Human Cogs Podcast

The final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System was tabled in a special sitting of the Victorian Parliament in March 2021.

The landmark final report outlines changes to create a future mental health and wellbeing system that provides holistic treatment, care and support for all - and a system that is finally co-designed by those who have lived experience of mental illness, so the services have the community, families and consumers at the centre of it. 

The Victorian government has since committed 1B dollars to implement the reforms.

One of the psychiatrists who provided key recommendations for the mental health reforms is Dr Paul Denborough, a Director at the Alfred Hospital and Headspace Australia, a specialist in anorexia treatment, and mental health expert who has worked with thousands of adolescents, young people and their families over decades. 

Paul also helped establish Discovery College - who create and run courses on mental health, recovery and well-being, and who help people come together to learn from each other, share experiences and reach new understandings of mental health.

In this conversation, Madeleine Grummet and Paul talk about the missing middle in the mental health system, why early intervention is so critical to recovery, and why Paul believes seeing the person, not the illness, is a more humanist, compassionate and personalised care model that should be available to all who are struggling with complex mental health challenges.

While Paul admits mental health crises and the pressures on professionals have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are currently seeing a mental health tsunami as a direct result of the early 2020 bushfires, pandemic and the increased conversations around sexual assault, he ultimately has faith that we are moving toward a mental health and care model that has humans at its heart.

And a warning that this episode covers some heavy topics and themes. If you or anyone you know needs help you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Guest: Dr Paul Denborough
Socials: LinkedIn

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of you will have seen Osher Günsberg’s smiling face whizzing past on billboards, or on TV, or have heard his voice on the radio airwaves, sizzling with musicality and a truckload of energy.

An author, television and radio presenter, musician, journalist and podcaster – his podcast Better Than Yesterday has been downloaded 4.3 million times – Osher is one of Australia’s most recognisable media personalities and has been a guest in the living rooms of Australians for decades.

However, behind the talented and entertaining face and voice loved by many, in this conversation we meet a soulful, reflective and wise human who has not only worked hard for his extraordinary success, but dug deep in the darkest of places to explore the complexities of living with mental illness, so he can forge a way to live an authentic, rich and fulfilling life.

On the cusp of the age of 50, we learn what it’s really like being him, where he finds his moments of flow, how his wife Audrey saved his life - and why his different brain is his absolute superpower.  

Guest: Osher Günsberg
Website: oshergunsberg.com
Socials: Twitter, Instagram

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Motherless Daughters Australia co-founder Danielle Snelling was 23 when her mother Rosa died.

The experience left Danielle feeling isolated and misunderstood. When she connected with Eloise Baker-Hughes, who was also grieving the loss of her mum, they uncovered a shared understanding and validation in each other’s stories. Together they founded @motherlessdaughtersau with the aim of connecting some of the 3.7 million Australian women who have lost their mum.

In this conversation with Human Cogs host Sabina Read, Danielle debunks the 5 stages of grief, suggests tips for coping with the relentless triggers and difficult times that arise during milestone and annual calendar events and shares what NOT to say to someone who is grieving.

If your mum has passed and you have a deep yearning to pick up the phone and ask her just one more question, or if you’re a mum facing health issues imagining what it might be like to die early and not see your children live into adulthood, or if you wish to cherish and honour the mother-daughter relationship, then this episode will likely resonate with you.

Guest: Danielle Snelling
Website: motherlessdaughters.com.au
Socials: Facebook, Instagram

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julia May believes that visibility — to self and others — is not about vanity but about building influence and impact.

An ex-journalist, who spent five years as a foreign correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald before holding senior roles at Reuters and The Times of London, Julia has now found her sweet spot and nexus for real impact as the Founder of Visibility Co - a leadership consultancy.

As a parent to two young daughters,  her vision is that, when they are grown, the world will have been brought back from the brink. She tells them regularly; ‘It’s ok. Whoever you are is good’.

And yet, the women and global leaders she works with so often grapple with persistent impostor syndrome, struggle to identify their values, and are frustrated by not knowing how to create real and lasting impact in the areas they care passionately about. 

Julia thinks we all have the ability to lead ourselves and lift others up no matter we’re at, and that once we know - and own - our story, we can elevate others, to then in turn, elevate others, and pay it forward. 

Guest: Julia May
Website: visibilityco.com
Socials: Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bernard Salt is an Australian newspaper columnist, keynote speaker, business advisor and author of six best-selling books, but he is most widely known as a thought leader in demographic patterns and predictions. 

He is also credited with globally popularising concepts such as the ‘Smashed Avocado’, VESPA and Seachange Shifts – changes that are currently reshaping Australia’s culture, economy and society.

But for all his outward-facing and portfolio career success, it turns out that Bernard’s worst nightmare is rocking up to a party and being asked what he does for a living… because in his own words, “well, it’s complicated.” 

From humble beginnings growing up as a working-class kid in a Housing Commission home in country Victoria to today, Bernard has been passionately curious about using statistics to tell stories that inform social trends and human behaviour in Australia, which he still describes as the lucky country.

