If I Only Knew

Matt brings you a very short episode today in the hubbub of the holidays to briefly tie up If I Only Knew for the year and let everyone know we'll be back next year - better than ever. Remember to follow or favourite the podcast now so we don't disappear from your recommended list over the break!

This week Fred and Matt discuss the feeling of schadenfreude - deriving pleasure from other people's misfortune. This is a common feature in online content and it has a powerful ability to attract attention. Listen in if this is your first time hearing about schadenfreude, if you're interested in the psychology that produces it, or to learn more about its role in online spaces.

This week Fred's back on the pod! Matt follows up his last discussion about SXSW by asking for Fred's thoughts on the ethics of children's presence online. Many kids today want to create and post content online, how should parents balance this with the risks of the internet? Moreover, what responsibilities might parents have when making the first digital footprints of their children on their own s...

This week Matt reports back after a panel presentation at Sydney's SXSW on the datafication of Gen Z - is the collection of data about young people a good or bad thing? He disagreed with his co-panellists about the positives of this datafication, suggesting instead that it merely provides businesses with more tools to convince people to buy things. However, an important point was raised by the sup...

Matt's been left with the podcasting microphone today as Fred attends to far less interesting matters at Humanity Health Group. Wielding this power, Matt gives us a short tour of the possible future of information as AI image generation matures. What happens when any image can be created with perfect fidelity? It might just undermine the unspoken reliance we all have on photography to validate our...

This week Fred has been intrigued by the political campaign to #ringarelo about the Voice Referendum. Join us to hear a bit more about the political mobilisation of young people, the benefits it can bring, and the costs it can impose on young people and adults alike.

This week Fred and Matt reach into their wheelhouse to offer some thoughts on the value of advisory committees to decision-makers. This is especially relevant as Australia holds a referendum to enshrine an advisory body in the constitution, but it is also a topic close to the heart of this podcast as Matt's first role with Fred was as Chair of Humanity Health Group's Youth Advisory Committee. Join...

This week Matt makes use of Fred's extensive management experience to ask what it means to continue to educate and skill yourself once you join the workforce. Disillusioned by much of his time at university, Matt wants to know what other options there are for gaining more skills and improving his work in the future. Fred provides some interesting thoughts on the idea of 'education fatigue' and how...

This week Fred and Matt chat about the recent Women's World Cup. This was a dramatically successful event in Australia, captivating audiences, but it was marred at the podium when Spanish star Jenni Hermoso was kissed on stage by Spanish football President Luis Rubiales without her consent. This caused dramatic backlash, but Rubiales refuses to step down and was initially supported by the Spanish...

Fred brings his clinical experience this week to explore why people loves their pets so much. People are often willing to put pets before themselves, yet this doesn't seem like a very smart evolutionary move. What is it about pets that commands such devotion, and why are they able to bring such joy to our lives? Join us this week to find out.

This week we compare and contrast the experiences of young professionals today with those of Fred's early career. How should new employees deal with the rapidly changing pace of early work, the feeling that everyone else knows more than them, and the idea that social media presence may (or may not) influence your opportunities? Fred offers some great insights into starting a career, as a recruiter...

Online conferencing platform Zoom has recently mandated that all staff spend at least 2 days a week in the office. What are the pros and cons of working from home, hybrid models, or working in the office? What can we learn from an inter-generational investigation of this issue, asking what has changed and what should stay the same? Fred brings his expertise managing people and companies to explore...

This week Matt brings a meta perspective to our usual discussions of psychology and young people - what are young people actually thinking when their sitting in that chair? Fred is then able to use his experience as a psychologist to speak to some of the concerns that young people have about their experience, and to provide an insight into how the therapist sees their role in that conversation. Th...

Text messages sent by celebrity Jonah Hill to his now Ex girlfriend Sarah Brady have recently been causing a dramatic stir online, as people debate the appropriateness of their "boundaries", the nature of power imbalances, and misogyny and narcissism. Fred brings the insight of his psychology background to a heated online debate, highlighting the centrality of insecurity in Hill's behaviour and po...

This week Fred and Matt discuss the consequences of online Hustle culture. A movement of people glamorising working multiple jobs and bragging about the hours they work and the money they make. Fred hones in on the reasons why people might want to work harder for themselves and draws some fascinating inter-generational connections, while Matt has been troubled by the consequences of needing to wor...

This week Fred scratches at something that's been bothering him recently - the way 'imposter syndrome' can be used to hide from mistakes. Fred gives us an authentic window into the work of psychology and the importance of making and owning mistakes. He also highlights a general difference in the treatment of practising and sitting in discomfort. Do you think he's on the money here?

Australian media has been dominated by coverage of the Titan submarine's disappearance and by the search to find it. At time of recording we recently found out that the passengers had all tragically died, but the media landscape's furore surrounding this event warrants some investigation. Why has this issue captured our media attention so much? Moreover, why does this come at the cost of other rep...

It's exam season! Some year 10's are doing their first practise exams, Year 12's might be sitting a mid-year exam, and semester 1 of university is wrapping up. So Matt and Fred reflect a little on what skills are actually taught in today's education system. Matt has been feeling like he spends half his energy simply working out how to answer the allocated question to get maximum marks, while Fred...

This week Matt is in the hotseat as Fred wants to understand the attitudes of young employees to work. What value-changes have precipitated the variety of jobs young people now expect to have, and how do young people make sense of their vocational history? Maybe most importantly for Fred, how can businesses best support, and retain, young staff? Matt provides some thoughts that get to the heart of...

This week Fred and Matt dive into why Matt finds it so hard to ask for a better price, while Fred does it so much he's made careers out of it. Matt's got some new insights into the formalised economy since travelling in India, and Fred needs to know why asking for a 'discount if I pay with cash' causes young people to groan with exasperation. This is a great episode of inter-generational insight,...

This week Fred wants to learn more about lootboxes in video games, and Matt is just the man to talk to about whether they pose a risk of gambling addiction. Fred offers a wealth of information about the psychology of addiction from his clinical work while Matt has plenty of experience with lootboxes. Should parents be worried about the video games their kids play, and how should they be regulated?...

This week Fred is concerned about a phenomenon that's been on the news recently - kids starting random fights to film them and get clicks online. We investigate what drives someone to throw a punch in the supermarket for some likes and how we can come to terms with an internet that has created a new attention currency to drive anti-social behaviour. Is this a new problem, or a problem at all? Join...

With the passing of Barry Humphries, a renowned Australian comedian of the 20th century, his career as Dame Edna Everage has been the talk of Aussie dinner tables this last week or so. Matt noticed something very interesting in his conversations, that people of all generations seemlessly moved between talking about Dame Edna as 'she' and Humphries as 'he'. In a cultural landscape marred by divisiv...

This week Fred and Matt weigh in an important political and cultural topic in Australia - the proposed referendum for a First Nations Voice to Parliament. What is the Voice proposing, why does it matter now, what consequences will Australia's decision have? Join us this week to share this important discussion.

Fred and Matt have a brief discussion sparked by a swath of anti-trans laws passed or proposed in US states that criminals healthcare and freedom for trans people. Fred highlights how these legislations are often written to be interpreted very broadly, and that punching down on a marginalised minority like this can be a form of popularist dog whistle. They also investigate how these attitudes mani...