Humans, being. with Lael Stone

“Play is an on-ramp, not a reward” Dara Simkin says early on in our conversation. Yep, that resonates. I too have spent most of my life saving play for after the list is done. The list is never done. Dara brings play to boardrooms and leadership days, and what she describes is a generation of adults so addicted to achievement that they have optimised themselves right out of their own lives. We talk about grief hiding inside what looks like resistance, about her redefining success as ease, and about the morning her five-year-old lost it over a Rubik's Cube and what she chose to do instead of fixing it. We explore: The difference between real curiosity and judgment wearing a curious costume Play as a recovery tool for a fried nervous system, and why the micro moments count Achievement addiction, and how gold stars and trophies quietly become a mortgage and a boat you’re not sure you wanted Why adaptability is just play in a fancy suit, and what that means for the kids coming up behind us The question she asks herself at the end of each day: “how was I human today?” [Recorded May 2026] About Dara Simkin: Dara Simkin is a Melbourne-based speaker, facilitator and organisational culture specialist, and the founder and Chief Play Officer of Culture Hero . Born and raised in the US, she moved to Australia at 25 after winning a video competition that sent her around Tasmania in a camper van, and she has spent the last decade researching, designing and facilitating play at work. In March 2026, she co-published Full Stack Human with data scientist and futurist Tane Hunter, about how we hold onto our humanity and adaptability in a world moving faster than we are. Connect with Dara: Instagram: @darasimkin https://hbp.s.gy/buJKhq Web: culturehero.co https://hbp.s.gy/qtzEtI LinkedIn: Dara Simkin https://hbp.s.gy/dDDAGI Book: fullstackhumanbook.com https://hbp.s.gy/P49x3Q — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Lael's eight-week Parenting Immersion starts October 19th, working through themes like trust, boundaries, anger and repair to help you understand your own patterns and respond instead of react. Join the waitlist or sign up now .

A ninety-five-year-old told Jacinta she was the last of her tribe. Jacinta asked how that small body holds something so big, and she said she has to feel the loss but not go too far into it … when it gets close she goes outside and listens to the magpies. That is the whole human experience in one sentence. In this episode we talk about the moment women become invisible, and how much earlier that lands than anyone admits. We talk about bodies, and about Jacinta's fierce insistence that we stop policing each other. She tells me what chronic illness took from her in her late twenties, and about the moment in her parents' spare room when it turned. And then she tells me about her friends in their nineties, and honestly, I want what they have. We explore: The unconscious loyalties we carry, and what happens when you put one down What chronic illness took from Jacinta, and why she now calls it ‘the opportunity of illness’ The bottom of the pool, and why she reckons nobody can stay there Her friends in their nineties, the rebels, and what they understand about time that we don’t Why nobody needs your solution, and the deep listening none of us were taught [Recorded May 2026] About Jacinta Parsons: Jacinta Parsons is a Melbourne-based broadcaster, author and public speaker who currently hosts the Friday Revue and Saturday Mornings on ABC Radio Melbourne. She started out at community station Triple R in 2006 and joined the ABC in 2015. She has written three books, Unseen , A Question of Age and A Wisdom of Age , moving from her own experience of chronic illness into the far bigger question of what this country does to women as they age. She is an ambassador for Crohn's and Colitis Australia, and she has just finished her PhD. Connect with Jacinta: Instagram: @jacintaparsons Website: jacintaparsons.com ABC Radio Melbourne: abc.net.au/melbourne — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Lael's eight-week Parenting Immersion starts October 19th, working through themes like trust, boundaries, anger and repair to help you understand your own patterns and respond instead of react. Join the waitlist or sign up now .

This week's episode is a different one. I have been hearing that many of you are feeling overwhelmed, and I wanted to create a little break from the everyday hustle and grind to give you something you can come back to many times. This guided relaxation invites you to sit down for 30 minutes, close your eyes, take some deep breaths, calm your nervous system, and get back in touch with your centre. We don't advise listening to this whilst driving. Instead, find a cosy spot to take a short break. Pop your headphones in and let my voice carry you away for a little while. [Recorded May 2026] About Lael Stone: Lael Stone is an educator, counsellor, and author of Own Your Story: Understanding your past to create your future. With over 20 years of experience working with families, Lael helps people understand how their childhood imprints shape their adult lives – and how to do something about it. Connect with Lael: Instagram: @laelstone Website: laelstone.com.au — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Seen Circles is an online space Lael and Sam created where parents can join facilitated group sessions, some themed, some open, at times that suit their week. There's no pressure to share, just a place to feel less alone in the hard parts of parenting. You can join for one session, or sign up for more.

