• 6 minutes 56 seconds
    158. Listen To This If… You Want Your Message To Stick

    Poured hours into a talk, only to suspect your audience will remember almost none of it? In this short episode, Jen and Michael share how to make your take-home message actually stick. Their advice: your real message isn’t what you say, it’s what people repeat to others afterwards, so decide on the one thing you want them to take away, build your talk backwards from it, and say it more than once (especially right at the end, rather than surrendering your final words to “thanks for listening”). And because people forget facts but remember how you made them feel, attaching that message to an emotion is the glue that makes it last.

    You can find more great advice here:

    5 November 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 31 minutes 12 seconds
    157. Interview with urban ecologist and science communicator Dr Kylie Soanes

    This week we were delighted (and a little bit starstruck) to be joined by Dr Kylie Soanes: conservation biologist, urban ecologist and self-described “friendly neighbourhood wildlife scientist”. Kylie’s work takes the question of how nature and people can live alongside one another and turns it into real, visible change: building rope bridges so gliders can cross busy highways, 3D-printing nesting hollows for powerful owls, and adding floating wetlands to city rivers. She collaborates with councils, community groups, engineers and architects, writes for the likes of The Guardian, The Conversation and Australian Geographic, and has built a wonderful audience of nearly 29,000 people on Instagram with her trademark warmth and wit (and the occasional Jane Austen reference in a peer-reviewed journal). A research fellow in urban biodiversity at the University of Melbourne, she is, by her own admission, probably running late to her next meeting because she got distracted by a cool bird.

    Join us for a fabulous conversation about why conservation belongs in cities and not just “out there”, how to fill the information vacuum before nonsense does, why storytelling and evidence-based hope beat battering people with data, and Kylie’s lovely reminder that reach is a verb - you have to go to where the people are.

    You can follow Kylie and find out more about her work here:

    29 October 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 6 minutes 21 seconds
    156. Listen To This If… You Need To Introduce A Speaker

    Been asked to introduce a speaker: at a conference, on a panel, or at an event big or small,  and want to get it right? In this short episode, Jen and Michael share how to do that job well, starting with a reminder of what it’s actually for: warming up the room for the speaker, not showcasing yourself. They talk through the things that make all the difference - speaking to the person beforehand (and checking how to pronounce their name and their pronouns), finding one warm, human detail that no bio would give you, resisting the urge to read out a long list of accolades, and setting a calm, generous tone that the speaker can step straight into.

    You can find more great advice here:

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/77vh

    15 October 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 33 minutes 21 seconds
    155. Interview with science communicator and author Aśka

    This week we were delighted to be joined by the wonderful Aśka (pronounced 'Ash-ka'; she/they): award-winning comics maker, visual storyteller, science communicator and former quantum physicist, whose career is a glorious collision of two worlds that rarely meet. Before the drawing board, Aśka earned a first-class honours degree in physics (complete with a university medal) and spent several years in quantum optics labs across Australia, Germany and Denmark, work she describes as tickling atoms until they give up their secrets and glow fluorescent green. 

    Somewhere along the way she swapped the lab for the page, and has since published more than a dozen books and graphic novels, spent seven years touring Western Australia as a travelling science presenter with Scitech, and now teaches students of all ages how to "write with pictures". Their latest young adult graphic novel, The Friendship Paradox, draws all these threads together in the story of Dash, who tries to use the laws of physics to make sense of other people. It’s a stunning book about science, but even more about friendship, difference and self-acceptance.

    Join us for a wonderful conversation about the leap from quantum optics to comics, why pictures sit unfairly at the bottom of our communication hierarchy, what years on the road taught Aśka about making science feel personal, and her lovely advice to pick up a concept and roll it around in your hands until you find a surprising new way in.

