Humans, being. with Lael Stone

In this brave, tender conversation, I sit down with Tanja Lee, mindset and leadership specialist, Chief Energy Officer of The Evolution Agents, and a woman who, at six, lined up her toys in a semicircle to play teacher, something she knew, even then, she was meant to do. Tanja shares about growing up with a parent living with alcohol addiction, and all she learnt to navigate from having that imprint in her life. As well as discussing how living with an addict has impacted her, we talk about the moment she became a mum, and the lioness in her finally drew a line. Tanja also brings the science to how we can shift our mindset, heal our past, and create the future we desire. We explore: Loving a parent with addiction, and separating the person from the behaviour Why so many children decide their job is to take care of the grown-ups Boundaries, distance, and loving someone from afar Being addicted to disappointing yourself Breath as the very first doorway out of stress and survival Breaking the chain so the next generation doesn't carry it This topic is one many people may relate to, but what is so beautiful in this conversation is the tools and insights Tanja shares on how we can heal our story and create the life we desire. [Recorded May 2026] About Tanja Lee: Tanja Lee is the Chief Energy Officer of The Evolution Agents, where she teaches real estate and property leaders how to step out of stress and into their potential, using neuroscience, NLP, and a whole lot of heart. She's a Neuro Change Solutions consultant personally trained by Dr Joe Dispenza, a HeartMath consultant, a Master NLP Practitioner and Trainer, and a multi-award-winning speaker and coach. She lives in country Victoria with her husband Matt, is mum to two grown daughters, and is the best voice note friend a woman could ask for. Connect with Tanja: Web: theevolutionagents.com Instagram: @theevolutionagents LinkedIn: Tanja Lee If this episode hits close to home: Please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au — 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.

In this tender, honest, and quietly fierce conversation, I sit down with Taryn Brumfitt, the filmmaker behind Embrace and Embrace Kids, 2023 Australian of the Year, and a woman who’s spent more than a decade asking us to stop apologising for the bodies we live in. I first watched Embrace in a cinema back in 2016, with my (then) 13-year-old daughter. I still remember the sadness that moved through my body that night... nobody had ever spoken to me like that when I was her age. And underneath it, this enormous joy that she was getting a different story than the one I got. Taryn and I get into the imprints. The change room floors, the monkey bars, the throwaway comment at a table that lands in a young body and just stays there for forty years. We talk about what it’s cost us, all those hours spent at war with ourselves, and what opens up when we put the weapons down. Taryn shares what being Australian of the Year revealed to her: that she’s strong and she’s tough and she can still be hurt. And she shares the losses in her own family that shaped her relationship with trust. We explore: Why what we say at home matters more than anything on a screen Making peace with a body that never stops changing Focusing a little more on how you feel than how you look, and what that could shift Habit stacking, the inner critic, and giving yourself five minutes to talk smack What we say about ageing, and why we could be so much gentler with it [Recorded Online May 2026] About Taryn Brumfitt: Taryn Brumfitt is an Adelaide-based filmmaker, author and speaker, and she is the reason a lot of us started talking about our bodies differently. In 2013, she posted a reverse before-and-after photo, her bodybuilding competition body as the before and her natural post-babies body as the after, and it went everywhere. Around seven thousand emails and messages came back, and they were not light. She made Embrace in 2016 and Embrace Kids in 2022, she co-founded the Embrace Collective, she was named Australian of the Year in 2023 and awarded an honorary doctorate by Flinders University in 2024. She’ll also tell you straight that she is still a harsh critic of herself. Connect with Osher: Instagram: @bodyimagemovement The Embrace Collective (and all the free resources): theembracehub.com Taryn's online community: Embrace You Watch: Embrace (2016) Watch: Embrace Kids (2022) If this episode hits close to home: Butterfly Foundation, for body image and eating disorders: 1800 33 4673, butterfly.org.au Lifeline: 13 11 14, lifeline.org.au — 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.