Gina Chick was about seven when her whole class was told to walk in a circle. She stepped out of it and walked the other way, on purpose, so she had to look at every single face coming towards her. She’s been walking the other way ever since. I’ve wanted this conversation for a long time. Gina survived 67 days alone in the Tasmanian wilderness, but that isn’t the part that undoes me. It’s her book, We Are the Stars , which I read and wailed my way through, snot-crying, completely levelled. She writes about her daughter Blaise with a line that has never left me: “because I've said yes to the grief and whatever it asked of me, I've always been bigger than it.” So I asked her how a person learns to turn towards the thing that most of us spend a lifetime running from. Our conversation gets into the voice of "should" that is never actually ours, about why our culture pathologises discomfort and hands us ten million distractions instead of tools. We talked about five rhythms and the wild life force that dance sets loose, about dancing in the ashes of friends on Oxford Street in the nineties, about hot flushes as a lifetime of squashed rage burning its way out, and about what Gina calls silver feathers. Her belief that women come out the other side of menopause forged, decentred from the male gaze, with no fucks left to give and exactly the right qualifications to lead. We explore: Why comparison is a normal part of being human, and where our culture leaves us stranded with it Grief as the flip side of love, and how feeling every fibre of it let Gina map the shape of her own heart Why we’re not designed for comfort, and what discomfort is actually inviting us to do Five rhythms as a way to digest what we cannot think our way out of [Recorded Online June 2026] About Gina Chick: Gina Chick is a rewilding facilitator, five rhythms dance meditation teacher and storyteller who won the first season of Alone Australia after 67 days solo in the Tasmanian wilderness. She is the founder of Wild Heart , which runs family wilderness camps, vision quests and retreats built around reconnecting with nature as a path to inner authority. Her debut memoir We Are the Stars won the ABIA Matt Richell Award for Best New Writer of the Year and became the first work of non-fiction ever to top the Dymocks Top 101, and is now out in the US with Andrews McMeel. She is currently writing her second book. Connect with Gina: Instagram: @gigiamazonia Website: ginachick.com Book: We Are The Stars Wild Heart: wildheart.life Substack: @therealginachick — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

* There are a few F-bombs in our discussion. If you’ve little ones listening nearby, consider headphones! Em Rusciano knows this: taking care of herself first is a radical punk act. And if you know Em from her music, book, radio, or her gloriously chaotic Instagram, you already know she's never done anything by halves. Em talks about parenting her 6yr old son, who she describes, with so much love, as a “sixty-year-old cranky super genius”; her family… they’re a “lineage of lunatics” (in the best possible way), the 30 years of friendship with her bestie, screenwriter Michael Lucas; and about dating again in her forties after divorce. We explore: The "Diagnostic Trifecta": ADHD at forty-two, autism at forty-three, and perimenopause arriving right on schedule, and why Em is grateful she wasn't diagnosed any sooner Why everything she creates gets made "for her", the woman lying awake at 2am, wondering what happened to her life The imprints from her dad and her mum that she's still working to untangle School, undiagnosed neurodivergence, and what it cost her to be brilliant at the hard stuff / punished for struggling with the easy stuff Why her darling mate Michael is who she calls the greatest love story of her life Dating after divorce, and the new rule book she's discovered for choosing instead of waiting to be chosen [Recorded Online May 2026] About Em Rusciano: Em Rusciano is a comedian, singer, author, and podcaster who has spent two decades making Australians laugh, cry, and feel a little less alone. She first came to national attention on Australian Idol in 2004 and has since built a career across radio, stand-up, and television. In 2023, Em delivered an address to the National Press Club on ADHD and her son's autism that shifted the national conversation on neurodivergence. She was diagnosed with ADHD at forty-two and autism at forty-three, alongside the arrival of perimenopause, what she calls her diagnostic trifecta. Connect with Em: Website: emrusciano.com Instagram: @emrusciano Podcast: Emsolation (with Michael Lucas) Book: Blood, Sweat and Glitter Live Tour: Addicted to Love — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Seen Circles is an online space Lael and Sam created where parents can join facilitated group sessions, some themed, some open, at times that suit their week. There's no pressure to share, just a place to feel less alone in the hard parts of parenting. You can join for one session, or sign up for more.

