Life Matters - Full program podcast

If you're heading on an overnight hike or about to tackle a challenging climb on your summer break, how much thought have you given to the worst-case scenario? It's not something anyone likes to dwell on, but preparing for all possibilities can be the difference between life, death, or being extracted by specialist rescue teams. So how prepared are you to venture into the wilderness? Dr Jo Kippax is an emergency doctor and 2026 Tasmanian Australian of the Year, Dr Jim Whitehead is a search and rescue trainer, and Krystal Dacey is a PHD candidate looking into the way we behave when we're lost in the wilderness.The Christmas party invite says smart casual. But what does that mean when it's 35 degrees and storms are on the way? And why are double pluggers acceptable in a Queensland office setting, but you'd never catch anyone in Sydney with their toes out at work? There's no doubt our weather and cultural trends influence what we wear. But how much personal freedom do we really have when we're getting dressed? Alex Haslam is a Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, University of Queensland.Two major clothing retailers have been busted using AI-generated ads. Now Heineken, Polaroid, and Cadbury are pushing back- branding their campaigns "human made." So, why are we bothered whether an ad is AI-generated or not? Paul Harrison is Chair of Consumer Behaviour at Deakin University's Business School.

Last Thursday morning, a woman died and her boyfriend was seriously injured in a shark attack at a remote NSW beach. The attack happened as the couple was reportedly filming dolphins in the water. It's a tragedy... and the fifth fatal shark attack in Australia this year. So, are shark attacks on the rise in Australia? And what's the most effective way of reducing attacks? Professor Culum Brown is Head of the Fish lab at Macquarie University and Steven Pearce is CEO of Surf Life Saving New South Wales.AI is already pretty good at making decent music with bare minimum human input, but now one of the biggest AI-music generating platforms has partnered with one of the world's biggest record labels. It could mean the artificially-made music is about to be based on some of your favourite – and most popular – artists' work. So once the song is sung, do you care whether the music you love is AI or human-generated? Ben Lee is an Australian musician, Dr Emery Schubert is a Professor at UNSW, and Dr Ben Green is a music sociologist and Lecturer at RMIT. The consumer watchdog is urging shoppers to be wary of online "ghost stores" in the lead-up to Christmas. The ACCC has received more than 700 complaints about online stores suspected of misrepresenting themselves as local businesses. So how can you steer clear of online scams this festive season? And what should you do if you've been caught up in one? Dr Cassandra Cross is a Professor at Queensland University of Technology's School of Justice and Troy Hunt is a web security consultant and founder of Have I Been Pwned.

Although we’d all love to imagine you can have a second chance at love, the divorce rate for second marriages is double that of first. Psychotherapists Dr Zoe Krupka and Stephen Andrew have been a couple for 14 years and it's a second marriage for both of them. They say marriage number two can be the fulfilling and thrilling relationship people always hoped they could have.In high school, sorting out friendship drama can take up a lot of time, but it can cause even bigger headaches as adults. So what do you do when your relationship with your new best friend is upsetting your old best friend? Aunties Patrick Lenton and Dr Rebecca Ray get to the bottom of the problem.

A big backyard used to be part of the Australian dream. But a shift has happened over time. Block sizes for new houses across our cities have shrunk by 22 per cent in the past 15 years, according to the ABS. We're building bigger houses with smaller yards. So, RIP the backyard? What does it mean for our communities if backyards become a rarity?cCosta Georgiadis is a landscape architect and host of Gardening Australia, Professor Joe Hurley is at the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University and Dr Thami Croeser is Deputy Associate Director at Regenerative Environments & Climate Action at RMIT University.As the social media ban approaches, Meta platforms are prompting users under 16 to download their data before they're removed from the platform. As Australia enters our world first of taking social media off of teenagers, what do we need to make sure they take with them? Tama Leaver is Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University.When you die, what sort of assets will you leave and who's getting them? Or maybe you've handed over your inheritance early - helping your kids out with a house deposit, paying for their uni, or your grandkids' schooling. Financial expert David Koch says Boomers are putting a good retirement at risk to give their adult kids money. Koch argues that outside of a stable upbringing and a good education, you don't really owe your kids anything. So ... do you? Patrick Stokes is Associate Professor of philosophy at Deakin University.

