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All Episodes

God Forbid — 248 episodes

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Title
1

Can we truly love AI? And can it love us back?

2

Addiction, God, and the origin of the twelve steps

3

Christian leaders talk war, the Pope, getting arrested, courage and empathy

4

Why do adults still need fairytales?

5

The Orthodox surge

6

Why are the Middle Ages are still relevant today?

7

Is your privacy sacred?

8

On judgement

9

Is the 21st century’s version of freedom liberating or a freedom trap?

10

International Women's Day special

11

Conversion — Why would anyone move from disbelief to belief?

12

The nature of evil, abuse and forgiveness

13

The pain of love and grief for our pets

14

Pawnbroking, bankruptcy, debt, usury & God!

15

If you could save a drowning child, would you?

16

The Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission

17

Living simply in a complex world: how modern monks navigate AI, social media, and climate change

18

Coercion, control and worship: Where do we draw the line between a religion and a cult?

19

Did the human species invent the Bible?

20

Why do we fear fat?

21

Close encounters of the religious kind: how God and UFOs have both begun religious movements

22

What were the biggest religious stories in 2025? Ask the experts!

23

Religious Rebels 06 | Dorothy Day: Rebel for the poor, saint for the restless

24

Religious Rebels 05 | Malcolm X: Reborn in Mecca, killed in Harlem

25

Religious Rebels 04 | John Calvin: Reformed the faith, ruled with fire

26

Religious Rebels 03 | Táhirih: Unveiled the truth, paid with her life

27

Religious Rebels 02 | Giordano Bruno: Imagined the Infinite, Burned at the Stake

28

Religious Rebels 01 | Joan of Arc: Mystic, warrior and gender transgressor

29

Near-death experiences: myth or mystical?

30

Was Jesus a real person?

31

Why do human animals fly planes and build cities?

32

Could whales be Gods?

33

The ethics of witchcraft and hexing the far-right

34

Writing on the body: desecration or worship?

35

Why the origins of Christianity still matter today

36

Gen Y and Gen Z are finding God

37

God, the Big Bang & the fortunate universe

38

Truth and trust in a post-truth world

39

Can celibacy actually make us purer and closer to God?

40

Is God in the machine?

41

How should our leaders behave?

42

The language of God: Literacy, power, and the sacred word

43

Reality TV, Mormon wives, and guilty pleasures

44

We live in a world where horror is all too real. So why are horror movies breaking box office records?

45

What binds us together as Australians?

46

Can the Dalai Lama's Tibet ever be self-determined?

47

Hair...flow it, grow it, show it... as long as God allows it!

48

Leading with love: women are taking the church into the future

49

Monogamy: Is it still the gold standard of intimate relationships?

50

Stealing my religion: When does religious appreciation become appropriation?

51

Coercion, control and worship: Where do we draw the line between a religion and a cult?

52

Bodies bodies bodies: burial, belief and death across faith

53

The Devil you know: Satan’s journey from scripture to satire

54

BONUS: The history of the Papacy

55

What lies beyond the conclave for the Catholic Church

56

How powerful is the Muslim vote this upcoming election?

57

Why do we fear fat?

58

Week with Students: Does religion have a place in the modern Australian classroom?

59

Did the human species invent the Bible?

60

When is it okay to cut off your parents?

61

Doomsday or just good planning? The ethics of prepping

62

How are creators using TikTok to bring history to a new generation?

63

Pope Francis and the legacy he leaves behind

64

Mardi Gras special: on being gay and Godly

65

Religion, drugs, and the power of mind-altering substances

66

Close encounters of the religious kind: how God and UFOs have both begun religious movements

67

To bare or not to bare: why religion can't make its mind up about nudity

68

Living simply in a complex world: how modern monks navigate AI, social media, and climate change

69

The world's oldest hatred: how anti-Semitism found its way to Australia

70

The spirituality of fishing

71

The history of God

72

We know magic isn't real, so why does it still fascinate us?

