Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps17 Jul 2025

PREMIUM: "How to Raise an Awesome Kid (and be an Awesome Grown-Up)" with Dr Billy Garvey

It's one of the most persistent, perplexing and provocative questions to plague our culture: What explains the explosion in ADHD, anxiety and autism in kids? Is it too much Instagram? Not enough Ritalin? Or are one-of-a-kind kids being failed by a one-size-fits-all model of schooling and parenting?

Dr Billy Garvey is one of Australia's leading developmental paediatricians. He's a senior specialist at one of Australia's largest university paediatric hospitals, where he works with kids struggling with behavioural issues just like he did. His clinic has a waiting list that's years-long.

Billy and Josh debate masculinity, permissive parenting, rigid schools, the over-diagnosis of mental "diseases" in kids, and whether kids are coddled these days. Josh wants to understand why the Greatest Generation was able to win WWII without the high rates of clinical anxiety and depression that supposedly afflict today's snowflakes. Billy says that's exactly the wrong way to look at it.

Billy also hosts the #1 parenting podcast in Australia, Pop Culture Parenting, and is the founder of Guiding Growing Minds, a social enterprise that helps children to live meaningful lives. His book is Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child’s Mental Health.

Josh walked out of this conversation feeling like he'd received a bracing, mind-expanding free therapy session. Unleash your inner twelve-year-old and take a seat.

Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page.

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