Life Matters - Separate stories podcast cover art

All Episodes

Life Matters - Separate stories podcast — 426 episodes

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Title
1

Head and Heart: Should we tell kids they can 'be anything'?

2

Is the strategy for tackling smoking rates still working?

3

What will the everyday objects you leave behind say about you?

4

I'm a stay-at-home rural mum, but don't compare me to Ballerina Farm

5

The Grandparent Trap: Modern grandads are reinventing themselves

6

The line between true crime fascination and investigation

7

Ask Aunty: can you divorce your 'chosen family'

8

What you can gain from embracing uncertainty

9

Why is sauna culture on the rise in Australia

10

Why more young men are getting a vasectomy

11

Playing pirates in Sydney Harbour with 'baba' Malcolm Turnbull

12

Social studies: why gen Z men are finding god

13

Work In Progress: is your career stalling because you're too valuable?

14

Raising identical quadruplets

15

Still friends since primary school? Why some friendships last a lifetime

16

How balcony solar could bring apartments into the energy transition

17

Building your family through infertility and loss

18

Australia is trialling AI traffic lights. How will they change our roads?

19

When an epic literary adventure like The Odyssey inspires your travel itinerary

20

The Grandparent Trap: When things go wrong

21

How to share the mental load before you reach burnout

22

Ask Aunty: Could sleep divorce be the key to a better sex life?

23

Bek Condello on rebuilding a life after leaving a doomsday church

24

Will new rules for AI companies shift the needle on public trust?

25

The Grandparent Trap: Jacqueline Harvey on how grandparenting brought a blended family closer together

26

Ask Aristotle: Should you own a T-Rex?

27

Head and Heart: Entering the friend zone

28

The kids love democracy, just ask Hannah Ferguson

29

Finding love off the apps and outside your comfort zone

30

David Wenham reflects on the life of his friend Sam Neill

31

Do you need a getting stuff done party?

32

The co-housing model for older women putting friendship at the centre

33

The Grandparent Trap: When grandparenting stops being optional

34

Smart glasses as an accessibility aid

35

The Grandparent Trap: What Lynne McGranger wants to teach her twin granddaughters

36

Diamonds are forever — so what do you do with it after divorce?

37

Ask Aunty: When dogsitting the grandpups goes horribly wrong

38

How to pull yourself out of a career slump

39

How to bring truth-telling into the classroom

40

A different type of share house for older women

41

The Grandparent Trap: Morris Gleitzman's story-loving grandsons

42

The tourist destinations that want to get off your dream holiday itinerary

43

Work In Progress: Why you should take more microbreaks

44

Why you should read the fine print at the bank of mum and dad

45

Are smart glasses cool now?

46

How betting became synonymous with blokeyness

47

Buyer Beware: Where is your seafood really from?

48

The Grandparent Trap: The reality of modern grandparenting

49

If tax time fills you with dread, you're not alone

50

The Grandparent Trap: Ray Martin's grandparenting 'super powers'

51

Confidence coaches on the real trick to faking it 'til you make it

52

Ask Aunty: How soon is too soon to start dating after your partner dies?

53

How towns are adapting to Australia's shrinking ski season

54

Neil the seal is back. It's time to leave him alone

55

Ask Aristotle: Loyal football fans or basic bandwagoners?

56

The secret to a successful family holiday (and why the stress is worth it)

57

Why embracing death could be the key to a happy life

58

Should paying for TV guarantee an ad-free experience?

59

Thirty years of Dolly the sheep

60

Tim Minchin on the outlook for Australian theatre

61

The freedom of rediscovering yourself after a late-in-life autism diagnosis

62

Middle children are disappearing. You should start listening to them

63

Spotting text scams is about to get easier

64

Running 150 marathons down Australia's east coast

65

How to fix your own toxic traits and stop the self-sabotage

66

Ask Aunty: Is a new baby a good enough excuse to skip the family gathering?

67

How pregnancy can trigger an eating disorder

68

Social Studies: Public displays of affection

69

Reflecting on Play School's 60-year legacy

70

Where have all the male school teachers gone?

71

Keeping bird flu away from your backyard chooks

72

50 Words Project reaches milestone of 100 languages

73

The seminal sex book that changed Dee Salmin's life

74

Buyer Beware: Online shopping simulators

75

Buy better or wear more — the dilemma in sustainable fashion

76

Sorting through sunscreen myths and misinformation on social media

77

Tackling big city problems with people power

78

Discovering yourself through your ancestors

79

The dangers of medical conspiracies

80

Finding spirituality outside of religion

81

Ask Aunty: Is it OK to call dibs on a dying relative's belongings?