73

Sawdust and the soul

74

Kindness — a radical idea?

75

Rebel fighters have overthrown the Assad regime in Syria, what does that mean for its people?

76

Faith, disability, and the trouble with 'healing'

77

Overbearing allies and Centrelink bureaucracy: what it's like having a disability in Australia

78

After newly released allegations of abuse, does the Anglican Church have a future?

79

Is adoption ethical?

80

How the U.S. election will shape abortion access in Australia

81

How billionaire media moguls could determine the U.S. election

82

Near-death experiences: myth or mystical?

83

Reality TV, Mormon wives, and guilty pleasures

84

What can an ancient Chinese boardgame teach us about human consciousness?

85

Is it ever okay to turn your back on suffering?

86

Sex work, religion, and double standards

87

Michael Muthukrishna, cultural evolution and a theory of everyone

88

Are people more important than the planet? The ethics of ecofascism

89

The case for faith in the fight against loneliness

90

What can religion teach us about being a dad?

91

Thou shalt not steal

92

David Baddiel, the reluctant atheist

93

Religious outrage at the 2024 Paris Olympics

94

Can religion help prevent domestic violence?

95

The cultural and scientific mystery of sleep

96

The power and perils of pilgrimage

97

The art of dying

98

The religious history of the Olympic Games

99

Can religion provide a path to peace in the Israel-Gaza conflict?

100

Kindness — a radical idea?

101

What does it mean to live in a multicultural society?

102

Population, Religion and the Environment

103

The fascinating phenomenon of consciousness

104

Spiritualism

105

Making peace

106

The ethics of keeping pets

107

How do you mend a broken heart?

108

Will evangelical voters be Trump's salvation?

109

Do religions die?

110

Sawdust and the soul

111

Is religious discrimination law reform too difficult?

112

No pain, no gain - why we make sacrifices

113

Straying from strict parents

114

Demonising the "dole bludger"

115

Is your privacy sacred?

116

Why adults still need fairytales

117

Faith, disability and the trouble with healing

118

What does it mean to be clean?

119

Holy bones - the enduring power of relics

120

The ethics of surrogacy

121

The spirituality of fishing

122

Summer: Love from ancient to modern times

123

Summer: The mystery of creativity

124

Summer: suffering, solitude and solace on the trail

125

Summer: The rise of the shamans

126

Summer: The ethical concerns and religious rules around eating meat

127

Talking truth to children

128

What have we got right and wrong in our schooling system?

129

Old pride, old prejudice – ageing and living well

130

100 years of reporting on religion

131

The cultural and scientific mystery of sleep

132

How should we view our relationship to work?

133

The fascinating phenomenon of consciousness

134

The seen and unseen: Belief in Jinns, Marian apparitions and Japanese yokai

135

Why the Middle Ages are still relevant today

136

Addiction, God, and the origin of the twelve steps

137

We know magic isn't real, so why does it still fascinate us?

138

Government and God: The blurring lines between theocracies and democracies

139

Kosher or carbon? The ethical concerns and religious rules around eating meat

140

Love from ancient to modern times

141

Religion as a weapon and shield in modern warfare

142

JRR Tolkien's religious legacy

143

Minority religions and their beliefs

144

Is TikTok the new religious pulpit?

145

The history of God

146

Who should teach our kids about sex?

147

Breaking the dinner table taboo topic: religion and politics

148

How Godly is money?

149

Modding our bodies in the name of God

150

Religion and prejudice

151

Does comedy use religion as a punchline or punching bag?

152

Lessons at the end of life

153

Can reading save us?

