The You Project

This episode with Bobby and Tiff begins exactly as all serious intellectual discussions should: leprosy, skin-cancer cream, hazmat suits, future husbands, and a brief audit of cats, dogs, and personal hygiene standards. So yes - very professional. We jump into a fun conversation about belief, delusion, perception, and performance. Bobby tells the story of being fuelled for years by a study that never existed - Yale, Harvard, written goals, guaranteed success. Total bullshit. And yet… it worked. A functional delusion. Not insanity. Not narcissism. Just enough belief to keep moving when quitting feels logical. We talk Bobby’s Tourette’s, getting kicked out of the military, being broke, living on 99-cent Whoppers, and mistaking rejection for confirmation you’re on the right path (which is either madness or genius - often both). Enjoy.

According to our resident kill-joy, best-selling author and revealer of unpopular truths, bacon might not be the death sentence some "experts" proport it to be. In fact, it might even be good for us. Incredible, I know. But don't believe me, take a read of Gillespo's article - just do a Google search for Substack and the above title. In this episode, we talk about the bacon revelation and lots more, so dive and enjoy.

In this special listener Q & A episode, resident anti-aging guru Dr. Jeff answers real-world questions about pain, injury, ageing, and longevity. A spine fellowship-trained neurological surgeon and regenerative stem cell medicine specialist, Dr. Gross draws on decades of clinical experience treating athletic and degenerative injuries of the spine, hips, knees, shoulders, and more. We explore stem cells, biohacking, precision medicine, and conservative, non-surgical approaches to improving health-span - cutting through hype to focus on what actually works, what's promising, and what people should be cautious about. Clear, grounded, and clinically informed, this episode is a practical deep-dive into modern regenerative medicine - answered directly, honestly, and without fluff. Enjoy.

Moheb Costandi is a neuroscientist turned science writer who spends his life exploring one of the biggest mysteries we all live inside - the human brain. He's written for Nature, Science, New Scientist, Scientific American (all a big deal in Academia) and The Guardian, and he's the author of books like Neuroplasticity, '50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know' and 'Body Am I’, which look at how the brain builds our sense of self, identity, and reality. Moheb has a gift for taking complex neuroscience and turning it into stories that actually make sense - stories about why we feel the way we do, why change is so hard, and how our brains quietly shape our entire experience of being human. Enjoy.

This time on TYP, I'm joined by James Gillespie (little Gillespo), founder of Cleanbill, to unpack what is really happening in Australian healthcare, and why so many of us are feeling the pinch at the GP. James walks us through Cleanbill's latest Blue Report, a data-driven snapshot of what patients actually experience when they try to book a doctor: who's still bulk-billing, what states are doing it more, how much people are paying out of pocket, and how access varies wildly depending on where you live. Overall, it's pretty good news and it seems that James and the Cleanbill team are moving the needle in the right direction.

I never know because l'll never be a dad (excluding an in-bound Golden Retriever), but I’m pretty sure I might suck at parenting. It seems super hard. Unlike like some other non-parents, l've always thought it's probably the toughest role an adult can have. This time on TYP, Child Therapist Dr. Sam Casey and I talk about the challenges of being a single parent from a theoretical, research and academic perspective, and also from the perspective of someone living it in real life - which Dr. Sam is. Until this chat, I hadn't really considered the amount of intersecting variables - psychological, emotional, physical, social, financial, legal, practical, geographic - that impact kids and families, moving from a married situation to a "two parents in different homes" situation. Enjoy. 

You know when you get immersed in a conversation with someone and the times flies? Well, that was my experience of this chat with Bobby. We covered a lot of ground and when I checked the time, our twenty-minute chat (so I thought), was almost an hour. We chatted about the "theory" of beauty ("it doesn't matter") and the real-world reality of it ("it matters"). We also talked about the need we humans have for gaining the approval of others - often from people who don't even care about us, our respective stories (Bobby and l) about not being "overly attractive" children, how confidence works, redundant and repetitive conversations (and how to avoid them), muffin guilt and lots more. Enjoy. theselfhelpantidote.com

Kate Save is back on deck chatting with us about investigative health testing (taking action before we get sick - proactive, not reactive) and the whole prevention versus diagnosis concept. That is, unpacking the "why wait till you get sick?" question. We also chat about the importance of bacteria (we're kind of full of it), “training” our immune system (it's possible - and smart), understanding what our body is saying (biofeedback) and why some people are consuming (I wish I had another word... ingesting maybe?) other people's poo. Crapsule anyone? Enjoy.