82

Returning to the ocean after a shark attack

83

Ask Aristotle: When does a white lie get out of hand?

84

John Williamson on what it really means to be true blue

85

Work In Progress: When AI upskilling turns into 'botsitting'

86

Is it worth learning a new language to travel?

87

The dads locked out of paid parental leave

88

Saving the local bowls club

89

Head and Heart: Caring for your estranged parent

90

What is a "good" salary in 2026?

91

Does the body really keep the score?

92

How to give building materials a second life

93

Managing 'technostress' in older generations

94

Ask Aunty: Can a lapsed Catholic exaggerate their faith for the greater good?

95

Navigating AI anxiety when it's a tool you rely on

96

How Libby Trickett is dealing with health anxiety after a SCAD heart attack

97

Building neighbourhoods your kids want to play in

98

Social Studies: What defines happiness?

99

The secret formula for making the 'perfect' decision

100

What is the future for bookstores?

101

Should we be considering trees as part of our critical infrastructure?

102

What happens to the soft plastic you recycle?

103

The hidden challenges of dyslexia at work

104

Buyer Beware: How loyalty programs use your data

105

Dr Billy Garvey on raising boys

106

Reflecting on Richard Scolyer's legacy

107

How to bond with a dog that upends your daily routines

108

Ask Aunty: When a beloved family pet becomes too much to handle

109

Looksmaxxing, GLP1s and learning to love your authentic self

110

Can we reset the online outrage economy?

111

Is there a way to build rest into your everyday life?

112

Ask Aristotle: The ethics of whistleblowers

113

Work In Progress: Why are you overwhelmed at work?

114

Old bands to old cities — finding your nostalgia community online

115

An ode to intergenerational friendship

116

What this dad wants you to know about fatherhood after losing his son

117

Head and Heart: Can you tell a friend to go to therapy?

118

Reimbursing small-scale scam victims

119

Could we be living on the Moon any time soon?

120

What would it take to fix our social media feeds forever?

121

A trail expert's guide to beginner hiking

122

Ask Aunty: What should I do if my friend is being scammed online?

123

When gambling becomes more serious than a harmless punt

124

Social Studies: Are your digital skills better than a teenager?

125

Do we need to rethink coral harvesting on the Great Barrier Reef?

126

Will changes to the unemployment system help people slipping through the cracks?

127

Does anyone care about sustainable fashion anymore?

128

Work In Progress: How to quit your job

129

What do the world's longest golf course and the dunny derby have in common?

130

Why you're feeling stuck, even when you 'make it'

131

Australia's world-first School of the Air turns 75

132

Buyer Beware: 'Down down' with discount marketing

133

The monstrous madness of living with premenstrual dysphoric disorder

134

What should you do if you find a fossil?

135

Ask Aunty: Can I ask my partner to come home earlier from a big night out?

136

How to manage anxiety and flex your social muscles

137

What social and community support means for people on the NDIS

138

Ask Aristotle: Would you freeze your brain?

139

Would you trade your privacy for a connected car?

140

How to survive the friendship wealth gap

141

Putting your life on the line to volunteer

142

Head and Heart: Should you try beta parenting?

143

The dark fairytale novella that changed Andy Griffiths' life

144

Shaun Micallef investigates Australia's gambling obsession

145

Putting Australian women who made history on the map

146

The rise of peptides as the next health craze

147

Re-imagining cemeteries as a space for the living

148

Rough sleeping is on the rise. Is your local council ready to respond?

149

Ask Aunty: Who owns the family photo albums?

150

Working through sexual hang-ups to expand your pleasure potential

151

It's deeper than beauty therapy, but we don't train hairdressers to deal with trauma

152

Social Studies: What do our surnames say about us?

153

Can you afford your specialist fees?

154

Does this budget deliver intra-generational fairness for older people?

155

Dee Salmin on what early mistakes in love can teach you about dating later in life

156

Singing in the workplace for connection and wellbeing

157

Making mental health first aid everyone's job

158

Buyer Beware: AI fitness influencers are selling you a false dream

159

The case for reviving school libraries

160

How much can you really save growing your own produce?

161

Activating the outdoor gym

162

What does true respite for carers look like?

163

Ask Aunty: Justice for a teddy bear crime

164

Navigating the parent-child relationship into adulthood

165

Why blood donation is the last true act of altruism

166

Sir Dave Day celebrates 100 years of David Attenborough

167

Ask Aristotle: Should we look away from the Met Gala?

