Brains Matter

This episode is the audio of the first Brains Matter live show. The topic for this show is The Science of Attraction
- what is attraction?
- what attracts us to each other?
- how does this compare to the animal kingdom?
- how do physical features, and chemical signals play a role?
- what influences our view of [...]

In this episode I speak to Dr Yin Paradies, who is a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. Yin’s research focuses on the health, social and economic effects of racism as well as anti-racism theory, policy and practice.
In this interview, some of the topics we talk about include:
- What are some of the [...]

We have all heard of the ultraviolet index in weather reports. What is it? What does it mean to the lay person? What is the average person’s perception of the ultraviolet index? I talk to Dr Owen Carter from the CBRCC and Curtin University in Western Australia about his research [...]

In this episode, I talk to Dr Owen Carter, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control at Curtin University, on the topic of tobacco advertising.
- What were the techniques used by tobacco companies in their advertising?
- Does tobacco advertising actually affect smokers?
- What is the effect of tobacco advertising on [...]

The 100th episode of Brains Matter coincides with National Science Week - and to celebrate both the 100th show and National Science week, in this episode, we cover a range of topics. There are two great new interviews, as well as highlights from previous shows. You can go to the original interviews by [...]

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Chemistry, biology, physics, climate change - the list of science topics are too numerous for me to mention them all here. And each subject has someone singing about it in some fashion. That’s right - the episode that a lot of you have been waiting for - the show on science songs. [...]

In this episode, I continue my discussion with science journalist Marc West. We talk about the psychology and science of sport - and the case study we use is cricket. The topics we talk about can apply to practically any team sport, but being the cricket fans we are, we relate it to [...]

I talk to science communicator and cricket tragic, Marc West, on the topic of cricket - and the science and psychology of the sport. Marc has published several articles on the science and mathematics of the game, and in this episode, discusses the following with me:
- How fit are cricketers?
- How far do batsmen [...]

Dr Hunter Mulcare is a clinical health psychologist who has also done research work in the area of psychology.
Psycho-oncology is a relatively new area within psychology. It is the psychological study of cancer patients. Dr Mulcare talked to me about some of his research into this area. What is the [...]