Joe Williams told me that looking honestly at yourself can be a brutal thing, and then in the same breath he called it the best mirror we can ever hold, because that’s where generational change actually starts. Joe and I were on the road together for nearly a month touring the doco ‘ Seen’ , so I got to watch him sit in front of audiences again and again and tell the truth about being a dad. There’s a line of his in the film that gets me every time: that he has to put his hand up, that it haunts him, that there are many years he can't get back. What I’ve watched him do with that grief is not turn away from it. He gave his kids full permission to say whatever they needed to say in their own interviews, then listened to the whole recording alone in a hotel room in upstate New York the night before a keynote, because he knew he couldn't carry it onto a stage. We talk about the stories we think define us and who actually gets to define them, about getting sober twenty-one years ago and why he says culture keeps him sober. We explore: Who gets to define us, and how differently Joe defines himself now compared with almost everyone he’s ever met Sitting in lockdown and realising he’d been a father to five kids without being a dad to any of them Why he now believes a stack of his success came from a place of screaming to be noticed Country as medicine, the drives out the road not knowing whether he would come back Dreaming stories as instructions for living rather than pretty picture books on a shelf [Recorded Online May 2026] About Joe Williams: Joe is a Wiradjuri and Wolgalu man, born in Cowra and raised in Wagga Wagga. He played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney, Penrith and Canterbury before switching to professional boxing in 2009, where he became a two-time WBF World Junior Welterweight champion and won a WBC Asia continental title. Connect with Joe: Website: joewilliams.com.au Instagram: @joewilliams_tew Speaking: The Enemy Within Book: Defying the Enemy Within — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Seen Circles is an online space Lael and Sam created where parents can join facilitated group sessions, some themed, some open, at times that suit their week. There's no pressure to share, just a place to feel less alone in the hard parts of parenting. You can join for one session, or sign up for more.

Dr Edna Lekgabe has a name for what happens when a woman becomes a mother. She calls it matrescence, basically puberty 2.0: messy, hormonal, profound, and almost completely unnamed. Edna’s a Melbourne perinatal psychiatrist whom I have so much respect for. We talk about the developmental earthquake none of us are warned about. I became a mum at 25 with no idea what was happening to me… the brain rewiring, the threat system switching on. We discuss what happens when birth trauma and matrescence collide, why accepting care is so much harder than giving it. We talked about how the same threat system that protects a newborn also sharpens a mother's boundaries, and get into perimenopause and menopause, and ‘the gold’ Edna says is waiting on the other side. She wants every woman to have a buddy a few steps ahead and behind her, the same way kids get one on their first day of school. We explore: What matrescence is, and why Edna calls it "puberty 2.0" for the brain and body The support networks that help mothers to thrive What's waiting on the other side of perimenopause and menopause, and nature's amazing design Dr Edna says the real task of matrescence is learning to accept care. I think about the version of me who once whispered "I don't like this" down the phone to my own mum, and what it would have meant to have a name for it. Whatever quake you're bracing for, I hope this conversation hands you some of that language too. [Recorded May 2026] About Dr Edna Lekgabe: Dr Edna Lekgabe is a perinatal and reproductive psychiatrist based in Melbourne, and founder and clinical director of WARM Health Collective, a psychiatrist-led practice in Collingwood supporting people through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. She also holds a consultant role at The Royal Women's Hospital and sits on Safer Care Victoria's Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity. Connect with Edna: Instagram: @drednalekgabe Website: drednalekgabe.com.au WARM Health Collective: warmhealthcollective.com.au — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future. — Seen Circles is an online space Lael and Sam created where parents can join facilitated group sessions, some themed, some open, at times that suit their week. There's no pressure to share, just a place to feel less alone in the hard parts of parenting. You can join for one session, or sign up for more.

