God Forbid

The world has trust issues with its media.Three in five Australians trust TV and radio news, and what's in the newspapers,.But in North America it is fewer than three in ten.Are we doing something better here, OR are we just a decade behind them? Is it an economic problem? After all, ownership of our media has been contracting to just a few players. That alone has had some huge implications for the quality of news and who it speaks to.The online podcast world has arguably meant a democratisation of the way people are finding their news. How can lost trust in media be regained? GUESTS:Tara Henley, Canadian journalist, broadcaster and author of "The Trust Spiral"Jonathan Holmes, journalist, writer, former ABC TV presenter and broadcasterScott Mitchell, former ABC journalist and now co host of the podcast "Lamestream"This program was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Is intolerance tightening its grip on public life? The twentieth century was among the most intolerant in human history; the Holocaust, Stalinism, empires collapsing in blood. So why, in the twenty-first century, is tolerance still so elusive? In the final episode of a two-part series on toleration, God Forbid looks at the ever-growing allure of tribalism, cementing division along contentious political fault lines. Guests:Dr Shaun Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia. Author of the forthcoming Catholicism and Enlightenment.Dr Devleena Ghosh, Professor, School of Communication and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney. Dr Abdullah Kunde, Founder and President of the Muslim Debate Initiative Australia.This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Rulers throughout history have used tolerance and intolerance in their pursuit of power. In our modern context, tolerance is often lauded as an unqualified good, but are there limitations? Should we extend tolerance to those who commit acts of violence?  In the first of two episodes on the rise and fall of tolerance, God Forbid looks at the religious roots of tolerance and intolerance. Can lessons of the past be applied today, in an increasingly divided world? GUESTS:Shaun Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Theology, Notre Dame University. Jürgen Overhoff, Professor of the History of Educational, University of Münster, Germany. Francisco (Paco) Garcia-Serrano, Professor of History, Saint Louis University, Madrid. This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

What is the place of religion in a pluralist society?Australia calls itself a secular country, yet it has never been more religiously diverse.Whether you're religious or secular, whether you support multi or mono-culturalism, it seems we all claim the authentic mantle of modern Australian identity.Yet none of us agree on what it is, much less who owns it.How should we grapple with our identity as a secular nation in a diverse and ever-changing world? GUESTS:Renae Barker, Senior Lecturer, UWA Law School, author of State and Religion: The Australian Story. Greg Melleuish, Professorial Fellow, Robert Menzies Institute; Fellow, Campion College. Co-author of Understanding Piety and Theology in the Culture of the West: The Poetic Life. See him in conversation at the Berry Writer's Festival in November. Enqi Weng, Research Fellow, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University. Author of Media Perceptions of Religious Changes in Australia: Of Dominance and Diversity. This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Generation Z is the first generation since the war to start out with less claim on the country than their parents.You might believe this story is just all about economics. Negative gearing, property investment, supply and demand... But there's an older, even ancient, argument that says that says a country where people own nothing will eventually become a country where people are nothing.  That owning property doesn't just confer wealth. It's moral training. When you own, you own up. This was the vision of Prime Minister Menzies who spoke of responsibility for "homes material, homes human, and homes spiritual". So was Menzies right? Does owning things make you more responsible, even a better person? Or is that the convenient story owners tell themselves, while the rest of us try to find this weeks rent? GUESTS:James Vitali is a political theorist from Cambridge University, now a Conservative Party councillor in Dorset in the UK - His new book The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois values can save Britain. Max Jeganathan is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. On the Labor side - He advised the Rudd and Gillard governments. This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation