Blind Insights

When veterans return to civilian life, the adjustment is immense, and  the journey that people take from a life in the military to forging their own path in the civilian world is fascinating. Jon Duncan is a fantastic example of someone who has chosen positive growth, as well as being a wonderful guest on the show, and as such we will be dedicating a small series to his life and work, so stay...

With speech and language dominating most of our communication, it is quite fun to ponder just how significant words can be in our lives. Steve Davis of radio and marketing fame, joins David, comms student and master wordsmith, and Tim, a loquacious student of English, to tangentially pontificate the efficacious lexicons available to specifically elicit desired outcomes in interpersonal relations....

With the challenges facing modern democracy across various parts of the world, we can draw on modern research and understandings paired with classic theory to break down systems of power. Scott Ludlam, ex-deputy leader of the Australian greens party, and activist has done the hard work of drawing patterns in the Australian context with his new book, Full Circle . While Scott visited South Australi...

Jordan Peterson has been a formative part of this podcast's journey, gaining a significant audience in the very early days nearly 3 years ago! Whilst the first book for public consumption was well written and had excellent intellectual content, Dr. Peterson's follow-up book left us with more questions than answers. The book, "Beyond Order, 12 More Rules for Life" is an applied philosophy for a bro...

Jordan Peterson has been a formative part of this podcast's journey, gaining a significant audience in the very early days nearly 3 years ago! Whilst the first book for public consumption was well written and had excellent intellectual content, Dr. Peterson's follow-up book left us with more questions than answers. The book, "Beyond Order, 12 More Rules for Life" is an applied philosophy for a bro...

Three books we think could change the world; "The Deficit Myth", by Stephanie Kelton, "Doughnut Economics", by Kate Raworth, and "The Mission Economy", by Mariano Mazzucato, all describe how we can create a political vision in the 21st century. With the history of visionaries like Keynes, we're looking for the things to fight for and Jason Hickel has managed to provide it all in one succinct expla...

Ever been in a group project, sports team, or in a work situation where there are too many cooks in the kitchen, or even just one over-bearing boss who takes all of your autonomy away? Well, it doesn't have to be that way, and in fact, it might not surprise you to know that those hierarchies can impede performance, and especially learning. David brings in his friend Christine Stothard who is a Ph....

Why, when all the evidence points toward alien life, do we continue to err on the side of caution? Is admitting we have seen extraterrestrial technology too much for even astrophysicists to handle? While NASA insisted that 2017's phenomenon known as "Oumuamua" was a 'comet', Harvard Professor Avi Loeb who is famous for many pioneering discoveries, is correcting the leger. Tune in to Tim and David...

Have you ever wondered about the Arab world and couldn't explain some of the seemingly strange things that happen there? Politically speaking, Iran is quite a foreign topic to most people, we might understand western interference and oil wars, but that's it. Derek Abbott who previously took the time to explain hydrogen to us, was curious about Iran one day and asked David to explain 'why they are...

Over 50 years ago the human race succeeded in landing on the moon, a mission that was achieved with political willpower and plenty of resources. Today we don't have the equivalent of the moon landing mission, we aren't oriented toward much at all, and we certainly aren't getting there fast. Mariana Mazzucato's Book "The Mission Economy" describes exactly this problem, and empowers us to chose our...

With mining magnates saying they'll convert their machinery to hydrogen , our governments are looking rather silly not realising the potential of hydrogen earlier. Especially when in 2010, one of David's dear friends from the University of Adelaide showed him an article that proved how a 'Hydrogen Economy' would work in Australia. With this information available and even private industry calling f...

David and Tim have been working on this podcast for 2 years, and with over 100 episodes under their belt, they thought it was time to take stock and give listeners a guide as to what they're up to, whats the podcast is going to look like, and update the schedule a bit. If you have any thoughts, questions, or want to how to best manifest destiny and contribute to community, contact us and send us a...