168

It's never too late to take a golden gap year

169

Where to start tightening the household budget

170

Work In Progress: Should we do away with 9am meetings to suit circadian rhythms?

171

Are health influencers making us sick?

172

What it actually takes to leave an abusive relationship

173

Head and Heart: Should Australia have friendship leave?

174

Could 'friction-maxxing' inject satisfaction back into your life?

175

Why most of us find deeper voices more attractive

176

The widening gap between public and private education

177

Understanding the father wound

178

Ask Aunty: When is it OK to kick someone out of the group chat?

179

Social Studies: Who decides what makes a neighbourhood 'cool'?

180

Could burning waste really play a role in the circular economy?

181

Why do so many pianos end up in landfill?

182

Has sport drawn a new line on what's 'just part of the game'?

183

Why we love getting cosy as the seasons change

184

It's not too late to define your year with a misogi challenge

185

Why a mental load audit could help stop the spiral

186

The book that inspired Kathy Lette to become a writer

187

Buyer Beware: When ethical consumption comes with a price tag

188

Grief, advocacy and the personal cost of pushing for change

189

Why 'twitchers' are taking flight

190

Rent tech platforms on notice for collecting too much personal information

191

Local councils step in to protect residents in 'uninsurable' towns

192

Is narcissism really on the rise?

193

Ask Aunty: The missing family jewels

194

Work is an Australian value. How hard is it for a refugee to start a new career?

195

Ask Aristotle: Are 'ghost signs' a good thing?

196

We need to talk about Australia's relationship with alcohol

197

Calculating the added costs of the single living tax

198

Could you recognise concussion symptoms?

199

Work In Progress: Why your boss is talking about psychosocial safety

200

Ignorance isn't always bliss — the case for hope

201

What is the gold standard in ADHD diagnosis?

202

The hidden costs of our public food systems

203

Is 'new' music a dying genre?

204

Would you hire a death doula?

205

Could permanent sport uniforms lead to healthier kids?

206

Ask Aunty: Hoodwinked at the school fundraiser

207

How do we make workplaces truly inclusive of neurodivergence?

208

Australian households are powering the DIY clean energy transition

209

Social Studies: The evolution of politeness

210

How refrigerators, kids' menus and milk helped create a generation of picky eaters

211

Work In Progress: Career advice for young people

212

Does the 'perfect' day exist?

213

Dog-friendly workplaces and pups at the pub

214

The draft code that could claw back control for kids online

215

Tech giants are pushing back against the right to repair

216

Buyer Beware: Sporting cults

217

Watch out for 'slopaganda' in your feeds

218

Why it feels harder than ever to start your own business

219

The tiny parasite killing the backyard bee explosion

220

From throuples to polycules, how does ethical non-monogamy work?

221

Ask Aunty: How do you honour a loved one when their ashes are held hostage?

222

Ask Aristotle: What would you say to an alien?

223

How to avoid a bookless dystopian future

224

It's not a phase mum — 1980s skate park up for heritage protection

225

Local councils push back on the rise of data centres

226

Why is the Artemis II mission such a big deal?

227

Home after divorce — creating a sense of security for your kids

228

You Can't Ask That is back — they want your curly questions

229

Are we smart enough for smart devices?

230

Does restricting ads go far enough to protect problem gamblers?

231

How to teach kids about money

232

Could watching Married At First Sight be a teachable moment for teens?

233

Peaking in mid-life and pushing beyond your limits

234

What happens when no-one can afford groceries?

235

Turning up the light to find hope and creativity through grief

236

Social Studies: Women are 'marrying down' when it comes to education

237

Will ditching card surcharges save you money?

238

The benefits of an extended break from the classroom

239

Meet Deborah Lawrie, the woman who took Ansett to court to become a pilot

240

Is social media addiction a real thing?

241

A neuroscientist's tips to ditch the distractions and focus

242

Buyer Beware: Friction by design

243

Want to save money on fuel? Try ditching your car entirely

244

Ask Aristotle: Is it unethical to stockpile?

245

The plan to get more young people into live music

246

Ask Aunty: What to do when your friend gets back with a toxic ex

247

How to love someone when you hate their politics

248

Does the modern kitchen still function as heart of the home?

249

Are petrol price hikes throwing your Big Lap plans off course?

250

Work In Progress: Would you let an AI clone take care of your menial tasks?

251

Pouring cold water on the hot flush gold rush targeting menopausal women

252

Would you give up your capital gains discount if it meant the next generation would be better off?

253

Head and Heart: How to take a marriage sabbatical

254

Is going to uni becoming too expensive for country kids?

