The You Project

I never know because l'll never be a dad (excluding an in-bound Golden Retriever), but I’m pretty sure I might suck at parenting. It seems super hard. Unlike like some other non-parents, l've always thought it's probably the toughest role an adult can have. This time on TYP, Child Therapist Dr. Sam Casey and I talk about the challenges of being a single parent from a theoretical, research and academic perspective, and also from the perspective of someone living it in real life - which Dr. Sam is. Until this chat, I hadn't really considered the amount of intersecting variables - psychological, emotional, physical, social, financial, legal, practical, geographic - that impact kids and families, moving from a married situation to a "two parents in different homes" situation. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know when you get immersed in a conversation with someone and the times flies? Well, that was my experience of this chat with Bobby. We covered a lot of ground and when I checked the time, our twenty-minute chat (so I thought), was almost an hour. We chatted about the "theory" of beauty ("it doesn't matter") and the real-world reality of it ("it matters"). We also talked about the need we humans have for gaining the approval of others - often from people who don't even care about us, our respective stories (Bobby and l) about not being "overly attractive" children, how confidence works, redundant and repetitive conversations (and how to avoid them), muffin guilt and lots more. Enjoy.theselfhelpantidote.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kate Save is back on deck chatting with us about investigative health testing (taking action before we get sick - proactive, not reactive) and the whole prevention versus diagnosis concept. That is, unpacking the "why wait till you get sick?" question. We also chat about the importance of bacteria (we're kind of full of it), “training” our immune system (it's possible - and smart), understanding what our body is saying (biofeedback) and why some people are consuming (I wish I had another word... ingesting maybe?) other people's poo. Crapsule anyone? Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm pretty sure this will be a popular episode. It was such fun, so interesting, so thought-provoking and Professor Chris is a genius (IMO), with an amazing ability to connect, tell stories and make super-interesting research and science, podcast-friendly. Among other things, we spoke about the science of the paranormal (anomalistic psychology), psychic abilities, false memories, ghosts, haunted houses, magicians, mentalists and his book 'The Science of Weird Shit! So F**king good. Enjoy. **BIO: Chris French is a British Psychologist and Professor Emeritus at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he founded the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. He specialises in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences - why people believe in ghosts, psychics, UFOs, astrology, and other weird and wonderful claims.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This was the first get-together of 2026 for the motorbike riding, cookie-devouring, face-punching, newly-betrothed TYP team member and the old veiny, crusty-but-hilarious (he wishes) host. We went far and wide in this chat and it was a nice blend of catch-up, reflection, story-telling and bro-science. I may have gotten a tiny bit evangelical and soap-boxy. Not sorry. EnjoySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this episode, I sit down with TYP regular David Gillespie to unpack his provocative piece - The Statin Delusion. We talk about how modern medicine increasingly treats health as a deficiency of medication, why Australia leads the world in statin prescriptions, and how shifting cholesterol goalposts have medicalised the "worried well." Gillespo challenges the assumed life-saving power of statins in healthy people, explains the surprisingly small benefits, and walks through the real metabolic, muscular, cognitive, and diabetes-related risks. It's a blunt conversation about fear, pharma, guidelines, and whether prevention has quietly become harm. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patrick and I meandered (argued, laughed, disagreed) our way through the first TYP instalment of the year. A little “how was Christmas”, a little smut and bullshit (as always), a little regulation tech-talk and a little fear mongering about the imminent demise of humanity at the hands of AI. So, business as usual. Enjoy.websitesnow.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Caleb Warren is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona and this was a fun chat about what makes something or someone cool, and how coolness intersects with branding, marketing, popularity, humour, culture, social desirability and more. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Catherine Houlihan is a Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Clinic Director at the UniSC Psychology Clinic. Her area of expertise is treating and researching eating disorders and body image concerns and this was a relevant (for many), meaningful and insightful conversation. There's also one anonymous ex-fat kid who found it particularly interesting. Enjoy.