Friendship, Bec Sparrow says, is a bumper bar on your life. It doesn't stop the hard things from happening – it cushions the impact when they do. Bec is one of Australia's most trusted voices on teen and tween life - author of seven books, co-host of ABC's Parental as Anything with Maggie Dent, co-founder of Birds of a Feather (Australia's largest online book club for women), and a woman who has spent more than twenty years studying the science and art of friendship. She is also, by her own admission, a deeply introverted person who has had to consciously learn every single skill she teaches. We explore: The sense of calling she has carried since her teenage years, and what it actually feels like to be doing the work you're here to do The pilot light – what Bec says to every parent who is deep in the season of small children and losing themselves Why Bec models friendship differently now, including the concept of "deep casual hosting" and having people over even when your house is a mess. The power of apologising and owning your impact when friendships get messy Why your kids need friends inside school AND outside school – and why having both matters so much when things go sideways JOT: Join One Thing – Bec's campaign to combat loneliness, and why she believes there are friendships waiting for all of us if we're willing to walk in the door [Recorded Online April 2026] About Bec Sparrow: Rebecca (Bec) Sparrow is one of Australia's most trusted voices on teen and tween life. She's the author of seven books spanning fiction and non-fiction, including the bestselling novel The Girl Most Likely and the teen guide Find Your Tribe . Her most recent book, Out of the Box: A one-stop guide to navigating neurodivergence , was co-authored with journalist Madonna King and published by UQP in 2024. She co-hosts the ABC podcast Parental as Anything: Teens with Maggie Dent, and co-founded Birds of a Feather Book Club - billed as Australia's largest online book club for women - with Jane Sullivan. Connect with Bec: Website: rebeccasparrow.com – including a free friendship resources offer: if you're struggling and can't afford her paid resources, email hello@rebeccasparrow.com and mention this podcast. She will send you what you need. Instagram: @rebeccasparrow72 Facebook: Rebecca Sparrow Writer Book club: birdsofafeather.com.au Book: Out of the Box (UQP, 2024) with Madonna King Podcast: Parental as Anything: Teens (ABC) — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

I started this episode thinking about endings, the ones I'm walking towards in my own life right now, and somehow that musing turned into one of the most life-affirming, funniest conversations about death I have ever had. I’ve spent years sitting with families through birth, and I’ve always felt that birth and death are close cousins, both thresholds, both asking something of us we rarely feel ready for. So when Dr Hannah Gould, cultural anthropologist, death studies scholar and author of How to Die in the 21st Century , sat down across from me, it felt like coming home to a conversation I’ve wanted to have for a long time. We explore: Why most of us have never been modelled a healthy ending, and what that does to our relationship with death The coffin catalogue moment that sent Hannah down the path to a PhD in death studies, after losing her dad in her early twenties The "pornography of death" theory, and why we have sex education but no death education What voluntary assisted dying actually involves, and the genuinely thorny open question of VAD and dementia The hidden toll on death care workers, and why Hannah believes the crematorium operator she worked alongside deserves Australian of the Year (Shoutout, Shane) What a glorious death looks like, for a woman who has spent her career studying exactly that Hannah left me with so much to sit with, but the thing I keep coming back to is how unafraid she is to laugh about all of it. I love how she puts it: "we're all going to die, so don't really sweat the small stuff." [Recorded May 2026] About Dr Hannah Gould: Dr Hannah Gould is a cultural anthropologist at the University of Melbourne, where she studies death, Buddhism and material culture across Australia and East Asia, and a Fellow with the DeathTech Research Team. Her academic monograph, When Death Falls Apart (University of Chicago Press), won the 2025 F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize, and her latest book, How to Die in the 21st Century (Thames and Hudson), brings a decade of research on death and dying to a general readership. She is also President of the Australian Death Studies Society. Connect with Dr Hannah: Website: hannahgould.com Instagram: @hrhgould Mentioned: @thelasthurrahfunerals — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

Teresa Palmer has five children, a two-decade film career, a podcast, a supplement brand, and at the time of recording, she was filming God of War in Vancouver - playing the goddess of fertility, which feels exactly right. Through all of it, she’s doing the same quiet work the rest of us are: healing the little parts of herself that didn't get what they needed, so she can show up with her heart forward for the people she loves most. In this chat, we talk about birth and all its complexities, we talk about parts work and reparenting, and what it takes to meet your children's big feelings when your own inner child is still waiting to be seen. And we talk about spirituality - how Teresa moved from thirteen years of Catholic school to building her own quiet relationship with something she cannot name, but absolutely feels. We explore: The story Teresa told herself for twelve years about not needing help - and what finally shifted at 40 How reading Ina May Gaskin's Spiritual Midwifery changed everything The surprising parallel between surrendering in birth and surrendering on a film set Parts work - how Teresa tends to the younger versions of herself that still need nurturing Teresa says something so beautiful… that home "is each other. Not a place, not a house in Byron Bay or Vancouver or Adelaide. Each other". Teresa reminded me that what shapes us most is who we keep choosing to come home to. [Recorded Online May 2026] About Teresa Palmer: Teresa Palmer is an Adelaide-born actress, author, wellness entrepreneur and mama of five (plus bonus mum to one more). She co-hosts The Mother Daze podcast with Sarah Wright Olsen and co-founded the parenting platform Your Zen Mama . She also runs Lovewell , an organic plant-based supplement brand for mothers and children. Connect with Teresa: Instagram: @teresapalmer Instagram & YouTube: @themotherdaze Mark's YouTube: @markfromtheheart — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

