Uncomfortably Curious

Uncomfortably Curious

di Aidan Mill

Educazione Società e cultura

Black Holes, Storytelling and Cosmic Perspective with Dr Tanya Hill

What does a dragonfly have to do with a black hole? Astronomer and science communicator Dr Tanya Hill explores black holes, the power of analogy, and why science needs creativity as much as it needs facts. Tanya explains why an event horizon is a true point of no return, and how a story about dragonfly nymphs can make that otherwise abstract idea feel real. We also discuss the hidden choices behind astronomical images, whether space goes on forever, why children ask some of the best questions about the universe, and what looking up can do to our sense of perspective. Dr Tanya Hill is Senior Curator of Astronomy at Museums Victoria. Her research background includes supermassive black holes, and she now develops Planetarium shows that bring astronomy to wider audiences. If this conversation leaves you with more questions than answers, it has probably done its job.

Why Anxiety Is Like a Smoke Detector — with Randolph Nesse

What if anxiety is not simply a broken system, but a useful alarm going off at the wrong time? And what if low mood sometimes appears when we keep pursuing something important that is no longer working? Randolph Nesse approaches mental health through evolutionary psychiatry. Rather than asking only what has gone wrong in a person’s brain or psychology, he asks why humans have capacities for anxiety, low mood, guilt and love in the first place and why those systems can become so painful or disabling. We discuss anxiety as an oversensitive smoke detector, the difference between fear and anxiety, what happens when people have too little anxiety, and how to tell a useful warning from a malfunction. Randolph also explores stuck goals, the limits of “never give up”, why people care so much about what others think, and his evolutionary perspectives on love, addiction and eating disorders. Randolph is a psychiatrist whose work applies evolutionary biology to medicine and mental health. This conversation offers a different way to understand difficult feelings: not as proof that someone is defective, but as systems with a history, a function and real limits.

Is Forgiveness Always the Right Thing to Do? — with Professor Luke Russell

Is forgiveness always the right thing to do? Professor Luke Russell thinks the answer is no. In this conversation, we explore why Taylor Swift may be right to be cautious about forgiveness, why resentment is not always simply “poison”, and when refusing to forgive might be the more responsible response. Luke is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney whose work focuses on ethics, evil and forgiveness. We unpack what forgiveness actually means: whether it is a decision, an emotional change, or something that happens gradually over time. We also discuss the difference between an evil act and an evil person, Hannah Arendt’s idea of the banality of evil, coercion and moral responsibility, and whether ordinary people are capable of terrible wrongdoing. A conversation about resentment, justice, responsibility, and moving on without pretending that what happened was okay.

When a Head Knock Becomes a Brain Injury — with Dr Rowena Mobbs

A hard hit in sport is obvious. The more difficult question is what repeated impacts might do when there is no clear concussion, no headache, and no moment that stops the game. Dr Rowena Mobbs is a cognitive and sports neurologist working with people affected by cognitive decline and repeated head trauma. She explains why she believes sporting codes should move beyond the language of “head knocks” and take brain injury more seriously; what clinicians mean by “sub-concussive” injury; and why counting diagnosed concussions may not capture someone’s full exposure over a lifetime. We also discuss the clinical uncertainty around CTE, the questions raised by the Geelong concussion waiver story, and when changes in memory, mood or behaviour should prompt a person or family to seek help. Rowena describes how she approaches difficult conversations with people whose symptoms may suggest probable CTE — with honesty, but without alarmism. The conversation broadens into dementia: why more people are being diagnosed, the role of cardiovascular health, exercise, hearing and social connection, and why a promising case study is not the same as a proven treatment. A careful conversation about risk, care, evidence, and what we still don’t know.

Who Gets to Decide What Counts as Heritage? — with Melathi Saldin

What counts as heritage — and who gets to decide? For Dr Melathi Saldin, heritage is not just monuments, museums or old buildings. It is the everyday stuff: food, ritual, language, places of worship, family stories, and the things people carry with them when they leave home. Melathi is a Lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University. Born in Sri Lanka and now an Australian citizen, she shares how her own Sri Lankan-Malay background led her from archaeology into studying the way heritage can be used to shape belonging, identity and political power. We talk about the legacy of Sri Lanka’s civil war, why certain histories are protected while others are sidelined, and how communities hold onto culture after conflict and displacement. We also explore the largely unknown story of the Cocos Malay community: an Australian Muslim community on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, closer to Sumatra than Perth, whose history is tied to colonial labour, forced movement and a version of Australia’s past many of us were never taught. Finally, Melathi explains why heritage destruction is not only about blowing up buildings — and why some losses cannot simply be repaired. This is a conversation about memory, power, migration, and the histories that shape us whether we notice them or not.

