All In The Mind

Dr Vijayasarathi Ramanathan, clinical sexologist and lecturer, offers therapeutic and mindful perspectives. Esme Louise James, sex historian and Kinky History creator, traces changing cultural views. They explore evolutionary roots in animals, historic moral panics, health and mindful practices, and how shame and distress around self-pleasure persist.

Casey Beros, health journalist and author of Next of Kin, shares personal stories from caring for her father and a compact self-compassion tool called the 'builder' that swaps out the inner heckler. She explores the pull between wanting more impact and craving simplicity, and warns against outsourcing your compass to online maps. Tender, surprising takes on caregiving feature throughout.

Casey Beros, health journalist and author of Next of Kin, recounts caring for her father through a mesothelioma diagnosis. She talks about receiving and delivering bad news, early caregiving tasks and organising practical support. Conversations cover managing difficult behaviour, setting boundaries, anticipatory grief and decisions around voluntary assisted dying.

Esther Perel, psychotherapist and bestselling author known for her work on relationships, answers listener questions. She explores whether cheaters can change, how to grieve an estranged dying parent, rebuilding attraction after trauma, and why love is not always easy. Short, practical reflections on reconnecting, collective trauma, and the power of later-in-life first loves.

Joel Pearson, cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Future Minds Lab, shares quick mental-health tips and biohacks. He talks about using exercise and saunas for mood, safe sauna practice, managing stress cycles and recovery, caution around trendy biohacks, and when animal research may not translate to people.

Joel Pearson, cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Future Minds Lab, explores how AI-driven change is reshaping work, learning and mental habits. He discusses rising graduate-level job losses, student anxiety about career futures, the risk of cognitive atrophy from outsourcing thinking to AI, and the idea of ‘cognitive upsizing’—using AI while seeking harder, more meaningful tasks.

Esther Perel, psychotherapist famed for her work on relationships and sexuality, shares rapid-fire takes. She talks about the power of shared laughter in relationships. She explores existential stress and how language helps manage it. She warns against radical transparency and stresses balancing complexity with clear principles.

Esther Perel, a renowned psychotherapist and author, reflects on four decades of relationship work. She discusses encountering AI companions in therapy. Short takes cover an actual session with a human and their AI partner, whether AI can be a therapeutic tool, and if AI acts like a transitional object for human attachment.

A developmental paediatrician returns to take parenting questions about children's mental health. Topics include school refusal, labels like "bad" behaviour, insecure attachment and separation anxiety. The show also touches on parenting trends such as FAFO and misunderstandings about gentle parenting. Listeners are invited to send in questions for a follow-up conversation.

Dr Chris Mesagno, a sport psychologist who studies choking under pressure, and Caroline Anderson, performance psychologist for the Australian Olympic Team, talk through why high-stakes moments derail performance. Belinda Smith, ABC reporter, guides the narrative and interviews. They explore brain models of choking, traits linked to it, practical focus tools and acceptance-based strategies to manage intense anxiety.