This episode starts with dreaming and ends with dreaming - and in between, Luke Bateman takes us through everything that happens when you stop letting yourself do it. Luke played professional rugby league for the Canberra Raiders - 71 first-grade games, thousands of hours of training camps and hotel rooms and locker rooms - and in almost all of that time, he kept his love of fantasy fiction completely hidden. The shame of it, he says, was shaped by a very specific idea of what it meant to be a man. And unpacking that idea has been the work of the last several years. His whole life, it turns out, has been a dreamer's journey. He just had to go through a lot to get back to it. We explore: The specific culture of professional rugby league and what it meant for his sense of self, his gambling addiction, and his mental health The inner child and parts work that was central to his recovery - including making peace with the version of himself he'd been most ashamed of What it means to call men in, rather than calling them out The men who went silent during his crisis, and what that silence told him about being a man. His two favourite books - and the one that brought him home to himself after rehab [Recorded Online April 2026] Need help with gambling? Call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 for free, professional and confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. About Luke Bateman: Luke Bateman grew up in Miles, western Queensland, where rugby league was the dominant culture. He played 71 NRL first-grade games as a lock for the Canberra Raiders before a chronic knee injury ended his career at 24. After leaving the game, he returned to rural Queensland, began posting book reviews to TikTok from a tractor in 2025, and within months had signed a two-book fantasy series deal with Atria Books Australia (Simon & Schuster). He now hosts his own podcast, In the Good Books, appeared on I'm A Celebrity Australia in early 2026, and is writing his debut fantasy novel, due in 2027. Connect with Luke: Instagram: @lukebateman_ TikTok: @lukesreads Podcast: In the Good Books on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

There's something about a Missy Higgins song that lands in your chest before you've even registered the words. Somehow, she gets to the feeling first - the part of you that you haven't quite found language for yet. Missy's music has been part of the soundtrack to my life for over twenty years, especially in my mothering years. So sitting across from her, I was a little bit in awe. Missy’s so generous in her honesty about the hard stuff: the writer's block that made her question her whole identity, the divorce that undid the story she thought her life would tell, the ADHD diagnosis that reframed so much of her past, and the slow, deliberate work of learning to live in her body rather than just her head. We also talk about parenting two neurodiverse kids while navigating your own neurodiversity, the strange alchemy of songwriting (expression first, connection second), and what it feels like to fall in love again in your forties when you finally know what you actually need. We explore: The gift of neurodiverse children when you're still learning about your own neurodiversity Why she started seeing a therapist to help her get out of her head and back into her body What she hopes her kids carry with them: that they're okay, and that they are worthy of love Repartnering after divorce - what it means to finally want a partner rather than a project Missy left me thinking about the stories we carry about ourselves - the ones that keep turning up, the ones we think we've put down for good. [Recorded May 2026] About Missy Higgins: Missy Higgins is a Melbourne-born singer-songwriter whose career spans more than two decades and four consecutive-decade ARIA No. 1 albums. Her debut album, The Sound of White (2004), became one of the best-selling Australian albums of its era, and by 2024 she had accumulated nine ARIA Awards and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Her most recent album, The Second Act , was written in the aftermath of her divorce - largely alone, at night, once the kids were asleep - and debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA chart in 2024. Connect with Missy: Website: missyhiggins.com Instagram: @missyhigginsmusic — Connect with Humans, being : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Threads: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being . is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

Amantha calls her AI 'Sunny'. She talks to it on the drive to the gym, like she's chatting to a friend. And it has quietly changed how she works, how she writes, and how she gets the thinking out of her own head. Dr. Amantha Imber is one of the sharpest, most generous humans I know. An organisational psychologist, the founder of Inventium, host of How I Work, the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award, the author of four bestselling books, and her brand new one, The Energy Game, lands in July. In this episode, we discuss Amantha's burnout year and the tiny experiments that crawled her back, the ones she calls boosts, rest, and protect. Why "fake rest" (Netflix while you scroll) won't fill the bucket. And we talk about the childhood praise imprint that drives so many of us: what if the goal isn't to be more, but to be okay with being ordinary? We explore: The pressure we accept being human and thinking we must do it all The hit-by-a-bus fantasy and what it tells us about how women carry stress AI as a thought partner, and how Amantha uses it without losing the human bit What we want for our daughters, and the thinking skills we don't want to outsource [Recorded January 2026] About Amantha Imber: Dr. Amantha Imber is an organisational psychologist and the founder of Inventium, a behaviour-change consultancy that works with companies including Google, Apple and Lego. She also runs Inventium AI, focused on AI capability building inside organisations. Amantha hosts the How I Work podcast (over 6 million downloads) and recently launched a new podcast, How I AI. She is the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award and is the author of four bestselling books, including Time Wise and The Health Habit. Her new book, The Energy Game, is out on 7 July 2026. Connect with Amantha: Instagram: @amanthai Inventium: inventium.com.au Newsletter: One Percent Better Podcasts: How I Work , How I AI Book: The Energy Game (out 7 July 2026) — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Australia’s Kindest Person: Australia’s Kindest Person is a national campaign created to help shine a light on the people whose kindness has made a real difference in the lives of others. To nominate someone, please visit: australiaskindestperson.com.au Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

