Undisciplinary

Undisciplinary

Each episode, sometimes academics, Courtney Hempton, Jane Williams and Chris Mayes take an undisciplined dive (i.e. bellyflop) into the underwater caverns of history, ethics and politics of health. They are joined by a cocktail of erudite, cantankerous and more qualified guests to talk through everything from the history of feminist bioethics to why acronyms are a curse and unnecessary evil. Plus, they break down the latest biopolitical news, discuss #bioethicstwitter bin-fires, and dig up forgotten gems from the archive. New episodes drop every Thursday.

  1. 5 days ago

    Medical Museums and Colonial Hauntings: a conversation with Órla O'Donovan

    Send us Fan Mail We talk with Órla O'Donovan about how medical museums and university heritage spaces can hide violence in the display cabinets while still shaping what we treat as knowledge, normality, and progress. We discuss with the limits of consent, erasing records, and why real repair demands ongoing reckoning with the past.  References to topics discussed: Órla O'Donovan, University ‘dude walls’ must fall, Community Development Journal, Volume 60, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 13–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsae050 O’Donovan, Órla. "“The Irish giant” and the questions haunting medical museums." bmj 381 (2023). Tasmania government apologises for display of autopsy body parts in museum without consentVial episode over after precious blood comes home to Elcho Island Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  2. 1 July

    Why AHPRA’s IHRA Anti-Semitism Definition Alarms Australian Health Workers

    Send us Fan Mail We talk with Professor Jon Jureidini about why AHPRA’s adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism alarms many Australian healthcare workers, academics and students. We discuss how a narrow regulatory move can chill speech, fuel vexatious complaints, and sideline collective and intersectional anti-racist strategies in healthcare. Considering signing the “Joint letter from healthcare workers & those in training to AHPRA regarding adoption of the IHRA definition”.  Things discussed IHRA – Working definition of antisemitism Eliminating antisemitism in healthcare: Joint statement from Ahpra and the Special EnvoyAntisemitism case of two NSW nursesFiona Stanley ‘ashamed’ after hospital bearing her name cancelled event featuring Palestinian Australian doctors'I was doxxed': UK doctors welcome BMA protections for criticism of IsraelHuman Rights Commission report Racism@Uni ReportJon Jureidini’s advocacy for asylum seekers and Obituary for David Isaacs noting his advocacy for refugees.Some evidence to support claims made Two thirds of Israeli’s believe there are ‘no innocents’ in Gaza.Kenneth Stern – ‘I drafted the definition of antisemitism. Rightwing Jews are weaponizing it’ Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  3. 5 June

    Exclusionary Solidarity In Global Health Justice

    Send us Fan Mail We talk with Peter West-Oram about his new book - Justice, Solidarity and Global Health: From Globalisation to Collaboration - and discuss why solidarity is not automatically virtuous and how it can contribute to exclusion, coercion, and violence.  We use COVID-19, vaccine conflict, and global injustice to ask what a minimal pro-social solidarity looks like and who gets counted inside the circle of moral concern.  • solidarity as morally neutral rather than inherently good  • exclusionary solidarity and the “lone wolf” story that hides communities  • a minimal threshold for getting along in pluralist society  • fat positivity as a case of pro-social community under outside hostility  • three antisocial solidarities: hostility, mistaken, non-malicious exclusion  • vaccine hesitancy as solidarity with harmful external effects  • vaccine hoarding and partial policy choices that damage global health equity  • mandates, reactance, and why trust building is long-term work  • relational health beyond infection: infrastructure, climate change, and antimicrobial resistance  • Gaza, “who counts,” and what solidarity demands when people are denied moral standing  Don't forget to like and subscribe, folks.  Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  4. 18 Apr

    Don’t Die: on the longevity obsession

    Send us Fan Mail Dr Lisa Mitchell and A/Prof Diego Silva join us to discuss Netflix’s “Don’t Die” and use Bryan Johnson’s longevity regimen to talk about fear, meaning, and the politics of health. We ask what gets lost when anti-aging turns into an identity, a moral badge, or a business model.  • Brian Johnson’s “don’t die” project as a story about wealth, control, and death anxiety  • the tedium of optimization and the way routines become moral signaling  • longevity culture’s overlap with masculinity aesthetics and looksmaxing  • confusion between health, longevity, beauty standards, and virtue  • mind versus body authority and what it means to distrust the mind  • where philosophy and existential dread sit alongside “longevity science”  • ageism debates and the gap between chronological age and health  • level-one basics of preventive medicine versus extreme protocols  • paranoia, environmental toxins, and auditing everyday life  • ethical criticism of calling death the “greatest humanitarian challenge”  • what community, love, and friendship look like across a very long life  Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  5. 10 Mar

