Last season we met Chanel Contos from Teach Us Consent and we were completely blown away by her courage and the work she's taking on. So much so, that within minutes of Hugh opening and reading Chanel’s book, “Consent Laid Bare”, he had nominated her for Australian of The Year. In this snippet from the full episode, Hugh, Ryan, Josh and Chanel discuss the normalised and systemic nature of sexual violence against women and the pervasive issue of rape culture; including what it is and how we can a...
Jun 28, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 32
What would it feel like to have the very thing that mad you great - your body, strength and co-ordination - slowly and painfully taken away from you? As a swimmer, Michael Klim was on top of the world - he was literally ‘World Swimmer of the Year’. Trips to the Olympics, medals of every colour, 21 world records AND his face on the cover of a Foo Fighters Album, Michael really did have it all. However, in 2022 Michael was diagnosed with a life changing condition, wherein your body attacks it’s ow...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 6Ep. 31
Do you have boundaries? Have you ever crossed someone else’s boundaries? How would you react if someone crossed yours? It is WAY easier to ignore it. Avoiding potential conflict and awkwardness is second nature to most of us. For those of us with people-pleasing tendencies, telling someone they have violated a boundary can be an acute version of living hell. Luckily for us, our resident psychologist Dr. Emily is here to help us navigate what a healthy boundary looks, feels and sounds like. And w...
Jun 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 30
Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is not a life sentence, as Rick Davies so eloquently tells Hugh and Josh in this episode of The Imperfix. Best known as Jimmy from the TV show 'Offspring', Rick is unbelievably vulnerable in sharing his story with OCD - from the awkward and painful compulsions, to the relief of a diagnosis at 18 years old. Here Rick share's how he was inspired by the trailblazing work of Penny Moodie and talks through finding peace and happiness amidst the torment....
Jun 14, 2024•15 min•Season 6Ep. 29
From being ‘canceled’, to alcoholism and post-natal depression, Yumi Stynes knows how to get vulnerable in the Vulnerabilitea House. Starting as a magnetic, music presenter on Channel V, Yumi’s career spans more than 20 years on our screens, on the radio, or in the very successful books she’s written. However as she shares with Hugh, Ryan and Josh, there were times when the phone simply didn't ring and her career felt like it was at a stand-still. In this episode, Yumi shares stories from her ch...
Jun 09, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 6Ep. 28
Unfortunately, we all know what bad leadership looks like, for many of us, it doesn’t take long to think of examples…but what does it actually take to be a ‘good leader’? This week in the Academy of Imperfection, Hugh, Ryan and Josh are joined by a legend of the sport, former rugby league player and current coach of the Queensland Maroons, Billy Slater. Billy has been called the best fullback ever to have played the game. As a player, he’s won more awards than we could possibly list. As a coach ...
Jun 02, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 27
How kind is your inner voice? What does it say to you when your with friends, having family dinner, at work, when you mistakes, or, when you look in the mirror? We all have an inner critic and for lots of us, that voice can be loud and relentless - holding us back from thriving, from living the life we want to live and being the person we want to be. In this episode of the IMPERFIX, we jump back into an episode with Dr Em and get up close and personal with ‘our inner critics’. In this snippet we...
May 31, 2024•17 min•Season 6Ep. 26
Its hard to imagine a life more remarkable, or as unique as that of Nathan Cavaleri. Nathan rose to fame as an 8 year old blues prodigy, regularly appearing on Aussie TV screens in the 90’s, but there is so much more to Nathan and his story than that. Whether it’s touring Australia with the likes of Jimmy Barnes; or touring America with blues Legend B.B. King; being signed to Michael Jackson’s label; or starring in a Baywatch spin off with David Hasselhoff; Nathan’s life from the outside, really...
May 26, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Season 6Ep. 25
After his sister, Niki, was murdered by her ex-partner, Tarang Chawla made a decision - that he wouldn’t allow Niki to be remembered as just another statistic. Since then, Tarang has become an activist, working to reduce incidents of all forms of violence and abuse towards women in Australian. In this episode of the IMPERFIX, we reflect on a conversation we had with Tarang back in 2022. Here, Tarang discusses the importance of believing and supporting women when they disclose abuse, and understa...
May 24, 2024•18 min•Season 6Ep. 24
Taking a risk, by definition, is hard. A lot of us spend most of our life avoiding risks, under the assumption that it’s the ‘safe’ thing to do. As Dr Em explains, we have an evolutionary instinct for self-preservation; tendencies to overestimate danger and underestimate our ability to cope; and we often have early childhood experiences and messages around safety that can coalesce into ‘playing it safe’ behaviours. In this episode, Dr Em reveals that paradoxically, if we spend our whole life avo...