When you think of the 1960s, what comes to mind? Hippies, Vietnam War protests, the music? What about the 1990s? VCRs, grunge music, minimalist fashion? We're about to reach the halfway point of the 2020s, so what is the defining legacy of this decade? Nic Carah is a professor at the University of Queensland School of Communication and Arts. She has never revealed her name publicly, but her opinions about fashion have made a huge impact. Fashion Critical started making "silly posts" to entertain her friends, but her platform ended up gaining a huge following.  She tells us why we should never take fashion too seriously.Even at low speeds... if you have a car crash... and you're a woman... you're more likely to be seriously injured than a man. But interestingly, car crash testing and plane safety testing is dominated by "male" crash test dummies... and has been for decades. These dummies are part of a system of testing methods designed with men in mind.... and it's been letting women down. Natasha Heap is the Program Director for the Bachelor of Aviation at the University of Southern Queensland.

New plans in Victoria and New South Wales seek to address the issue of underquoting houses set for auction.  So, will these reforms create a fairer system? Will they help first home buyers? And will the changes do anything to address Australia's housing crisis? Melinda Jennison is president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia, Andrew McCann is chief executive of Jellis Craig Real Estate Agents, and Richard Denniss is an economist and co-CEO of The Australia Institute.If you're over 50, new research shows that unaffordable and poor quality housing is getting in the way of living a dignified second act. Lynette Stevens is living in community housing after leaving her long-term tenancy, Fiona York is Executive Officer, Housing for the Aged Action Group, and Dr Piret Veeroja is lead author of new research from Swinburne University.What happens when your ex announces their engagement... and the news throws you? Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones unpacks the emotions at play.

For the third year in a row, ABS figures show an increasing number of Australians are taking on two or more jobs as the cost of living rises. Lessleen Makoni is working two jobs to get by in Sydney, Isaac Koomson is a senior research fellow the University of Queensland's Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, and Dr Isaac Gross is a senior lecturer in Economics at Monash University and former RBA economist.For many of us who work, this time of year is a countdown until much-needed holidays over Christmas and the New Year. But a large number of people will push through with no break from work... not even on Christmas Day. Now, a new legal ruling has enforced the concept that employers must "request not require" staff to work on public holidays. Andrew Stewart is a Professor of Work and Regulation at the Queensland University of Technology and Sarah McCann-Bartlett is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australian HR Institute.Women's teams are breaking records and hearts, with the Matildas selling out stadiums and record attendance for the women's Ashes earlier this year. But at the grassroots, the gap is real: data shows that nearly 30% more boys aged 0–14 participate in club or association sport than girls. Nikhil Kulkarni is the author of My Summer of Cricket, James Kay is a PhD Candidate at Flinders University's College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and Dr Rochelle Eime is a Professor of Exercise and Sport Science at Federation University.

According to the last census, there were 2.6 million Aussie couples without children...  and projections that couple-only families are set to increase in the country. Not only that, there's also been a cultural shift:  People without children have a growing visibility... they're more likely to share and celebrate their lives. Tanya Williams is the author of A Childfree Happily Ever After and Dr Imogene Smith is a Clinical Psychologist at the Cairnmillar Institute.Today's Ask Aunty letter-writer is in a reflective mood about the way he treated a classmate many years ago. Should he try to make amends? Today's aunties are James Findlay, ABC broadcaster and journalist, and Monica Dux, writer, commentator, and columnist. 

Pill testing was available at Schoolies on the Gold Coast in 2024, but this year the Queensland government has taken a firm stance against the practice. So what conversations do parents need to have with their kids to stay safe this summer? Jennie Ross-King became a drug harm prevention advocate after her daughter's overdose death in 2019, Cameron Francis is the CEO of national drug-checking service The Loop, and Sophia, 19, plans on using drug-checking services at Strawberry Fields music festival.A new report from the Australian Human Rights Commission details the how older people too often feel unseen, unheard, or undervalued in the healthcare system. It found that perceptions of ageism are widespread across all levels of the health system, from how older people are treated by staff to broader systemic and policy issues. So how does ageism impact quality of care for older Australians, and how can we stamp it out? Val Fell is an Aged Care Council of Elders member, Robert Fitzgerald is Age Discrimination Commissioner and Patricia Sparrow is CEO of Council on the Ageing.The swear words that used to shock us… don't anymore. They've lost their sting. Researchers have unpacked the words Aussies really cringe at in 2025 - and it turns out slurs are now much more taboo than curse words. Our outrage has moved on to a whole new set of offensive words. Dr Joshua Wedlock is a researcher at Macquarie University's Department of Linguistics.

