Life Matters - Full program podcast

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 Sloane 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.

From its beginnings as a protest march in Sydney's inner city, Mardi Gras has become an internationally renowned celebration of LGBTQIA+ life. But this year festival organisers  have announced the huge post-parade party has been cancelled. Historian Scott McKinnon and queer club owner Tim Brown ponder the question: how important is the party?Family businesses are often treated like heirlooms — they carry a legacy and an expectation that they'll be passed down through generations. But when it's time for the founders to step back, things get complicated. Ombudsman Bruce Billson and Gina Dang, who runs a strawberry empire alongside her six siblings, chat through all the challenges that come with succession planning.Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones explains how to say now without hurting people's feelings or damaging relationships, and what we can learn from letting someone down gently.

As the national skills shortage bites, the trades are attracting more people looking for a new career. Australia's jobs and skills commissioner Barney Glover AO and Melbourne carpenter Tristan Santoro discuss what it takes to make a long-term career in the trades. Whether it's lofi beats, hard rock or classical, research suggests that listening to music while we work can improve productivity. Professor of music Emery Schubert and AFLW footballer Darcy Vescio chat through their optimal performance-enhancing playlists.More and more Australians are choosing cycling for their daily commute, skipping the traffic congestion and squeezing in some exercise. But the way our cities are designed shapes how we get around, and research shows there's a gender imbalance when it comes to cycling accessibility.

When you think of your home, what springs to mind? For some, home is their happy place, a sanctuary of comfort and calm. But for others, it's complicated. Psychologist Chris Cheers discusses what it means to feel at home in our space, mind and body. And Ask Aunty delves into pet politics — Denise Eriksen and James Colley discuss how to deal with a mate's four-legged friend if you're not that enamoured by a slobbery extra guest under the dinner table. 

School is back and across the ditch there's a new subject in the New Zealand curriculum: financial education will be taught in classrooms from year 1 to 10. The Barefoot Investor author Scott Pape discusses how Australia could incorporate financial lessons into our own curriculum.There's a turf war in Melbourne right now over who's responsible for maintaining the nature strip on either side of the road. But could there be a better way to make use of these public pockets of land?Giving your child a name that suits them can feel like an impossible task, and we turn to our own cultural touchpoints for inspiration. So what does it say about our cultural references when Charlotte, Oliver, Amelia and Noah top the charts every year? 

Australia is a world leader in cancer survival, with more than 1.6 million people now living with and beyond cancer. But survival alone doesn't tell the whole story. Cancer survivor and researcher Professor Phoebe Phillips and Professor Bogda Koczwara from the Australian Research Centre for Cancer Survivorship discuss how to support people not just during the early stages of care, but for the long run. What age did you consider yourself "too old" to wear certain outfits? Playwright Peta Murray and author David Carlin share what they learned about the complexities of aging through caring for their elderly parents and reflecting on their experience in a new memoir, How to Dress for Old Age.Around one in seven Australians lives with tinnitus, a debilitating condition that can affect our social lives, our work and even how we get to sleep. As part of Tinnitus Awareness Week, a group of researchers from around the world have joined forces to push sound-based therapies designed to help people reduce the noise.

While women's sport is booming in Australia, beneath the surface there are signs of a culture that's lagging behind. Accusations of disrespect, mistreatment and exclusion are still bubbling away — and one regional Victorian women's team has walked away from their club altogether. ABC Sport reporter Marnie Vinall, researcher Rochelle Eime and West Brunswick AFC president Lydia Holt unpack what it actually takes to turn spaces built by men, for men, into places where women truly belong.The pandemic entrenched working from home, and these days, millions of people are logging in remotely to do everything they once did in the office. But if your boss is not so keen on the idea of you working from home, how can you make the case for it? Melissa Wheeler digs into new research looking at which flexible work requests are most effective.An Australian designer has released a copycat version of the iconic Birkin handbag, retailing for a fraction of the price. It begs the question: how much more are we willing to pay for "authentic" products or experiences? Paul Harrison discusses whether fake can still be fashionable, and how important authenticity is to real consumers.

The dog park is a magical place for our four-legged friends. But it's also a unique space for humans to connect with each other, form friendships, build community, and in some cases, even fall in love. Co-creator of ABC's new comedy Dog Park Amanda Higgs and animal-human relationship specialist Tiffani Howell discuss what makes dog park friendships so special. When John Davey became a quadruple amputee, he spent eight months lying in a hospital bed before a chance meeting in rehab showed him the true meaning of companionship. Could social connection be the key to recovery?A new survey shows around 70 per cent of kids travel to school by car, missing out on the benefits that come with active travel. So how can we get more out of our daily commute? Kieran Brophy shares the successes of a Victorian pilot program to get more kids walking to school.