    Anxious Masculinity: How Social Media Markets “Low T” And Shapes Men’s Health with Emma Grundtvig Gram

    Send us Fan Mail We chart how social media turns low testosterone into a crisis, selling masculinity, anxiety, and medical fixes to healthy men while skirting regulation. Emma Grundtvig Gram joins us to unpack overdiagnosis, celeb MRI scans, and the manosphere’s grip on health norms. • harms of screening and the right to balanced information • direct-to-consumer tests, devices, and influencer advertising • celebrity-promoted full-body scans and overdiagnosis risk • low T marketing as a lifestyle and masculinity product • gendered parallels with menopause messaging and diet culture • regulation gaps on social platforms and undisclosed conflicts • cultural costs: emotions framed as failure and narrowing norms Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  6. 22/12/2025

    End of 2025 Reflections: Bondi, grief and AABHL2025

    Send us Fan Mail We return after a hard pause to sit with grief, public safety, and how quickly politics moves to claim tragedy. We point to real solidarity work, reflect on bioethics beyond the moment of death, and share plans for more focused conversations next year. • pause explained and schedule intentions • Bondi tragedy and the ethics of listening • Australia’s uneasy multicultural story and safety • grief, silence, and limits of social media • solidarity via Jewish Council of Australia petition • conference highlights on post-death values • Luddite lens on AI governance in healthcare • universities in crisis and ethical refusal • last year’s themes of love, grief, empathy • plans to follow up with guests and topics Go to JewishCouncil.com.au and read the petition about not allowing this to divide us Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  7. 19/09/2025

    Gender Open Parenting: A Path to Childhood Autonomy with Nanette Ryan

    Send us Fan Mail Dr. Nanette Ryan discusses gender open parenting, a model allowing children to determine their own gender in their own time without imposing gender expectations based on assigned sex at birth. According to Dr Ryan, this approach creates space for autonomy and protects children from potentially harmful patriarchal gender norms while providing them with knowledge to navigate gender in society. • Gender open parenting involves non-disclosure of a child's assigned sex at birth except to immediate caregivers • The approach differs from gender-neutral parenting and gender abolitionism by embracing plurality of expressions • Three key elements: non-disclosure, creating inclusive environments, and education about gender norms This conversation is based on Dr Ryan's recent paper: Ryan, Nanette. 2025. “Autonomy and Gendering in Childhood”. Feminist Philosophy Quarterly 11 (2). https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/fpq/article/view/21632. Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

  8. 22/08/2025

    Beyond Bleeding: How Period Tracking Apps Redefine Health

    Send us Fan Mail Dr. Andrea Ford, cultural and medical anthropologist, explores the fascinating world of femtech and period tracking apps, revealing how these technologies are transforming our understanding of bodies, health, and gender. The conversation examines how these digital tools function within surveillance capitalism while promising personal empowerment through data collection. • Period tracking has evolved beyond fertility planning to become a comprehensive approach to "hormonal health" • Femtech represents a $50 billion industry that includes apps, wearables, and AI-driven health platforms • Users track not just bleeding but hundreds of metrics including mood, energy, and physical symptoms • Post-Roe v. Wade concerns about data privacy have prompted many to delete tracking apps • "Cycle syncing" encourages planning work and social activities around hormonal phases • Female tech founders face significant barriers in the male-dominated venture capital world • Period tracking sits at feminism's central tension: celebrating biological differences versus transcending them • Newer approaches to menstruation frame it as inflammatory rather than hormonal • The menopause tech boom reflects changing attitudes about women's health across the lifespan Check out Dr. Ford's Wellcome Trust-funded research investigating the femtech industry, surveillance concerns, and how digital health is reshaping our relationship with our bodies. Undisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health.  Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" undisciplinarypod@gmail.com

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About

Each episode, sometimes academics, Courtney Hempton, Jane Williams and Chris Mayes take an undisciplined dive (i.e. bellyflop) into the underwater caverns of history, ethics and politics of health. They are joined by a cocktail of erudite, cantankerous and more qualified guests to talk through everything from the history of feminist bioethics to why acronyms are a curse and unnecessary evil. Plus, they break down the latest biopolitical news, discuss #bioethicstwitter bin-fires, and dig up forgotten gems from the archive. New episodes drop every Thursday.

Information

  • Creator
    Undisciplinary
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    88
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Undisciplinary
  • Show Website
    Undisciplinary

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