Human Cogs Podcast

Over recent weeks we’ve all watched and listened to the debate over 'The Voice to Parliament' play out in the media, at dinner tables and in the public sphere.

Conversations have caught fire and it seems that a lot of confusion has got in the way of the facts. 

This is partly because right-wing hardliners have deliberately launched misinformation and disinformation to seed fear, cloud issues and inflame political debate. But also because many people are saying they don’t really know what the proposed Voice to parliament and constitutional recognition actually mean, and what it will mean for Australia going forward …

And yet, how many people - including you - are actively taking responsibility to seek out facts, stay informed and educate yourself about the Voice?

The referendum date is set for October 14.

The Voice would enshrine in the nation’s constitution a mechanism for a group of Indigenous representatives to offer advice to the Executive Government and Parliament on matters and issues affecting the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Embedding the Voice in the constitution would also finally recognise the incredibly special place First Nations people have in Australian history.

The Voice would be an advisory body designed to improve outcomes in health, education and wellbeing. Important to note here is that this advisory body would NOT have the power to veto laws.

As a journalist I understand and am committed to platforming many different points of view.

But as a person committed to equal opportunity and fairness, improving outcomes for indigenous people who are - proportionally - the most incarcerated people on the planet by percentage of their population, the most disadvantaged ethnic group in Australia and a people who have an life expectancy of nearly eight years shorter than other Australian men and women, I personally think this referendum is a once in a generation chance to bring our country together.

I asked Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo to join us on Human Cogs to have an open conversation about what the Voice to parliament means, and why it will play an important role in Australia’s future.

Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man, the Assistant National Secretary of the MUA, a signatory of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ and he sits on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Referendum Working Group, which drafted the referendum question.

Mayo has recently co-written a book with acclaimed journalist Kerry O’Brien called 'The Voice to Parliament Handbook', to equip Australians with balanced and fair information about the Voice.

No matter your view, I encourage you to listen to this conversation and make it your responsibility to make an informed decision when you step up to vote on October 14.

It is the least you can do for democracy - and for the future of our country.

APOLOGIES: Wifi was against us on the day of recording so please bear with the very ordinary sound quality. We promise it does get better as the conversation goes on! 

Guest: Thomas Mayo
Website: https://www.thomasmayo.com.au/
The Voice To Parliament Handbook: https://lnk.to/thevoicetoparliamentbook
Host: Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Show Notes:
Read the Australian Government Referendum Question and Constitutional Amendment: https://voice.gov.au/referendum-2023/referendum-question-and-constitutional-amendment

What is The Voice? https://voice.gov.au/

National Indigenous Australians Agency: https://www.niaa.gov.au/

The Voice To Parliament Handbook: https://lnk.to/thevoicetoparliamentbook

Yes23: https://www.yes23.com.au/

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Human Cogs Podcast
Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

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Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A quick google search shows that almost 8 hundred million people have searched for the term resilience and close to 5 hundred million have searched for the term grief. However, far less frequently, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, have the two concepts collided.

Dr Lucy Hone is a best-selling author, speaker and award-winning academic researcher with a gift for translating complex science into practical tools. Regarded as a thought leader in the field of resilience psychology, tragic circumstances forced Lucy to focus more closely on grief when her 12-year-old daughter Abi was killed in a horrific motor accident in 2014.

Her TED talk, 3 Secrets of Resilient People, was one of the Top 20 most watched TED talks of 2020. And her wisdom can now be found on Insight Timer as well as through her cohort-based and online courses run through the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience.

Her recently updated and revised edition of her book, Resilient Grieving, offers readers practical and compassionate strategies and insights to cope with loss. 

In this conversation with Sabina, Lucy shares how she sought to apply her own deep knowledge in resilience to her very personal story of grief. We traverse many topics from motherhood and marriage to career change and empty nesting. And of course loss -- in its many shapes and forms that inevitably touch us all.