Schoolies travel has been a rite of passage for Aussie teenagers since the 1970s, but the event that was synonymous with getting sauced on the sandy shores of the Gold Coast is changing. Many young people are heading overseas to places like South-East Asia, Fiji, or Vanuatu. So, is it a good thing that today's school leavers are rewriting the script, ditching the binge-drinking and redefining what makes this milestone meaningful in the first place? Grace Richards is Growth and Marketing Manager at Schoolies.com and Dan Woodman is a Professor in Sociology at the University of Melbourne.The average Australian worker does 3.6 hours of unpaid overtime a week. National Right to Disconnect Laws, which were supposed to tackle work-life imbalance, were phased in last August. So, has anything changed? Fiona Macdonald is the Director of the Centre for Future Work and Dr Ben Searle is an organisational psychologist.The trailer for the The Devil Wears Prada sequel has dropped - and viewers immediately noticed a huge change in the dynamic between the two main characters. In the original film, magazine editor Miranda Priestly famously terrorised her staff, but also served as an unconventional mentor to Anne Hathaway's character. In the sequel's trailer, the pair look to be on even footing. So, who shapes our careers? And how big a difference can a mentor make? Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths is an astrophysicist whose two mentors helped guide her career and Norah Breekveldt is the author of Me and my Mentor.

In the United States, there's a new proposal to address their nation's housing crisis. The Trump Administration is working to introduce 50-year mortgage terms for home buyers. Here in Australia, some lenders have recently started offering 40-year mortgages. One-third of Aussie adults polled said they'd take out a 40-year home loan if it reduced their monthly repayments to a more affordable level. So what are the pros and cons of longer mortgage terms? Eliza Owen is Head of research at Cotality, formerly CoreLogic Australia and Molly Benjamin is the founder of Ladies Finance Club.Australia is on the cusp of welcoming its one millionth refugee visa since the second world war. Behind that statistic are so many stories of upheaval and hardship, but also resilience and hope in starting a new life. Ogy Simic is the Head of Refugee Leadership and Advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Daniel Ghezelbash is Professor and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW.There's a growing trend of adding supplements and vitamins to every meal and snack. Between vitamin gummies and drinks fortified with this or that, we're constantly being sold "extras" ... even as headlines warn of inconsistent dosages and questionable efficacy. So, what's the consumer psychology behind their appeal? Paul Harrison is the Chair of Consumer Behaviour at Deakin University's Business School.

It's sales season and Black Friday takes place on the last Friday of every November. But it's no longer just a day. It's more like a month-long retail extravaganza. So, how did Black Friday evolve from a US phenomenon... to our biggest sales event? And what impact is this having on our year-round spending? Gary Mortimer is a professor of consumer behaviour and retail marketing at QUT Business School and Fleur Brown is Chief Industry Affairs Officer at the Australian Retailers Association.If you've got adult kids in 2025, you'll know that reaching independence looks a lot different now than it did in your day. New research confirms what lots of us already know - the intensive phase of parenting doesn't end on your child's 18th birthday anymore. Dr Susie O'Brien is a journalist and the National Education Editor with News Corp. She has three children living at home with her - including two young adults. And Dr Julia Cook is a youth sociologist at the University of Newcastle.In My Two Cents, we ask those questions you'd rather not answer about money. Today hear how actor, artist and author Ione Skye makes and spends her money.As the school year winds down, many teenagers are about to start the next chapter of their lives – and potential careers. Whether it's a bit of summer work experience or a mandatory placement for a university degree, unpaid work can often feel like the only way for young people to get a foot in the door. So how did working for free become the norm? What supports are available? And when does an internship stop being experience, and start looking like exploitation? Andrew Stewart is a professor of Work and Regulation at the Queensland University of Technology and James Sherriff is a third-year teaching student and co-founder of Students Against Placement Poverty.

