#2259 Exactly Where is the Mind - Associate Professor Kevin Mitchell

It’s true, the Pope has come out and shared his significant thoughts on AI and how it should be regarded. By the Catholics, anyway. Not sure it was a global directive, but there you go. As always, in this instalment of TYP, Patrick, Tiff and I wax lyrical about all things tech. By all things, I mean a few. LOL. Let’s be honest, there’s a f**kload of techless stuff in there. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another enjoyable TYP outing with a super smart, stimulating and fascinating guest. Apart from the fact that he’s better looking and smarter, I think we’re quite similar. Enjoy. *Tim Duggan is an Australian media entrepreneur, bestselling author, journalist and digital publishing pioneer. He co-founded Junkee Media, one of Australia’s most successful digital publishing companies, and has spent much of his career exploring how we think, work, create and connect. Tim is the author of four books, including Cult Status, Killer Thinking, Work Backwards and his latest, Clear in Tension, which explores how we can navigate conflict and disagreement more effectively. He’s a regular columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, a sought-after speaker and a passionate advocate for doing work that matters and living a life that means something.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some guests make me think harder than others. This guest had me holding on by my academic tippy-toes. *Associate Professor Kevin Mitchell is an Irish neurogeneticist, neuroscientist, author and researcher at Trinity College Dublin, where he works in the Department of Genetics and the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. His work spans genetics, neuroscience, psychology and philosophy, with a particular interest in consciousness, human agency, decision-making and the relationship between the brain and mind.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I had a great chat with our TYP debutant Dr Bex Bell, exploring the complexity and joy of the human experience. As we do here. Here’s a bit about the Doc. *Dr Bex is a confidence and leadership coach, speaker, author, and self-confessed recovering perfectionist! With a PhD in forensic psychology and a background spanning prison research, public health, and years in the fitness industry, Bex brings science, soul, and straight talk to the personal development space. Think psychological translator: making sense of our messy human minds and turning research into tools people can actually use. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this rather verbose instalment of TYP, young Tiff and I conclude our chat about what 2026 has taught us, what we’re changing moving forward, how we’ll get it done and the psychology and motivation behind it all. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the last few years, the use of peptides in Australia (and globally) has gone through the performance-enhancing roof. While there are many advocates for their use, there are still a lot of unknowns, no clinical human trials, no long term data and according to Gillespo, an increasing number of unwanted side effects and hospitalisations. He explains to us exactly what peptides are, their intended use and how people are getting around legal loopholes to obtain them. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So Tiff and I decided to each share five things that we have learned, realised, come to understand, taken ownership of, or even, struggled with this year. However, having cohosts who both suffer from chronic cases of excessive verbosity and meandering minds, it seems we overestimated our capacity to collectively deliver on those intended ten revelations in the allocated time. So apparently, this is part one. I actually really enjoyed this and think many of you might see yourself in our stories. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jay Belsky is Emeritus Professor of Human Development at the University of California, Davis, and an internationally recognised scholar in developmental psychology. His research integrates evolutionary theory, longitudinal data, and life-course perspectives to better understand how early experiences influence later health, behaviour, and adaptation. The good Prof. has just released his first book for a non-academic audience (super understandable and practical) called ‘The Nature of Nurture’: Rethinking Why and How Childhood Adversity Shapes Development. I had a great time with the Prof. and I hope you do to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his most famous book Man’s Search for Meaning, Austrian Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Holocaust Survivor and Author Victor Frankl said “in some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.” I love that quote. Although we try to avoid it, sometimes suffering can be our best teacher, insight giver, developer of resilience, skill and courage. This is one of my favourite chats with Bobby in a long time. I personally find this stuff inspiring, enlightning and very relevant for my goals, values and purpose. Along the way, we also chatted about adaptability, understanding others, reframing the situation we find ourselves in and the process of getting in a flow state. I think you will enjoy this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not only is our friend and TYP regular Dr. Jeff a world-renowned specialist in the areas of regenerative and longevity medicine, but he’s also a Neurosurgeon and Spinal Surgeon. So, not a dummy after all. This episode is a deeper dive into an earlier conversation we started about 1, 000 episodes ago. I think this conversation is relevant for virtually everybody. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.