255

What does a family-friendly apartment look like?

256

Why do I always get sick when I take time off?

257

The book that inspired Kathy Lette to become a writer

258

Unravelling the mother wound

259

Ask Aunty: When is it OK to gossip at work?

260

Travelling the world with dementia

261

How to protect your money after a breakup

262

Social Studies: Gen Zs are embracing nanna crafts and analogue hobbies

263

Could Australia adopt Finland's plan to end homelessness?

264

"Lovely day, isn't it?" The big benefits of small talk

265

Buyer Beware: Why we crave human-made in the AI era

266

Parenting teenagers experimenting with their own sense of self

267

The hotline to call when you've been a Witness to War

268

School's in session for e-bike education

269

Why you can remember old song lyrics but forget why you walked into a room

270

Does a positive outlook help you age better?

271

Staying sane while co-parenting with your ex

272

Ask Aunty: In defence of a wrongly accused cat

273

Ask Aristotle: Should adults sacrifice their privacy to protect kids from porn?

274

Could Fortnite therapy help improve young men's mental health?

275

The argument against sharing a bed with your lover

276

Work In Progress: Tips from Esther Perel on navigating conflict in the workplace

277

Denise Scott survives breast cancer and takes on the Sydney Opera House

278

Teen girls are missing from our parks and playgrounds. Why?

279

How a living funeral helped a family say goodbye

280

Head and Heart: When is it OK to judge people?

281

What's behind the push to expand the childcare subsidy and pay it to parents instead?

282

Can a frozen delivery replace Meals on Wheels?

283

What would you do with an extra week of annual leave?

284

The terror of teaching teens to drive

285

Let's talk about sex: from duty to the erotic menu

286

Ask Aunty: Discovering a partner's infidelity after their death

287

Stuck with a toxic coworker? Here's what to do

288

Is dynamic pricing coming to Australian supermarkets?

289

The end of letters

290

Why 'AI literacy' is the biggest online challenge since the internet began

291

Has online learning sucked the life out of university?

292

An epidemiologist and Antarctic sound collector on how art changes lives

293

Buyer Beware: The subtle manipulation of earworms

294

How 'frugal chic' and no-buy trends are changing our relationship with our clothes

295

Zero-alcohol drinks are booming — but are they really harmless?

296

Could your next favourite band get their start in a charity venue?

297

Are we so worried about living longer that we're not living well?

298

The voices we find attractive and what that says about us

299

Ask Aunty: When is it OK to break up a friendship?

300

If we want to tackle debt, we need to drop the shame around it

301

What would universal child care mean for your kids?

302

'Two things can exist in the same space': Talking about the reality of Tourette's after the BAFTAs

303

My Two Cents with Mick Thomas

304

Ask Aristotle: The philosophy behind mind swaps and head transplants

305

Work In Progress: Why a council backflipped on its four-day work week plans

306

New generation speaking ancient languages

307

Why the Tricketts want sport chat to refocus on the little wins

308

How to restore trust in the medical system for the endometriosis community

309

Head and Heart: Should you ever pressure test a new relationship?

310

Is a sense of belonging the key to social cohesion?

311

Breathing new life into country towns

312

The book that sparked a feminist rage and changed Bri Lee's life

313

How do you rate your neighbours?

314

How wind phones are making space for grief and connection after death

315

How to deactivate your nervous system and feel positive about the world again

316

Ask Aunty: How to avoid a war with your neighbours over street trees

317

Friction-maxxing: an ode to doing things the "hard" way

318

Why kids are starting to 'yap' like their grandparents

319

How far would you go to protect your local swimming pool?

320

The libraries that shaped us — and how they're changing

321

Withering takes on Wuthering Heights — what makes a good adaptation

322

The cave experiment: Five days in total darkness

323

Should stores be allowed to scan your face?

324

Why you should take your leisure time seriously

325

Can we really avoid the supermarket giants?

326

Looking beyond the health star rating to help choose the food we eat

327

The fantasy series that changed Luke Bateman's life

328

Mindset coach Ben Crowe on shifting perspectives to change your life

329

Is coming out as queer any easier in 2026?

330

Ask Aunty: Can you tell your grandkids what you really think about their parents?

331

How sharing a gold medal became the sweetest success story

332

Ask Aristotle: What would you do if you were stranded on a desert island?

333

Why do we care so much about hair?

334

Is tiny house living as simple as buying a DIY flat pack?

335

Our love-hate relationship with running

336

Why time feels like it speeds up as we get older

337

Taking over the family business alongside six of your siblings

338

The fight for queer parties and nightclubs

339

Head and Heart: Why do we find it so hard to say no?

