Deeper Questions

Episode 25: "Is Christianity good history?" (Season 2 Finale) The question we’ve got there is deliberately vague and ambiguous, and I want to play into the double meaning a bit. We’ll be tackling a bunch of questions regarding the historicity of Christianity and the Bible, but also looking at the moral legacy of Christianity, after two thousand years of both triumphal moments and deeply shameful t...

Episode 24: “Does Religion Help or Hurt Social Justice?” Helen Keller once said "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” And today we want to look at this confrontation between suffering and solace. We’re talking social justice, activism, charity, causes, not-for-profits and some of the reasons why these things exist in the first place. And we’ll get spec...

Episode 23: “Is Christianity Anti-Intellectual?" Historically there have been many reasons to attack and criticise Christianity - but one of the most popular attacks over the last few centuries has been to challenge Christianity's intellectual credibility and its ability to accurately understand and make sense of the world. Rather than taking on arguments and attempting to refute them one by one,...

Episode 22: What is the value of art? It’s been said that Art can be a Mirror or a Window to Society. Revealing deep truths about ourselves and reality. And so art plays an important prophetic role in shaping cultural conversations and bringing to life stories, themes and ideas that matter. And so for this episode we’re going to be talking with a couple of talented and thoughtful local artists. To...

Episode 21: Is meaning overrated? In 2021, 38.9% of respondents to the census declared themselves to be “no religion” in Australia . That was almost 10 million people. You might also have heard about “the meaning crisis” Some secular thinkers like John Vervaeke have been exploring the void of anxiety and emptiness since around 2017. Many thinkers in this “meaning crisis” movement have explored Eas...

Episode 20: "Are we taking freedom for granted?" with Lyndsey Stonebridge In the previous episode we talked about the fragile state of Democracy, and we’ll be continuing many of those themes in today’s episode, almost like a Part 2. But rather than talking through the lens of US politics, we’re going to completely change tact and talk through the lens of human rights. And to do that we’ll be chann...

Episode 19: "Will Democracy Survive 2024?" 2024 has been an incredibly historic year for democracy around the world. With over 4 billion people having voted, or looking forward to voting in various elections across more than 40 countries. And yet, one country will likely overshadow all of these global elections; The US election on Tuesday, November 5th 2024. Everyone will be watching, everyone wil...

Episode 18: “Whatever happened to New Atheism?" (Season Finale) Around the mid 2000s atheism became sexy. It was everywhere. Headlined by Richard Dawkins and the other ‘four horsemen’ of New Atheism; Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. They -and many other public atheists- were dominating best seller lists, YouTube algorithms and making news with their witty and swashbuckling comm...

Episode 17: “How do we find our voice?" Deeper Questions is a show that seeks to explore a vast array of topics and experiences in the spirit of curiosity and listening. This exploration will sometimes include heavy and uncomfortable themes that may shake us up and affect us in important ways, but they may also change us for the better. For this episode we have a very special guest joining us - th...

Episode 16: "What does healthy masculinity look like?" with Al Stewart The last 50-60 years have brought unprecedented change when it comes to understanding, and re-writing our understanding, of gender roles in society. Today’s episode is not so much going to look at all the aspects of gender we could cover, but we want to zero in on manhood and masculinity. Being a man has always brought a range...

Episode 15: "Can trees save the world?" When people think of climate change I imagine they think of the smog and smoke pouring into the atmosphere as we burn fossil fuels to power our cities, cars, and lifestyles. And you would be right. But perhaps an understated accelerant is the loss of vast forest ecosystems which are often destroyed for agriculture, housing development, and the forestry indus...

Episode 14: "Who am I?" We know more about ourselves than ever before, we can get a DNA sample to 23 and me and discover extensive information about our biological family and our own physical characteristics. We can develop an online persona for a cluster of social media platforms and present ourselves any way we want. But how can we know who we really are? Dr Christopher Watkin is an Associate Pr...