I'm pretty sure this will be a popular episode. It was such fun, so interesting, so thought-provoking and Professor Chris is a genius (IMO), with an amazing ability to connect, tell stories and make super-interesting research and science, podcast-friendly. Among other things, we spoke about the science of the paranormal (anomalistic psychology), psychic abilities, false memories, ghosts, haunted houses, magicians, mentalists and his book 'The Science of Weird Shit! So F**king good. Enjoy. **BIO: Chris French is a British Psychologist and Professor Emeritus at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he founded the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. He specialises in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences - why people believe in ghosts, psychics, UFOs, astrology, and other weird and wonderful claims.

This was the first get-together of 2026 for the motorbike riding, cookie-devouring, face-punching, newly-betrothed TYP team member and the old veiny, crusty-but-hilarious (he wishes) host. We went far and wide in this chat and it was a nice blend of catch-up, reflection, story-telling and bro-science. I may have gotten a tiny bit evangelical and soap-boxy. Not sorry. Enjoy

For this episode, I sit down with TYP regular David Gillespie to unpack his provocative piece - The Statin Delusion. We talk about how modern medicine increasingly treats health as a deficiency of medication, why Australia leads the world in statin prescriptions, and how shifting cholesterol goalposts have medicalised the "worried well." Gillespo challenges the assumed life-saving power of statins in healthy people, explains the surprisingly small benefits, and walks through the real metabolic, muscular, cognitive, and diabetes-related risks. It's a blunt conversation about fear, pharma, guidelines, and whether prevention has quietly become harm. Enjoy.

Patrick and I meandered (argued, laughed, disagreed) our way through the first TYP instalment of the year. A little “how was Christmas”, a little smut and bullshit (as always), a little regulation tech-talk and a little fear mongering about the imminent demise of humanity at the hands of AI. So, business as usual. Enjoy. websitesnow.com.au

Caleb Warren is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona and this was a fun chat about what makes something or someone cool, and how coolness intersects with branding, marketing, popularity, humour, culture, social desirability and more. Enjoy.

Dr. Catherine Houlihan is a Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Clinic Director at the UniSC Psychology Clinic. Her area of expertise is treating and researching eating disorders and body image concerns and this was a relevant (for many), meaningful and insightful conversation. There's also one anonymous ex-fat kid who found it particularly interesting. Enjoy. @drcat.psych

Well, I don't actually hate myself but according to Dr. Blaise Aguirre from Harvard Medical School (no less!), plenty of people do. Also, it's the title of his new book. Well, the whole title is "I HATE MYSELF: Overcome Self-Loathing and Realise Why You're Wrong About You." This was great chat with someone who is truly a world-renowned expert and pioneer in their field. I loved it a lot. As did Tiff. *Bio: Blaise Aguirre, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is specialises in, dialectical behaviour therapy as well as other treatments such as mentalisation-based treatment (MBT) for borderline personality disorder and associated conditions. Dr. Aguirre has been a staff psychiatrist at McLean Hospital since 2000 and is nationally and internationally recognised for his extensive work in the treatment of mood and personality disorders in adolescents. He lectures regularly throughout the world. Dr. Aguirre is the author or co-author of many books, including Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents, Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder, Coping With BPD, and Fighting Back.

Being able to "read the room" is an integral part of effective communication, connection, problem solving, rapport building, conflict resolution, leadership and any kind of personal or professional interaction; one on one or one on group. Bobby, Tiff and I talk about this in the context of our work - being in front of group - but it's also a broadly relevant skill that's important for all of us. Enjoy.

There's a vaccine given to new-born bubs to protect them against Hepatitis B because if they are unvaccinated and happen to get Hep. B when they're young, it often leads to life-long health problems and in too many instances, liver cancer. Well with that in mind, there's been recent conversations about a potential link between this particular vaccine and Autism and under the guidance(?) of RFK, it seems that moving forward the advice for American parents will be to avoid the Hep. B vaccine. Not a mandate but nonetheless, a recommendation. As always with Gillespo (and Tiff), we also cover other stuff and had a particularly fun moment. Enjoy.

You may or may not want to hear where my thoughts are at in the aftermath of the horror that was Sunday. This is not a ‘commentary’ on events but rather, a brief reflection on the psychology, ideology and sociology that drives such behaviour. Love, Harps. xx

Dr. Lillian Nejad is back and we discuss what happened at Bondi on Sunday (we recorded less than 24 hours later). Obviously, we offer no “solutions” or magic pills (there aren’t any) but we felt it was an important conversation to have. Even for ourselves. For the second half (maybe a little more) of the show we chatted about “destination disappointment” (being disappointed when you achieve your goal), WTF contentment is and how we might get some!, we compared different approaches to therapy, spoke about our favourite thought-provoking philosophical movie, climbing the wrong mountain and finally, we each shared some of our favourite action-prompting questions. Enjoy.