The question I get asked the most by parents is, "Does this work?" So this week I sat down with two of the people most qualified to answer it. For the better part of two decades, I have been teaching parents to parent differently. To skip the punishments and the rewards. To look behind the behaviour. To make space for big feelings instead of shutting them down. And the whole time, in the back of my mind, has been the quiet question every parent asks themselves... am I getting this right? My answer was always going to come from my kids. So this episode, I'm joined by two of them, Indi (22) and Tali (18), and we are talking honestly about what it was like growing up in our house. The mistakes I made. The chocolate I tried to bribe Tali with when I was tapped out. The 4am phone call that taught all of us what safe really means. The big feelings that were always welcome, even when I had nothing left. This is not a polished retrospective. It's messy and tender, the way our family is. We talk about staying true to yourself in a world that wants you to conform, what social media is doing to young people, why the friends pushing the boat hardest are the ones hurting most, and the little life skills that come from a house where no topic is off limits. It's also a love letter from a mum to her children who turned up, told the truth, and did not throw me too far under the bus. We explore: Why looking behind the behaviour beats grounding every time What it actually looks like to repair when you have lost it as a parent Staying true to yourself when society and social media are pulling the other way Therapy, aunties, and the village every kid needs around them Looking at the so-called "bad kid" and asking what is hurting [Recorded January 2026] About Indi and Tali Gaal: Indi is 22, and Tali is 18. They are Lael and Mike's kids, siblings to Ky (25), and the people Lael calls her best work. Both have spent time working with young children and bring that lens, plus their own lived experience of being raised the way they were, into this conversation. — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Australia’s Kindest Person: Australia’s Kindest Person is a national campaign created to help shine a light on the people whose kindness has made a real difference in the lives of others. To nominate someone, please visit: australiaskindestperson.com.au Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

There's a version of strength the world rewards – capable, tireless, always fine. And then there's the cost. Gorgi Coghlan is someone I've adored from the moment we met. She's formidable, warm, wildly accomplished, and the kind of person who makes you feel seen immediately. We talk about the imprints that drive us – the little girl who worked hard to be seen by a father whose love came through providing, not presence. We explore: The hidden cost of being "the strong one" Internal vs external boundaries - why protecting your own cup is the whole point, not the selfish part Reconciling with a parent before it's too late, and what it means to carry that love with you Highly sensitive people: the superpower of reading the room, the cost of being depleted by it, and why Gorgi thinks HSP will be our next big cultural conversation "I haven't even begun." Gorgi's mantra at 50, and why she went back to drama school, just because she could Gorgi talks about who's advocating for her. Here is this extraordinary woman – accomplished, giving, deeply loved – and she still needs to hear herself say it out loud. YES. You are allowed to need something. You are allowed to ask for it . Even if – especially if – you've spent a long time being the one who doesn't. [Recorded January 2026] About Gorgi Coghlan: Gorgi Coghlan is a former Year 12 science and biology teacher turned broadcaster, presenter, and performer. She spent over a decade as co-host of The Project and The Circle on Channel Ten, and as a reporter and presenter on the Today Show on Channel Nine. An extraordinary singer, Gorgi performs live with her friend in their show Songbird – and is also now a voice on ABC Radio. She runs a hospitality business with her husband Simon, and is a devoted mum to her teenage daughter Molly. Connect with Gorgi: Instagram: @gorgicoghlan Biz: The Buninyong Hotel Songbirds: Theatre Royal, Hobart, Jul 5. Tickets — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Australia’s Kindest Person: Australia’s Kindest Person is a national campaign created to help shine a light on the people whose kindness has made a real difference in the lives of others. To nominate someone, please visit: australiaskindestperson.com.au Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

