Human Cogs Podcast

Kate Save is an incredible Australian entrepreneur, Practicing Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist, and the founder of several businesses including the award-winning, multi-million dollar Be Fit Food empire. This business catapulted Kate onto the public stage after her appearance on reality TV show Shark Tank in 2017. But Shark Tank was a double-edged sword, which connected her with influential bu...

Wendy Tuohy is an outstanding Australian editor, journalist and newspaper columnist who has spent the last three decades working across print, digital, TV and radio. Wendy has also won multiple awards working in senior roles with The Age , Sydney Morning Herald , ABC Radio and the Herald Sun , and is a passionate advocate for women, gender parity, mental health - and speaking truth to the reality...

We all have a slightly dysfunctional relationship with creativity. We love it, value it and want more of it but often just can’t seem to find the time, space or resources to cultivate it, whether that’s a book not written, a garden unplanted or a song not sung. Mykel Dixon is an award-winning speaker, musician, learning designer, event curator and author. A gypsy by nature, musician by trade, fier...

You might think you know Hugh Sheridan . A four time Logie-award winning actor who’s played starring roles on shows like House Husbands and Packed To The Rafters, he is also the Number 1 Ticketholder for the Port Adelaide FC, and spends his time living and working between homes in LA and Sydney.  He’s also an accomplished international jazz singer, ballet dancer, film director, screenwriter and pa...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you’ve probably heard of the Shameless empire - a side hustle that turned into a media phenomenon and explosive podcast that's been downloaded 10 million times, was awarded Australia’s Most Popular Podcast in 2019 and has captured the hearts and minds of the 20-30 something generation. In this episode of Human Cogs , hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sab...

In between when you woke up this morning and when you go to sleep tonight, 55 Australian women will be told they have breast cancer. The same will happen tomorrow, the day after that and every day ongoing, making breast cancer the most common cancer affecting Australian women. In fact, it is estimated that 20,000+ new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in Australia in 2020. Only 5-10% of bre...

A self-described “brain for hire”, Ben Sorensen is a media host, presenter, writer, and marketing whizz. Ben also sits on the Autism Spectrum, and has learned to “hack his brain” to find ways to help him make sense of the world. From an early age growing up in country Queensland, Ben recognised that the way he processed the world was very different to people around him, and that his brain worked f...

Let’s talk about exes. We’ve all had one and we’ve all been one, so why do some leave such an indelible mark on our hearts while others move on leaving little impact on our lives? Breakups can be painful and heart-breaking, a complete surprise or a total relief. But whichever way it ends, in the aftermath, there’s always a story to be told as we try to make sense of the way we parted, the reasons...

Nikole Ramsay grew up in a tumbling, hectic, people-filled household as the youngest of four kids. A self-confessed tomboy and late bloomer, Nik remembers the fun and chaos of a big family quickly shrinking as each of her three siblings grew up and left home. She was left as an only, sometimes lonely child, in a quiet house in the suburbs, yearning for the abundance of a big and bustling family ag...

This episode starts with Richard Stansbury reading his heart-wrenching eulogy to his father.  Richard says his father had been desperately searching for years, and had spent most of his life running from himself until he could no longer cope with the pain he experienced everyday.  In this episode of Human Cogs , hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet explore the often taboo topic of suicide, the...

Jane Martino is a polymathic, award-winning Australian entrepreneur who has built multiple companies and is the Cofounder of globally recognised not-for-profit organisation Smiling Mind - a free online Mindfulness Meditation program that has more than 4 million regular users.  Jane has been on the Board of the Melbourne Football Club, is a powerhouse business woman, and the author of multiple book...

Matt Martino is a 49-year-old designer, artist and father of 3 boys who has had his quarter-life crisis, survived the hurt, loss and hard work of a marriage separation, and come out of it softer, more weathered and a whole lot wiser about the importance of being an optimistic man, conscious father and respectful ex-husband.  He believes life is comprised of 7-year cycles, and that men’s biological...

Sally Capp is the first woman to be directly elected as Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and is a serial ‘have-a-goer’ by her own account. ​ (For the record, in her eagerness to get cracking in her newly elected role, she turned up for work at Melbourne Town Hall three days before she was meant to officially start). But for all of her firsts, in this episode Human Cogs, Sally shares some of the " seconds"...

Darren Mort grew up in an abusive family and says he didn’t really have much of a childhood. Every night he had a huge amount of regret waiting for his father’s car to pull up in the driveway. His father was a VFL legend - an angry and abusive man who had come from a ‘lousy’ household, and was scarred by his own difficult past. He eventually sent the family into bankruptcy and chaos when Darren wa...

Imagine being born in a body that doesn’t feel right. Sam Eade knew from a young age that the colours pink and purple repelled him, and would throw tantrums when dressed in feminine clothes. He attended an all-girls school for 13 years, despite his rising gender dysmorphia and the feelings that he didn’t fit the body he was born in.  When puberty hit, Sam’s life - and identity - went into chaos as...

Nic Newling had what you’d call a pretty normal, even idyllic, childhood. But life took a dark and terrible turn for him when he started to avoid situations and the people around him at the age of 15. A top-performing scholarship student, Nic suddenly plummeted into mental illness and deep shame …. and things got a whole lot worse before they got better.  In this episode of Human Cogs , hosts Sabi...

In the age of Trump and Putin, you’d be forgiven for thinking modern-day masculinity is broken. Too often, on the path from boy to man, there is a painful shift that makes many young men hide their real selves from the world. In this episode of Human Cogs , hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet unpack masculinity with the extraordinarily bright and soulful Joel Lazar - Head of Operations at The...

Jason Ball is best known as a pioneering LGBTIQ advocate who after coming out in 2012 used his voice to launch a campaign to challenge homophobia in sport and drive cultural change within the AFL. But this is not the whole story. At the age of 12, Jason held his secret and shame so deeply that he thought suicide may be a better option than coming out.  In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina R...

If you’ve ever thought of yourself as the good time party girl or boy, then had a hangover that changed everything; or if you’ve struggled with mental health issues regardless of having had a great childhood; or if you’ve ever considered happiness as the holy grail, then this conversation is for you.  Jill Stark is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and passionate mental health advoc...