The You Project

In 2011, while living in China and building his own science communication business, Ben Bravery was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. At just 28 years of age, he returned to Australia and underwent 18 months of treatment, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. After having both good and bad experiences as a patient, and seeing gaping holes in the medical system, Ben decided to become a...

Dr Jessica Tracy is a Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia who has written a cool book called ‘Take Pride: Why the Deadliest Sin Holds the Secret to Human Success’. I’ve never done a podcast on this topic and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever even had a significant conversation about it. Anyway, turns out there’s two ‘types’ (not very academic of me) of pride and overal...

Robin Dreeke is an expert at reading people and understanding how they are thinking and feeling, in the moment. He also knows when they’re bullsh*tting, which is why I reduced my lying for this episode. These skills made him one of the FBI’s best recruiters of spies (from the other team). Robin began his FBI journey as a Counterintelligence Specialist and Behaviourist and wound up as a Commander i...

I think this was my favourite chat with Tor and Patrick. It was a mix of laughter, psychology, technology, ethics and morality. We spoke about electric cars with 1,000 km range, the psychological risks of using filters to alter appearance, why you might have poo on your toothbrush (science Bro), the downside of going to space, killer robots used for policing, having internet access in your brain (...

TV Host and Presenter, Farmer, Singer, Mum, Journalist and all-round grouse human, Gorgi Coghlan (Coggers, as I call her) is back and we go deep-AF on a bunch of stuff, including friendship, trusting people, the need for connection, why Christmas sucks (for some), thought cults, ‘friends’ you only hear from when they need something, creating boundaries with your own family, the expectation-disappo...

This episode is possibly Geoff Jowett at his best. To say he’s high on life is an understatement. His passion and energy in this chat are totally captivating and infectious. If you don’t know him, Geoff is a curious combination of Philosopher, High-Performance Coach, Storyteller, Motivator and loveable Bogan. If you need a pick-me-up, listen to this. @geoffjowett See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Dr. Andy Norman, PhD, is the award-winning author of ‘Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think’. Andy and I are kindred spirits; both fascinated with the vastness of the human mind and this chat is hands-down in my top twenty TYP episodes. I recently listened to him chat with Joe Rogan for over three hours (and was totally captivated), so to spend...

Dr. Mark Cross is fascinating, funny, real and compassionate. I loved our chat and personally, learned a bunch. He is the first openly gay man to win ‘Father of the Year’, he is a highly-respected Psychiatrist, Successful Author, Media Presenter and has lived experience of one of the conditions he treats - he’s been anxious since he was four. We spoke about too much to list here but I suspect most...

It’s about this time of year when millions of people start to think about the amazing body they’re about to create when the calendar reaches the designated ‘body-changing’ day. And while I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, I can’t deny their popularity, so with that in mind, I’ve decided to take part in the madness and share some ideas and strategies that might help a few people step out of t...

Samuel Johnson (OAM) is an Actor (TV, film and stage), Gold Logie winner, regular Aussie bloke, co-creator of the charity ‘Love Your Sister’ and money-raising machine, who (to this point in time) has raised more than thirteen millions dollars for cancer research. Mid-way through 2021, Sam was hit by a car, breaking his skull (including his face), fracturing bones in his neck and suffering a signif...

There’s light and shade in art, in relationships, in mental health and in life. This is an atypical TYP episode, in that it’s not a conversation with an ‘expert’, not a teaching or coaching session, not an interview with a high profile person and not a philosophical dive into the meaning of life. It’s a chat with a talented young man I’ve been mentoring for a little while. Harrison is a world-clas...

This episode with David Gillespie is a ripper. Maybe my favourite. Towards the end, he subjected me to some hypothetical scenarios (used in actual research), requiring me to make some really difficult ethical / moral choices between two bad outcomes. I hated and loved it. I experienced both curiosity (mind stuff) and discomfort (emotional stuff) at the same time. I would love to hear your feedback...

Yep, Poo transplants. Crapsules. You’re welcome. They’re a thing. This chat was f**king fascinating, Dr. Bill Sullivan is a brilliant science communicator and I learned a shit-ton. Pun intended. Among a gazillion things, we spoke about antibiotics and their impact on our microbiome, the five second rule (food on floor), Gene therapy (to treat and even eradicate some conditions), the intersection o...

