Trust Me, I'm An Expert

Ah, the new year. A time for throwing off your shackles, following your bliss, quitting your job and abandoning your family to finally start the artisinal yak-butter-sculpture studio of your dreams.

But big choices come with big risks. In this episode of Trust Me, I’m an Expert, Hassan Vally, an expert in epidemiology from La Trobe University, talks about “microlives”, which measure how much your life span is increased or decreased by particular activities.

We all make trade-offs between risk and reward, Vally explains on the podcast and in an article on The Conversation today. Every hour of television on the couch, for example, knocks 15 minutes off your life expectancy, on average. On the other hand, a daily serve of vegetables will increase your life expectancy by a couple of hours, and three coffees will add half an hour to your tally.

Even medical procedures can cost us “microlives”, as detailed in a table Vally put together for us.

“Having a mammogram costs you four hours off your life span, but if that diagnoses a cancer that’s going to save you maybe 20 years on your life. You’ve got to be really careful about understanding the costs and benefits,” Vally says.

Also in this episode, Michelle Lim, a lecturer in clinical psychology at Swinburne University of Technology, discusses one of the biggest risks we face as social animals: loneliness.

Loneliness and isolation seem to be on the rise, but Lim explores the ways we can understand – and overcome – loneliness, without being afraid of it.

And finally, we ask the big question: have you stuck with your cocktail, liquor or tipple of choice over the holiday season? Alex Russell, a wine expert at CQ University, asks why we’re so reluctant step outside our gastronomic comfort zones, and how we can expand our horizons.

As an encounter with “spit-bucket gin” proves, it’s not a totally risk-free endeavour, but Russell says that with awareness and intention we can open up a whole new world of flavour.

Lastly, we wanted to pay a quick tribute to Jesse Cox, a friend and audio producer who recently died from a brain tumour. He was a giant in the podcasting world. He worked on programs like Trace, This Is About and Long Story Short, and helped influence many of the podcasters working in Australia today, including some of us here at The Conversation.

We’ve included in this episode a montage of Jesse’s work that was first broadcast on RN Breakfast here, and check out his incredible back catalogue here.

Music in this episode of Trust Me, I’m an Expert

Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks

Gears Spinning by Podington Bear

Pour Me Another by Cletus Got Shot: Free music archive

Wine Wine Wine by Stompin Riff Raffs: Free music archive

Smells like Timperley Spirit by Ergo Phizmiz: Free music archive

Crawfish and Beer by Guitar Lightnin Lee and His Thunder Band: Free music archive

Muscadine Wine by Waylon Thornton: Free music archive

Glass of Wine by The Blue Onesies: Free music archive

Drink Beer (Till The Day That I Die) by Dazie Mae: Free music archive

Easy Life by Lee Rosevere: Free music archive

Blue Highway by Podington Bear: Free music archive

Ofelia’s dream: Bensound

Additional sound

WH.GOV

Game of Thrones theme music

Jaws theme music

Pouring Whiskey, Albertofrog: freesound.org

Small crowd pre-concert talking party bar walla talking, JohnsonBrandEditing: freesound.org

Pouring beer into short glass, megashroom: freesound.org

Champagne cork pop and pour, ultradust: freesound.org

New Years Eve Sydney, MrRobAU: YouTube

These days, when Australians of Irish Catholic descent have occupied the highest positions in the land, it may seem hollow to talk of them as marginalised.

But right up to the 1970s the Catholic-Protestant divide was deeply entrenched – with painful and often lasting social consequences for those who dared to marry across it.

Siobhan McHugh, a journalism academic and oral historian, captured some of those experiences in interviews we’re showcasing on this month’s episode of Trust Me, I’m An Expert – a podcast where academic experts surprise, delight and inform us with their research.

Here’s a teaser:

Among the stories McHugh collected was the tale of Susan Timmins. Her parents, Julia and Errol, married despite their different religious backgrounds. After Julia died in childbirth, neither side of the family helped Errol and he subsequently put Susan and her brother into an orphanage.

In this episode, McHugh explains what drove her to unearth these stories and how they fit into broader debates about race, class and sectarianism in Australian society.

“It’s actually a myth that there was once this sort of polite and white Australia before the multicultural kind of Australia that we have now. Actually, this period is misrepresented by the term Anglo-Celtic, which suggests there was a cosy community of British and Irish at the time,” she said.

“That is actually absolutely the opposite of what the truth was. The truth was that there was this over 70% Protestant majority and about 23% Catholic minority – and the minority of Irish Catholics were deliberately kept as an underclass.”

Trust Me, I’m An Expert is out at the start of every month. Find us and subscribe in iTunes, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about what the podcast is all about here, and find our previous episodes here.

Music in Episode 3 of Trust Me, I’m An Expert:

Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks

Lee Rosevere: Thoughtful, from Free Music Archive

Music in Siobhan McHugh’s segments by Thomas Fitzgerald, with vocals by Kavisha Mazella.

Additional audio sources:

CNN

Radio Documentary Series, Marrying Out: 2 x 50 minutes

Additional material:

History Australia journal article by Siobhan McHugh on mixed marriages

National Library of Australia: Sectarianism and Mixed Marriage Oral History Collection by Siobhan McHugh (indexed)

https://siobhanmchugh.org/marrying-out/

Did you fight with a brother or sister when you were little? Do you still?

According to Rob Brooks, professor of evolutionary ecology at UNSW, sibling competition has played a more important role in human evolution than many of us realise.

“Siblings compete with one another for the love and affection of their parents but even more importantly for the investment of their parents. And that’s been a really big force in the evolution of our species,” he says in the latest episode of Trust Me, I’m An Expert, a podcast from The Conversation about the most fascinating stories from Australia’s academic experts.

Our November episode is all about research on competition, including the often fierce rivalry between siblings.

“There’s the notion that if that other child gets something that I don’t get or gets to it first – even if it’s the Weet-Bix packet and there are more than enough Weet-Bix in there – then I am going to be denied,” Brooks says on the podcast.

“I think we have deep psychological affinity for this knowledge.”

In the same episode, Victoria University sports historian Rob Hess discusses some of the long forgotten categories of the Olympic Games and its precursor the Wenlock Olympian Games – including penny-farthing races and even a town planning competition.

And we hear from Seng Loke, a professor in computing science at Deakin University about how driverless cars may one day end up colluding with each other and competing against rival cars.

Trust Me, I’m An Expert is out at the start of every month. Find us and subscribe in iTunes, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about what the podcast is all about here, and find our previous episodes here.

And if you like Trust Me, you’ll love The Anthill, a podcast from our colleagues at The Conversation UK that draws out the best stories and brightest minds from the UK academic community.

Their latest episode is all about the 1917 Russian Revolution, with stories from historians, music experts and even descendants of key players in the story.

Here’s a taste, featuring Jan Plamper, professor of history at Goldsmiths, University of London:

Music in Episode 2 of Trust Me, I’m An Expert:

Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks

Podington Bear: Pulsars, from Free Music Archive.

Podington Bear: Vibe Drive, from Free Music Archive

Survivor: Eye of the Tiger

Additional audio:

CNN

BBC broadcasts of the 2012 London Olympics and the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Olympic Channel