Saqib Shaikh is a software engineer at Microsoft and project lead of Seeing AI, a mobile application that narrates the world. Through various technologies and 'channels' visually impaired users can navigate their surroundings or gain an augmented understanding of the world around them autonomously. David is an avid user of this application and of course a perfect test subject, and together with Ti...

Australia faces three intersecting crises: climate change, systemic unemployment and rising inequality. What will our aspiring leaders do to create an economy that supports people and the planet? On Thursday the 28th of January 2021in The Braggs lecture theatre at the University of Adelaide, David and Tim Moderated a discussion with Independent Senator Rex Patrick, Professor Barbara Pocock (Austra...

Have you ever thought that a job was so pointless that no one would notice if you stopped doing it? Have you ever felt that something you were working was bullshit? Welcome to the concept from a famous essay by David Graeber, later turned into a book, called Bullshit Jobs. Unfortunately, across the developed globe, three-quarters of all jobs are in the service and admin sector where this is no cle...

Mastery over an instrument, or any creative medium, brings great joy and satisfaction to those who dedicate the time and energy toward practise. David is in the unique position of learning guitar by ear and touch, where visual teaching dominates a lot of the resources out there, but don't feel bad, this is actually a great thing. Bill Brown is a world-renowned music teacher for multiple instrument...

Johann Hari 's book " Lost Connections " took on new relevancy in 2020, and still today in many places around the world. While social distancing and isolation have dominated much of human existence in recent memory, the essential elements of human life are disconnected from our way of living. Lost Connections is a book that details 9 main causes of depression and serves as a concise critique of mo...

Value is a vague word, what we value morally and socially can be different from what value we give something in economic terms. What we call productive work is that which creates the most value, and thus the most productive work is the most rewarded financially. Do banking CEOs with massive salaries do the most valuable work? Or at least, more valuable work than nurses? That may seem wrong to us m...

Have you ever wondered if humans are alone in the universe? It seems on the surface something that you may never be able to answer but there's plenty of people who try. Even if we are alone on the universe, is alien life staring up at their relative atmosphere and wondering the same thing as us? These questions have been pondered on for millennia, and though we don't profess to be experts in the a...

"SAS Band of Brothers" is the latest novel from returning guest Damien Lewis . His works have been hailed as some of the most important books in uncovering secrets and insights from the special forces throughout history. David is an avid reader of Damien's books, and with his latest book, Tim and David had to talk with Damien about the details of another awesome story. Incidentally, this conversat...

With so many choices for what to eat from supermarkets or eateries, the impact of what we eat stretches thousands of kilometres and access decades. David and Tim invited Roman Davas-Fahey to give some insight into how what we choose to put on our plates makes a tangible difference for our health, for the planet, and for the community we live in. Roman's passion for food led him to create the Clima...

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted a doctored photo depicting an Australian soldier committing a heinous act. This has ramped up tensions in an already stressed relationship between Australia and the Chinese Communist Party administration. This situation has been commented on and reported on to the nth degree, but what we are hearing is largely lacking sophistication and isn't...

Robert Putnam is an American Social Scientist who was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama for "deepening our understanding of community in America" in 2013. Clearly being recognised for his outstanding work in social sciences for the benefit of democracy it would make sense to actively incorporate his studies into the American political system. So why was it aft...

Albert Camus' 'The Plague' has regained significance in 2020 with very obvious parallels to the COVID-19 crises that have faced communities across the world. Perhaps less obvious is the relevance of Camus' commentary on how individuals and societies deal with the frailty of life and the attempts to control the chaos of human nature. Camus' fascination with the absurd brings with it wonderful image...

Inspired by the birth of a new family member, Tim has been considering what it takes to raise a child that contributes to society in a meaningful way. David raises the challenges faced by modern parents and explains how spread out the responsibility is of raising children in western society. Neither David nor Tim are parents, but in continuing the discussion about making a good society, it is a lo...