In this hopeful and honest conversation, I sit down with David Bott, best-selling author and education consultant, and a man who still gets choked up about a teacher who was there for him when he was thirteen. I'll put my hand up here... for a long time I was one of the loudest voices saying the system was broken. David gently invites me to look at the other side of that story. He's worked with over a thousand schools around the world, and what he sees is a lot of magnificence. Educators doing extraordinary things, often despite everything we keep piling on them. In this conversation, we talk about grades and who they really serve – homework, and what it costs a family at the end of a long day. Teachers performing like elite athletes with no time to recover. And the kids we worry about least, the quiet ones who often slip through unseen. We explore: Why the "education is broken" story can harm the very people holding it together The best teacher David ever saw, and why a whole system can't run on heroes Grades, homework, and the old Latin question David keeps asking: who does this really serve? How AI might be nudging schools back towards the most human skills of all When I ask educators about the teacher who changed them, they talk about the one who noticed them, who believed in them, who helped when things were hard. None of that shows up in a test score or a headline... and it's happening in classrooms everywhere, every single day. [Recorded May 2026] About David Bott: David Bott is a best-selling author, education consultant, and former teacher who co-founded The Wellbeing Distillery, helping schools around the world build wellbeing into the way they actually run. He was a founding member of the UAE Government's Dubai Future Council for Education, sits on the board of the Positive Education Schools Association, and co-wrote 10 Things Schools Get Wrong (And How We Can Get Them Right) with Dr Jared Cooney Horvath. He's also a dad to a ten-year-old who is just discovering homework. Connect with David: Web: thewellbeingdistillery.com Instagram: @thewellbeingdistillery — 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 .

What if the fight in the back seat is really a red flag... and your child is waving it at you? In this honest, practical, and gentle solo episode, I'm talking all things siblings. The squabbles over who got more ice cream, the toddler showing the new baby a little too much "love", the teens hurling spicy words down the hallway... and the parent standing in the middle of it all, muttering, why can't you just get along? This one comes straight from my DMs. So many of you have asked how to navigate sibling rivalry, and I wanted to sit down with you, like we're having a cuppa, and share what I've learnt over 26 years of being a mum and many years of walking alongside families. Why sibling conflict is so normal, what often sits underneath it, and what we can do in the moment when it all kicks off. I explore: Why family is one of the first training grounds for conflict Kids being in balance and out of balance, and the "backpack" of big feelings What gets stirred up in us as parents when our children clash Spaciousness, safety and helping everyone be heard Repair without forced apologies, and filling up each child's cup Every time our kids fight, we get another chance to show them what conflict can look like... someone calm arrives, everyone is kept safe, everyone gets a turn to be heard, and there's always a way back to each other. It's slow, it's messy, and some days we lose our cool completely. But little by little, that pattern can become theirs, and the sibling who drives them up the wall today might just be the one they laugh with the longest. [Recorded October 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. — Join me for the Parenting Immersion. My 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. Sign up now .

"You've gotta walk across the bindis a bit to get to the swimming pool." What if everything you’re hoping for is sitting on the other side of the thing you keep avoiding? In this open, tender and surprisingly funny conversation, I sit down with Osher Günsberg, a man who has been in Australian living rooms for nearly two decades, and who spent a lot of that time doing the hardest work of his life off camera. We talk about the version of Osher that millions of us watched on Idol and The Bachelor, and the version who went home afterwards. He speaks with such generosity about sixteen years of sobriety, about the drinking and the painkillers, about periods of psychosis, and about the day he rang twenty-three people just to get through it. He’s very clear that none of it was solved by clever thinking. What saved him, every single time, was other humans. We explore: The three great lies our brain tells us: this is permanent, this is personal, this is everything Why you can’t think your way out of thinking, and what to reach for instead Speaking plainly about a psychosis diagnosis... it’s grim, but so is a compound fracture Being a stepdad first, and the grace of honouring the dad who is already there [Recorded Online June 2026] About Osher Günsberg: Osher Günsberg has been a familiar face and voice in Australian homes for close to twenty years, from Channel V to seven seasons of Australian Idol, a decade of The Bachelor, and the narration on Bondi Rescue. He’s also a podcaster, best-selling author, award-winning doco maker, mental health advocate, husband, dad and stepdad. He’s been sober for more than sixteen years and speaks about it the way it was first spoken to him, plainly and without shame, so the next person doesn’t have to work it out alone. Connect with Osher: Instagram: @osher_gunsberg Podcast: Better Than Yesterday Book: So What? Now What? Linktree: /osher_gunsberg If this episode hits close to home: There are many doors into support, and they all do the job. National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline 1800 250 015, free and confidential, 24 hours; Lifeline 13 11 14. And Osher's own advice, which costs nothing: before you pick up a drink, pick up the phone. — 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 .

