Heart Of The Matter - A Health Humanities Podcast
This podcast will involve discussions with researchers in the Heart of the Matter project - an interdisciplinary project that aims to deepen our understanding of the heart and improve human wellbeing through fostering dialogue and innovation across the fields of health, medicine, engineering, philosophy, literary studies and the humanities. The aim of the Heart of the Matter is to pull together holistic bodily, social, cultural, medical, technical and lived experiences of cardiac health and concerns.
Episodes
In this episode of 'Heart of the Matter,' we welcomes Professor Cara Wrigley from the University of Queensland. The discussion delves into Professor Wrigley's pioneering work in applying design thinking to healthcare, specifically focusing on cardiac care and medical device development.
Insights are shared on the integration of human-centered design in improving patient experiences, the role of emotional relationshi...
In this episode of The Heart of the Matter podcast, we dive into the cinematic portrayal of hearts in three selected films: 'Return to Me,' 'Heart Eyes,' and 'The Heart Knows.'
We discuss the narrative connections between heart transplants and romantic relationships, exploring themes of love, memory, and identity.
Join the conversation as the team navigates these heart-centric films, their symbolic s...
In this episode of 'Heart of the Matter,' hosts Claire Hansen, Brid Phillips and Michael Stevens discuss the latest in heart related research in 2025!
The hosts cover a range of topics, starting with the latest research on the benefits of brisk walking for reducing heart rhythm problems. They also delve into the fascinating parallels between Shakespearean depictions of heartbreak and modern medical understandings of Tak...
In this episode of "Heart of the Matter," we dive into the fascinating connections between health literacy and cardiovascular disease (CVD) with Dr. Bonnie Beasant, an early-career lecturer and researcher.
Join us as we explore barriers to health literacy among underserved populations, the behavioral and clinical factors influencing CVD, and practical steps to enhance heart health education. With insights from Bonnie’s groundbreaki...
On this episode, we sit down with Professor John Fraser, Director of the Critical Care Research Group at Prince Charles Hospital. Professor Fraser is an absolute legend in the field of critical care research. He has led several incredible initiatives, too many to list here.
He also has a past life as an actor, so we use this interview to discuss how John combines his two passions of the arts and medicine in his daily work.
In this episode, we sit down with Kirsty Freeman, Associate Professor at the Rural Clinical school of Western Australia. Kirsty shares her perspective on the heart and how we keep the heart going, the work of first responders, and the difficulties faced by rural and remote clinicians. Kirsty discusses her experiences working in remote communities as well as her work in the impact of imposter phenomenon (not imposter syndrome!) in h...
Welcome to the next enlightening episode of "Heart of the Matter." Join Dr. Claire Hansen, Dr. Brid Phillips, and Dr. Michael Stevens, along with our special guest, Dr. Michelle Barrett, a revered GP from Canberra with a passion for storytelling and teaching.
In this episode, we delve into Dr. Barrett's remarkable journey of using storytelling to enhance medical education and patient care. With over two decades of e...
Welcome to another enlightening episode of "Heart of the Matter," where we delve into the intricate world of cardiology with your knowledgeable hosts, Dr. Claire Hansen from ANU, Dr. Brid Phillips from UWA, and Dr. Michael Stevens from UNSW.
In this thought-provoking installment titled "The 'Normal' Heart," our expert trio navigates the complex terrain of what constitutes a "normal" heart. Unra...
Welcome back to another episode of HOTM! Our regular hosts Brid and Claire sit down virtually with Dr Emma Trott from University of Leeds to discuss how the heart is represented in contemporary literature, film and culture.
You can view Emma's research profile here.
In this episode, we sit down with Vicki Wade, First Nations Heart Health Lead with the Heart Foundation, and Associate Professor Glenn Pearson, Director First Nations Strategy and Leadership at the Telethon Kids Institute, to discuss the disproportionate impact of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Australia.
This episode was recorded on the 5th of September 2023, in the leadup to a ke...
Mummification! Pyramids! Book of the Dead! Ancient Egypt is such a fascinating period of history, and still so pervasive in our consciousness today. Fortunately for us, ancient Egyptians were also fascinated in the human heart!
On this episode, we interview two brilliant academics: Dr Camillia Di Biase-Dyson and PhD Candidate Madeleine Jenkins from Maquarie University. We learn all about how ancient Egyptians perceived the hea...
On this episode of our HOTM podcast, we sit down with Professor Anna Greenwood from the University of Nottingham, to discuss her role as the first Professor of Health History. Professor Greenwood was a visiting fellow at the Humanities Research Centre at The ANU in early 2023, which enabled us to sit down with this amazing academic for an interview about her work. She has an amazing track record in the history of health, which over...
Welcome to our first episode for 2023! For this episode, we're dressed in our best post-apocalyptic clothing, taken stock of our non-perishable food supplies and kept someone on look-out as we dive into the 2013 zombie film "Warm Bodies".
We discuss the representation of hearts in this modern, zombie-filled, adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Join us for a fascinating analysis of how this film links he...
In 2022, the Heart of the Matter team were invited to present at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for History of Emotions (CHE). We jumped at the chance, to share our novel interdisciplinary research with the wider Australian humanities field.
In this episode, we share with you our presentation at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for History of Emotions. We also introduce our newe...
In this episode, the Heart of the Matter team sit down with Australian artist Vic McEwan. Vic is the founder of the CAD Factory and is an interdisciplinary artist working with sound, video, installation and performance with a particular interest in site-specific work.
We talk about Vic's work, Harmonic Oscillator, a collection of work developed during his placement as artist-in-residence at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, with...
In this episode, the team sit down with philosopher Pat McConville from Monash University Bioethics Centre to discuss his research into using Phenomenology to help understand and articulate the lived experience of people living with an artificial heart.
Links to papers discussed in the podcast:
McConville, P. Toward a phenomenology of congenital illness: a case of single-ventricle heart disease. Med Health Care and Philo...
In this episode, we are joined by Associate Professor Katie Barclay (University of Adelaide) and Dr Bronwyn Reddan (Deakin University) to talk about their book, The Feeling Heart in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Meaning, Embodiment, and Making. Join us as we discuss the heart as battlefield, the porous heart, fairytales, and find out what a cardiotaph is...!
* Apologies for the distortion on the introduction music, some technical gremlins on this one! *
In this episode, we discuss Nikki Stamp's book, "Can You Die of a Broken Heart?"
Find out more here: https://www.murdochbooks.com.au/browse/books/health-fitness/health-fitness-1/Can-You-Die-of-a-Broken-Heart-Dr-Nikki-Stamp-9781760631666.
Dr Stamp's website is available here: http://www.drnikkistamp.com/ .
This episode discusses a recent journal article which investigates patient names for their mechanical circulatory support devices, and what role emotion plays in the naming and identification process.
You can find the article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34438307/.
Wrigley PC, Peel DS, Ko KKH, Straker DK. Patient names for mechanical circulatory support devices: Developing emotional insights. Heart Lung. 2021 Nov-Dec...
In this episode, we discuss a paper from the Parra Lab, "Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals" by Perez et al. This paper highlights how conscious processing can synchronise heart range changes across individuals, and how patients with congnitive impairment do no exhibit the same synchronicity.
We also discuss zombies, electroencephalograms and the origins of this show's introd...
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