This episode is what the cool podcast kids call a co-share. I was recently on “The Artistry of Humanity” with Ian Williams and we had a great chat about being simultaneously rich and broke, the external illusion of success versus the internal reality of chaos and misery, the biology of stress and lots more. Enjoy. artistry-of-humanity.com

The resident geek is back enlightening, amusing, educating and terrifying us (in equal measure) with the “what’s happening” and the “what’s coming” of technology, social media, cybersecurity and super creepy Al-enabled teddy bears. Enjoy.

This was a timely, fascinating and relevant-for-right-now chat with Stacey Wood, Ph.D. - Professor of Psychology at Scripps College in California. We spoke about the way deception, fraud and manipulation "works" from a psychological, emotional, sociological, practical and legal perspective. Turns out that - when it comes to scamming vulnerable people - some scumbags are charming, charismatic, articulate sociopaths who understand how to manipulate people's emotions, actions and back accounts, for personal gain. Like I said, scumbags. Enjoy.

Love is in the air at TYP Central and no, it doesn't involve me but it does involve someone you all know well and potentially one of your favourite regulars. Okay, l've said too much but f**k it, I'm excited. This episode will go down in TYP history. Enjoy.

In this instalment of TYP, Kelly, Tiff and I chat about the propensity we humans have to obsess about, and waste energy on, problems that don't currently (and may never) exist. And also... the subsequent self-created psychological and emotional sh*t-fest that comes with it. In general terms, we talk about trying to manage our subjective experience in the middle of a never-ending series of objective events, situations and circumstances (you know.. life). Enjoy.

Social osmosis is (for this conversation) the way attitudes, beliefs, emotions, values, behaviours, language and norms seep into us simply by being around people - without us choosing, trying, or even noticing. It's not a 'real' term (in psychological literature) but it's a real part of the human experience. It’s a Craig-ism. I guess it's kind of like psychological second-hand smoke. You don't decide to inhale or absorb it, you just do. Unintentionally. Unconsciously. For better or worse. Have you noticed how just being around some people is literally good for your physical, mental and emotional health? Even if you don't say anything? There's definitely some kind of energetic exchange happening. This conversation with Tiff is one of my all-time Craig-Tiff favourites. Enjoy.

Some of you know I often talk about "intelligence" being context and/or task dependent. Well, if this instalment of TYP was a room, I was definitely (and happily) the dumbest in the room. Professor Nick Haslam is a world-renowned social psychology researcher whose interests include dehumanisation, stigma, psychiatric classification, and mental health. Our conversation went far and wide and we covered everything from bullying and identity to self-diagnosis and understanding our own mind. It was a privilege to hang out with the Prof. for an hour and yes, the meaning behind the title is revealed in the chat. His most recent book is called 'Troubled Minds: Understanding and Treating Mental Illness. Enjoy.

Wow! This chat is one of my favourites of 2025, with a TYP Freshy - a brand new guest, Emma Slade (Lopen Ani Pema Deki) who is the first Western woman to be fully ordained in the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Bhutan (meaning Emma is a Buddhist nun). This was a refreshing, insightful, and thought-provoking conversation with an amazing woman who totally re-invented herself after a life-changing experience where she was held at gun point while on a business trip in Jakarta. So much practical wisdom and guidance in this one. Enjoy.

In the middle of the mayhem that is (can be) the human experience, how we find our purpose? Or, does it find us? Or do we choose it? Create it? Is it a constant? Does it change over time? And by the way, what does "purpose" (in this context) even mean? Tiff, Bobby and I explored all of these questions and lots more, in very conversational TYP instalment. Enjoy.

TYP Fave Dr. Denise Furness is back and this time we chat about reversing cognitive decline, improving sleep, why women have more trouble sleeping than blokes, the value (or not) of Melatonin, the part of your brain that literally grows when you do hard stuff, spiders as big as your hand (really) that live at Dr. Denise's house, the danger that my testicles are in (according to the Doc) and lots more. Enjoy.

