What if ageing wasn't something to fear but something to finally - fiercely - embrace?

Jacinta Parsons is an ABC broadcaster, writer, public speaker and newly minted Doctor. She has lived with Crohn's disease for decades, navigated divorce, faced chronic illness and devastating loss, and now come through the other side, not diminished but radically empowered.

For her latest book, A Wisdom of Age, Jacinta interviewed women across Australia about the experience of ageing, and captured what we can learn from them to boldly rewrite the story of the second half of our lives.

In this episode of Human Cogs we talk with Jacinta about the hardwon learnings and unbridled freedom that can come with ageing: the shedding of “good girl” rules, the cultivation of our wilder versions of self and how life’s fractures and fragilities can also be surprising openings to new identities and big opportunities in the world.

We talk about internalised ageism and the stories women are told about their bodies. We talk about what chronic illness teaches you about control, surrender and what actually matters. We talk about the difference between loneliness and solitude, and why learning to be happily alone with yourself might be one of the most important things you can do.

And mostly we talk about wisdom - what it really means, how you cultivate it, and why the most interesting chapters of your life might be the ones you haven't written yet.

So pour yourself a cuppa, take a long walk under the bright sun or stars or lie your good self down and listen to this absolute wisdom of age from Jacinta Parsons.

Guest: Jacinta Parsons, ABC Broadcaster, writer and public speaker. She is the Co-host of ABC Melbourne’s The Friday Revue with Brian Nankervis and presents ABC Victorian Saturday Mornings.
Book: A Wisdom Of Age
Instagram: @jacintaparsons
Website: JacintaParsons.com

Hosts: Mads Hanger (Grummet) and Sabina Read
Producer: Our audio wizard is the beloved Daryl Missen

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Human Cogs is available on Apple, Spotify or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with stacks of our previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
DM us on Instagram @human.cogs

Do you know someone with an amazing story? Tell us! We're always scouting for amazing people to feature on Human Cogs!

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For anyone who grew up in the late 80s and 90s, the name Alison Brahe-Daddo is synonymous with that Dolly magazine cover - the one blu-tacked to bedroom walls and plastered all over school lockers.

With her dazzling smile and golden beach body, Ali exploded onto the Australian modelling scene at the age of 16, gracing the glossy covers of Cleo, Dolly and Cosmopolitan and making herself a household name. Ali was the absolute ‘It-Girl’ of the time, and everything every young woman wanted to be.

Fast-forward to today, and Alison Brahe-Daddo is a Mum to three adult children, fitness teacher, birth assistant, podcaster co-hosting the hit show "The Heart Of It" with her husband Cameron Daddo and she is also the author of Queen Menopause: Finding Your Majesty in the Mayhem.

In this episode, Ali takes us back into the often brutal world of modeling when as a self-proclaimed naïve teenager she learned to people-please her way through the industry - a pattern that followed her well beyond the runway and into her adult life.

We talk about how she fell madly in love with and married Cameron Daddo when she was aged just 22, and unpack the beautiful, messy reality of how Ali and Cam have evolved both individually and together over three decades of life and marriage.

But the big nugget in this conversation is MENOPAUSE: that universal yet profoundly misunderstood and stigmatised life change we still don't talk about nearly enough.

Ali doesn't hold back about her own challenging journey through menopause: the crippling anxiety, terrible panic attacks, insomnia, deep depression, blind rage and complete absence of joy that beset her through this stage of life.

What's remarkable about Ali's approach is that she doesn't just catalog the struggle: she dispels the myths, destigmatises what it means when a woman's fertile years end and explores the hidden gifts of menopause, including the power of self-love and self-compassion, and how she used this time to live a fuller, more authentic life.

The ripple effect of menopause impacts everyone - partners, children, workplaces, society at large - so this conversation isn't just for women, it’s for all of us.

But we hope Ali’s experience and wisdom in this episode will offer help and reassurance to anyone struggling with the challenges of menopause right now.

Guest: Alison Brahe-Daddo
Podcast: The Heart Of It
Instagram: @alidaddo

Hosts: Mads Hanger (Grummet) and Sabina Read
Producer: Our audio wizard is Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Spotify or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with stacks of our previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
DM us on Instagram @human.cogs

Do you know someone with an amazing story? Tell us! We're always scouting for amazing people to feature on Human Cogs!

And if you really loved this episode, leave us a quick review. We love that.

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“How many kids do you have?”

It’s a question asked so casually, often as part of small talk. Yet, for those who dreamed of parenthood but find themselves childless, these four words can land with a heavy blow.

Today’s guest, Kelly Donougher, is a successful interior designer and founder of 13 Interiors, with design studios in Perth and Melbourne. But behind her professional success lies a deeply personal story. In her new book No Fence, No Limits, Kelly opens up about her and her husband’s decade-long journey with infertility—marked by rounds of medical interventions, the heartbreak of miscarriage, and the ongoing process of navigating grief.

In our conversation, Kelly shares the tension between meeting society’s expectations and honouring her own truths, how the medical system can make you feel like just another number, and what it means to carve out an identity beyond parenthood. She also reflects on how grief, while devastating, can spark transformation—and how creativity and career reinvention became lifelines of healing.

This is a conversation not just about infertility, but about the universal struggle with life’s “shoulds,” the boxes we’re told to tick, and the courage it takes to choose a different path. Kelly’s story is one of perseverance, hope, surrender, and ultimately, acceptance. Most of all, she reminds us that even when our sense of agency feels diminished, we still hold the power to choose.

To learn more about Kelly’s book, head to kellydonougher.com, and to explore her beautiful design work, visit 13interiors.com.

Host: Sabina Read
Producer: Audio Superstar Daryl Missen

*****

Hosts: Mads Hanger (Grummet) and Sabina Read
Producer: Our audio wizard is Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Spotify or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with stacks of our previous guests :)

Got some thoughts on today's episode you'd like to share?
DM us on Instagram @human.cogs

Do you know someone with an amazing story? Tell us! We're always scouting for amazing people to feature on Human Cogs!

And if you really loved this episode, leave us a quick review. We love that.

Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.