Life Matters - Full program podcast

There are growing calls for the childcare subsidy to apply to a broader number of care options. Whether it's grandparents, nannies, au pairs, or whatever the case may be, how might that work? And if your choice is a childcare centre, what does that mean for you?When Jan Warnock was diagnosed with a terminal illness, she decided she wanted to say goodbye on her own terms. So the family held a living wake. Jan's husband Julian Warnock and anthropologist Cindy Stocken share how celebrating life before you go, with the people you love, can make space for grief and healing. For Head and Heart, resident psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones explains why it's human nature to judge people, but we have a choice to make about what to do with that judgement.

Meals on Wheels has been around for more than 70 years, but in a growing number of communities the service is facing challenges. Meals on Wheels chair Paul Sadler, volunteer Carol Gillman and geropsychologist Nancy Pachana discuss changes rolling out across the country and the future of Meals on Wheels.Learning to drive is a rite of passage for many Australians, and often it's the people who raised us sitting in the passenger seat. But do we have the skills to prepare our teenagers to hit to road?The Australian Council of Trade Unions has put forward a proposal to increase annual leave from four weeks to five. At the same time, the average worker is doing around the same amount of unpaid work each year. Fiona Macdonald and Rae Frances talk through how we could tackle big changes to the way we work.

If you had to rank your sex life between 1 to 10, where would you land? According to a recent survey, nearly half of Australians are unhappy with their sex lives, putting us well below the global average. So what's going on? Sexologists Tanya Koens and Cam Fraser unpack the orgasm gap, barriers around intimacy and how to speak your mind in the bedroom.For Ask Aunty, a grieving widow shares how reading his late partner's diary revealed a hidden betrayal. How do you navigate grief while wrestling with regret, and should you keep people's secrets after they're gone?

Electronic shelf labels — those little digital screens replacing paper tags — are becoming more widespread across supermarkets in Australia, where prices can be updated instantly at the push of a button. It's certainly saved hours of employee time printing and updating labels manually, and although it's not inherently problematic, some are concerned that the way it's being used overseas could have implications for Australian shoppers. ABC technology reporter James Purtill retail marketing and consumer behaviour professor Gary Mortimer from Queensland University of Technology unpack what this could look like on Australian shelves.Australia Post has warned the day will soon come when it delivers its last letter, with the rising cost to provide the service outstripping demand. So what might a post-post world look like, and how will the record of history we leave behind change without letters?As workplace culture makes headlines following the fallout between radio duo Kylie Sandilands and Jackie O, behavioural scientist Aaron McEwan look at how to recognise toxic behaviour in the workplace, and what you can do about it.

Crowded lecture theatres and late nights at the uni bar were once staples of university life. But with so much learning now delivered online, campuses aren't the hive of social activity they once were. Life Matters' resident sociologist Dan Woodman and psychologist Andrew Martin unpack what the students of today are missing and whether it matters.Art is a powerful force that can change our thinking and move us to action — but could it save lives? Professor Daisy Fancourt shares what she found in researching her new book, Art Cure: The Science of How The Arts Saves Lives with Philip Samartzis, an artist capturing the sound of cutting-edge science in Antarctica.The way we interact online has changed dramatically since the inception of the internet, and artificial intelligence presents a huge challenge. Digital literacy researcher Luci Pangrazio and AI educator Natasha Banks explore how we're preparing ourselves, and the next generation, to navigate these ever-changing spaces.

It wasn't long ago that zero-alcohol drinks were a niche product. Now they're everywhere, including on supermarket shelves, looking almost identical to the real thing. New research warns these drinks are blurring the line between drinking and healthy living. Professor Simone Pettigrew and advertising creative Dee Madigan unpick whether it's time to review the regulations.While Australians are among the highest consumers of textiles in the world, some shoppers are opting out, embracing low- or no-buy experiments to reassess their wardrobes. Historian Lorinda Cramer and Buy Nothing New founder Tamara Dimattina explore how these trends stack up with those of the past, and just how effective they could be in curbing our clothing consumption. Advertisers have long understood the power of music. A catchy jingle can build brand recognition in seconds, and stay with us long after we've heard it. So could the soundtrack in your head be shaping more of your decisions than you realise?

It has never been harder to be a small live music venue in Australia, but what if there was another way? Churchill Fellow Sam Whiting, the Australian Live Music Business Council's Ant McKenna and not-for-profit venue owner Jim Flanagan explore the possibilities.In the age of wellness, there's an endless stream of advice about how to live longer, stay healthy, and even reverse your biological clock. But have we become so obsessed with living longer that we're no longer living well? Dr Norman Swan and lifestyle and health editor Sarah Berry delve into the extremes of longevity.New research has explored which voices we find more attractive and how our sexuality might shape the kinds of speech that turns us on. Researcher Cate Madill explains what shapes the way we talk, and how our voices reflect power, status and our place in the world.

