Hugh van Cuylenburg, Ryan Shelton & Josh van Cuylenburg
302 episodes listed below
Three hosts and psychologist Dr Emily talk vulnerability, therapy, and imperfection with guests.
The Imperfects is a long-form conversation show about relationships, overwhelm, parenting, climate anxiety, grief, and the awkward business of being human. Its best moments move between expert frameworks, guest vulnerability, and matey digressions that soften heavy material without dodging it.
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The Imperfects is a three-host interview show, with Hugh van Cuylenburg, Ryan Shelton, and Josh van Cuylenburg speaking with guests for roughly 70 to 100 minutes per episode. Most episodes follow a single guest through personal history and struggle, moving from biography into a specific psychological or relational theme. A recurring segment features Dr Emily, the show's resident psychologist, who delivers more educational, framework-driven episodes on subjects like radical acceptance, drawing on dialectical behaviour therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. Guests span relationship therapists (Esther Perel), parenting educators (Maggie Dent), actors (Claudia Karvan), leadership mentors (Ben Crowe), authors and activists (Bri Lee), and non-celebrity guests sharing personal experiences such as postnatal anxiety (Bron Lewis). Recurring themes include relationship dynamics, parenting, radical acceptance and emotional regulation, family mental illness, postpartum mental health, and climate-related anxiety. Host Hugh van Cuylenburg's background founding The Resilience Project informs the show's psychoeducational framing of personal stories. Occasional lighter, behind-the-scenes episodes bridge seasons and cross-promote the subscriber spinoff, A Little More Imperfects. The tone mixes casual host banter with emotionally serious guest material, often referencing therapists, researchers, and authors (Gottman, Marsha Linehan, Rachel Botsman, Russ Harris). Listeners interested in mental health, relationships, and personal development, particularly an Australian audience, are the core fit. Production is conversational rather than tightly scripted, with hosts interjecting reactions and personal anecdotes throughout guest interviews.
Made for: Listeners interested in mental health, relationships, and personal growth who want long, conversational interviews with therapists, authors, and public figures.
What sets it apart: Pairs celebrity and public-figure interviews with a recurring in-house psychologist segment (Dr Emily) that translates clinical frameworks like DBT and ACT into everyday takeaways.
We’re all imperfect. On this podcast, founder of The Resilience Project Hugh van Cuylenburg, his good friend Ryan Shelton, and only one of their brothers, Josh van Cuylenburg, talks to a variety of interesting people who vulnerably share their own struggles and imperfections, or expertly pass on their wisdom on the subject of imperfection. Whether it’s in The Vulnerabilitea House, The Academy of Imperfection, or with our very own psychologist, Dr Emily, The Imperfects are here to find some valuable takeaways we can all apply to our own imperfect lives.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The Imperfects turns candid guest conversations and the hosts' own disclosures into practical language for relationships, distress, illness and emotional acceptance.
Hugh van Cuylenburg, Ryan Shelton and Josh van Cuylenburg make personal disclosure part of the questioning, often using humor to keep difficult conversations open.
Dr Emily names the feeling; Hugh, Ryan and Josh keep your defenses laughing until the lesson lands.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Esther Perel makes relationship repair feel less like winning the argument and more like changing the pattern together.
The Imperfects has Esther Perel back for a loose, useful conversation about sex, conflict, affection, mental load, and the strange power of apologizing first. Her strongest point is simple: repair starts before the grievance list.
A warm, practical guide to getting through overwhelm when your system has already gone past its window.
Overwhelm is framed here as a system overload, not a character flaw. Dr Emily uses the idea of a tolerance window: inside it, you can cope; outside it, demands outstrip capacity and thinking can start to shut down.
A calm, useful conversation about facts, outrage, and staying mentally steady in a polluted information world.
Hamish Macdonald returns to The Imperfects for a thoughtful conversation about staying steady in a media climate where facts can feel optional and outrage moves fast.
A thoughtful, grounded listen on climate anxiety, parenthood, control and the kind of hope that comes from action.
Bri Lee turns climate anxiety into a bodily question: can you really choose parenthood freely when fear has already crowded the choice? Her novel Seed gives the discussion its frame, but the pull here is more personal than literary.
A warm, careful conversation about radical acceptance as a way to meet hard feelings without giving up agency.
Dr. Emily frames radical acceptance as a practical mental health skill: pain may arrive, but the fight against it can add a second layer of suffering. The episode is strongest when it keeps the idea plain.
A candid Claudia Karvan conversation about childhood instability, serious mental illness, early acting, and love without fixing.
The Imperfects hosts Claudia Karvan for a candid conversation about family instability, early work, and the complicated shape of love around serious mental illness.
