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:

Dark Science: Pushing the limits of fear, flesh, pain and your psyche. Sep 26, 2009

Show notes

Join us at the Dark Science night at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum for a spectacle of side show science and (almost) R-rated research. Suspension artists hang from hooks through their flesh, tattoo artists ply their wares, and don't miss the spiders and coffins too - it's the science of fear and pain as you never heard it before

The coming of 'The Singularity'...or not? Sep 19, 2009

Show notes

Imagine a future where computers exceed our own intelligence; where problem solving is no longer limited by human thinking -- what then? It's a moment in technological time some call 'The Singularity'. But how much is technological reality, and how much fantasy? Science writer Mike McRae catches up with AI researchers and sci-fi writers to ponder the possibilities and probabilities.

Sex, Knowledge and Science (Adelaide Festival of Ideas) Sep 12, 2009

Show notes

Doing science has no room for gender and agendas, right? It's all about the objective pursuit of facts and truths about nature. Or is it? Acclaimed historian of science Londa Schiebinger, and top philosophers Simon Blackburn and Karen Green join Natasha Mitchell to debate the making of modern science, beards, breasts and how we came to be called mammals!

Psychogeography: discovering the mental terrain of the city Sep 05, 2009

Show notes

All in the Mind takes you on an extraordinarily ordinary journey across the mental and physical terrain of a big city. For many the ideal method of urban travel is straight out of Star Trek—teleporting. But in the 21st century city there are flaneurs and commuters savouring their journeys, on foot and by bike. They're taking in the smells and sounds of back alleys, recalling emotional memories at intersections and celebrating stacks of shipping containers. Join us on a 'psychogeographical' adventure, and discover the impact of the city on your psyche.

Minds on the Margins Aug 29, 2009

Show notes

A life on the streets or behind bars isn't what we hope for our children. What leads them there? Mental illness? Family breakdown? Economic hardship? Two groundbreaking studies are fundamentally challenging the assumptions we make about our most marginalised, and the state of their mind.

Many Selves, One Body: Dissociation and early trauma Aug 22, 2009

Show notes

We all dissociate to a degree—compartmentalising major traumatic experiences in our psyche to protect ourselves. But Dissociation Identity Disorder is the extreme end, where a person might present multiple selves or 'alters' to the world without fully knowing it—swapping clothes, life histories and personalities each time they 'switch'. Don't miss this firsthand account.

Art on the Mind: Neuroesthetics, and the artist as brain scientist! Aug 15, 2009

Show notes

Acclaimed neuroscientist Semir Zeki pioneered the field of neuroesthetics to probe the biological basis of the aesthetic experience, art, literature, love and beauty. He thinks scientists have lots to learn about the brain from the works of visual artists and romantic literature. And visit London's Hayward Gallery, where the Walking in My Mind exhibition has been described as a 'vast humming cranium' as artists unearth their creative process through vast installations.

Do you read me HAL? Robot wars, moral machines and silicon that cares - Part 2 Aug 08, 2009

Show notes

The theatre of war is changing, radically. With a push towards autonomous, robotic devices capable of killing - should the Laws of War change? One artificial intelligence leader argues machines could be more ethical and humane than humans in the battlefield. But, with thousands of robotic devices already being deployed, is robotics keeping up with ethics?

Do you read me HAL? Robot wars, moral machines and silicon that cares - Part 1 Aug 01, 2009

Show notes

Robots are among us. They might be on their way in to childcare and aged care as silicon carers too. Will the 'digital natives' born today be more comfortable with that prospect? And, many thousands have now been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with billions being invested in the development of fully autonomous killing agents. Will they fight fairly? Could they be more ethical and humane than humans? Over a series of shows, Natasha Mitchell speaks to leading roboticists and thinkers about the brave new now.

Madness, modernity and those 'nervous times': Vienna in 1900 Jul 25, 2009

Show notes

Journey to Vienna at the turn of the 20th century and discover the 'city of the psyche' at the centre of Modernism. Described as 'nervous times', anxieties about the alienation of modern urban life inspired a cultural ferment between artists, architects and psychiatrists. From utopian visions of the asylum to the birth of the 'psychological portrait' and 'nerve art', the life of the mind lies at the heart of the story. Image gallery

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