Debt can bring up a lot of emotions — stress, shame, embarrassment — but it's a reality for most of us. Almost half of Australians with debt struggled to make some repayments in 2025. National debt helpline coordinator Vicki Staff and psychologist Luke Martin share how to shift some of the difficult feelings around our relationship with money.Ask Aunty delves into the tricky territory of ending a friendship. When an age-gap friendship starts to feel a little tiring, is it time to break up? And how do you manage phasing someone out if you're worried about their health?

In the aftermath of the BAFTA awards, one moment has eclipsed the stories behind any of the films that were recognised. A Tourette Syndrome advocate who'd been invited to celebrate a film about his life shouted a racial slur while two Black actors were presenting an award on stage. It was an involuntary tic that he had no control over, but the impact was shocking, sparking heated debate. Mandy Maysey and Seamus Evans from Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia discuss how we can make these spaces genuinely accessible and inclusive — for everyone.Australia is having a reckoning moment for the 1.5 million children enrolled in child care. At the Senate inquiry into quality and safety of Australia's early childhood system, some groups are pushing for more flexible choice for subsidised care outside of the existing daycare system, while others want to re-imagine the system entirely. One of the options put forward is universal child care. Parenting advocate Georgie Dent breaks down what that could look like and just how achievable it would be.In our regular segment My Two Cents, veteran rock and roller Mick Thomas of Weddings, Parties, Anything and The Roving Commission, shares how he makes his money decisions.And for Ask Aristotle, resident philosopher Patrick Stokes delves into what it means to be human. If your head was placed on a new body, would you still be you? Where does our consciousness truly reside? And even if such a transplant was possible, should we do it?

Australia's love of sport runs deep. We idolise the scoreboard, pack out stadiums, and beam with pride when our athletes bring home gold. But for some, the sideline isn't such a welcoming space. So how do we shift our relationship with sport to hold onto the good, and call out the bad? Olympic medallist Libby Trickett and Sportish podcast co-host Georgie Trickett share why they want to shift the way we talk about sport. The language you speak is so much more than the words that come out of your mouth, and for many holding onto those words is a symbol of a fight hard won. So how is the revival of languages, once on the brink of extinction, changing the next generation of speakers? Clark Webb, founder of the first Aboriginal bilingual school in NSW, and Irish language coach Eamon Corcoran explain how helping people rediscover language connects them with culture and community. Less than a month after the Launceston City Council announced it was considering a four-day work week, the proposal has been shelved. So what went wrong? This Working Life host Lisa Leong explores the questions this raises about our attitudes to work, and whether Australia will ever be ready to embrace the four-day week.

Endometriosis affects around one in seven girls and women in Australia, and getting a diagnosis can take, on average, six to eight years. QENDO chief executive Jessica Taylor and endometriosis patient Helene Hill discuss how the Four Corners investigation into a prominent Melbourne gynaecologist has affected trust in the medical system for those who have fought to have their voices heard.A new report into multiculturalism shows that for migrants, a sense of belonging in the postcode where you live is key. But rising rents and gentrification are reshaping communities, sometimes pushing out the very cultural identities that made them vibrant in the first place. Researcher Trish Prentice, Maribyrnong mayor Mohamed Semra and Pakistan Australian Cultural Association president Syed Naqvi shed light on the path forward for new migrants.Resident psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones joins Life Matters for Head and Heart, to chat through just how far you should go to pressure test a new romantic relationship.

The main street is the heart of a country town, and it can often give you a quick picture of how the place is faring. With new data showing more than 5.3 million metropolitan Australians would consider a move to the regions, that first impression can be make or break. Sheep farmer turned property investor Max Jones, regional Queensland mayor Shaun 'Zoro' Radnedge and Professor Andrew Beer discuss what it takes to breathe new life into these communities.We've all had at least one run-in with a neighbour before. But if you knew they could leave you a review, would you think twice about chucking your overflowing rubbish in their bin? Rowan Thambar explains why he created a website called Rate Thy Neighbour, and the unspoken social rules it's revealed.The concept is simple: a rotary phone, disconnected from any network, offering a quiet place to sit and chat with someone who's died. The wind phone began as one man's way to say goodbye, but the idea has now spread around the world, opening up space for conversations about death, loss and grief.And author, academic and activist Bri Lee shares the book that awakened her feminist rage, and ultimately, changed her life.

Many of us feel overwhelmed by the demands of everyday life — hustling to make ends meet, managing never-ending life admin, staying fit and healthy, caring for the people around us, and worrying about the state of the world. So if you're feeling stuck, how do you regain a sense of hopefulness? Writers Jodi Wilson and Andrew Sloan share the practical changes you can make to your daily life to bring things back into balance. And for Ask Aunty, Fiona Harris and Joe Sullivan help navigate a neighbourly dispute over street trees on the nature strip.

