All In The Mind

Why do people lie? Why do relationships fall apart? Can trauma change your brain?

Every week on All in the Mind, award-winning journalist Sana Qadar explores the psychology behind the biggest questions in our lives — how we think, feel and behave.

Featuring leading experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross, you’ll hear personal stories and practical insights that will leave you thinking long after the podcast ends.

Whether it’s debunking pop psychology trends or translating the latest neuroscience research, more than 100,000 listeners join Sana each month to learn the best strategies for surviving life with your mental health intact.

All in the Mind is created for ABC’s Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and was awarded Best Health and Wellness podcast at the 2026 Australian Audio Awards

Latest Episodes:

The Certainty Myth Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

If the only certainty is uncertainty, how do we manage our anxieties about the unknown?

Today we explore why the mind struggles with uncertainty and what we can do to manage it.

Trauma, OCD and a PhD Nov 13, 2022

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Before she was Dr Alix Woolard, Alix was a teenager grappling with a traumatic event in her family.

It would affect her mental health dramatically, leaving her unsure of her path ahead.

Now, Dr Alix Woolard researches childhood trauma and it's lifelong impacts.

This episode deals with mental health and discusses suicide. Please listen with care.

The dark side of fame and what it does to the brain Nov 06, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever thought, I wonder what it's like being famous?

Maybe it's something you've always dreamed of, or maybe it's your worst nightmare.

Being famous is something many people aspire to, but the reality can be isolating.

This week, producer Jennifer Leake looks at what fame does to a person's psychology.

Milgram Shock and Stanford Prison — what we misunderstand about the most infamous experiments in psychology Oct 30, 2022

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What makes people do evil things?

Psychologist Stanley Milgram wanted to understand if people could be led to do awful things, just by being told to do them.

The experiment he would devise to test this would become one of the most infamous examples of unethical studies in the field of psychology: The Milgram Shock Experiment.

But Professor Alex Haslam says that's not the full picture… And the findings are misunderstood.

Childhood attachment, animal rights and the 'pit of despair': Harry Harlow's unethical experiments Oct 23, 2022

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Why being a beginner is good for you Oct 16, 2022

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Learning chess with his young daughter kickstarted a life-long journey of learning for Tom Vanderbilt. Here's what he discovered about being an adult beginner, its benefits, and how kids and adults learn differently.

Unethical experiments: the Monster Study Oct 09, 2022

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With relatively benign intentions, Wendell Johnson devised an experiment that would go on to be dubbed the Monster Study, inflicting terrible harm on a group of vulnerable and unsuspecting children.

The psychological tricks that make cults so dangerous Oct 02, 2022

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Popular culture is endlessly fascinated with cults, and they have to capacity to make ordinary people do unthinkable things.

So how do cults reel people in and what does it take to leave?

Language and loss Sep 25, 2022

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What goes on in the multilingual mind? And what does it mean to 'lose' your language?

The Art of Negotiation: mind games and emotional intelligence Sep 18, 2022

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You might not think of yourself as a negotiator but big or small we all negotiate daily and getting better at it could make your life easier.