Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg

Osher Günsberg

<p>With every new day comes the opportunity to grow. Hosted by Osher Günsberg - a best-selling author, podcaster, TV host, husband, dad, stepdad, electric mobility enthusiast and part-time climate worrier. This podcast is here to help make today better than yesterday. Since 2013, the show has set out to improve life for you and the people you love. Sometimes it’s authentic conversations. Sometimes we’ll unpack the news or hear how Osher deals with life as a sober person with a different brain. But you’ll always hear something you need to hear (and laugh while you do). Listen to feel less alone, build better habits and discover some solution-based approaches for when life gets tricky.</p> <p> </p>

  • 55 minutes 24 seconds
    Trying To Belong In A World That Constantly Judges You (with Nikki Justice)

    When we tell ourselves stories about who belongs and who doesn’t: what’s that person doing in my street? How’d a person dressed like that get in here? Who let that guy who works for that politician who says those things into this birthday party? When we really think about it - how often are we wrong? Today’s guest, deals with those judgements all day, and how she handles them is well worth listening to.

    Let’s test your who belongs and who doesn’t story. My guest today is a stand up comedian, a former stripper, an OnlyFans creator - and a mother. How did you go? Did you check out? Still with me?  

    Nikki Justice has a story you just have to hear to believe. It’s just your standard story of growing up around addiction, joining the circus when she was still a kid, then making a career as an adult entertainer and a standup comedian. Her life has been interesting to say the least. 

    In this conversation, we talk about what it really means to be judged - and how much of that judgment actually lives inside us. We also explore motherhood, shame, sex work, comedy, trauma, and the strange ways we all try to fit in, or belong. Nikki is candid and authentic in telling her story, and her perspective may just change your mind about how you look at and judge others.

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    10 February 2026, 3:10 pm
  • 11 minutes 48 seconds
    Three Things You Didn’t Know About Merrick Watts

    As comedian and radio legend Merrick Watts prepares for his Grapes Of Mirth festival in Tasmania, I thought it would be a good time to look back at a couple of interesting things that we learned about Merrick from the times I've spoken with him over the years.

    You'll hear about his unique approach to resilience, his thoughts on parenting, and the really interesting way that he revived a 2000 year old Roman drink for modern tastes. There is so much more to Merrick than his resume. He's a fascinating man, and I hope you enjoy these highlights from our conversations.

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    8 February 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 51 minutes 25 seconds
    Why Sometimes Being Miserable Is Actually A Good Thing (with Eamon Evans)

    What if I told you that the secret to happiness was to pay more attention to the times when life absolutely sucks? How can that make sense? 

    Everything I scroll past berates me with a message about finding happiness, treating myself, pushing me to constantly be seek out the good at all costs. While it’s absolutely important to discover and nurture those things that make life pleasurable and even tolerable, my guest today argues that we also need to also sit with and even embrace misery to truly appreciate what makes life great.

    Eamon Evans is a prolific author, writing 15 books on everything from sport to crime, urban legends and great Aussie scandals. His latest book, The Importance of Being Miserable: A Short History of Human Happiness, and Why Sometimes It's Good to Feel Bad, challenges the notion that life should always be good, happy and sparkly; and suggests that negative emotions have been historically important, and still are.

    Today, Eamon unpacks the fantasy we’ve been sold over the years - that happiness is something you can achieve, lock in, and never lose, and argues that, ironically, chasing it might actually be what’s making us miserable. Fear not, Eamon is hilarious and delivers his message in a coating of laughter and delicious irony - so he’s able to get the idea across incredibly well. 
    He's even written a book about it, "The Importance of Being Miserable".

    Now that I think about it, the title of the book might just be the closest thing that's ever got me to understanding why Morrissey exists.

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    3 February 2026, 3:10 pm
  • 18 minutes 3 seconds
    The Secret Weapon Against Increasing Polarisation (and how I’m terrified of it)

    When I open my phone, it explodes in a cascade of fear, fury and furphies. That content does exactly what it is designed to do—leave me spinning in a tizz of powerlessness and desperation. 

    Besides just turning my phone off, I think I have found something that makes that feeling less intense, and instead gives me the feeling that I am actually doing something that will make a difference.