It’s the time of year when you can't wait for time away from your job.  But, as you reset for 2026, workplace researcher Dr Michelle McQuaid says there are lots of changes you can make to how you "do work" and how you "do life" so you feel re-energised in both these domains. And when it comes to complicated relationship dynamics … what happens when your marriage ends but your best friend and his wife remain close to your ex? Today's aunties work out who gets what in this potentially very messy split. Bridie Jabour is a journalist, author and associate editor at Guardian Australia and Lachie Mackintosh is Life Matters executive producer.

Across Australia, the laws around begging vary from state to state. In Victoria - where begging is illegal - its become an issue of public debate, following an inquest into the death of a Melbourne woman who was forced by her abusive partner to beg for food, cigarettes, and money. A Victorian coroner didn't criticise police, but said officers responding to complaints about her begging seemed to treat it as an individual issue rather than considering it in a broader context. And that's really the heart of it. Begging isn't just about someone asking for spare change ... it's a visible symptom of much deeper social problems. Thalia Anthony is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at University of Technology Sydney and Deborah Di Natale is CEO of the Council to Homeless Persons and a director on the board of Homelessness Australia.The federal government is pushing local content quotas, forcing big streaming platforms to invest in Australian-made shows. Yet fewer Year 12 students are choosing creative arts subjects like drama, music, dance and visual arts. Can you blame them? For years, it’s been all about STEM, with arts degrees now costing nearly $55,000 and many universities making cuts to creative programs. So, are we doing enough to support the next wave of artists and performers? And what do we lose — as a country and a culture — if we don’t? Dr John Nicholas Saunders is a Lecturer in Education at Australian Catholic University and Chair of the National Advocates for Arts Education and Madeleine Dyer is a writer-director behind Colin From Accounts, Ghosts Australia and Austin.Throughout 2025, ethicist Patrick Stokes has been unpacking the thorny topics for us in the segment Ask Aristotle. "Is it ok to lie in a memoir?", "Am I evil for not wanting to be around children?", "Is it ethical to create AI clones of people who've died?" This week, we take an opportunity to get back to basics. What sort of lessons did Aristotle actually espouse?  What are some golden rules of philosophy we can apply to our lives in 2025?

Would you give up Christmas presents? Or are you like many of us and associate what you spend, with how much you care? There's been a backlash against over-consumption, so why do we still go wild at Christmas? And how can we untangle ourselves from the cycle of holiday spending? Steph Thompson went on a no-buy challenge, Daniel Kiely is an economist at Curtin University and Dr Paul Harrison is head of consumer behaviour at Deakin University.Picture your favourite Australian beach. Imagine a headland, the fish & chip shop, sun-worshippers, beach flags snapping in the wind ... and that surf club standing guard by the shore. That view - that classic image of the Australian coast - is in trouble. Eroding dunes. Crumbling cliffs. Clubhouses teetering on the edge. Coastal erosion is quickly reshaping Australia's iconic coastline. So what can be done? Glenn Arnold is the President of Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club, Steven Pearce is the CEO of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, and  Prof. David Kennedy is a coastal geomorphologist at the University of Melbourne.You've probably seen BMX dirt jumps popping up in parks or empty lots ... built by the riders themselves, for the riders. It's creative, social, and physical… but it's also what gets them into trouble, as councils across the country crack down on these DIY tracks. New research shows that it's this activity that takes place outside of organised sport that can be really beneficial. So if we're pushing teens off their screens, don't we owe them real-world spaces where they can actually build something ... together? Julie Ritchey is a Brisbane mum who spearheaded a local protest to protect DIY BMX jumps in her neighbourhood and Dr Dave Camilleri is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Melbourne.

Last week police and health inspectors shut down two illicit tobacco stores in Sydney... the first to be closed under new state laws targeting illegal tobacco. Which is big business -- organised crime is making about $10 billion a year from it, and it comprises half of the products sold to the country's 2.7 million smokers. Meanwhile, the legal sale of cigarettes has slowed. So what impact is this having on Australia's smoking rates... and your local community? And if the goal is fewer smokers and a healthier population... are we still on the right track. Anita Dessaix is the Chair of Cancer Council Australia's Public Health Committee, Dr Raglan Maddox is an Associate Professor at the Tobacco Free team at Australian National University, and Theo Foukkare is CEO of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores.Tesla shareholders have approved a record-breaking pay package for Elon Musk, a deal that could make the world's richest man the first person in history to become a trillionaire. So how did we get to a place where one person can accumulate so much wealth? And why is the gap widening between the world's richest and the rest of us? Carl Rhodes, Professor of Business and Society at the University of Technology Sydney and author of Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire.When you're stuck in a lift ... or waiting for a meeting to start, what's your go-to "small talk" opener? "Wow, it's hot today." "How was the traffic on the way here?" "Did you find somewhere to park?" Why do we even make small talk? And what happens if you just ... stop? Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones offers a deep-dive on small talk.