May 19, 2024•58 min•Season 6Ep. 23
We mean no disrespect to any of our other guests, but when Hugh says that Dr. Kiran Martin, is the most impressive person he has ever met, it’s hard not to agree. Dr. Kiran Martin is the founder of ASHA in India. It’s a not for profit, that for over 35 years, has provided healthcare and education to millions of people living in slums in India. In this clip, Dr Kiran tells us of the time she decided to wash the feet of a Dalit woman (an ‘untouchable’ in the caste system of India) in order to demo...
May 17, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 22
All too often when talking about infertility, we only tell one side of the story. Traditionally in the public discourse, it has very much fallen into the category of a ‘women’s issue’. However, as our guest this week Reece Conca can all too painfully attest, 40% of infertility issues are actually male factor related. Reece Conca is a former Australian Rules Footballer, who played over 150 games for Richmond and Freemantle. When Reece and his partner Bell were finding it difficult to conceive, it...
May 12, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 21
In this episode of the IMPERFIX, we revisit our chat with Australian comedian Luke McGregor. Many of us live with Anxiety, Luke McGregor has for a lot of his life. For Luke, his anxiety became so overwhelming that it resulted in him having panic attacks on stage in front of audiences. In this clip Luke explains what anxiety looks like for him and what he now does to manage his anxiety, allowing him to continue to work and to get the most out of life. You can hear the original episode in full, wi...
May 10, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 20
Every Thursday over 3 million people want to hear what James Clear has to say. They do so in the form of his ‘ 3-2-1 newsletter’, one of most popular newsletters on the planet. In 2018 James Clear published his book Atomic Habits , a comprehensive, practical guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day. And that book has now sold over 15million copies. So you won’t be surprised to hear how excited we were to have Jame Clear as this weeks guest lecturer in The Academy of Imperfe...
May 05, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 6Ep. 19
In this episode of the IMPERFIX we revisit one of our many conversations with Johann Hari. However this IMPERFIX starts with Josh, delivering what may be one of the most powerful and moving acts of vulnerability we’ve ever seen on this podcast, when he felt compelled to share a realisation, that he had been addicted to the internet for much of his life. Johann’s response was as always, heartfelt, engaging, hopeful and empowering. And we thought it was worth revisiting. You can hear the episode i...
May 03, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 18
What would you do if a teacher said you couldn’t achieve your dreams because your hair and skin colour weren’t acceptable? When this became Pallavi Sharda’s reality she moved to India by herself and became the first Australian women to lead a Bollywood movie In this episode we meet Pallavi Sharda, a powerhouse actress, who grew up in Taylors Lakes, a suburban area in Melbourne’s west, who went on to not only clock Bollywood, but see tremendous success on screens in Australia, the UK and the US. ...
Apr 28, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 6Ep. 17
In this week’s ImperFIX, we revisit an episode from season 2 with Australian BMX racer, world champion and Olympian, Sam Willoughby. In 2016, Sam experienced a life-changing neck injury which left him a tetraplegic. In this snippet, we hear Sam describe the bike accident that lead to his injury and his incredible journey of recovery. Most importantly, he shares how meeting NASCAR crew chief, Booty Barker, inspired him to live life again. You can hear the full chat with Sam Willoughby here https:...
Apr 26, 2024•22 min•Season 6Ep. 16
Have you ever felt so elated, that in that very moment, you felt yourself and the world around you were in perfect harmony? That feeling is joy! But for many of us, ‘joy’ can seem elusive, almost impossible to experience, or an emotion that we feel we just don’t have time for. And for some of us, it may feel like we have lost the ability to experience joy altogether. In this episode, our resident psychologist Dr Em explores the experience of Joy. What is it and how we can tap into it. We learn h...
Apr 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 6Ep. 15
In this bonus episode of The Imperfects, Hugh, Ryan and Josh have an imperfect conversation about mens violence against women. To say it's a massive problem in Australia is an understatement. Violence and aggression can take many forms that span from small micro-aggressions all the way through to rape and murder. It effects ALL women, with the most vulnerable and marginalised in our community, at the greatest risk. We don’t have the answers to solve it. But we don’t want to remain silent. Throug...
Apr 18, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 14
In this episode, Scottish comedian, Fern Brady joins us in the The Vulnerabilitea House. In pulling the card “how would your ambitions change if you only had one year to live?”, Fern shares a very recent story, after receiving a terrifying phone call from her doctor. Fern also discusses being diagnosed with Autism in her 30s, 20 years after telling a doctor she thought she was Autistic. Fern talks with with great insight and humour, not only about life since her diagnosis, but what it was like l...