After the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, Australia built thousands of public pools, which are now reaching the end of their lives. Royal Surf Life Saving Australia estimates about 40 per cent of public pools will be obsolete by 2030. So what do we lose if our pools start closing, and why are they so important that locals are lobbying to save them?In an age where people are writing entire novels using ChatGPT, author Bri Lee chose to write her latest work completely by hand. It's a small act of resistance pushing back against the relentless quest for convenience, but Bri's not alone. Columnist for New York magazine The Cut, Kathryn Jezer-Morton, coined the term 'friction-maxxing' while investigating this trend, pushing back against the mindless optimisation of all facets of modern life. Do you ever catch up with your grandkids for a good old-fashioned yap, only to find you're barely speaking the same language? Don't worry, that won't last. The American Dialect Society has named its words of the year for 2025 and it appears that old-school gems like 'yap', 'skedaddle', even 'diabolical' are making a comeback.

One of the oldest libraries in Australia, the State Library of New South Wales, is marking its 200th anniversary this year, and as part of the celebrations it's collated a collection of stories about how libraries have changed us. Editor Phillipa McGuinness and teacher-librarian Megan Daley discuss their favourite stories from the library.Research shows our average focus time on one task has dropped from about 2.5 minutes in the early 2000s to around 40 seconds today. So what would happen if you took away all the distractions? No screens. No notifications. No artificial light. No outside world. Scientist Kiana Aran reflects on spending five days in a cave-like sensory deprivation chamber, hooked up to sensors to measure what total isolation does to the body and mind.Wuthering Heights has inspired dozens of screen adaptations, but it feels like no-one can agree on whether this latest version starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi is the best or the worst ever. We love to argue over authenticity and the limits of creative licence, so why do we get caught up when characters from a book jump off the page and onto the screen? 

Coles is in federal court this week, accused by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of misleading shoppers with fake discounts — a claim Coles has denied. With trust in Australia's supermarket giants once again under the microscope, how easy is it to shop elsewhere?Hobbies are good for us, but it turns out that investing serious time and effort into our leisure activities can bring long-term benefits. Researcher Emily Messina and amateur sword fighter Kiara Bruggeman discuss the connection, community and serious skills that can come from going deeper.If you're out in a busy public place and take a moment to look around, chances are you'll spot a CCTV camera. But would you feel differently if those cameras were actively scanning and identifying you? Digital wellbeing expert Joanne Orlando explains how to identify the risks of digital surveillance.

Food ministers from across Australia and New Zealand have green-lit the process to make the health stars you see in the supermarket mandatory for all food products. It's a step in the right direction, but what else do we need to do to create a healthy environment for everyone? Ben Crowe is one of the most in-demand professional mentors and leadership coaches in the world, and after years working with the likes of Ash Barty and Daniel Ricciardo, he's distilled his wisdom into a book. So what can we learn from sporting legends that could actually help us in our everyday lives?And in this instalment of The Book That Changed My Life, #BookTok creator Luke Bateman opens up about the first novel in a 30-plus-volume fantasy series that helped him rebuild his life after a stint in rehabilitation.

Nearly 50 years after the first Mardi Gras march lit up the streets of Sydney, demanding an end to discrimination, so much has changed. But for many LGBTQIA+ Australians, conversations about their identity are still filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Headspace's Vicki Ryall and Lay Laupama discuss what coming out means in 2026, and how we can make it easier.And Ask Aunty tackles how to navigate delicate family dynamics after divorce — Jane Caro and ethicist Simon Kennedy-Jewell weigh in on whether you can ever be truly honest with your grandkids about what you really think of their parents. 

We talk about good hair days — and bad ones — as if they're small things. But for people who are losing their hair, it can feel like losing a part of yourself. Michelle Law and Julian Morgans share their own experiences with hair loss, while researcher Hannah McCann helps untangle why hair is so deeply linked with our sense of identity. Two Winter Olympic events ended in a tie this week, with competitors stepping up to stand on the podium side by side. So what can we learn from athletes about the satisfaction that comes from sharing our successes? Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy revisits her own dual medal win and Hugh Van Cuylenburg shares how teamwork can make success even sweeter than a solo pursuit.William Golding's seminal novel Lord of the Flies is being adapted for the screen, more than 70 years after its debut. So what do these stories reveal about us, and why do we keep returning to them? 

Running rarely feels easy, even for people who love it. Your legs ache, lungs burn, and then there's the nagging voice in your head telling you to walk the rest of the way. And yet, despite that discomfort, run clubs are booming and marathons are selling out. Author Konrad Marshall and Parkrun Australia founder Tim Oberg discuss our love-hate relationship with running and why we keep coming back to it. Tiny homes are booming, and some in the sector argue they could be part of the solution to our housing shortfalls. Travel writer and tiny house advocate Louise Southerden explains what it's like to live in a tiny home for the long haul, while Paul Burton, an emeritus professor of planning, explores whether they could really help to address Australia's housing crisis. Scientists are turning to optical atomic clocks to measure time with unprecedented precision. Though, that still won’t explain what “be there in a sec” really means. Hinze Hogendoorn, a professor of visual time perception, unpacks how our sense of time is deeply personal, why it shifts as we age and whether there’s any way to slow it down.