"What am I making this mean?" That question might change how you move through conflict with your partner. Because the real work isn't making your partner wrong…it's getting curious about yourself. I wanted to talk about what makes relationships tricky and what makes them actually work, and in this episode, I share my own story; how I went from completely collapsing whenever Mike got upset, to finally learning how to hold my centre. How we survived the brutal early parenting years when we were both drowning and how post-traumatic stress cracked me open and forced me to do the real work. Over many years of working with families, I have learned that you can't make your partner do the work. All you can do is do your own, and trust that something shifts when you stop waiting for them to change and start looking at what's yours to heal. I explore: Why we unconsciously choose partners who mirror our childhood wounds How attachment styles (anxious, avoidant, disorganised, secure) show up in your intimate relationship The power of asking "what am I making this mean?" when you're triggered What it feels like when your childhood wounds meet your partner's defences The three paths your relationship can take when one person is doing the work and the other isn't How coming home to yourself is the greatest gift you can give your relationship and your kids I keep coming back to the people in relationships right now who are absolutely exhausted. Those who are doing the work, holding the space, trying to communicate better. And I want to say this… the fact that you're asking "what's here for me?" instead of "what's wrong with them?" means you're already transforming your relationship. Maybe not with your partner yet, but definitely with yourself. [Recorded Online November 2025] About Lael Stone: Lael Stone is an educator, counsellor, and author of Own Your Story: Understanding your past to create your future. With over 20 years of experience working with families, Lael helps people understand how their childhood imprints shape their adult lives – and how to do something about it. Connect with Lael: Instagram: @laelstone Website: laelstone.com.au — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

There's a strange kind of comfort in staying exactly where you are – even when that is hurting you. In this episode, I’m talking with clinical psychologist Dr Emily Musgrove, and we discuss why the familiar feels safe even when it isn't, and what it actually takes to find our way back to ourselves. An imprint I have - from watching the busy women in my family – was that if you're not doing three things at once, you're lazy. That's the thread Emily and I pulled on together. We both grew up watching women just go, go, go – and then spent years unravelling what that cost us. Emily talks about returning from holiday and instantly flipping into doing mode. I talk about the moment I realised my anxiety was actually working for me - keeping me safe from being seen. Her book Unstuck grew from that reckoning. We talk about secondary gains (the hidden payoff in staying the same), the concept of the near enemy of kindness, what perimenopause might really be releasing in us as women, and the childhood imprints that shape who we become – and who we pass that on to. We explore: How to start building compassion when “love yourself” feels like too big a leap - and why Emily starts with the inner critic, not against it The dinner table analogy that reframes your relationship with your own harsh inner voice Why empathy and compassion aren’t the same thing - and which one protects people who hold space for others from burning out Why we unconsciously stay in painful patterns – and the concept of secondary gains that explains more than we’d like to admit The “near enemy” of kindness - how self-sacrifice quietly masquerades as a virtue [Recorded Remotely October 2025] About Dr Emily Musgrove: Dr Emily Musgrove is a clinical psychologist based in Perth with over a decade of experience helping people find their way back to themselves. She is the beloved resident psychologist on The Imperfects Podcast - where she draws on real conversations to offer evidence-based strategies people can actually use. Her book, Unstuck: A Guide to Finding Your Way Forward to the Life You Want to Live, was released in May 2025. Connect with Emily: Website: dremilymusgrove.com Instagram: @dremilymusgrove Book: Unstuck (available in print, ebook and audio) — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

Libby Trickett surfaced from the pool at the Beijing Olympics, saw the number one next to her name, and waited for the feeling of being enough. It didn't come. Libby is mum to five children, including baby Archie, who was snuggled on her chest throughout our entire conversation. She opens up about postnatal depression after her first daughter, Poppy, about the Father wound that quietly drove her to the pool every single day, and about the moment she realised that winning gold wasn't going to make her whole. We also explore her passionate advocacy for keeping girls in sport. We explore: The relentlessness of early motherhood, and why admitting it's boring sometimes is actually the most honest thing you can say What Libby's postnatal depression cracked open in her - and why she now sees it as one of the most important experiences of her life The Beijing gold medal, and the moment Libby realised that winning the thing she'd wanted her whole life, still left a void Libby's advocacy work around girls and sport: why participation drops off and what we can do about it The only thing that matters in parenting - and why it's not organic food, sleep training, or getting the birth story "right" What I keep coming back to, sitting with this conversation, is Libby saying: "I was always enough." Seven Olympic medals, world records, five children - and still, that simple truth was the hardest thing to find. What I love about Libby is that she's doing the work. She's right in it. And she's raising five little humans to know their enoughness from the start. To me, that's the most important gold medal of all. [Recorded Remotely October 2025] About Libby Trickett: Libby Trickett is a seven-time Olympic medallist with four gold medals who represented Australia at three consecutive Olympic Games and held world records in the 100m freestyle throughout her career. She is a mental health advocate, author of the memoir Beneath the Surface , and a fierce advocate for keeping girls in sport. She lives with her husband, former swimmer Luke Trickett, and their five children. Connect with Libby: Instagram: @libby_trickett Podcast: Play Well series - 8 Eps on Sportish — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

