Human Cogs Podcast
What if the stories we hide are the ones that shape us most?
Human Cogs is the podcast that rips the veneer off everyday life to reveal the raw human truths that lie underneath our everyday lives.
Hosted by award-winning entrepreneur, startup investor and ABC journalist and presenter Madeleine Hanger (Grummet), alongside psychologist and media commentator Sabina Read, each episode unpacks big ideas, untold truths and the messy magic of being human.
From life’s darkest moments to its most profound joys, our extraordinary guests share secrets they’ve never told, surprising insights into love, loss, success and identity — and the hard-won wisdom that just might change the way you live, think and feel.
If you're curious about what really makes people tick this is the podcast for you.
🎧 Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
🌐 www.humancogs.com
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 45 minutes
- Episodes
- 91
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Ep. 52 Yves Rees on radical self-inquiry, gender transition and being seen for who you are.
What happens when, aged 30, you understand you’re transgender?
This was the question that confronted Dr Yves Rees, an award-winning author, historian and regular contributor to ABC Radio and The Conv…
Ep. 51 Melissa MacGowan on menopause myths, deep growth and honouring feeling over achievement.
Many of us hear the word menopause and may think it’s not meaningful or relevant in our own life – regardless of our gender, career path or life stage. As an accomplished business executive who trave…
Ep. 50 Adam Schwab on the highs and lows of building a global business, and why we all need a great escape.
Adam Schwab is a former corporate lawyer, company founder, angel investor and the co-founder of Luxury Escapes, a global travel company. He has also written for Crikey and SmartCompany since 2005 and…
Ep. 49 George McEncroe on challenging rigidity of thought, managing anxiety and hostility, and serving women through entrepreneurship
George McEncroe is a tech entrepreneur, writer, standup comedian, educator, and force of nature. The single mother of four hates orthodoxies, has a roll up your sleeves ‘can do’ mantra, and has spent…
Ep. 48 Jocelyn Brewer on tech addiction, online boundaries, and positive digital use for kids... and us adults too.
Jocelyn Brewer has, in her words, a job of the future. A psychologist and ex-teacher who helps individuals and organisations be well connected and mentally fit, she has been working with adolescents,…
Ep. 47 Craig Hopper on navigating deep grief, the magic of talking and the healing power of asking for help.
On an ordinary day in August 2018, Craig Hopper woke up living the dream, got ready for the day, kissed his three kids goodbye and went off to work.
Meanwhile, his wife dropped their youngest at scho…
Ep. 46 Rachael Neumann on fierce ambition, learning from loss and being worthy of joy and levity.
Rachael Neumann is an uber impressive high flyer who has experienced countless successes around the globe in the ever-changing and complex worlds of venture capital investment and business. But busin…
Ep. 45 James "Fish" Gill on seeing beauty in conflict, why certainty is a red flag, and how to see the goodness in each other.
In this episode, Sabina takes to the mic solo without her articulate co-host Mads to meet James “Fish” Gill, a Heart Coach, Yoga Teacher, and Transformational Facilitator. Fish shares his own learnin…
Ep. 44 Kirsty Costa on losing a pregnancy, premature menopause and finding a way through hard things.
Did you know that the average age of menopause is 51, menopause that occurs between 40 and 45 is called 'early menopause', and menopause that happens before age 40 is called 'premature menopause’?
…
Ep. 43 Scott Watters on outliers, stepping into the arena and finding a way to find the hero in ourselves.
For those of you into AFL, footy finals fever just swept the nation as we aired this episode of Human Cogs.
So who better to get on the show than an ex AFL player and ex coach, to explore the game of…
Ep. 42 Nicole Dyson on empowering young people, unleashing potential and using education as a weapon to change the world.
Nicole Dyson is an award-winning educator, has represented Australia as a delegate for the G20 Young Entrepreneur’s Alliance, and is the trail-blazing founder of Future Anything, which has worked wit…
Ep. 41 Brad Feld on venture capital startup investing, going off the grid and living a rich and real life.
Brad Feld is the author of eight best-selling books on venture capital investing and entrepreneurship, has been an early-stage investor for more than 30 years, and is pretty much a global legend when…
Ep. 39 Rochelle Pattison on questioning societal expectations, yearning to live as the real you and shedding the shame that gender dysphoria brings.
How many of us meander and stumble along in “a life that is expected of us?” For Rochelle Pattison, that meant pursuing a successful career in law and finance, getting married and having kids.
Growin…
Ep. 38 Lucy Thomas on Project Rockit, kindness as a weapon and empathy as the birthplace of imagination.
People throw around words like kindness and empathy like empty packets.
They don’t deeply feel those values, really know the lived truth of them or take them and use them to give comfort or a safe cr…
Ep. 37 Dr Paul Denborough on mental health system reforms, human-centric care models and why early intervention is critical to recovery.
The final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System was tabled in a special sitting of the Victorian Parliament in March 2021.
The landmark final report outlines changes to …
Ep. 36 Osher Günsberg on finding flow, seeing his "different" brain as a superpower and how his wife saved his life.
Many of you will have seen Osher Günsberg’s smiling face whizzing past on billboards, or on TV, or have heard his voice on the radio airwaves, sizzling with musicality and a truckload of energy.
An a…
Ep. 35 Danielle Snelling on motherless daughters, why the traditional stages of grief aren't useful and what not to say to someone missing their Mum.
Motherless Daughters Australia co-founder Danielle Snelling was 23 when her mother Rosa died.
The experience left Danielle feeling isolated and misunderstood. When she connected with Eloise Baker-Hug…
Ep. 34 Julia May on elevating self and others, the power of justice, and discovering the values you’d die for.
Julia May believes that visibility — to self and others — is not about vanity but about building influence and impact.
An ex-journalist, who spent five years as a foreign correspondent for the Sydney…
Ep. 33 Bernard Salt on his working class childhood, the mentors who have shaped him and how statistics tell human stories.
Bernard Salt is an Australian newspaper columnist, keynote speaker, business advisor and author of six best-selling books, but he is most widely known as a thought leader in demographic patterns and …
Ep. 32 Tom Evans on rehabilitating sex offenders, and what we really need to teach young men about consent and sexual norms.
Tom Evans is a renowned psychologist who has worked in private practice for two decades and now works in the challenging space of the rehabilitation of sex offenders in Australia, and with young men …