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    1 February 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 1 hour 41 minutes
    Connecting Communities Through Creativity with Diesel (aka Mark Lizotte)

    The man, the music legend - Diesel (aka Mark Lizotte) is my guest the week as he prepares to tour the nation for his By Request tour. It's a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, addiction, community - even sleep hygiene - and why songs become emotional time machines. It's a conversation about music, ageing, purpose, and finding connection in a modern world that keeps pulling us apart.

    Heads up - if you'd like to skip straight to the Diesel chat, head to 16:07.

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    27 January 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 19 minutes 14 seconds
    Identity, Storytelling and Resilience with Stan Grant

    Today is January 26th. 

    If you’ve listened to the show for a while you’ll probably have an idea about where I view the significance of this day. If there’s one thing I wish for 2026, it’s that two things can be true at the same time. It is vitally important to celebrate a national identity, the story which binds us together as a community. 

    The current day we’re celebrating this concept causes a great deal of pain to a significant number of people in our country. I’m not putting forward at all that we sholdn’t celebrate who we are as a nation, far from it - i think it’s incredibly important to be proud of who we are, what we’ve become and also to recognise where we’ve come from. We can do that in a way which unites us. 
    The current way we’re going about it doesn’t really do the job. What kind of community do we want? A community divided along ideological lines so stark that we may as well be separate communities? Or a community united by values which we consider at the core of our national identity, and those ideological lines branch from there, as a way to put those values into action in our daily lives?

    For context, today we’re revisiting one of my favourite people in the world - the incredible Stan Grant. 

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    25 January 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 49 minutes 17 seconds
    The Concept Of Common Knowledge with Steven Pinker

    Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist, bestselling author, and one of the most influential thinkers of our time. His latest book unpacks the concept of 'common knowledge', and how it impacts our social, political, and economic lives.

    Steven argues that this invisible layer of shared understanding holds societies together. But it can also work in reverse by reinforcing inherent biases as more people silo themselves inside echo chambers. This is a fascinating conversation with a brilliant man, and you can see Steven live in Australia in February. 

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    20 January 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 14 minutes 48 seconds
    How To Stop People-pleasing and Have Strong Boundaries with Dr Hannah Korrel

    Today, we dive into the fascinating world of relationships, mental health, and neuroscience with neuropsychologist and author Dr. Hannah Korrel. 

    Dr. Korrel specialises in understanding why our brains make us do the things we do, particularly in the context of relationships. Her book How to Break Up with Friends explores the complexities of friendship and how to navigate toxic relationships.

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    18 January 2026, 3:15 pm
  • 53 minutes 7 seconds
    Practical ways to get unstuck today with Dr Emily Musgrove (best of 2025)

    Dr Emily Musgrove (yes, that Dr Emily from The Imperfects) is here to help us answer the big question: Are you moving toward the kind of life you want? If not, you might be feeling ‘stuck’.

    In this mental health masterclass, Dr Emily takes us through the things that keep us stuck—from our emotions to old stories—and shares simple ways and plenty of tips and tools from her new book, Unstuck: A Guide To Finding Your Way Forward To The Life You Want To Live.

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    13 January 2026, 4:15 pm
  • 16 minutes 54 seconds
    If You Listen To This or Not - The Choice Wasn't Yours! Why You Don't Have Free Will with Prof. George Paxinos

    Professor George Paxinos, a leading global neuroscientist who has mapped more parts of the human brain than anyone in history. George’s groundbreaking work has reshaped our understanding of the brain and human behaviour.

    Today, we’ll focus on one of the most intriguing topics he explores: free will. Is free will an illusion? Are we truly in control of our decisions, or are we simply products of our genetics and environment? 

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    11 January 2026, 3:15 pm
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    The Best Thing We Can Do For Our Boys with Dr Billy Garvey (best of 2025)

    Dr Billy Garvey is a senior developmental paediatrician with over 20 years’ experience and a PhD in supporting child development. He's also the founder of the social enterprise Guiding Growing Minds, author of the fantastic book Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental Health, and host of the excellent Pop Culture Parenting podcast. He’s simply one of the absolute best communicators on parenting and mental health. 

    Get comfy, as we delve into topics like cultural influences, practical tools to meaningfully connect with your kids, —you’ll want to hear every second of this one.

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    6 January 2026, 4:15 pm
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