Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

Australian author Alice Pung penned her seminal memoir Unpolished Gem two decades ago, which she started writing age 19. Even as a teenager Alice had lived a full life, and the story of how her parents, grandmother and aunt travelled by foot through three countries to seek resettlement as refugees in Melbourne, has become a modern Australian classic.  It’s now taught in high schools across Austral...

As you're whittling down your shortlist for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown, you might be digging deep into the memory box for inspiration.  Children's books often stick with us for years after we first discover them. They often have special memories attached, whether from our own childhood, or from years spent reading to our own little ones.  For parenting educator Maggie Dent...

Have you been dazzled by the bright headlights of other vehicles when driving at night? A recent inquest into the death of veteran BBC broadcaster, Jenni Murray, was told that she died following a car crash in which she was dazzled by headlights. The Royal Automobile Club in Britain is actively campaigning on this issue. Its member surveys found 94 per cent of respondents had experienced dazzle fr...

Last week we heard the news the great Dolly Parton had passed at the age of 80. There was a global outpouring of grief from fans,  politicians and musicians alike — it seemed the whole world was in collective mourning for a beloved icon. Dolly achieved fame in an era where celebrity was built through mass media, but that landscape doesn't exist in the same way anymore. Our hyper-personalised digit...

Everyone has a book in them, so the saying goes. But only a dedicated few manage to write their stories down, and most would never dream to see the characters they've created eventually portrayed on screen by Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep.  But that's the reality for Liane Moriarty. Her runaway success with Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Last Anniversary and Apple...

When a crisis emerges at work people can hit the panic stations pretty quickly.  In a time when everything is unclear it can often lead to rushed decisions, which ultimately make things worse in the long run. How can we better prepare for moments of crisis and make sure we don't make the same common mistakes?

Many workplaces have mentoring programs where senior staff provide guidance and wisdom to younger team members. But have you heard of reverse mentoring, where a younger team member mentors a senior colleague? Reserve Bank Australia governor Michelle Bullock recently mentioned that she has a reverse mentor who is helping her learn more about AI at work. In fact, there are quite a few workplaces in...

Recent research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology has found that reading about the impacts of climate change increases our negative emotions and decreases hope.

For your next overseas trip you would have the essential sights you have to see, but is a grocery store on that list? Grocery tourism has been identified as one of the top trends of 2026, with people looking to trawl the aisles of a local store while abroad. What is it that we find fascinating about shopping overseas compared to what is a fairly regular experience at home?

A new research project from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has been considering the ways housing affects children's health and development.  Researchers found that around 1 in 8 kids growing up in rentals have moved at least 10 times by the time they reach the age of 14, which could have long-term implications over their lifespan. So is moving house inherently bad for...

What would you do if you thought you'd been treated unfairly, but couldn't afford a lawyer? Increasingly, Australians are turning to AI tools to understand their rights, draft complaints, or even prepare a case for court. There's no doubt it's making the justice system more accessible, but it also means courts, tribunals and complaints bodies are dealing with more submissions — including some that...

Last Thursday, the Northern Territory became the final Australian jurisdiction to legalise voluntary assisted dying (VAD). But there are still nationwide barriers to access that families and advocates say cause unnecessary stress and suffering for people who are terminally ill. One of those barriers is the requirement to have been a resident in your state for at least 12 months before applying for...

You probably have thousands of photos in your phone's camera roll, but do you look at them as fondly as you did photo albums? Flipping through the pages of a family album is a beautiful tradition that can help us make sense of our ourselves through history. It's never been easier to take a photo, but in a digital age, how do we display them and what happens if we don't pass on these photos to futu...

When you're reading picture books to your little ones, what keeps you (and them) engaged?  It might be the words that tell the stories, or the illustrations that bring them to life. But the best kids' books are those that strike the magical combination and get both exactly right. So what does it take to collaborate and craft a story that stays with its readers forever?

When you’re gifted a bag of clothes, what is the acceptable course of action for the items you don’t want to keep?  Should you donate them, leave them sitting at the back of your cupboard? Is it ever OK to resell a gift and use the money to buy something you actually want?  This week, the Aunties weigh in on the rules of engagement when it comes to unwanted gifts.

Unachievable job demands, low job control and inadequate reward and recognition are just three of the psychosocial hazards in the workplace now considered a breach of workplace safety laws.  As of December 2025, all Australian states and territories have workplace health obligations in place that require employers to protect your psychosocial safety.  We all experience some of these things to an e...

In Australia we have some of the most beautiful landscapes and nature in the world. Access to green space is widely recognised as an important factor in supporting mental wellbeing.  A new study from Scotland found people who lived close to revived woodland areas were 10 per cent less likely to be prescribed antidepressants, and if people moved closer to a woodland, that need for medication was re...

More Australians are living alone than ever before, in a society still geared towards couples and families — including at mealtimes. In The Spinster Cookbook, Eli Davies explores what it means to cook for yourself, by yourself (with no-one else to do the washing up). What are the challenges and joys of cooking for one?

Europe is nearing the end of what has been an extremely hot summer, with one of the worst fire seasons in modern history.  For locals, it's a frightening new reality. But research suggests it's also affecting tourism, with travellers cancelling or delaying trips due to heat concerns.  The study revealed 20 per cent of participants had rejigged their recent holidays over weather concerns, so what d...

Is there a bird feeder hanging in your backyard? Maybe you have some feathered friends who will eat right out of your hand? Up to 50 per cent of Australian households feed wild birds, but it might be time to stop — or at least change the way you do it — because experts are warning that backyard bird feeders can be a hotspot for bird flu transmission. We find out what else we can do to have a posit...

As the world reflects on the legacy of Dolly Parton, who died overnight aged 80, millions of children will remember her simply as "the book lady". 

When the devastating news of Dolly Parton’s passing reached the world, it was delivered by someone very dear to her – her nephew Bryan Seaver. That the man who knew her as Aunty Dolly was trusted with carrying this message highlights the important, but under-recognised role of aunts and uncles in a child's life. We celebrate mother's day, father's day, and even invite the grandparents along to kin...

You think the world of your loved ones and could write pages and pages about what is so wonderful about them. But people don't see themselves in the same light and can often put themselves down. So what should you do when someone you love is stuck in a spiral of negative self-talk?

Children's Book Week is upon us, that magical time of year where parents across the land are up late pulling together last-minute costumes fashioned after their children's favourite characters from the page. Some favourites come and go. But others stay with you. So what are the children's books that keep you coming back decades after you outgrew them? For Annabel Crabb, there's one that's stayed w...

New research from the University of Melbourne has found that young people are now significantly more likely than older generations to hold hostile attitudes towards women.