Lucy somehow seems to balance a powerful mix of authenticity, vulnerability, wisdom and knowledge alongside her own kaleidoscope of honest and raw emotions ranging from unbearable pain to finding joy again. With warmth and hope, she reminds us that we can both grieve and live.

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Guest: Dr Lucy Hone
Links: Coping with Loss, TED Talk, Resilient Grieving
Socials: Instagram, LinkedIn
Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kerri Sackville is a writer and columnist for Sunday Life magazine in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. She’s also the author of five books, including her most recent, The Secret Life of You – How a Bit of Alone Time Can Change your Life, Relationships, and Maybe the World! 

Now, those listeners who know me well, know that even though I’m endlessly curious, I am not a voracious reader of books, and although I own thousands of books I’m more of a skim reader than a cover-to-cover gal. 

So I even surprised myself when I deep-dived into Kerri’s latest book, and found myself highlighting like a kinder kid who’s drunk too much red cordial!

In this conversation, Kerri explains that while we want and crave solitude, we avoid it like the plague, and when we do have alone time, we often fill the space with distractions including other people, or technology, work, or TV rather than becoming more deeply acquainted with ourselves. 

In this illuminating and perhaps at times, confronting chat (confronting because truth bells were ringing for this pod-host), we discussed the oddly non-sensical societal rules of solitude that leave many of us feeling that there while alone time is acceptable in small doses, being in the company of others is often sold to us as the norm and the ideal.

Whether the struggle to sit with solitude relates to our relationship status, patterns of work, family and home set up, expectations, friendship circles, personality style, belief systems, fears, or our social media usage, Kerri shares her own awakenings and the significant benefits of alone time, lamenting that she wished she had turned inwards earlier and not waited until she was single, after her 17 year marriage ended, to figure our who she was!

While we all know that down time is vital and being with ourselves provides a richness like no other, it’s easy to over-ride or avoid this need. Reading Kerri’s book was a slap-in-the-face wake-up-call to me and she adeptly explains why in this illuminating episode.

Here’s my chat with Kerri…

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Guest: Kerri Sackville
Links: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ange Harbinson is an entrepreneur, tech and innovation trailblazer, digital strategist, and lover of all things data! In 2019, when she was still the Managing Director of Thirst Creative, a marketing, design and digital agency she co-founded with her husband, Ange saw a gap in the market for online resources to support people going through separation and divorce, and she cofounded The Separation Guide. 

The Separation Guide is a divorce technology platform designed to make separation and divorce simpler and less stressful by providing resources, guidance, and referrals. Utilising her marketing nous, and passion for social impact, The Separation Guide has already helped close to 300,000 people, and the resources continue to grow.

With approximately 40% of marriages ending in divorce, the ripple effect is wide reaching impacting not only the separating couple but also children, family, and friends as well as the workplace.

I invited Ange on Human Cogs because I have seen friends and clients struggle to navigate the emotional, legal, financial and relational challenges that separation can create, and its clear people are in need of more support and a road map to help them navigate the complexities and pain of separation. 

In this conversation, Ange highlights the four different pathways that can be taken when a couple separates, emphasising the goal to avoid costly court proceedings where possible. She references a podcast available on the site which helps educate parents on how to tell their children they are separating. And she explains some of the impacts of divorce on the workforce including reduced productivity and absenteeism.

This is practical chat that will interest anyone who is thinking about, or in the process of separating. It’s a pragmatic yet hopeful exchange, that I hope will help minimise divorce stigma and shame, and help dial up a sense of agency and empowerment for anyone experiencing the end of a marriage. Here’s my conversation with Ange…

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Guest: Ange Harbinson
Website: The Separation Guide
Links: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube
Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Human Cogs, Sabina speaks with not one, but two guests to better understand the devastating effects that drug use has on the children of drug users, and the cycle of abuse that can repeat if no action is taken.