This was a fun - if somewhat combative episode of TYP - where Gillespo and I didn’t see eye to eye on everything (shocker) but definitely had fun exploring the pros and cons, benefits and threats, knowns, and unknowns of Al. Especially as we move into a version of humanity that will be (already is?) intertwined with a rapidly evolving form of intelligence that has zero empathy, never gets tired, doesn't 'feel’ anything and doesn't need food, rest, sleep or emotional support. I'm equally scared and excited. Enjoy.

This episode is a freestyle, thinking-out-loud, deep dive into the very common practice of self-sabotage (over-thinking, avoidance, people-pleasing, procrastination, perfectionism, self-loathing, time-wasting) from a world-class self-saboteur. Enjoy.

Founder of the Play Prescription Method and Institute, Dr. Sam Casey is back helping us understand the do's and don'ts of educating, guiding, protecting and empowering kids towards critical thinking, independence, resilience and healthy self-esteem. Among other things, we explore this question - when does protecting kids become "getting in the way" of the learning and development that comes with the falling down and getting up (literally or metaphorically) of childhood? Enjoy.

Remember the old days? When we used to write with a pen? On paper? And use a ruler? This time on TYP Patrick, Tiff and I chatted about the possible evaporation of students writing with pens, the pros and cons of the impending social media ban for kids under sixteen (yes, there are cons), Google putting datacentres in space to cope with the Al avalanche, the continuing backlash of companies using Al to replace creatives (actors, artists, writers, singers, musicians), a new hybrid car that does almost 2,500kms on a single 'tank' (so to speak), a new high-tech gel to repair tooth enamel and lots more. Enjoy.

Is anxiety a 'life sentence'? Does it serve a positive purpose? Is it a different experience for different people? We all use the same word but are we actually talking about the same thing? Should we learn to co-exist with it - without letting it hijack our life - or should we work to eradicate it? Maybe neither? Is it an emotion, a physical reaction to an emotion or both? Or is it something else? This was a 'spirited' and fun conversation and it's fair to say that Dr. Jodi and I didn't agree on everything - which is why we call it an organic conversation and not an echo-chamber of ideology and opinion. Enjoy.

Kate Save (accredited Exercise Physiologist and Dietician) joins Tiff and I to discuss a brand-new study (randomized controlled trial, October, 2025) comparing whole food with a supplement-based very-low-energy diet and it's the first time l've ever heard Kate fired up! Apart from chatting about the study results, we also discuss the multitude of psychological, emotional, physiological, social and practical variables that go into what we eat, why we eat and how we eat. Enjoy.

This slightly different TYP episode is the conclusion to our mildly educational conversation about the 1.3kg supercomputer that lives in your head. Enjoy. 

Is memorising a fact or piece of information to pass a test or meet a requirement actually learning, or is it just filing another thing in our cognitive hard-drive that will never the see light of day in a practical, behavioural sense? Does learning need to equate to doing, or can it be just about knowing stuff that we'll never operationalise? In this chat, Kelly, Tiff and I explore this quirky little question and lots more. Enjoy.

As someone who has employed hundreds of people, trained thousands, coached a bunch, lectured at University and answered more questions than I can remember, I can say with some confidence that people love to receive feedback - as long as it's feedback they love. Let's just say that the claim "I love getting feedback" is often not supported in the real world, with real feedback. In this episode, Bobby and I unpack feedback (giving and receiving), hard conversations, reading the room, social intelligence, emotional intelligence, situational awareness and lots more. Enjoy. theselfhelpantidote.com

According to Gillespo, us blokes are producing less and less swimmers, fertility levels are plummeting and in the not-too-distant future, couples ability to be able to produce offspring could be dependant on some kind of medical intervention. It's a good thing l'm a hundred years past my use-by date. Enjoy.

Dr. Jeff is back and this episode is one of the more meandering, informal, getting-to-know-you (type of) chats I've had with the Doc, and I loved it. We spoke about self-experimentation, biofeedback, personalised medicine, biohacks, the future direction of it all, the need for some 'anti-establishment' thinking and why Big Pharma (and the like) definitely don't want any research dollars or energy going into any of that mind-body, self-healing (placebo type) stuff. Imagine if we actually had the potential to heal ourselves? That's definitely gonna f**k with someone’s bottom line a p**s off a few million shareholders. Enjoy. recellebrate.com

This episode is a deep dive into the single most powerful, confusing and occasionally uncooperative thing you own - your brain. In this episode we strip away the jargon and talk in normal-people language about how your 1.3kg prediction machine actually works - why it reacts before you think, why you repeat patterns, what stress does to your operating system, and how much you can genuinely rewire. It's not a neuroscience lecture; it's a user manual for running your brain - and your life - better. Enjoy.

