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Description
Soul Search explores contemporary religion and spirituality from the inside out — what we believe, how we express it, and the difference it makes in our lives
355 Episodes
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The way we imagine the future matters. Not only does it change how we feel, those feelings change how we live today — and that might just change how things actually turn out!
Imagine living life without money — cutting up your credit card, closing up your bank account, and finding new ways to feed and clothe yourself. On Soul Search, we examine what it might look like to step away from the cycle of getting and spending, and towards a gift economy.
The novelist Patrick White once said yes, religion was behind all his books – but his religious and spiritual identity was far from straightforward. In the final instalment of the Big Questions in Books series we explore the (sometimes ambivalent!) Australian expressions of the sacred in literature, from Helen Garner to Tim Winton.
The acclaimed scientist Jane Goodall has died on October 1st, at the age of 91. But Dr Goodall's legacy, along with her study of chimps, is arguably as much to do with hope – and the spiritual curiosity that underpinned her quest for hope in difficult times.
Making art and music has been an endeavour for at least as long as humans have existed, and it has the power to connect us in all kinds of ways. From the mountains of the southern Philippines to urban Melbourne, people are creating things that connect us to each other — and the transcendent.
What does it mean to live a good life? According to some of the earliest Christians, the answer has a lot to do with... death! Orthodox scholar John Behr tells the stories of some of these saints and martyrs, and unpacks what they are telling us today.
Jerusalem is one of the most fraught cities on earth. It's a city that has broken the hearts, yet also inspired the hopes, of millions around the world. In the midst of conflict in and around a city that means so much to so many, how does one work for peace?
The world is due to have its very first millennial saint — Carlo Acutis, the 'saint in sneakers' who died at the age of 15 in 2006. He's usually depicted holding a phone or laptop, and his cause for sainthood blends the medieval and mystical with the hyper modern.
In this fast-paced world where so much of our attention is focused on the now, why do complex ancient texts still speak to us? Soul Search explores the multigenerational epic, the Mahabharata.
It’s a big thought — that our story as a species is partly to do with grass. But it turns out that grasses and grasslands can play a surprising role in moulding who we are. How do we restore our relationship with native grasses, and what are some of the threats from introduced grasses like buffel?
What does it take to be a good doctor in an us-and-them struggle? Dr Lina Qasem Hassan is a Palestinian doctor in Israel and head of the Israeli NGO, Physicians for Human Rights. What’s it like to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel, and what do health services even look like in Gaza right now?
The Biblical phrase “from dust to dust” tells us humans were made from soil and shall return to it. And care of soil is a shared teaching among the major religions. Science too, tells us we’re connected. Yet it’s being degraded across the world, and there are warnings that 90 per cent of the planet's soil could be seriously damaged by 2050. Can we save it, and where does spirituality meet soil?
Ancient societies had some very elaborate ideas about death – from how to treat the body, to what kind of afterlife to expect. How much do those ideas influence how we think about death and the afterlife? And what are some of the ways in which our attitudes are transforming in Australia today?
Corinne Ooms was, a contestant in the most recent series of the reality show Alone Australia. She spent 70 days, by herself, in the remote west coast ranges of Lutruwita, Tasmania. And there, she had to navigate the psychological challenges of solitude and the physical challenges of survival in the wild. She experienced a profound change in how she experiences the world and her priorities in life
Younger Australians are less religious than ever before, but that doesn't mean they don't engage with spiritual practices. Astrology and tarot card reading are especially on trend, but rather than telling the future, many practitioners say it connects them with the present.
Cosmic horror is a genre that asks, what lurks in the in-between places? Who are we in the face of a vast and uncaring cosmos? H.P. Lovecraft's (rather mixed!) legacy is everywhere if you know where to look, but trying to put the ineffable into words has been a human obsession for thousands of years. What do we hope to find by courting the strange and unexplainable?
This NAIDOC week, guest presenter Brooke Prentis has a yarn with two remarkable Aboriginal leaders to find out how they carry strength, vision and legacy through their ministry and art.
The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most recognisable people and on July 6, he's turning 90 years old. Tibetans around the world are getting ready to celebrate, including Grammy-nominated musician Tenzin Choegyal.
What does community look like for you, and how does it shape your spiritual practice? As we reach the mid-year mark, Soul Search listeners and returning guests share their reflections on finding community in a busy — and sometimes isolating — world.
When you go to a museum, have you ever wondered who picked out the things you see, and why? Museums are places where we make and find meaning, and they're sites where intangible — often political — questions about history and national identity are documented with and without physical objects.
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