    You can connect with Aśka and learn more about their work here: 

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/c7vh

    8 October 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 6 minutes 18 seconds
    154. Listen To This If… Someone Says ‘So What?' About Your Science

    Ever had someone you care about listen to you talk about your work and ask, "so what?". It stings, but what if it's actually a gift? In this short episode, Jen and Michael reframe that deflating moment as one of the most useful questions you'll ever be asked: the very thing every funder, editor and audience member is quietly wondering anyway. They talk through how to answer it well: distinguishing why your work matters in your field from why it matters to the person in front of you, using the "five whys" to dig down to something they genuinely care about, and turning all those answers into a handful of ready-made hooks for different people and situations.

    You can find more great advice here:

    • The Message Box. The signature (and free) science communication tool whose whole crux is the "So what? Why should your audience care?" question, with a different version built for each audience you want to reach.

    • Research contribution vs significance. A clear, recent piece from the wonderful Pat Thomson framing significance as the "so what?" of your work, warning against both the vague non-answer ("it's important because mental health matters") and underselling what you've done.

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/w7vh

    1 October 2026, 6:00 pm
  • 30 minutes 33 seconds
    153. Interview with comedian and science communicator Alanta Colley

    This week we were thrilled to be joined by the wonderful Alanta Colley - Naarm/ Melbourne-based comedian, science communicator and storyteller, and living proof that the path into science communication is rarely a straight line. With a background in international public health, Alanta spent two years doing public health work in rural eastern Uganda, coordinating HIV education, setting up mosquito-net micro-businesses and running sanitation campaigns. Along the way, she collected a few unwanted souvenirs in the form of several parasites. Rather than quietly moving on, she turned the experience into her first solo show, Parasites Lost, which sold out its entire run at the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She's since written and toured a string of solo shows: Days of Our Hives on beekeeping, On the Origin of Faeces on the gut microbiome, and Trick or Treatment on the evidence behind alternative medicine, performing across Australia, New Zealand and for the Gates Foundation in Seattle, and she's the co-founder of Sci Fight, Melbourne's long-running science comedy debate series.

    Join us for a fabulous chat about non-linear careers, what public health work in Uganda taught Alanta about listening and testing your assumptions, the delicate art of balancing "funny" with "too much information", why failure is one of the most powerful tools in both comedy and science communication, and her advice for anyone whose knees knock at the very thought of public speaking.

    You can follow Alanta and find out more about her work here: 

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/b7vh

    24 September 2026, 6:00 pm
  • 6 minutes 23 seconds
    152. Listen To This If… You’re preparing for your thesis oral defence

    Preparing for your thesis oral defence (the viva, the oral exam, whatever it's called in your neck of the woods) and quietly dreading it? In this short episode, Jen and Michael reframe the whole experience: your defence isn't an interrogation, it's a conversation between engaged and curious colleagues welcoming you into the field, not with adversaries who are hunting for holes. They share practical ways to prepare - knowing your discussion section inside out, planning honest and non-defensive answers to the questions you're dreading, and being upfront that every piece of research has its limitations. And with AI making it more important than ever to show you can talk candidly about your own work, they suspect oral defences are only going to become more common.

    You can find more great advice here:

    • How to survive a thesis defence A classic, practical guide: you know your work better than anyone, the examiners aren't out to get you, and a pause to think is your friend.

    • The dreaded doctoral defense From The Thesis Whisperer, Australia's best-known PhD blog, on reframing the defence and preparing for the questions you're dreading.

    • How to present an effective and successful viva voce A thorough, recently updated guide making the same core point Jen and Michael do: the viva is a conversation, not an interrogation, and the common questions are entirely predictable.

    • The viva. From the UK's researcher-development body, which frames the viva as a chance to discuss your work with experienced experts and recommends a calm, non-confrontational approach to any criticism.

