unique group operates under an extraordinary creed. Voodoo Medics explores the lives of these Australian special forces combat medics, individuals defined by a paradoxical mission: to be elite warriors trained in the art of saving lives under fire. This series, presented by the Daily Telegraph, moves beyond the battlefield to examine the profound human cost carried home. Journalist Kristin Shorten guides listeners through intimate, often raw conversations with six of these medics themselves, the soldiers whose lives they patched together in the dust of Afghanistan, and the families forever altered by loss overseas. Each episode in this podcast peels back layers of a complex culture, where advanced medical skill collides with the chaos of war, and where the psychological toll of being both a guardian and a combatant lingers long after the last mission. It’s a journey into the heart of a brotherhood bound by trauma and duty, asking difficult questions about sacrifice, the morality of unconventional warfare, and the fragile line between healer and soldier. Listen for a nuanced portrait of service, not as a simple narrative of heroes, but as a challenging, deeply human story of those who applied battlefield medicine at its most extreme and must now find a way to live with the consequences.