What would it take for home owners to let go of the idea of their house as a financial asset, and to re-think what owning a home means? One Australian capital city is bucking the trend of skyrocketing house prices. While investors groan, should we actually be celebrating this? How can we share the wealth around? Michael Fotheringham is CEO of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and Gavin Jackman is a Homes for Homes adviser.Keeping track of your subscriptions can feel like a full-time job.From streaming services to gym memberships, toilet paper deliveries and even cars that come with in-app purchases just to turn on heated seats — it's starting to feel like we're subscribed to everything, but actually own nothing.So how do we steer clear of subscription traps? Are consumer protections keeping up? And are we heading towards a future where ownership is a thing of the past? Chandni Gupta is Deputy CEO and Digital Policy Director at the Consumer Policy Research Centre and Kirsten Drysdale is an independent journalist and host of YouTube channel The Internet, Reviewed.Many schools don't offer swimming lessons. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they were cancelled altogether - and lots of kids never went back. Now advocates say teenagers need a refresher course. They are calling for older children to get back to swimming lessons - amid a spike in downing deaths in people between 10 and 20 years of age. Dr Justin Scarr is the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Life Saving and Julie Zancanaro is a swimming instructor.

We often think about consent as something related to sex, but consent plays a role in many everyday encounters. Talking to your kids about consent can be anxiety-inducing. What can be even harder is having that conversation with your parents, in-laws, uncles and aunts. But, with consent education becoming mandatory around the country, there are strategies parents can learn if they want to bring those lessons back to home-base. Jane Gilmore is a journalist, researcher and author of It Takes A Village To Teach Your Children About Consent and Vanessa Hamilton is a sexuality educator, registered sexual health nurse and author of Talking Sex: A Conversation Guide For Parents.

Around the country, it's getting more expensive to get rid of rubbish... and there are fewer places to dump it. It is a warning the waste industry has voiced for a decade, but for many councils, the reality is about to hit. On the Gold Coast, rubbish tips will be exhausted within a decade ... it's a similar story across Australia. So ... when the landfill runs out ... what do we do with all our waste? And how do we reduce the amount we produce in the first place? Rick Ralph is CEO of the Australian Resources Recovery Council and Professor John Thwaites is the Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Former Chair of the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group.At any given time there are 1,850 people waiting for a life changing organ transplant in Australia. What's it like to navigate the donation process? And what does it take to convince someone to make a donation that not only changes someone else's life, but theirs as well Rechelle Coombes is on waitlist for a pancreas and kidney transplant and Chris Thomas is CEO of Transplant Australia.The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, especially for Chris Martin's family. The Coldplay frontman's daughter recently sung at a gig in Nashville - and reviews have been mixed.  So, is this an example of privilege and nepotism, or is Apple just following a time-honoured tradition ... and inheriting the family trade? Dan Woodman is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne.

If you don't own your home or if you live in an apartment and can't put panels on the roof, you've largely been locked out of the benefits of rooftop solar energy. In a small way, that changed this week when the government announced plans to give households access to free electricity for three hours every day ... in an effort to encourage energy use when excess solar power is being fed into the grid. Dr Saul Griffith is Chief Scientist at Rewiring Australia and Davood Dehestani is CEO and founder of energy start-up Smartizer.We're told it's getting harder to raise kids, amid a cost of living crunch. But that isn't what the numbers show. New research shows having kids is no more costly than it was a few decades ago ... so why does it feel that way?  And if you need to be frugal - where should you put your pennies? What's the best thing you can invest in Associate Professor Ben Phillips is a Principal Research Fellow at the ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods and Robyn Titmus is the mother of Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus.A new report out of Europe has shown that a few big name companies are creating children's toys that have harmful levels of chemicals on them. It's obviously not good news, but at this point is it even possible to avoid nasty chemicals that are already out there in the world, for us and our kids? Dr Rachael Wakefield-Rann is research principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at Univeristy of Technology Sydney