Apr 14, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Imposter syndrome and self doubt aren’t necessarily things you think when you think of Australian comedian Hamish Blake. However when Hamish visited us for a VulnerabilTea House in season 4, that’s exactly what came up. In this episode of The IMPERFIX, we revisit a vulnerable moment where Josh shared his very real self doubt about his role on the show. This evolves into a beautiful conversation about the self doubt we all feel in the work we do, and culminates in Hamish dropping one of the great...
Apr 10, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Imagine being falsely imprisoned, in a foreign country, where you barely speak the language, during a military coup, with no guarantee of a trial (fair or otherwise) and no idea whether you’ll ever be allowed home? That's what Australian economist Sean Turnell lived through for 650 days, when in 2021 he was arrested during a military coup over-throwing the democratic government of Aang san Suu Kyi. Sean is a remarkable person and a brilliant story teller who radiates positivity. In this episode,...
Apr 07, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 6Ep. 11
In 2018, writer, author & change advocate Jamila Rizvi was met with horrible news. She was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and needed surgery. In this episode of The Imperfix we revisit Jamila’s story; the tumour and its varied complications, the surgeries and how Jamila and her husband communicated the news to their son. Jamila is an all round wonderful human being and this is an incredibly moving episode. You can hear the entire chat with Jamila here: https://apple.co/4icJmtx This episo...
Apr 03, 2024•23 min•Season 6Ep. 10
We’re not sure if podcasts can date. But if they could we would want to date Elizabeth Day’s podcast - ‘How to fail?’. (A proposition Hugh awkwardly put to Elizabeth in the final moments of the show). This conversation covers a lot of ground. Elizabeth vulnerably discusses her journey through infertility, IVF and her eventual decision to stop fertility treatment; we explore the role exercise and strength training can have in reclaiming one's connection to their body; Ryan and Elizabeth bond over...
Mar 31, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 6Ep. 9
In this episode of The Imperfix we revisit one of our most popular episodes ever and in it, a topic that is very close to Hugh, Ryan and Josh’s respective bones. The ongoing battle of Truth vs Harmony. Do you choose to live truthfully? Or harmoniously? And what does that even mean? And how does living ‘truthfully’ or ‘harmoniously’ affect us and the people around us? To listen to the full Truth Vs Harmony episode, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3IW3gbw To listen to Hamish Blake's Imperfects ep...
Mar 27, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Very few people have experienced Gary Barlow’s level of success and fame. He’s the lead singer of the nineties British pop band Take That, he’s won 6 Ivor Novello Awards for song writing & composing, sold more the 50 million albums and filled stadiums of screaming fans across the world! But despite all this, as we’ve come to learn, he’s one of the nicest, most genuine people going around. In this episode, Gary shares his experience of rising to such fame, and what happens when he lost it. He...
Mar 24, 2024•57 min•Season 6Ep. 7
In 2018, Christian O Connell was one of the most successful people in British Radio, he was on top of his world, and then…the panic attacks began. The attacks got so bad and so regular that he couldn’t perform live and it nearly cost him his career. In this episode, we revisit Christian’s experience, the physical and mental toll of his panic attacks as well as the societal pressures and expectations he felt as a man - his need to appear strong and provide for his family. And we hear how he event...
Mar 20, 2024•15 min•Season 6Ep. 6
“Get your butterflies in formation”. If you take one thing away from this episode, it’s how to handle the nervous, anxious, flutter of stomach butterflies that arises when we’re socially anxious. Social interactions can be challenging. You may believe that everyone else has all their shit figured out and can effortlessly walk into a social situation and just be themselves. But it turns out, we all, at some point, get social anxiety. In this episode, our resident psychologist Dr Emily, delves dee...
Mar 17, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Kate Langbroek, in our humble opinion, is a very special person. We absolutely love her, and we’re clearly not alone. Kate, has experienced decades of success on Australian TV and radio - whether it was every Wednesday night on The Panel; with her mate Hughesy on the radio; or in countless podcasts, and radio shows since. On this episode of The Imperfix, we revisit, when in 2022, Kate generously shared with us what it was like when her eldest son Lewis was diagnosed with Leukaemia, and how it im...
Mar 13, 2024•16 min•Season 6Ep. 4
World leading organisational psychologists, Adam Grant is this week's guest in The Academy of Imperfection and honestly, we can’t believe how much ground the brilliant man managed to cover in this episode. I mean, sure, you might expect him to touch on the value of embracing our imperfections. Or perhaps he might explore imposter syndrome & the importance in believing in others' belief in yourself. Or how procrastination can actually be a creative force. Or maybe even some tips for those of ...
Mar 10, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 6Ep. 3