154

'Ghosting', deathbots, and rebirth in the digital age

155

The ethics of mum influencers, TraumaTok, and 'authenticity' online

156

Saving animals, saving ourselves

157

Hindu nationalism, Modi and the Australian Indian diaspora

158

A defence of human work in the age of AI

159

The Spiritual Summit

160

Andrew Tate and the 'manosphere'

161

Life after a religious upbringing

162

The gifts of neurodiversity

163

The mystery of creativity

164

Great expectations: Millennials at mid-life

165

Daily Rituals — suffering, solitude and solace on the trail

166

Daily Rituals — Fear, joy and recovery in the ocean

167

Daily Rituals — Why gardening is a journey of joy, frustration and healing

168

Protest and peace in Israel Palestine

169

The ethics of intervening

170

Towards Uncertainty

171

How can we age well?

172

A famine of peace

173

The rise of the shamans

174

Is it time to declare a war on devices?

175

Dark humour — why do we laugh at things that aren't a laughing matter?

176

A leap of faith: from religious deconstruction to reconstruction

177

Addiction, recovery and hitting rock bottom

178

A prayer or a pill? Exploring mental health science and religion

179

Conflict and peace building in Northern Ireland

180

The ethics of secrets — when should we keep a secret or reveal the truth?

181

Why neurodiversity offers us ways of seeing the world

182

Paganism: myths, magic, and nature conservation

183

Is there a role for religion in the classroom?

184

What's the purpose of protests — and are they effective?

185

The great unknown: Living with uncertainty

186

How we understand sin today

187

Developing an economics of kindness in uncertain times

188

How and why do we pray?

189

Looking inwards or facing outwards — how do you find who you are?

190

Addiction, recovery and hitting rock bottom

191

Is hope necessary?

192

Dark humour — why do we laugh at things that aren't a laughing matter?

193

Is it time to declare a war on devices?

194

The Death of Volunteering?

195

03 | The Lifespan in Modern Australia — marriage and relationships

196

02 | The Lifespan in Modern Australia — death and grief

197

01| The Lifespan in Modern Australia — Births and birthing

198

The cultural, ethical and spiritual dimensions of food

199

Artists and writers in exile

200

Discovering you are not who you thought you were

201

A Christian perspective on sacred texts

202

A Jewish perspective on sacred texts

203

NAIDOC Week: Torres Strait Islands

204

The big questions on AI — capability, morality and faith

205

Suffering and resilience

206

Church, God and guns

207

Caroline Jones - The Search for Meaning

208

Cultivating compassion: a radical idea

209

Praying for priests: the shortage of clergy in Australia

210

A leap of faith: from religious deconstruction to reconstruction

211

A prayer or a pill? Exploring mental health science and religion

212

Does Australia need a Bill of Rights?

213

Is the right to vote truly equal?

214

Jesus lived. So, who was he?

215

Billionaires are launching into space – is that a good thing?

216

Finding faith in fiction

217

Paganism: myths, magic, and nature conservation

218

Ukraine and Russia: religion and the politics of war

219

University chaplaincy in a changing world

220

Sydney's Mardi Gras: the complexities of Pride and faith

221

What if we lived with less?

222

The different dimensions of loneliness

223

How to form new habits — and break old ones

224

What do Pentecostals believe?

225

Does sci-fi transcend — or reveal — our human limitations?

226

How urban legends tell our story

227

Lessons in leadership

228

Fostering sacred creativity in a secular world

229

How technology is changing the way we grieve

230

The future of faith – ministry with Gen Z

231

Disagreeing well

232

The hot potatoes of 2021

233

Toward an inclusive society for people with disability

234

Reflections on consumerism: buying more, gaining less?

235

Fitness and body image: aspiration, inspiration, and transformation

236

Human kind — understanding kindness during tough times and beyond

237

To believe or not to believe: atheism on the rise

238

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

239

What brings the world’s religions together?

240

The Catholic Plenary – where to from here?

241

A Jewish perspective on sacred texts

242

Exploring achievement addiction and burnout

243

Food for thought — why do we eat what we eat?

244

Can playing games be a religious experience?

245

A Christian perspective on sacred texts

246

Examining fringe beliefs

247

Why do we give religious exemptions?

248

Billionaires are launching into space – is that a good thing?