Episode 13: "What's your favourite drink (and why is it single malt whisky)?" Sometimes on Deeper Questions there’ll be niche, and then there’ll be next level niche like today. Digging into a topic that is ridiculously particular and concentrated where you might come in knowing absolutely nothing of what we’re talking about. Well if that’s you today then don’t worry! I think we manage to handle it...

Episode 12: “How can we help save a life?" Suicide is one of those taboo topics that we push as far out of minds we possibly can. And for good reason. It’s utterly tragic when someone takes their own life. When their circumstances and emotional wellbeing reach such a point that they no longer feel they can go on. Where it feels so bleak, so hopeless, and a permanent escape is the only option. And...

Episode 11: "What’s with our obsession with True Crime?" In early 2023, Triton Digital‘s Australian Podcast Ranker showed that Casefile , an Australian True Crime podcast - had risen to number 1 in Australia, beating Hamish and Andy. Apart from Casefile, there are approximately 120 podcasts about true crime, just from Australian content creators. Since Serial, the popular spinoff from This America...

Episode 10: “Are you spiritual but not religious?" Every time the census rolls around there is intrigue, vigorous campaigning, non-stop commentary and at times feverish hysteria about the decline of institutional religion. And while Australia continues to become more and more secular, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is becoming less spiritual. For this episode we’ll meander through a bun...

Episode 9: “Would Jesus identify as an Evangelical?" Evangelicalism seems to have a massive PR problem. You probably see in the news the same thing that I do: high profile scandals, a loud voice in the culture wars, and behaviour that doesn’t line up with the historical Jesus. So I wanted to discuss the perception and the reality of Evangelicalism - both the label and the movement. As well as how...

Episode 8: "How do we combat misinformation?" How do we know what we know? And how can we be sure? No one wants to be gullible, and most of us pride ourselves for being independently minded. And yet... we’re way more dependent on our social groups than we probably realise, which makes us susceptible to believing falsehoods. Today we’re going to jump into the wild world of misinformation, disinform...

Episode 7: “Why am I still alone?" The rates of people who live alone are the highest they have been in over a century. Compared to life 100 years ago, fewer people are marrying, there are more single parent families than ever recorded and more people are living together but not getting the piece of paper to confirm it. Being alone is a normal part of being human, so why is so much of our culture...

Episode 6: "How do we manage burnout?" Burnout has become one of those topics that seemingly every work place talks about now. And if they’re not, well they should be. According to a study from McKinsey in 2021, Australians suffer the highest rates of burnout of any country with around 61% of Australians having experienced some form of burnout (compared with the global average of 48%). Dr Amy Imms...

Episode 5: "Does God care about rising sea levels?" Climate Change continues to be an incredibly daunting, complex and multifaceted challenge for the future of our planet. It’s an important conversation to be having as individuals, in government, in community groups and in the private sector. But where to start? There’s so much to comprehend, and plenty of directions you can go to learn more. Toda...

Episode 4: "Can Atheists have mystical experiences?" Every few episodes we want to take the time to listen to different perspectives and experiences from guests who come from outside of a Christian framework. And what better way to start than by exploring the ambiguous nature of…nature? In particular, the role it can play in facilitating mystical experiences. These kinds of experiences have long b...

Episode 3: "How do we build tech-healthy habits?" For this episode we shift our focus away from Christianity's place in society, and more towards a universal issue worth pondering; our relationship with technology. Many of us spend large parts of our working life navigating screens and the internet, only to come home and do the same for our leisure times. We know it's changing us day by day, but n...

Episode 2: "Is Secularism good for society?" To some people, secularism represents freedom to live in a way that suits them, to no longer let majority religions decide what’s right or wrong in society. For others it feels like a threat to their spiritual way of life. So is secularism good for society? For this episode we have Mike Bird joining us to help us think through secularism, what it means...

Episode 1: "What has Christianity ever done for us?" We wanted to start our podcast by working with the assumption that Christianity has almost nothing to offer people in a secular, enlightened, post-religious landscape. Is this true? Should we leave faith and religious superstition behind? Or do we perhaps underestimate the legacy of Christian thought and action? Glen Scrivener is the Director of...