340

Tradie trajectory — what does it take to succeed in a trade career?

341

Why surgeons can listen to AC/DC, but it might distract you at work

342

Why cycling feels less safe for women

343

What does it mean to feel at home?

344

Ask Aunty: Do you have to love your friends' pets?

345

Could the grass be greener? Reimagining the verge garden

346

It's not about the money — Scott Pape's vision for kids' financial education

347

Social Studies: What's in a name and why are they all Charlotte and Noah?

348

Rethinking what it means to survive cancer

349

Sound therapy to turn down the volume on tinnitus

350

Love, loss and expressing yourself in your third age

351

Why do we keep dropping the ball on women's sport?

352

Buyer Beware: What price would you pay for authenticity?

353

How to convince your boss to let you work from home

354

How do we make active commuting the easy option for more families?

355

Could a cuppa with a stranger be the missing link in patient care?

356

An ode to the friendships and community we find at the dog park

357

Simone Stolzoff wants to help you nurture your non-work self

358

Celebrating John Clarke's legacy and the spellbinding magic of family stories

359

Is there virtue in bearing witness to tragedy online?

360

Demystifying the internet for teenagers

361

How to launch a childhood dream with Katherine Bennell-Pegg

362

Can good design keep a heatwave out of your house?

363

Does the gender of my AI assistant matter?

364

Inside the aged care home where teens help fill the workforce gap

365

Why schools want a say over kids' hairstyles

366

If we could start again, how would we re-imagine boyhood?

367

Why do we break up in January?

368

Kevin McCloud and Tim Ross on good design and solving the housing crisis

369

Why do we look to the past in uncertain times?

370

Ask Aunty: politics at the school canteen

371

Taking back control of your online life

372

Variety is the spice of life when it comes to exercise

373

Why some of us are delaying retirement or going back to work

374

Why do we look to the past in uncertain times?

375

We all like the idea of community, but what does it take to build one?

376

Social Studies: Our volunteers are burning out

377

Are weight loss drugs changing our relationship with food?

378

Why we're still so drawn to multi-level marketing schemes

379

Is stand-up comedy an art form?

380

Can AI chatbots give you accurate, tailored medical advice?

381

How can we create space to grieve in the wake of the Bondi massacre?

382

Why a midlife career change can be both terrifying and transformative

383

Forget touchscreens, car buttons are making a comeback

384

Surviving holidays with 'the fam'

385

Ask Aunty: Have I just been 'ghosted'?

386

What do new aged care reforms mean for those in care?

387

Why is lunch a growing challenge for Australian schools?

388

Concerns about children's data on daycare apps

389

Ask Aristotle: Is it ethical to create AI clones of the deceased?

390

Foster care concerns as volunteer numbers drop around Australia

391

Why are we so interested in the weather?

392

Millions of Aussies work at night: why aren't our cities built for them?

393

Buyer Beware: How long would you stand in line to buy something special?

394

Schools and students grapple with AI and cheating

395

New guidelines rethink male infertility

396

How to start again after a relationship ends

397

Chatbot relationships: What are the risks when your companion is AI?

398

Dr Billy Garvey answering questions about your kid's mental health

399

Ask Aunty: When your guest's plus one has four legs and a tail

400

Why are women choosing to holiday alone?

401

Are you for or against pets on planes?

402

What's behind the boom in silver separation?

403

How are young people learning about money?

404

How to have conversations with kids about safety

405

How do you stop a child from committing a crime?

406

My Two Cents: Nate Byrne

407

What is the book that changed your mind?

408

Are high school reading lists still relevant?

409

The book that changed Astrid Jorgensen's life

410

Could you fall in love with a fictional character?

411

Experts fear AI is replacing work done by interns and grads

412

Why we're being targetted by the "Gen Z stare"

413

My Two Cents: Alan Kohler

414

Why are young workers still so widely exploited?

415

The uncomfortable truth of the 'class ceiling' at work

416

The emotions, memories and secrets hidden in your wardrobe

417

Ask Aunty: staff kitchen etiquette breach

418

Are antidepressants overprescribed in Australia?

419

Supporting your neurodivergent kids

420

Getting an ADHD diagnosis is about be simplified. But will it be easier?

421

Should you pay to access national parks?

422

Outnumbered by elephant seals and king penguins: my weirdest day at work

423

Why are we obsessed with big things?

424

The Good Retirement: Seeing the world

425

Why women are joining the We Do Not Care Club

426

You reach your mental peak at around 60 years of age. Here's why