The Imperfects

Other than being a Clinical Psychologist (with a child specialisation), Dr James van Cuylenburg is not only Hugh and Josh’s cousin, but in Hugh’s opinion, he’s the greatest piano player in the world - which provides zero context for this incredible episode. James covers so much in this 90 minutes that it’s almost impossible to sum up here. Everything from the development of...

What do you do when you’re stressed? Watch the telly? Scroll the innuhnet? Fix yourself a stiff VB on the rocks? We all feel stressed and burned out from time to time. It’s unfortunately a reality of life. But double-unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to correctly deal with it. And that’s why Dr Emily is here to help! In this extremely practical episode, Dr Emily expl...

You might remember Penny Moodie from her first appearance on The Imperfects when she talked about her own experience with OCD. Link below if you don’t! Well, Penny is back to talk about something else; her marriage with Hugh. Or, more specifically, and far less click-baity, the mental load in her marriage with Hugh. “The mental load” is the cognitive effort that’s required...

If you live in Sydney, you probably know Wippa. He’s on NOVA every morning with Fitzy and Kate Ritchie (or 6-7pm in the rest of the country), but he's also a veteran of Australian radio, having been on air for 20 years, making his start in Port Augusta before moving to Perth, then Melbourne and now Sydney. Wippa and Ryan have been great friends for a long time. They even co-hosted the NOVA d...

We all want to be successful. But what is ‘success’? And what if we’ve been thinking about it in the wrong way? Enter Kemi Nekvapil… back for the second time on The Imperfects! Kemi has worked in the wellness industry for 25 years and holistic leadership for 10 years. She is a mother, a wife, an endurance athlete, a gardener, an author with three books, and a certified Dar...

This is Pt2 of our chat with award-winning chef and owner of Melbourne restaurant, Attica. Go back and listen to Pt 1 if you haven’t yet. It’s a doozy. As the second part, this is a double-doozy… or a... twoozy… I guess. In this episode, Ben explains how he managed to build empathy amongst the staff at Attica through something he created called Staff Speeches. He also sha...

Originally from New Zealand, Ben Shewry is the head chef and owner of Melbourne-based restaurant Attica - the highly respected restaurant that has been included in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants numerous times. Ben’s chat with Hugh, Ryan and Josh was so big and so special, it needed to be split across 2 big and special episodes. In this first big and special part, they talk about what...

We’ve spent about four and a half years on this podcast telling you why we’re all imperfect. But on this episode, Dr Emily actually explains why trying to be PERFECT is… well… really bad. And not only why it’s really bad, but why perfectionism’s mere existence is stealing all the good from our lives. Take it away Dr Emily……… PSYCHOLOGIST!...

If you don’t know comedy sketch group Aunty Donna, then take a moment, open your local internet browser and watch their incredible stuff for a bit (some of it is linked below). Then come back and listen to this episode with Aunty Donna's, Broden Kelly. In this Vulnerabilitea House, Broden talks about his own and Aunty Donna’s creative process, and how it’s evolved over the years...

Emma Murray is the high-performance mindset coach for the Richmond Football Club and Mum to four children. As the founder of High-Performance Mindfulness - a company that uses mindfulness, psychology and meditation to help people perform at their best - Emma works with elite athletes, corporate executives, students and actors. In this very practical and vulnerable episode, Emma explains how high-p...

This extremely raw and revealing episode with Australian rapper 360 is all about authenticity. 10 years ago, 360 (Matt Colwell) was one of the most successful and respected artists in Australia. His songs and albums went multi-platinum, he was winning prestigious ARIA and APRA awards and his enormous tours sold out nationally. But what no one knew at the time, is he was simultaneously battling an...

We all get angry. Some of us show our anger and some of us suppress it, but at the end of the day, we’re all susceptible to being angry. In this episode, Dr Emily goes into the many aspects of anger - how it can show up in our lives, how it affects us and the people around us, and of course, what we can do about it. If you liked this episode, you might be interested in book recommendation, W...

What if you were one of the best swimmers in the world, but you still couldn’t beat your older sister? That’s what Olympic swimmer Bronte Campbell has been facing for most of her career with her sister, Cate Campbell. In this Vulnerabilitea House, Bronte opens up about being at the top of the professional swimming world, but still living in someone’s shadow. And how comparison st...