Prue Mahar shares her story of what unfolded after her sister left behind two young
children following a drug overdose. In addition to Prue’s lived experience and insights, I am also joined by the quietly unstoppable Jane Rowe, founder and CEO of the Mirabel Foundation, a charity that supports vulnerable children whose parents are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or have passed away from their addiction. Jane is the worthy recipient of numerous awards including the Prime Minister's Centenary Medal and an Order of Australia, yet it's the way she inspires hope and kindness every day that is so very inspiring and impactful.

Together, this dynamic duo share the pain, anger, overwhelm, love, hope and commitment associated with the challenges and solutions needed to combat the intergenerational patterns of addiction; and the importance of connections and belonging we all need to do life well.

Mirabel currently supports over 1,900 children and young people, and their kinship carers who are impacted by substance abuse. As a parent, grandparent or sibling, most of us would like to think we would support our children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters if they really needed our help. But it’s hard for many of us to imagine the complexities and joys of raising a niece and nephew in one intergenerational home where a single grandmother, a mum and dad, share the practical, emotional, psychological, financial and educational responsibilities to raise four children – reminding us that it does indeed take a village!

This is much more than a story of kinship care catalysed by addiction. We discuss universal themes including relationships, family dynamics, loss, anger, love, the power of letting go and the need to work together to shape the lives of young and old alike; regardless of whether substance abuse has touched us or not.

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Guest: Jane Rowe and Prue Mahar
Website: Mirabel Foundation
Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeremy Macvean is a marketing and communications expert who has held senior roles at Clemengers, Young & Rubicam and Austereo among others before deciding he wanted to use his comms expertise and insights for good not evil. This realisation led Jeremy to share his marketing and digital nous with the Royal Women’s Hospital, Peter McCallum Cancer Centre and The Movember Foundation… and in 2019 Jeremy co-founded The Fatherhood, a Dad-focused media platform to shine the light on the importance of fatherhood and to help guide others to thrive and survive in the only job that really counts – fatherhood and parenting.

Along the way, he cites a midlife crisis and a divorce as significant milestones that bought pain and growth. In this chat with Sabina, Jeremy shares the lessons he’s learned along the way to carve out meaningful work, earn a living, and bond deeply with his kids. He shares the most powerful tool he knows to connect with others and what he wishes his now ex-wife knew about the way he thinks and feels today… 4 years since they separated.

It's conversations like this that remind us why Human Cogs exists. If you are searching for work with meaning, or navigating a separation, or wanting to connect more deeply with your kids, or wondering what fatherhood is all about, then this conversation is for you. And if you’d just like to lean in more to others and yourself, then I know you’re going to love Jeremy and his raw curiosity, exploration, warmth, and the ahas he is discovering along the way.

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Guest: Jeremy Macvean
Website: radiate.com.au
Links: LinkedIn, Instagram

Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you think are the most important ingredients for a young person to learn and thrive? While we’ve hopefully come a long way since reading, writing and arithmetic topped the list, we wonder how many of you would say that connection, empathy and a sense of agency matter most when it comes to educating young people to step out into the world and be their best selves. 

In this conversation we meet the extraordinary Lael Stone - a Parenting Educator, Speaker for The Resilience Project and TEDx, Author of best-selling book - Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children and the founder of Woodline Primary - an independent school which opened in February 2021 with a novel modern curriculum based on emotional awareness and a key focus on educating the whole child so they learn to deeply know themselves, so they can better navigate the world around them.

Lael shares her incredible and inspiring journey through parenthood, trauma, self-discovery and healing, and how she has utilised her story and teachings to help parents and students alike. She also shares tips on how to manage the mother load to ensure you are prioritising your own self-care and setting boundaries, while also creating space for your kids to step into who they are fully.

And if you think this chat is only about parenting and the failings of the education system, you’d be wrong! There are so many brilliant tips and human insights for how each of us can manage our experiences of trauma, understand and own our stories and learn to truly listen instead of trying to fix.

