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 mind in crisis: to debrief or not to debrief? Feb 12, 2011

Show notes

Floods, fires, cyclones and the anniversary of Black Saturday. Psychological debriefing is a technique aimed at helping us process traumatic events, so the emotional scars can heal not harm. To some the approach is discredited, ineffective and may even do damage -- to others it can still have an important role. Beyond the controversy, where does the field stand today?

Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman on consciousness, creativity and 'neural Darwinism' Feb 05, 2011

Show notes

Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman rarely gives interviews. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1972 for his work on antibodies, but at 81 he's a true Renaissance man of the brain, heading up what he describes as a 'scientific monastery' in San Diego. He joins Natasha Mitchell to talk consciousness, creativity and 'neural Darwinism'.

That Does Not Compute: the hidden affliction of dyscalculia Jan 29, 2011

Show notes

You've heard the common refrain, 'Oh, I'm so bad at maths!' But for up to eight per cent of us, a condition called dyscalculia means numbers are a serious struggle, with serious consequences. Scientists are now revealing its biological basis, and in Australia there's a push for it to be seen as a legitimate and unique disability.

Stem cells and brain tales Jan 22, 2011

Show notes

Acclaimed neuroscientist Fred Gage is a serial trailblazer. Decades of dogma were overturned when his team confirmed the adult brain continues to make new brain cells. Incredibly, now scientists can even turn skin cells into brain cells with a chemical push! But, if their potential to treat brain diseases or damage is to be realised, transplanted cells need to be able to call your brain home. Stanford biologist James Weimann has a major advance.

Kay Redfield Jamison - A deep love and loss Jan 15, 2011

Show notes

Top clinical psychologist and psychiatry professor Kay Redfield Jamison took the world by storm with her book An Unquiet Mind. In it she revealed her own torrid experience of bipolar disorder, and a passionate life marred by mania and depression. She joins Natasha Mitchell in conversation to discuss her new memoir, Nothing Was the Same. Recounting two decades with her partner, leading schizophrenia researcher Richard Wyatt, who died in 2002, it's a story of deep love and deep loss. To her, grief and depression differ in profound ways.

The Master and his Emissary: the divided brain and the reshaping of Western civilisation. Jan 08, 2011

Show notes

Eminent psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist offers an ambitious, provocative thesis about how the brain's two hemispheres came to be, and construct the world. Today there's a power struggle being played out between the left and right brain that he argues is reshaping Western civilisation in disturbing ways.

Stressed out! The powerful biology of stress Jan 01, 2011

Show notes

A little tension keeps us on our toes - we're biologically primed for it. But 'toxic' stress makes us physically sick, and powerful research is now revealing its potent impact on our developing bodies and brains. Don't miss two world leaders transforming our understanding.

Diving into dolphin heads: science, rights and ethics Dec 26, 2010

Show notes

The Cove took out this year's Oscar for best documentary for its confronting coverage of the annual dolphin culls in Taiji, Japan. Scientists argue dolphins have complex, large brains - second only to human brains relative to body weight. Join Natasha Mitchell with leading cetacean scientists and an ethicist for a tour of a waterborne 'alien intelligence'. What are the consequences for captivity, and a controversial call for 'personhood' status?

Cultural Chemistry (Part 3 of 3): Colombia - the plant that steals your free will? Dec 19, 2010

Show notes

You've seen it in suburban Australian gardens with its bright, pendulous flowers in full bloom. But in Colombia, Angel's Trumpet has a dark side. It's used to rob people by robbing them of their memory, and allegedly, their free will. For All in the Mind, clinical psychologist Dr Vaughan Bell goes in search of the truth about the drug Burundanga, and Brugmansia, a popular plant with a complex personality.

Thinking about suicide (Part 2 of 2) Dec 11, 2010

Show notes

David Webb's powerful account of suicidal feelings, and call for a more open and nuanced public conversation about suicide, has sparked rich discussion among listeners. This week, an Australian suicide prevention leader reflects thoughtfully on the issues raised. Be part of the conversation.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

All In The Mind

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

All In The Mind

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6