What if some of the physical benefits of exercise could be delivered in a capsule? It sounds like sci-fi, but two new scientific studies suggest we might be inching closer to that reality. In this fascinating episode, Tiff and I sit down with geneticist, author and science communicator Professor Bill Sullivan Jr. to unpack the growing field of exercise mimetics - therapies designed to replicate certain physiological effects of working out, without the sweat session. As you'd imagine, I have a few philosophical objections and questions but nonetheless, it's interesting research with vast potential, this was a fun chat with one of my favourites and no, the pill is not intended to become a 'replacement' (per se) but rather a potential option for some individuals with certain limitations and challenges. Enjoy.

This time Tiff and I explore the differing concepts of "the best" (diet, workout, job, lifestyle, strategy, protocol) and "our best," highlighting that what's optimal for one person will be sub-optimal, or even dangerous, for another. Is there really a "best" diet? Or fitness program? Is there a (single) best way to grow a business? Build a brand? What about relationships? Is there only one way to build a great marriage? Or friendship? As we continue on our personal growth journey, maybe our biggest challenges isn't to discover "the" best but rather, "our" best.

Patrick's back at TYP Central opening the 'Tech' door - and few doors that should stay shut to be honest - but nonetheless, information was shared, stories were told, laughter was had, education was scarce, inspiration missed out altogether and Tiff did her best to wrangle the two overaged teenagers into some kind of cohesive, intelligible and meaningful dialogue. I'll let you decide if she had mission success or not. Enjoy.  

If you're ever chatting with Tiff or Bobby, whatever you do, don't use the ‘M' word. It sets them off. I'm not even joking. I used it to describe a cookie that wasn't dry or brittle but apparently, it's an unacceptable adjective. To describe anything. Ever. Other than not-dry cookies, we chatted about the old-school self-help pioneers that greatly influenced Bobby and I when we were young up-and-coming Speakers and Coaches, we delved into the emerging reality of people forming 'relationships' with Al, my (and Tiff's) propensity to be 'polite' when chatting with ChatGPT (please love me), the many benefits of working in hospitality at some stage of our employment journey and apart from all the silly-ness, Bobby opened the vulnerability door and shared some amazing stories and insights from his childhood. Enjoy.

As a Paramedic, Scott Douglas has seen some sh*t. Been in the middle of mayhem he'll never forget. Seen things that he can't unsee. And while those events, experiences and situations are in the past, the consequences still live in the now. As they do for many people. Maybe you? This instalment of TYP is not a solution or prescription but it is a conversation that's relevant for many and hopefully helpful for some. Enjoy.

lan Williams is good man helping other good - but often struggling - men to manage their physical, mental and emotional health, which is why he created an app called 'Good Men Helping Good Men.’ lan and I are definitely kindred spirits, which is why I felt like I was chatting with an old Mate, even though we only just met. Oh, and in case you're wondering about the five pillars.. (1) Work and Life Flow (2) Health and Fitness (3) Social Connections (4) Internal Work (5) Love and Relationships. Enjoy.

Your brain isn't responding to the world. It's responding to what it thinks the world is. In this episode, we explore the physiological consequences of thinking - how belief, expectation, interpretation, and meaning can literally change the body. Not metaphorically. Biologically. You'll hear about the knee surgery that "worked" even though the surgery never happened. Parkinson's patients whose brains released dopamine because they believed they were medicated. Hotel housekeepers who got fitter, leaner, and healthier without changing anything except how they thought about their work. Athletes who got dramatically stronger because they believed they were taking steroids - when they weren't. And a bloke who nearly died from an overdose that didn't exist - the nocebo effect in full flight. Enjoy.

Kerryn Vaughan is definitely not your shy little-wallflower type. She's more a punch-you-in-the-face and then give you a hug... type. She encourages, supports, educates (and maybe scares) people to think better, do better, be better and create better results. She does that as a Speaker, Author, Podcaster and Coach and we sure had a fun (and somewhat loose) chat. Enjoy

Psychologists, Theologians, Philosophers, Stoics, Scientists and a Bogan from Latrobe Valley have been trying to identify, understand and get-to-know the 'self' for millennia. With absolutely no qualifications or credibility, Tiff and I continue the exploration in - what can only be described as - a convergence of pseudo-science, psychology, humour, and complete conversational mayhem. If you're looking for some high-brow education, this is not the episode for you but I will say that the last five minutes might be the TYP moment that gets us pulled off the air. Funny though. Totally worth it.