The You Project

Moheb Costandi is a neuroscientist turned science writer who spends his life exploring one of the biggest mysteries we all live inside - the human brain. He's written for Nature, Science, New Scientist, Scientific American (all a big deal in Academia) and The Guardian, and he's the author of books like Neuroplasticity, '50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know' and 'Body Am I’, which look at how the brain builds our sense of self, identity, and reality. Moheb has a gift for taking complex neuroscience and turning it into stories that actually make sense - stories about why we feel the way we do, why change is so hard, and how our brains quietly shape our entire experience of being human. Enjoy.

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This time on TYP, I'm joined by James Gillespie (little Gillespo), founder of Cleanbill, to unpack what is really happening in Australian healthcare, and why so many of us are feeling the pinch at the GP. James walks us through Cleanbill's latest Blue Report, a data-driven snapshot of what patients actually experience when they try to book a doctor: who's still bulk-billing, what states are doing it more, how much people are paying out of pocket, and how access varies wildly depending on where you live. Overall, it's pretty good news and it seems that James and the Cleanbill team are moving the needle in the right direction.

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I never know because l'll never be a dad (excluding an in-bound Golden Retriever), but I’m pretty sure I might suck at parenting. It seems super hard. Unlike like some other non-parents, l've always thought it's probably the toughest role an adult can have. This time on TYP, Child Therapist Dr. Sam Casey and I talk about the challenges of being a single parent from a theoretical, research and academic perspective, and also from the perspective of someone living it in real life - which Dr. Sam is. Until this chat, I hadn't really considered the amount of intersecting variables - psychological, emotional, physical, social, financial, legal, practical, geographic - that impact kids and families, moving from a married situation to a "two parents in different homes" situation. Enjoy. 

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You know when you get immersed in a conversation with someone and the times flies? Well, that was my experience of this chat with Bobby. We covered a lot of ground and when I checked the time, our twenty-minute chat (so I thought), was almost an hour. We chatted about the "theory" of beauty ("it doesn't matter") and the real-world reality of it ("it matters"). We also talked about the need we humans have for gaining the approval of others - often from people who don't even care about us, our respective stories (Bobby and l) about not being "overly attractive" children, how confidence works, redundant and repetitive conversations (and how to avoid them), muffin guilt and lots more. Enjoy.

theselfhelpantidote.com

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Kate Save is back on deck chatting with us about investigative health testing (taking action before we get sick - proactive, not reactive) and the whole prevention versus diagnosis concept. That is, unpacking the "why wait till you get sick?" question. We also chat about the importance of bacteria (we're kind of full of it), “training” our immune system (it's possible - and smart), understanding what our body is saying (biofeedback) and why some people are consuming (I wish I had another word... ingesting maybe?) other people's poo. Crapsule anyone? Enjoy.

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I'm pretty sure this will be a popular episode. It was such fun, so interesting, so thought-provoking and Professor Chris is a genius (IMO), with an amazing ability to connect, tell stories and make super-interesting research and science, podcast-friendly. Among other things, we spoke about the science of the paranormal (anomalistic psychology), psychic abilities, false memories, ghosts, haunted houses, magicians, mentalists and his book 'The Science of Weird Shit! So F**king good. Enjoy. **BIO: Chris French is a British Psychologist and Professor Emeritus at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he founded the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. He specialises in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences - why people believe in ghosts, psychics, UFOs, astrology, and other weird and wonderful claims.

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This was the first get-together of 2026 for the motorbike riding, cookie-devouring, face-punching, newly-betrothed TYP team member and the old veiny, crusty-but-hilarious (he wishes) host. We went far and wide in this chat and it was a nice blend of catch-up, reflection, story-telling and bro-science. I may have gotten a tiny bit evangelical and soap-boxy. Not sorry. Enjoy

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For this episode, I sit down with TYP regular David Gillespie to unpack his provocative piece - The Statin Delusion. We talk about how modern medicine increasingly treats health as a deficiency of medication, why Australia leads the world in statin prescriptions, and how shifting cholesterol goalposts have medicalised the "worried well." Gillespo challenges the assumed life-saving power of statins in healthy people, explains the surprisingly small benefits, and walks through the real metabolic, muscular, cognitive, and diabetes-related risks. It's a blunt conversation about fear, pharma, guidelines, and whether prevention has quietly become harm. Enjoy.

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Patrick and I meandered (argued, laughed, disagreed) our way through the first TYP instalment of the year. A little “how was Christmas”, a little smut and bullshit (as always), a little regulation tech-talk and a little fear mongering about the imminent demise of humanity at the hands of AI. So, business as usual. Enjoy.

websitesnow.com.au

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Caleb Warren is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona and this was a fun chat about what makes something or someone cool, and how coolness intersects with branding, marketing, popularity, humour, culture, social desirability and more. Enjoy.

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