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Guest: Lael Stone
Website: laelstone.com
Links: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook

Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might think you know Shaynna Blaze as the vivacious and talented interior designer from TV shows The Block, Selling Houses Australia, Celebrity Apprentice or Country Home Rescue. What you may not know is that Shaynna is also a passionate advocate for women and a social justice campaigner for tackling domestic violence. 

In this conversation, Shaynna shares some of the challenges she faced in her early years as a single mum with a 4 and 5 year old after leaving her first marriage, how she then set her mind and abundant talents to rebuilding her life and a stable future for herself and her children, and where she finds herself now decades later, continuing to create a legacy using her creative skills and public voice to spearhead meaningful change.

Shaynna has been an unstoppable force in her journey as a talented and passionate artist. Her latest project is as the executive producer of The Fort, a new feature film written and co-directed by her children Carly and Jess about one woman’s battle to escape her abusive marriage while attempting to shelter her son from the realities of domestic violence.

Shaynna describes the power of using the arts to hold a mirror up to domestic violence, and to catalyse conversations to bring about much needed change in our societies and ourselves. She invites each of us to look into that mirror, confront the realities of abusive behaviour and find the language to move beyond the fear and speak up.

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Guest: Shaynna Blaze
Website: shaynnablaze.com
Links: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest

Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The word trauma is everywhere, but what does trauma really mean and can we heal and recover from the impact of assault, neglect, coercive control, parentification, bullying, loss, sexual violence, war, accidents or destructive acts of nature?

In this episode, I speak with Dr Ahona Guha, a forensic and clinical psychologist, who is also a survivor of complex trauma herself, as well as the author of new book: Reclaim - understanding complex trauma and those who abuse.

Dr Ahona helps us unpack what big T and little T trauma are, she explains why some people heal from unbearable experiences while others continue to struggle, and she helps us understand why some of us may minimise our own traumas not only to others, but also to ourselves.

Personally, I don’t know a family untouched by trauma and therefore it’s my belief trauma is everyone’s business. Ahona agreed! So whether you are a trauma survivor, a clinician, someone who loves a survivor, or someone seeking to better understand abuse, this chat is for you.

Here’s my hopeful chat with Dr Ahona Guha.

Sabina x

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Guest: Dr Ahona Guha

Website: www.ahonaguha.com
Instagram: @drahonaguha

Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs

We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many people do you know who live with hidden conditions?

You might be surprised to learn that an estimated 30 per cent of the Australian population live with neurodiverse conditions including ADHD and autism.

In fact, new data has revealed the number of prescriptions issued for ADHD has more than doubled over the last decade in Australia, with an increasing number of adults - particularly women - being diagnosed with the condition later in life.

In this conversation we meet the extraordinary and inspirational Anna Oxley Rintoul, host of The Village Lantern Podcast and a 40-something Mum with a diagnosis of ADHD, who is also juggling the joys and challenges of raising three neurodiverse kids.

Anna shares the complexities of navigating the ups and downs of their daily lives, how she has worked to live with the grief of wanting to fit in and be so-called 'normal' in a world of neurotypicals, and the bridges of connection she's built to share both the shadows and unexpected silver linings of the journey so far.

A wealth of knowledge, insights and practical tips, this episode is an important listen for anyone living with or loving someone with neurodiversity or indeed anyone who wants to learn more about its impact on individuals and families.

We thank Anna for her wisdom, honesty and humanity in this chat, and for giving us all a window into her remarkably brave and hard walk through a beautiful "good enough" life.

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Guest: Anna Oxley Rintoul
Podcast: https://thevillagelanternpodcast.com/
Resources and Support: https://takesavillage.com.au/
Instagram: @annaoxrin

Hosts: Sabina Read and Mads Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
Join in the convo at Instagram @human.cogs


We'd love you to support our show! Please follow us or leave a quick review.
It helps us get these stories out to more awesome peeps like you!

Thanks for listening!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.