@drcat.psychSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I don't actually hate myself but according to Dr. Blaise Aguirre from Harvard Medical School (no less!), plenty of people do. Also, it's the title of his new book. Well, the whole title is "I HATE MYSELF: Overcome Self-Loathing and Realise Why You're Wrong About You." This was great chat with someone who is truly a world-renowned expert and pioneer in their field. I loved it a lot. As did Tiff. *Bio: Blaise Aguirre, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is specialises in, dialectical behaviour therapy as well as other treatments such as mentalisation-based treatment (MBT) for borderline personality disorder and associated conditions. Dr. Aguirre has been a staff psychiatrist at McLean Hospital since 2000 and is nationally and internationally recognised for his extensive work in the treatment of mood and personality disorders in adolescents. He lectures regularly throughout the world. Dr. Aguirre is the author or co-author of many books, including Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents, Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder, Coping With BPD, and Fighting Back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being able to "read the room" is an integral part of effective communication, connection, problem solving, rapport building, conflict resolution, leadership and any kind of personal or professional interaction; one on one or one on group. Bobby, Tiff and I talk about this in the context of our work - being in front of group - but it's also a broadly relevant skill that's important for all of us. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a vaccine given to new-born bubs to protect them against Hepatitis B because if they are unvaccinated and happen to get Hep. B when they're young, it often leads to life-long health problems and in too many instances, liver cancer. Well with that in mind, there's been recent conversations about a potential link between this particular vaccine and Autism and under the guidance(?) of RFK, it seems that moving forward the advice for American parents will be to avoid the Hep. B vaccine. Not a mandate but nonetheless, a recommendation. As always with Gillespo (and Tiff), we also cover other stuff and had a particularly fun moment. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may or may not want to hear where my thoughts are at in the aftermath of the horror that was Sunday. This is not a ‘commentary’ on events but rather, a brief reflection on the psychology, ideology and sociology that drives such behaviour. Love, Harps. xxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Lillian Nejad is back and we discuss what happened at Bondi on Sunday (we recorded less than 24 hours later). Obviously, we offer no “solutions” or magic pills (there aren’t any) but we felt it was an important conversation to have. Even for ourselves. For the second half (maybe a little more) of the show we chatted about “destination disappointment” (being disappointed when you achieve your goal), WTF contentment is and how we might get some!, we compared different approaches to therapy, spoke about our favourite thought-provoking philosophical movie, climbing the wrong mountain and finally, we each shared some of our favourite action-prompting questions. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is what the cool podcast kids call a co-share. I was recently on “The Artistry of Humanity” with Ian Williams and we had a great chat about being simultaneously rich and broke, the external illusion of success versus the internal reality of chaos and misery, the biology of stress and lots more. Enjoy.artistry-of-humanity.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The resident geek is back enlightening, amusing, educating and terrifying us (in equal measure) with the “what’s happening” and the “what’s coming” of technology, social media, cybersecurity and super creepy Al-enabled teddy bears. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This was a timely, fascinating and relevant-for-right-now chat with Stacey Wood, Ph.D. - Professor of Psychology at Scripps College in California. We spoke about the way deception, fraud and manipulation "works" from a psychological, emotional, sociological, practical and legal perspective. Turns out that - when it comes to scamming vulnerable people - some scumbags are charming, charismatic, articulate sociopaths who understand how to manipulate people's emotions, actions and back accounts, for personal gain. Like I said, scumbags. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Love is in the air at TYP Central and no, it doesn't involve me but it does involve someone you all know well and potentially one of your favourite regulars. Okay, l've said too much but f**k it, I'm excited. This episode will go down in TYP history. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this instalment of TYP, Kelly, Tiff and I chat about the propensity we humans have to obsess about, and waste energy on, problems that don't currently (and may never) exist. And also... the subsequent self-created psychological and emotional sh*t-fest that comes with it. In general terms, we talk about trying to manage our subjective experience in the middle of a never-ending series of objective events, situations and circumstances (you know.. life). Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social osmosis is (for this conversation) the way attitudes, beliefs, emotions, values, behaviours, language and norms seep into us simply by being around people - without us choosing, trying, or even noticing. It's not a 'real' term (in psychological literature) but it's a real part of the human experience. It’s a Craig-ism. I guess it's kind of like psychological second-hand smoke. You don't decide to inhale or absorb it, you just do. Unintentionally. Unconsciously. For better or worse. Have you noticed how just being around some people is literally good for your physical, mental and emotional health? Even if you don't say anything? There's definitely some kind of energetic exchange happening. This conversation with Tiff is one of my all-time Craig-Tiff favourites. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.