This is not compulsory listening, but then again, it kind of is. We’re back to have another imperfect conversation about men, violence and consent, because we're still imperfect and we believe reflecting on behaviour is key to changing it. We don't have all the answers, but in collaboration with Teach Us Consent and future OAM Chanel Contos, we’ve come up with some new Vulnerabilitea House questions to help anyone get vulnerable and think deeply about these issues. In all...
Aug 01, 2024•58 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Dis episode is a little bit different, but if you’re as obsessed with Hugh van Cuylenburg as we are, we think you’ll enjoy it. The Resilience Project (TRP) is the company that Hugh started building 12 years ago. Today, it delivers evidence-based, wellbeing programs to over 1000 schools in Australia, as well as countless work-places and helps provide people with strategies to build resilience too! Hugh always knew that TRP would be something special, but god, it took a lot of hard wor...
Jul 28, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast Your values are perfect - according to our resident psychologist Dr. Emily Musgrove. Although this sounds counter intuitive to what we usually say…it’s actually a beautiful place to start. Figuring out what your values are, and where they come from can be a pretty intense experience. Lucky we have Dr Em to help, breaking down why they are important and how they can add purpose to your life. As she explains, our values work like a compass, and when used responsibly, can point us in t...
Jul 21, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast In the ultimate power move, we interview Zan Rowe, ‘one of Australia’s best interviewers’. Talk about pressure. Champion of the airwaves, TV presenter, music journalist and podcaster, Zan has soundtracked the lives of many Australians. In this episode of the Vulnerabilitea House, Zan draws the card; ‘how would your ambitions change if you only had one year to live?’ In between getting ‘death ready’ and facing burnout just when her profe...
Jul 14, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever made a really bad decision? Made a call that you couldn’t undo? It's a fear for many, and for others, living with the reality of a ‘roll of the dice’ gone wrong, is cause for great sadness, and discomfort. But, there is wisdom in mistakes. And for Poh Ling Yeow, learning to own her bad decisions, meant she could move forward with empathy and acceptance. A skill she's honed through a life of ‘magooing’ to her way onto our screens through Mas...
Jul 07, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast How does food affect our mood? Does diet actually impact our mental health? What is a gut micro-biome, and can we still eat a few chips without ruining it? In this Academy of Imperfection episode, we are joined one of the worlds leading experts on the relationship between what we eat, and how it effects our mental health, Professor Felice Jacka. And if can we trust anyone to get to the bottom of the vagus nerve ‘highway’; our hippocampus shrinking; our mitochondrial reaction to ultra...
Jun 30, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast 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 wha...
Jun 28, 2024•24 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast 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 att...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Jun 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast 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, Y...
Jun 09, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast 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 c...
Jun 02, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast 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 thi...
May 31, 2024•17 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
May 26, 2024•2 hr 35 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast 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 un...
May 24, 2024•18 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast 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, ...
May 19, 2024•58 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
May 17, 2024•11 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast 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 difficu...
May 12, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast 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 i...
May 05, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast 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 t...
May 03, 2024•20 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Austra...
Apr 28, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Apr 26, 2024•22 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Apr 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast 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 si...
Apr 18, 2024•32 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Apr 14, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast 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 droppin...
Apr 10, 2024•11 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast 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 t...
Apr 07, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast 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/4icJmt...
Apr 03, 2024•23 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Mar 31, 2024•2 hr 39 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast 