Why New Dads Struggle in Silence — with Karen Wynter

Sometimes, the best way to start a conversation about a new dad’s mental health is not to ask about mental health at all. It’s to ask: how are you sleeping? In this episode, Dr Karen Wynter explains why that small question can be a useful way into conversations fathers may otherwise avoid. We talk about the research on poor sleep, distress, depression and suicidal thoughts in the first year of fatherhood — and why there is still no routine mental health check-in designed specifically for new dads. We also explore father–infant attachment, the role of support and criticism between partners, and why fathers can feel like they are simply “in the room” during appointments that are meant to support the whole family. Karen shares what more father-inclusive care could look like in practice, from small actions by GPs, midwives and maternal and child health nurses through to larger changes in training, services and policy. We also discuss the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium, intimate partner violence prevention, what COVID revealed about fathers’ caregiving, and Karen’s advice for families preparing for a second child. Dr Karen Wynter researches perinatal mental health, fatherhood, family wellbeing and how health services can better include fathers. If this conversation brings someone to mind — especially a new or expecting dad — send it their way.

Why Kids Don’t Talk, and What Parents Can Do — with Martin Heppell

Why don’t kids tell their parents what’s really going on? According to Martin Heppell, it often comes back to something simple: kids don’t talk because adults don’t talk either — about failure, embarrassment, worry, and the times they’ve stuffed up. Martin is a presenter with The Resilience Project and a dad of four. In this conversation, he unpacks what resilience actually means beyond “toughen up”, how parents can create the conditions for their kids to open up, and why being a safe person is more important than having the perfect answer. We also get into the reality of adolescence now: social media, body image, comparison, connection, mindfulness, and why this generation isn’t less resilient — they’re growing up in a very different world. For dads, Martin talks honestly about the pressure of early parenthood, losing touch with mates, looking after your own mental health, and why asking for help is not weakness. He also shares a personal story about childhood trauma, the importance of an open door at home, and why support matters when life gets heavy. You’ll leave with practical ways to have better conversations with your kids, your partner, and your mates.

Death Literacy: What Caring For The Dying Teaches The Living

Most of us will care for someone dying, and almost none of us are taught how. Psychologist and researcher Kerrie Noonan wants to change that. Kerrie coined the framework of "death literacy" — our collective skills, experience, action and knowledge around death and dying — and has spent the last decade researching what actually helps people navigate loss well. In this conversation she explains why death literacy sits in communities, not just individuals, why normalising conversations about death only gets us so far, and what she learned bringing her own mother home to die. She also unpacks the idea of an "emotional will" — a way of passing on memory and meaning that has nothing to do with money — and why grief doesn't move through neat stages, no matter what we've been told. Kerrie is a psychologist, palliative care bereavement coordinator, and researcher connected to La Trobe University's Public Health Palliative Care Unit and the Death Literacy Institute. Expect to walk away thinking differently about grief, ritual, and what it actually means to be prepared — not scared — of death.

Homer, Nolan’s The Odyssey & Ancient Greece

What is The Odyssey actually about — and why has it survived for nearly 3,000 years? Christopher Gribbin joins me to explore Homer’s Odyssey, the complicated character of Odysseus, and the world of ancient Greece behind one of the most enduring stories ever told. We discuss what we can and can’t know about Homer, whether there may be historical truth behind the Trojan War, and why translation changes the way we experience the poem. Christopher also shares his take on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: what the film gets right, what it changes, and why the gods matter so much in Homer’s original. Along the way, we get into moral ambiguity, homecoming, ancient Greek religion, and the things modern audiences often misunderstand about the civilisation that produced these stories.

Why Grandparents Made Us Live So Long — with Dr. Paul Turke

Dr. Paul Turke calls himself the world’s first Darwinian paediatrician. Before medical school, he spent months doing fieldwork on the tiny Micronesian atoll of Ifaluk, studying cooperative childcare and kinship networks. He then became a paediatrician and has spent the last 25 years treating kids by asking why, not just how. He is the author of Bringing Up Baby: An Evolutionary View of Pediatrics. We get into the grandmother hypothesis and what Paul actually saw in Micronesia that pointed him towards it; why modern mobility, isolation and poor health can weaken the kinship networks humans evolved to rely on; and the uncomfortable truth about “getting all the childcare bugs over with early”. We also cover co-sleeping and sleep training, a theory linking reduced holding of infants to later sensory issues, teen anxiety, screens, Australia’s social media ban, and why evolutionary explanations for health and behaviour still get pushback inside medicine.

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