A warm, practical look at treating the inner critic as something to understand, not simply silence.
The Imperfects takes on the inner critic without turning it into a villain. Dr Emily suggests that a harsh internal voice can sometimes be understood as something that once helped a person cope or survive, which opens up a gentler question: not how to crush it, but how to relate…
A funny, uneasy conversation about illness, shame, and trying to perform through a body that keeps changing the rules.
Troy Kinne's visit to The Imperfects is strongest when the comedy drops just enough to show what has been sitting underneath it. He talks about living with a version of dextrocardia, having one lung, and why COVID felt less like background news than a direct threat.
Jonquilyn Hill chases one listener question per episode to the experts who can answer it.
Fearne Cotton interviews guests like Boy George and Bryony Gordon about mental health and identity.
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford pairs therapy insight with Black TV recaps, maternal health, and history.
Esther Perel starts with appreciation.
Overwhelm is the system overloaded.
Post-truth does not sound theoretical anymore.
"Hope is something that you earn through action." The guest talks through climate anxiety, wanting children, and trying to live by values when fear is in the room.
Ben Crowe opens with his mantra, “I am enough no matter what, but I’m not done yet,” and ties it to purpose as something with “no finish line.” He also frames his work as a mentor and leadership coach by naming clients like Ash Barty, Andre Agassi, and the 2017 Richmond Premiership team.
This episode discusses the limited time we have in life, using Matt Preston's insights to explore end-of-life conversations, dementia, and personal reflections on aging and family.
Pain is inevitable; suffering can shift.
Maggie Dent joins The Imperfects to argue that parenting does not need perfection, saying parents only need to be “good enough 30 to 40% of the time.” She repeats the phrase “no matter what” as a way to tell children that love does not change when they fail or leave for a party.
Bron Lewis describes walking the streets with a screaming newborn, yelling “this is really f***ing hard” at a pregnant woman at a bus stop, and immediately getting the reply, “I’m not pregnant.” She then recounts Ari not waking on day three, her mother checking his eyelid, and the family rushing to hospital after his eye rolled back.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
A report card opens the door.
The hosts reflect on a past emotional moment when one of them received news about a TV show, and they replay subscriber-only episodes about vulnerability and imperfection.
The Imperfects opens a summer break segment with Josh naming the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and then joking with Hugh about hair, camera angles, and looking “terrible” on video.
Summer arrives with board shorts, flamingos, and a fake January mood on purpose.
A Christmas special where the hosts and a guest discuss embracing imperfection and vulnerability in a safe, judgment-free space.
Hugh van Cuylenburg interviews Dave Hughes about his struggles with comparison, ego, and self-worth, exploring themes of vulnerability and imperfection.
Mary Fowler discusses her journey with self-harm and suicidal ideation, emphasizing self-forgiveness and the importance of creating safe spaces for vulnerable conversations about mental health.
This episode discusses how early childhood experiences shape communication styles and offers psychological insights on improving relationships.
Co-host Josh shares his brain tumor diagnosis and discusses disordered eating and body dysmorphia with a returning guest.
The joke starts with vulnerability cards, mate.
The hosts discuss illness anxiety disorder with psychologist Dr.
A podcast where hosts and guests share personal struggles and insights on imperfection, resilience, and mental health.
Hugh van Cuylenburg interviews Hugo Tuvi about his experience with two cancers and the impact on his family.
The hosts introduce the show's theme of imperfection and vulnerability, then share a personal story about a toxic relationship and low self-worth.
The hosts discuss goal setting and the psychology behind it, introducing their psychologist Dr.
The episode opens with a land acknowledgment and a discussion on values, then transitions into a warm introduction of a returning guest, Kemi Nekwipil.
The episode features a conversation with a lived experience practitioner about suicide prevention and supporting those bereaved by suicide.
Hugh van Cuylenburg introduces a live tour and a conversation with Vincent Fantuzzo about sexual abuse and suicide, emphasizing vulnerability and resilience.
Hugh van Cuylenburg introduces an episode about creativity with guest Truthless, while acknowledging sensitive topics like suicide and addiction.
A bonus episode celebrating the release of Dr.
A nutrition scientist shares research-backed practical tips for adopting a healthy diet imperfectly over decades.
The episode features a psychologist discussing how to handle anxiety within relationships and the importance of showing up for each other.
Hugh van Cuylenburg and co-hosts interview Danielle Laidley about her struggles with gender dysphoria, addiction, and suicide attempts, exploring themes of imperfection and vulnerability.
The hosts reflect on the response to an open letter about neurodivergent parenting, discussing vulnerability and resilience.
The hosts introduce the podcast's theme of imperfection and vulnerability, then begin an interview with Stephen Curry about his personal struggles.