"It's not the distress that hurts kids. It's being alone in the distress." Karen Young With the noise of the world, the endless information, the sense that our nervous systems have hit the limit, I asked Karen how she's finding it, and she said it's a constant battle. Some days she wins it, some days she doesn't. In this episode, Karen talks about wanting our kids to feel safer and do the brave things. Not one or the other. We discuss anxiety and how we've started pathologising a very normal human response, and in doing that we've made it harder to move our kids towards bravery. She opens up on her own childhood with no adult to lean into. We also discuss schools, and the one question she'd ask if she could only ask one. And step-parenting, which she says is the hardest thing she has ever done. We explore: Why anxiety is a normal human response, and what we've done to parents by putting "disorder" on the end of it The difference between a child being unsafe and a child being uncomfortable, and why that distinction changes everything What actually traumatises kids, and why it’s almost never the hard thing itself Why kids are telling us they don't want more resilience, and what they want instead [Recorded Online June 2026] About Karen Young: Karen Young is a former psychologist with an honours degree in psychology and a master's in Gestalt therapy. She founded Hey Sigmund after realising how much power sits in solid information, and her articles now reach millions of readers a year. She wrote the best-selling Hey Warrior for her own daughter, and she's the author of five other books. She's recognised for her expertise in school refusal, which she calls anxiety-based school absenteeism, and she's a mum to two children and two stepchildren. Connect with Karen: Instagram: @karenyoung_heysigmund Web: heysigmund.com Facebook: Karen Young Hey Sigmund — 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 .

The loudest voice in our heads often says: “what are you waiting for?” Luke Cook has spent his whole life answering that question by just jumping in. Underneath the million followers and the characters and the Netflix devil is a guy who shared that his ongoing battle is feeling like he falls short of everything. That rejection still stings, seventeen years in, and it stings because he still cares. We talk about what we make things mean, and how quickly we all default to our not-enoughness. We talk about his boys, and the birth pool, and the terrifying business of being watched that closely by three small humans. And we land somewhere I loved: if you are having fun, you are probably in the right place. We explore: Why Luke doesn’t experience his biggest leaps as risks The thing school tries to beat out of you that turns out to be your secret sauce Growing up the last of five in a Bible college, and why a minister's kid was always going to end up performing The joyous, ridiculous business of poking fun online, where the line sits, and what he does when he gets it wrong The gap between how the world sees you and how you see yourself, and the inadequacy story that runs underneath it Three boys, two home births, and the best piece of advice he has for partners in a birth space The imprint he hopes is loudest in his sons' heads when they grow up [Recorded Online June 2026] About Luke Cook: Luke Cook is a Sydney-born actor, writer, director and content creator who has lived in Los Angeles since he was twenty-two. He is best known for playing Lucifer Morningstar in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina , and most recently starred in the Stan Original series Good Cop/Bad Cop , which earned him a Logie nomination. Away from the screen he has built an audience of around a million people on Instagram through his original comedy characters, co-founded the health and wellness brand Shakewell, and is dad to three young boys with his wife Kara. Connect with Luke: Instagram: @thelukecook TikTok: @thelukecook Web: thelukecook.com Shakewell: getshakewell.com — 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. — 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 .

“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.