In this conversation, we go a level under the statistics with Bernard, and discuss how education freed him; and why the pandemic world we’re living in needs a Control / Alt / Delete moment, so we can take the learnings, wake up to where we’re at, and rethink the future of Australia, for ourselves and for future generations.

Guest: Bernard Salt
Website: The Demographics Group

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Evans is a renowned psychologist who has worked in private practice for two decades and now works in the challenging space of the rehabilitation of sex offenders in Australia, and with young men struggling with issues of consent.
 
In this episode, we step into some difficult and dark areas of the human psyche with Tom, as we explore primitive drivers and sexual dictates, how young men learn about ‘normalised’ sexual behaviour, what consent really means, and what we should be teaching them about healthy, mutually consenting sex.

Tom also shares his own harrowing story as a victim of crime, and how this traumatic experience has informed his clinical practice, and the way he works with - and understands - the complex psychology of young men. 

This conversation deals with some very difficult topics, especially in light of what is currently playing out in the Australian Federal Parliament, and in a week that has seen thousands of people join 40+ Women's March4Justice rallies across the nation demanding an end to gendered violence and inequality.

But despite this backdrop to the conversation, this episode provides a point of light because within the darkness Tom sees in human behaviour, he works to enable hope - and ultimately healing - for perpetrators, victims and for humanity at large. 

Please note opinions and statements in this episode are the express views of Tom Evans and not those of his employer.

Guest: Tom Evans
Socials: LinkedIn

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dom Price sees the future. But he’s not a late-night hotline psychic.

Dom is the globally renowned work futurist at Atlassian – Australia’s first multi-billion dollar software company. Dom’s superpower is his ability to inspire people to transform the practices of their working lives, so they can work anywhere, with real flexibility and purpose – and design the futures they want to intentionally step into. 

But what first strikes you about Dom is that he is unmistakably from Manchester, has boundless curiosity and is infectiously joyous. 

In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet go deep with Dom on how we work, why we work, how his recent battle with cancer catalysed his own work-life shifts – and why we should all be doing audits on ourselves every Friday afternoon.

In the current COVID world, we, unfortunately, couldn’t be in the room together for this chat, so we apologise if the sound quality is a bit dodgy in this episode. It’s well worth a listen though – this conversation is loaded with heaps of gems.

Guest: Dom Price
Website: DomPrice.me
Socials: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TedX

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the age of 16, Matija Squire was close to being classified as just another statistic. Pregnant, a school dropout and estranged from her family, she was isolated living in a small country town, contemplating her next steps.

This episode of Human Cogs tells the remarkable story of what happened next, when against all odds and with the judgement of society against her, Matija chose to have her son. 

The years that followed were tumultuous and uncertain, as she navigated raising a child when she was still a child herself. At 19, with a 3-year-old in tow, unemployed and nearly broke, she felt destitute and broken.

Fast forward to now, and Matija is today an accomplished Lecturer, Speaker, Business Owner, Board Director, Startup Mentor and COO, who found a new way forward for herself and her son through the life-changing gateway of education, and the catalysing power of a stranger seeing the potential in her that she couldn’t see in herself.

Matija believes your circumstances should never dictate your potential, and that “The only person you are destined to become, is the person you decide to be.” 

Guest: Matija Squire
Socials: Instagram, LinkedIn

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine you're a young medical doctor surrounded by sick and dying patients when you experience a panic attack due to an overwhelming sense of disillusionment that the Western medical model and its overreliance on pharmaceutical treatments is NOT the way to nurture humans back to good health.

In this episode of Human Cogs, we chat with Dr Michelle Woolhouse, a GP and global expert in integrative mind-body and nutritional medicine, who upholds a philosophy of health that values the whole spectrum of a person's life – emotional, physical, psychological and environmental.

Michelle shares her learnings on the role that cultural reward plays in our current anxiety and stress pandemic; how social media contributes to our empty pursuit of the holy grail of happiness; and why empathy without self-compassion is unsustainable.

The potency of Michelle’s message lies in the combination of her personal experience and holistic medical approach, which she has used to teach countless others how to heal emotionally and physically by attuning to the powerful feedback we each receive from our hearts, minds and gut.

Guest: Dr Michelle Woolhouse
Socials: Instagram, LinkedIn

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a conversation that starts and ends with the heart. But, in between, we touch on the taboos of mothers wanting time away from their children, female masturbation and sexual pleasure, and the very real and deep pain of self-hatred. 

Lisa Winneke is the founder and host of The Good News Guide, a podcast host, speaker, author and truth seeker with qualifications in numerous energy modalities. 

She has mined the depths and pain of her own decades of living with an eating disorder, feeling alone and misplaced in her family and later at school, and the eternal search to find the salve to her suffering.

Lisa has now come to a place where she is no longer trying to fix herself, but simply sit still – and live with love.

Guest: Lisa Winneke
Website: lisawinneke.com
Socials: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Podcast

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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

Want to support our show? We will sprinkle you with loving kindness and all good things if you CLICK FOLLOW on Apple and Spotify! Or if you're really feeling it, please leave us a REVIEW.

Thanks for listening! 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.