This B-B-B-BONUS episode arrives thanks to Hugh - a man who claims to hate lists. At least he did until he saw a list called “40 Things I Wish I’d Known at 40” (link below). The list of things resonated with Hugh so much, that he sent it to Ryan and Josh and they decided to do an episode about it. This is that episode. It’d be weird if it wasn’t though wouldn’t...

When Ryan spoke about his ongoing indecision surrounding whether or not he should have children (Episode: To Breed or Not To Breed - link below), it definitely struck a chord with a lot of people who could relate. One of those people was “Parenthood Clarity Mentor” Ann Davidman, who helps people all over the world to answer the question, ‘Should I have children?’ So, as a s...

Dil’s rise from accountant, to one of Australia’s most successful stand-up comedians is incredible. But what might be even incredible…er is how he was able to finally get sober after years of relying on alcohol. In this vulnerable episode, Dil reveals to Hugh, Ryan and Josh what his life was like when his drinking was out of control, and how when he stopped, it forced him to cha...

Dr Emily is back in the studio with Hugh, Ryan and Josh to deliver a slightly different, but extremely practical episode. You may not be ready to see a therapist, but even the thought of it can be really overwhelming. Where do you start? Who’s the right therapist for you? What even happens once you’re in a therapy session? And which movies or TV shows get it right? Dr Em guides us thro...

This Academy of Imperfection is a Part 2, or… addendum episode… with the phenom that is Ben Crowe! So, if you haven’t heard Part 1, please listen to that one first by following the link below. In this episode, Ben expands on what he said in Part 1 about listening to your inner fan rather than your inner critic. He guides Hugh, Ryan and Josh through some simple exercises where t...

Ben Crowe is a huge part of our humble Imperfects history. Ben’s first episode with us in 2021 continues to be one of our most listened to episodes, helping many of you, your friends and your family members. Ben is back in the Academy of Imperfection (split over two episodes) to spread even more wisdom that he's accrued from decades of working with elite athletes at Nike and now at MojoCrowe...

Most of us first met actor and writer Samuel Johnson - and his silky voice - when he burst onto our screens over 20 years ago in the iconic show, The Secret Life of Us. Since then Sam’s experienced a lot of good times, but also some of the most challenging times any of us could imagine. In this Vulnerabilitea House, Sam chooses to answer the card, ‘What childhood challenges best prepar...

A lil b-b-b-bonus ep to announce some exciting news... Our very own Hugh van Cuylenburg has filmed and released his Resilience Project talk as a Special on Amazon Prime Video! It's called 'Hugh van Cuylenburg: G.E.M' and it's out now. Hugh has been talking to people about Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness for a loooooong time, but now it's finally been filmed so everyone can watch it whenever the...

A few years ago, Australian TV and radio legend Chrissie Swan decided to finally be honest with herself. She stopped doing the things she didn’t want to do anymore, and started doing the things that made HER happy. In this inspiring episode, Chrissie tells Hugh, Ryan and Josh how she was able to turn her life around and live as her true self. No more role-playing, just 100% Pure Swan. ...

It’s Season 5 and oooooooooooh baby, are we excited!!! Yes we are. Why? Because everything’s new BUT everything’s also the same! Y’know? Like when your fish and chip shop does a big renovation and you’re really excited because the shop’s all spiffy and new, but you’re also really excited and relieved that they still have potato cakes and dim sims and prawn...

Okay so quick brag… last year’s episode with parenting expert Lael Stone was 2022’s #1 Most Shared Episode on Apple Podcasts, which you can listen to at the link below. 💁‍♀️ But now, Lael is back for a brand new b-b-b-bonus ep with Hugh, Ryan and Josh to talk all about YOU! Well… you and your kids and your loved ones and some other very shareable things that you migh...

Ryan loves his smart phone. Or at least, he used to. Recently, he became fed up with it ruling his life. Endless scrolling, lost time, and just general bleh. So, three months ago he traded in his beloved iPhone for a not-so-smart flip phone - which he affectionately refers to as his ‘SmugPhone’. In this b-b-b-bonus episode, Ryan talks Hugh and Josh through every aspect of his smug jour...