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/y7vh

    10 September 2026, 6:00 pm
  • 31 minutes 45 seconds
    151. Interview with native bee researcher and performer Dr Kit Prendergast

    This week we were absolutely delighted (and, we'll admit, a little starstruck) to sit down with Dr Kit Prendergast: native bee researcher, taxonomist, conservation biologist, science communicator and performing artist, better known to many as Bee Babette. Kit came to science through a blend of the arts and the sciences, and that mix of creativity and rigour has come to define her career. She fell for native bees back in 2016, drawn in by macro photography and bee hotels, and went on to complete her PhD at Curtin University as a Forrest Research Scholar studying native bee biodiversity, urban pollination networks, and the genuinely contentious question of how introduced European honeybees affect our native species. Since then she's been remarkably prolific: more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, two brand-new bee species described (one named after her beloved dog, Zephyr), an award-winning science circus comedy show called The Birds & the Bees, a book, a swag of outreach awards, and a real knack for throwing out the rulebook on how scientists engage the public.

    Join us for a fabulous conversation about falling in love with native bees, the trouble with "bee washing", why species names matter far more than you'd think, combining acrobatics with science on stage, and Kit's advice to be unapologetically your true self.

    You can follow Kit and find out more about her work here: 

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/o7vh

    3 September 2026, 6:00 pm
  • 6 minutes 16 seconds
    150. Listen To This If… You’re Struggling With Perfectionism

    Perfectionism isn't all bad — it usually means you care deeply about your work. The trouble starts when it tips into paralysis and nothing ever makes it out into the world. In this short episode, Jen and Michael share how they've learned to hit publish anyway: separating high standards from a fear of being judged, asking what you'd tell a friend in the same boat, gathering people who'll remind you your work is good enough, and using deadlines to get comfortable with "that'll do." 

    Their verdict? Done is better than perfect (and salted caramel ice cream might just be the exception that proves nothing else can be perfect).

    You can find more great advice here: 

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/u7vh

    28 August 2026, 6:00 am
  • 30 minutes 56 seconds
    149. Interview with marine biologist and science comedian Forrest Shaw

    We're kicking off Season 20 with a guest whose career path we found completely fascinating. Forrest Shaw is a stand-up comedian and writer whose comedy career began after a decade working as a marine and environmental biologist in his hometown of Miami, Florida - a career that saw him study everything from manatees and sea turtles to seagrass meadows, coral reefs and water quality. So it's safe to say he knows his way around the ocean. Then he made the kind of career pivot a lot of scientists quietly daydream about: he moved into stand-up, and has absolutely thrived, performing at some of the biggest comedy festivals in the world: Netflix Is A Joke Fest, Just For Laughs in Montreal, Moontower, Clusterfest and Bridgetown among them, and releasing his debut special, Poor Decisions, on Amazon. Most recently he brought his science-based comedy show The Ocean Hates You! (all about pollution, overfishing, climate change, sharks, and why talking about the ocean doesn't have to feel like going to a funeral), to the Adelaide Fringe.

    Join us for a joyful conversation about ten years in marine science, the leap into stand-up, and why making people laugh might be one of the most powerful ways to make them care.

    You can learn more about Forrest’s work here:

    Forrest's website: forrestshaw.net

    Instagram: @forrestshaw and @theoceanhatesyou

    Facebook: @forrestshawcomedian and @theoceanhatesyou

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/57vh

    20 August 2026, 6:00 pm
  • 6 minutes 13 seconds
    148. Listen To This If… You’re Facing A Big Deadline

    Staring down a big deadline and suddenly overcome by the urge to tidy your desk, reorganise your bookshelf, or look up random facts? You're in good company. In this short episode, Jen and Michael (both fresh from some very big deadlines of their own) share how they get unstuck: treating procrastination as an emotional issue rather than a time-management one, being kind to yourself when you've (once again) left it late, holding onto the basics like sleep and good food, and remembering that progress always beats perfection.

    You can find more great advice here: 

    Procrastination is an emotional problem, Fast Company - why the fix is managing your feelings, not your calendar.

    Why we procrastinate and what to do about it, APA's Speaking of Psychology podcast - a researcher on the surprising role of self-compassion.

    Emotion regulation and procrastination, Solving Procrastination - practical, evidence-based strategies for getting started.

    Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/nu8h

    6 August 2026, 6:00 pm
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