Charlie Teo on risk, rebellion and doing what’s right

Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo joins Talal Yassine for a no-holds-barred conversation about medicine, power, and staying true to his convictions, even when it cost him everything.

Charlie reflects on growing up in a Chinese-Singaporean household obsessed with British tradition, learning the bagpipes as a kid, and the intense pressure to succeed under a tiger dad. He opens up about the early years of his medical career, his obsession with brain surgery, and how a love for high-risk procedures made him both revered by patients and reviled by peers.

From being celebrated as a medical pioneer to becoming the target of anonymous complaints, hostile media campaigns, and regulatory backlash, Charlie shares how a system meant to protect patients was weaponised against him. He also talks about the fallout (losing his license to operate in Australia) and how that forced pause led him to a breakthrough, mapping the brain for psychiatric and neurological disorders using cutting-edge tech and TMS.

Subscribe to Uncommon Ground on your favourite podcast platform.

Episode Running Order

• Playing the bagpipes and growing up “more British than the British” (02:00)
• Delayed speech and early struggles in school (06:13)
• Pressure to succeed and getting into medicine (10:35)
• Discovering neurosurgery and the thrill of risk (16:42)
• Building a reputation and the backlash that followed (21:57)
• The media storm, character assassination, and professional fallout (34:10)
• Leaving Australia and finding support overseas (47:26)
• Mapping the brain and launching a new frontier in mental health (53:05)
• The myth of happiness, motorcycle therapy, and what he’d tell his younger self (1:00:12)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.