Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

The decision to have, or not have, kids is a big one. New research from Adelaide University suggests more Australian men are making that decision earlier than previous generations. Vasectomies are on the rise — particularly amongst among younger men  — with researchers pointing to everything from cost-of-living pressures to changing ideas about family and parenthood. So are young Australians rethi...

Does the idea of sweating with a group of people in a room sound appealing? Well all over the country more people are engaging in the Nordic pass-time of sauna. The popularity has risen due to a push by the health and fitness industry on how this practice can optimise your workouts.  But what is behind our fascination with sauna and is it here to stay?

Who was your first best friend?  Maybe you met in your first year of school, lived on the same street, or spent your weekends playing sport together. For some people, those friendships fade as life moves on. But for others, that childhood friend is still in their life decades later. So what's special about a friend who's known you since childhood? And what makes those friendships last?

There's a one in 700,000 chance of giving birth to quadruplets. And there's a one in 15 million chance that a quadruplet pregnancy will result in four identical babies. Yet that's exactly what happened to a Brisbane woman this month, in a case that has gained global attention. It's an incredible feat of the human body, but what is it like on the other side, raising that many children all at the sa...

Do you feel like your reward for being good at your job is getting more work?  You may have incurred the competence tax. It's when you're so good at your job that you are held back because you're too valuable to lose.  How do you recognise if you're being taxed and how can you break out of it?

Have you ever been stuck at a red light, wondering why you're still waiting when there's nothing coming the other way? Australia's first trial of AI-powered traffic lights will test whether artificial intelligence can ease that frustration by responding to what's actually happening on our roads in real time. A faster journey sounds appealing. But if we let AI decide who gets the green light, how d...

Author, comedian and cabaret performer Libby Trainor Parker always assumed she would meet the love of her life, have a big family, and live in a house full of children's laughter. And in a way, she got that dream. But it's been a long road, with a lot of heartbreak, infertility, loss and grief. Libby has documented her story of pregnancy loss and building a life after infertility in a new book.

Australia has the highest uptake per capita of rooftop solar in the world. But the adoption isn't spread equally among us. For the 10% of the country who live in apartment buildings, there are calls for a better way to bring these residents into the energy transition. Overseas the solution has been balcony solar systems, but these aren't currently allowed in Australia. So what needs to change in h...

Christopher Nolan's star-studded interpretation of ancient Greek epic The Odyssey has just hit cinemas, and if it's got you dreaming of a Mediterranean holiday, you're not alone.  Planning your travel itinerary around the places your favourite stories are set is known as literary tourism, and although it's nothing new the rise of BookTok seems to have supercharged the trend.  So what's behind this...

When your kids become parents, it's like deja vu. You've weathered these same toddler tantrums, right through to the teenage rebellions. It's just your grandchildren testing boundaries this time not your kids. But it's probably testing you too — and despite your best intentions, eventually you're going to put your foot in it. You're only human. This episode explores how to navigate this new phase...

This week, the Aunties share their advice with a listener who wants a sleep divorce — the trick is convincing her partner it'll be better for their sex life. Plenty of couples sleep in separate beds and maintain their intimacy and connection, so how do you get past the stigma?

It's time to talk about the mental load — that invisible, unpaid form of labour that keeps a household running.  When it comes to two-parent families, research shows women do 50 per cent more housework than men, and double the amount of caring duties.  But the mental load is about more than juggling the significant burden of daily life admin. So what would it look like if that was equally shared? 

On Tuesday night in New York one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons sold for $71 million. The skeleton, nicknamed Gus, is from the Late Cretaceous period and is approximately 67 million years old. The buyer of Gus has not yet been disclosed, but it begs the question: should any one person own an item like this?

The federal government's setting up an Office of AI to lay out some ground rules for companies that want to build centres in Australia.  In Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's words, it's about "shaping the future, rather than letting the future shape us".  Broadly Australians are getting on board, with more than 13.6 million Australians regularly using AI tools. But there are pockets of resistance...

Imagine being told, every day, that today could be the day the world ends. That was the message drilled into Bek Condello for as long as she could remember. Raised in a strict doomsday church, Bek has written about her experience growing up, and how leaving her community led her to rebuild her entire life. 

No matter how old you are, making friends is tricky business. But at least in your youth, you had the time to get to know someone slowly, at school or university, where a relationship can build naturally. With the daily demands of adult life, even if you have enough in common with people you see at pilates, school drop-off or work, it's hard to find the time to road-test that relationship. So with...

Gayle is looking for love again in her 40s. She spent some time scouring the dating apps, but now she's ditched them in an effort to find someone offline. Well, kind of offline. She's also documenting her journey on social media.  So what is the best way to find a new relationship in mid-life, are people having more success offline than on — or are we just evolving past dating apps?

If you go by the generational stereotypes of disgruntled and disaffected youth, it's easy to assume that young people don't care about anything, and simply aren't interested in politics or what's happening around them. But you'd be wrong. According to new research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies, it's not that young people are disengaged - they're actually just engaging in differen...

Is there one task on your to-do list that keeps you up at night? It takes up a lot of mental headspace and you could just do it, but for some reason you just… don't. One option for getting through this struggle is holding a "getting stuff done" party, where people get together with their reports, taxes, forms and tick off the collective tasks as a group. But why do we need these and how do they wo...

News of Sam Neill's sudden death, at the age of 78, has been felt right around the world. He gave so many unforgettable performances, from Jurassic Park and The Piano to Peaky Blinders, but away from the cameras, he found his greatest peace on his beloved farm New Zealand. He's being remembered not just an extraordinary actor, but a beautiful person whose warmth, wit, and talent touched millions.

There's a critical lack of affordable housing options across the board, and data suggests older women — who typically retire with less in savings and superannuation than men — are particularly vulnerable. The number of older women experiencing homelessness has more than doubled in the last eight years. It's a complex problem, and there's no silver bullet. But one potential solution aimed at the "m...

Last week on the program, Life Matters discussed the rise of smart glasses and the ethical quandaries they present in terms of privacy.  But for some users, these accessories offer more than convenience or street cred. For people with low or no vision, using smart glasses as an accessibility aid can be life-changing.

There are more than 100,000 children currently in some form of kinship care in Australia, and it's estimated more than half of those providing that care are grandparents. It's a family dynamic born out of a stark reality — when a parent can no longer look after their child, either a family member steps up or that child enters the formal out-of-home care system. And so the relationship shifts. In t...

When the love of your life is down on one knee, offering you a diamond ring, divorce is probably the last thing on your mind. But it's estimated that around 1 in 3 marriages in Australia will end that way, so what do you do with the ring after the person who gave it to you is no longer in the picture? Consider the divorce ring: take that piece of jewellery and turn it into something new. 

Has the rise of AI got you worried about how secure your job is? Do you feel like you lack the skills to take a leap and chase work you really love? Pulling yourself out of a career slump is hard work, but it's worth looking at the bigger picture. Because chances are your knowledge, experience and human skills could be transferred to any number of meaningful jobs out there. So how do you figure ou...