Yep, Poo transplants. Crapsules. You’re welcome. They’re a thing. This chat was f**king fascinating, Dr. Bill Sullivan is a brilliant science communicator and I learned a shit-ton. Pun intended. Among a gazillion things, we spoke about antibiotics and their impact on our microbiome, the five second rule (food on floor), Gene therapy (to treat and even eradicate some conditions), the intersection o...

According to Giaan Rooney, ‘raising kids’ is the answer to the title question. Apart from being a World Champion, Olympic Gold Medallist, TV Presenter, Sports Commentator, Author, Corporate Speaker, Fashion Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Macadamia Farmer, Mum of Two and Wife of one, Giaan Rooney hasn’t really done much. Nonetheless, we had a good chat. Seriously, this conversation was a fascinating...

And when I write high-performance, I’m not talking about running a two-hour marathon, climbing Everest or being a walking six-pack. No, I’m talking about optimising what you have to work with (genetics, time, resources) at any age; a body that can perform well (functionally) day to day. I’ve trained many people with high performance bodies into their eighties and this chat with Rusty, is all about...

Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on performance. He is the author of the new book Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and The Surprising Science of Real Toughness. He is the co-author of Peak Performance, The Passion Paradox, and the author of The Science of Running. Collectively his books have sold more than half a million copies. In this episode we talk about a practical process...

Work for yourself or work for them? It’s a question many of us ask over the course of our working lives. I asked it early on and realised that employee-dom (not a word) wasn’t for me. It’s not bad (of course), just not optimal for me. Subsequently, I’ve been the boss of me for thirty-three years, employed hundreds of people, made a million f*ck-ups, had a million breakdowns and breakthroughs, re-i...

What is God? Why are people leaving organised religion in droves? What is mysticism? What is the delusion of separation? Why are we terrified of death? What is enlightenment? Why would a loving God create hell? What are the four components of perennial wisdom? How is religion a ‘map’ and mysticism/spirituality a compass? How and why does a Rabbi (and Doctor of Religion) consider religion to be the...

What is God? Why are people leaving organised religion in droves? What is mysticism? What is the delusion of separation? Why are we terrified of death? What is enlightenment? Why would a loving God create hell? What are the four components of perennial wisdom? How is religion a ‘map’ and mysticism/spirituality a compass? How and why does a Rabbi (and Doctor of Religion) consider religion to be the...

Did you know that your ‘IQ’ can vary through the day depending on variables like sleep, hydration, stress, fatigue, medication, alcohol and a bunch of other factors? Or that in different situations, the same person can display traits at different points along the introversion-extroversion scale? Or that wearing a ‘mask’ in public can be exhausting and ultimately disempowering because you’re always...

Dr. John (“Jack”) Schafer is a retired FBI Special Agent who is currently employed as an Assistant Professor at Western Illinois University. Jack served as behavioural analyst assigned to the FBI's National Security Behavioural Analysis Program where he trained agents in the areas of lying, deception, manipulation, elicitation (like the friendly version of interrogation), advanced interviewing and...

Firstly (Dear Audience), thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for allowing us to do what we do, for keeping the TYP doors open, for supporting us and being part of a beautiful community, for putting up with my not-always-sophisticated manner and for generally being ace. Without you, I’m just a bloke on a mic talking into a virtual void. Anyway, for our 1000th episode, I thought I’d sit down for an hour an...

Firstly (Dear Audience), thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for allowing us to do what we do, for keeping the TYP doors open, for supporting us and being part of a beautiful community, for putting up with my not-always-sophisticated manner and for generally being ace. Without you, I’m just a bloke on a mic talking into a virtual void. Anyway, for our 1000th episode, I thought I’d sit down for an hour an...

Firstly (Dear Audience), thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for allowing us to do what we do, for keeping the TYP doors open, for supporting us and being part of a beautiful community, for putting up with my not-always-sophisticated manner and for generally being ace. Without you, I’m just a bloke on a mic talking into a virtual void. Anyway, for our 1000th episode, I thought I’d sit down for an hour an...