There are conversations that feel like they're about one thing, but they're actually about something else entirely. This one starts with laughter… and ends up in a tender place. Ryan Shelton is such an excellent human. He's one third of The Imperfects alongside Hugh and Josh van Cuylenburg, and a face on Australian screens for the better part of two decades, from Rove to Hamish & Andy . I knew going into this chat that it'd be warm and funny and real. We talk about what it costs to keep seeking approval, the psychology behind why so many of us are still waiting for someone to say "it's your turn now," and the surprising power of small, silly, seemingly pointless things. Ryan's beautiful quote - delivered with perfect comic timing and complete sincerity - might be my favourite callout from the whole season so far: "Silliness is worth taking seriously." We explore: The fear that stops you putting creative work into the world - and what actually happens when you finally do it anyway "Juvenile condition" - the Adlerian psychology concept that explains why so many adults are still waiting for permission to start their own lives Laughter as a nervous system response - and why it shows up in the strangest, most inconvenient moments The "three-sided column" from The Courage to Be Happy - and how it changes who you think is responsible for your life Why silliness might be the most underrated form of connection and healing we have right now All the fear, the procrastination, the need for approval. The creativity, the silliness, the courage it takes to put something out there, even when you're scared. Ryan reminded me to take that a lot more seriously - and to laugh a lot more while I'm doing it. [Recorded January 2026] About Ryan Shelton: Ryan Shelton is one of Australia's most beloved comedians and writers. After two decades in Australian television - from Rove Live to co-writing Chris Lilley's We Can Be Heroes and producing Hamish & Andy's The Gap Year, True Story, and Perfect Holiday - he's now one third of The Imperfects, Australia's leading mental health podcast, alongside Hugh and Josh van Cuylenburg. In late 2025, he opened his debut solo art exhibition in Fitzroy: All This Work, Just For This . He takes silliness very, very seriously. Connect with Ryan: Instagram: @ryansheltonography Podcast: The Imperfects Podcast — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.

I grew up with Ali Daddo on my wall. And like so many of us, I looked at that image and thought - that's it. That's what it means to arrive. What I didn't know - what none of us knew - was that even being the ‘it’ girl comes with challenges. This beautiful conversation really opens up about the pressures we feel as a woman, from the tween and teen years, into motherhood and menopause. We explore Ali's "standing in front of a 747 jet engine" image of society's pressure not to age, and what women actually find on the other side of all that noise. We also get deep about long-term love - Esther Perel's three marriages to the same person, (what it takes to reinvent in the third one), and what "making art from a marriage" actually looks like in practice. We explore: The "currency" of appearance: what we inherit, what it costs us, and what happens when the market changes as we age The grandmother whale theory: why Ali believes women stop being fertile because they're meant to lead Reinventing long-term love post-menopause Aviiana, the wellness platform Ali co-founded with Mary Doube, and the whole vision to help women thrive with confidence What it feels like to finally be "out of the game you never asked to be in" - and why that might be the most liberating thing that's ever happened to us Ali is a little further down this path than me and I am so grateful to have her shining a light from up ahead. What she's showing me is that the other side isn't smaller. It's more. More voice. More space. More of yourself. 💛 [Recorded Remotely November 2025] About Ali Daddo: Ali Daddo began her career as one of Australia's most recognisable models and presenters before spending 25 years in the United States, where she worked as a birth assistant and Steiner early childhood educator. She's the author of Queen Menopause: Finding Your Majesty in the Mayhem , co-host of ‘The Heart of It’ podcast with hubby Cameron Daddo, co-founder of the women's wellness platform Aviiana, and host of the Foxtel LifeStyle wellness series, Gen Well . Connect with Ali: Website: aviiana.com.au Instagram: @alidaddo Podcast: The Heart of It — Connect with Humans, being ™ : Web: humansbeing.au Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone Humans, being ™ is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.