The You Project

Professor Russell Foster (from Oxford University, no less) is one of those rare breeds of high-level academic with an amazing ability to break down the super-sciencey stuff into TYP-Friendly, easy-to-understand-and-apply info and inspo. Yes, I used inspo. You’re welc. Stop it. This chat is in my all-time top 20 (out of almost a thousand eps). Among other things, we spoke about circadian rhythms (what they are and why they matter), the neuroscience of sleep, our biological clock vs. the clock on the wall, why alarm clocks are crap, the perils of night shift, poor sleep and dementia, sleep deprivation as torture, the relationship between sleep and cognitive function, biofeedback, why are heart attacks and strokes more prevalent between 6am and midday, how modernity and technology has made us ‘lose touch’ with our biological sat-nav, why we’re crap at sleep, why exposure to early morning light is important and lots (and I mean lots!) more. The Prof’s new book is called ‘Life Time: Your Body Clock and Its Essential Roles in Good Health and Sleep’. Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and HealthSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t try to bulls**t Steve van Aperen; it won’t end well for you. Not gonna lie (pun intended), I was a little self-conscious and tried very hard to cut back on my lying for this episode. Steve is as an expert in the field of behavioural interviewing, reading body language and detecting deception. He has received extensive training from the world’s leading international investigative authorities (LAPD, FBI, US Secret Service) in how and why people deceive. He has conducted behavioural interviews on 81 homicide and 2 serial killer investigations and has been consulted by various police departments, intelligence agencies and governments. This was a brand-new topic for TYP and it (and Steve) was fascinating. Enjoy. stevevanaperen.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you eat lab-grown meat? How can a Doctor of Chinese Medicine diagnose a problem with your liver by looking into your eyes or a dodgy back by poking the soles of your feet? Should athletes be able to wear shoes that make them run faster if they all have access to the same shoes? Should TYP have its own Mardi Gras float with Patrick and I out front (Titanic style)? How does looking back at Earth from the darkness of space make astronauts (and space passengers) feel? Does being near your phone lower your IQ, even if you’re not using it? In this TYP instalment, Patrick, Tor and I unpacked this random selection of topics and much more. Enjoy. oksmartass.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is a chat with Doug Taylor, the boss of The Smith Family and he, and the organisation he leads, are good people, doing good things. The Smith Family has been working to improve the lives of children living in disadvantage for 100 years. They are Australia’s largest national education charity, supporting young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through the power of education. They currently support 58,000 students (directly), empowering them to break the cycle of disadvantage through targeted, long-term support for their education. They are an amazing organisation doing amazing things with the people most in need with their team of 800, along with 8,000 volunteers and 150,000 financial supporters. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The essence of Buddhism: (1) don’t be a dick (2) be kind to people (3) train your mind” – Charlie Morley (Buddhist Teacher). I didn’t want this episode to end. I loved the chat, loved Charlie and yes, I love my job. Charlie was a drug-taking, hard-living, wild young man who had a NDE (Near Death Experience) and who, through a series of twists and turns, became an internationally renowned Speaker, Lucid Dreaming Expert, best-selling Author (4 books, 15 languages), Teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Mindfulness Coach and PTSD Expert, producing incredible results with military veterans. If you don’t enjoy this episode, I’ll refund your money. Lol. charliemorley.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctor Lillian has slid back into the TYP Studio and she’s in fine form. She’s always great but I think this chat was her MVP TYP performance so far (acronym anyone?). This time we got to sneak behind the Doctor door and learn a little more about Lillian the person. We spoke about how much clinicians can/should speak about their own experiences (self-disclosure) with patients (it’s surprising), process-driven therapy vs. informal connection and conversation, building rapport, how finding the right therapist can improve healing (and not because of the ‘treatment’ per se’), people being intimidated to go to a gym (seen it a million times), burnout (signs, symptoms, treatment) and lots more. Enjoy. drlilliannejad.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This was one of those conversations that I’m probably too stupid to be in but I guess when you’re the host, it’s unavoidable. And while I didn’t contribute much, I did learn about code-makers and breakers and Dr. Craig was kind enough to run a one-on-one workshop for me called ‘Cryptography for Dummies’ (a.k.a. ‘keeping your online sh*t safe from baddies’). Dr. Craig Costello is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington. He graduated with a PhD from Queensland University of Technology and is recognised as an Australian-American fulbright scholar at the University of California, Irvine. Craig was a postdoctoral fellow at both Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Microsoft Research in the USA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Lachlan McIver is a medical doctor, writer, activist and musician, specialising in rural & remote medicine, tropical medicine and public health and in his spare time, he has completed a PhD in global health. Originally from far North Queensland, his travels have spanned almost one hundred countries, treating patients in some of the most isolated, volatile, resource-deprived communities on the planet, while grappling with complex health challenges such as climate change and antibiotic resistance. When Lachlan was sixteen he found his father dead on the side of a dirt road in North Queensland. He had suffered a sudden heart attack and died alone. It was this tragedy that motivated Lachlan to train as a doctor specialising in providing medical care for people living in remote, resource-deprived locations. Lachlan is an great bloke doing great things. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an interesting chat about the ever-present challenge of businesses wanting to make money, do some good in the world (for the planet and people) and let’s be honest, protect (or enhance) their brand along the way. It’s also about purpose and value driven people building commercial organisations with a primary focus of creating positive and sustainable impact in the world. I’m gonna be honest, until this conversation I didn’t totally understand what social enterprise looked like in practice or in the commercial landscape. In 2013, Kim founded ‘Thankful’, a social enterprise supported by more than 20 years of scientific research. Under her guidance, Thankful’s innovative model merges philanthropy and business to create a positive, sustainable, and scalable impact. She is committed to unifying influencers, thought leaders, brands and organisations to create the most significant impact for communities in Australia and beyond. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“What do you do?” “Oh, I design and build cities?” I thought being a podcaster, speaker and author was cool. Turns out, not a cool as I thought. We have so many ‘different kinds of smart’ on our show and I’m forever grateful that I get to meet and connect with such brilliant people. Lucinda Hartley is a globally recognised urban strategist, serial entrepreneur and sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of cities, technology and social change. Lucinda’s work over the past decade has focused on leading innovative strategies to improving the social life of cities, now implemented in more than 10 countries. She is best known as the cofounder of urban tech company Neighbourlytics. Her work has been featured by Google, Smart Company, Qantas and UN-Habitat. She was named as one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review and one of Melbourne's Top 100 most influential people by The Age. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.