Life & Faith

Author, radio host and columnist Richard Glover talks to Life & Faith about his career, the joys of radio and why ordinary life is so special. Richard Glover was the host of ABC Radio Sydney’s drive program for 26 years, retiring from that role at the end of 2024. He is the author of 18 books including 3 for kids. He has a regular Saturday column at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age which...

In a world where we are inundated with options, it feels as though everything rides on making the right choice. Enter decision paralysis. LONG From TikTok influencers to productivity bros, there’s no shortage of people today doling out lifehacks. But there’s a difference between generalised advice from online gurus and the specific guidance we want for our lives – especially when we’re faced with...

We think we’re fully human when we’re independent of other people. We couldn’t be more wrong, says Leah Libresco Sargeant. Is dependence taboo? We may be happy to lend a hand to others, but we probably squirm at the idea of asking for help ourselves. In a world that prizes autonomy and independence, it feels almost shameful to be dependent. Which is partly why Leah Libresco Sargeant got pushback f...

Changing careers can be tough. Is it worth the risk? Shifting careers into something completely new, especially if you have been doing a job for a long time, can be a daunting prospect. But it can also be immensely rewarding. In this episode of Life & Faith we speak to three people who made radical changes in their careers and lived to tell the tale! A hairdresser trains to be a nurse. A singe...

Philosopher Meghan Sullivan on why Christianity has a vital role to play in helping us maintain our humanity in the face of AI. With the AI revolution upon us we all face great uncertainty about the future and what this technology will mean for our lives. There will be plenty that we can be grateful for, perhaps excited about. But there are serious concerns being raised as well. What will this tec...

Kutter Callaway on Comedy, Horror and human imagination. Since he first encountered Star Wars as a young boy, Kutter Callaway has been fascinated by film, television and the stories that capture our collective imaginations. With PhDs in theology and also psycho-social science, he applies his skill and experience in these areas to interpret visual storytelling and examine key aspects of being human...

Social researcher and demographer Mark McCrindle tells us how Australia is changing (and sometimes staying the same). What are the likely impacts of generational shifts and trends? Mark McCrindle is a social researcher and demographer who has been studying Australian life for twenty years. He and his team have gathered important insights into who we are, what we love, how we have changed and how w...

Jennifer Powell McNutt has spent years studying Mary Magdalene. She wants us to know who she really is. Mary Magdelene is both well-known and yet not known at all. She has appeared prominently in art and popular culture in things like the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) or in the film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) or Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003). She has often been inaccuratel...

Brigid Delaney, Australia’s resident expert on Stoicism, draws on ancient wisdom to survive the storm of modern life. --- How do you cope when things seem to be spinning out of control? In recent years, the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism has made a comeback. It’s especially big in Silicon Valley, where modern Stoics pore over the writings of the ancient Stoics – Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius...

New York Times columnist and ex-soldier David French on his surprising career trajectory, faith and politics, and what Jesus has to say about power. --- David French has a fascinating life story that has seen him work as a constitutional lawyer for 20 years, a journalist and writer for places like the National Review, the Atlantic, and now the NYT. He is a writer and commentator with a conviction...

Some principles, some practices, and a bit of inspiration for the digitally exhausted. We pick up our phones 150 times per day on average. Three out of four Australians check social media as soon as they wake up. Four out of five check it before they go to bed. These ‘micromoments’ add up – the ways we choose (consciously or not) to spend our time shape us. Many of us find ourselves dissatisfied i...

Life & Faith brings you a conversation with an Aussie icon. “Write the song and just let the song be a mirror on life, and then see if people see themselves in the picture.” You might know Colin Buchanan as an Australian country music star, as a much-loved writer and performer of kids’ music, as a Play School presenter, or from one of the other myriad hats he’s worn ov...

Greg Sheridan on why the early Christians were able to change the world. Greg’s third in a trilogy of books on Christianity examines the “success” of the early Christians in upending the ancient world, and how this story speaks to contemporary life.  Greg Sheridan has been the foreign editor at the Australian newspaper since 1992. He is one of Australia’s leading national ...

Getting inside the Bible, the most published book of all time.   The Bible is the most published book of all time, and not just historically. It continues to be the case today. In fact, in 2024 Bible sales were up by 22%. In Western Countries the Bible is easily accessible but increasingly there are people who have very little contact with or understanding of the Bible. So what even is the Bi...

Youth worker and founder of the Red Frogs, Andy Gourley, tells Life & Faith how a trip to the Gold Coast to look after his skateboarding crew changed his life. The group known as Red Frogs have become a legendary presence at schoolies weeks, at music festivals and wherever large groups of young party-goers congregate. Offering food, assistance, a listening ear, protection and of course, the fa...

With outrage and division at an all-time high, the need for intelligent and respectful persuasion has never been more urgent. Michael McQueen is an author, speaker and social commentator. In an age of intense polarisation and tribalism, he hasn’t given up on the possibility of changing people’s minds. In this interview with Life & Faith, Michael talks about the psychology of stubbornness and h...

That’s what disability advocate Emily Korir OAM calls one of the worst things that ever happened to her. In June 2012, Emily Korir suffered a massive stroke. She was just 37 years old, with two young children. It was unclear whether she would survive; and then, whether she would ever walk or speak again. Her road to recovery was long and gruelling – and surprisingly life-giving, both for her and f...

How Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four , Huxley’s Brave New World , and Lewis’ That Hideous Strength predicted our current world disorder.  --- Which vision – of a world gone sour – has proved prophetic?  Is it George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four , which introduced terms like “Big Brother”, “doublethink”, “thoughtcrime” to our vocabulary?    Or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World...

For 80 years Prison Network has helped women find hope, dignity and purpose in and beyond prison. In 1946, a young woman by the name of Myrtle Breen knocked on the door of Pentridge Prison in Melbourne to ask if she could visit the women inside. She was allowed in to spend time with the prisoners, listening to their stories and showing them kindness. She was invited back to do the same and it...

Peter Hartcher joins Life & Faith to discuss his life in journalism and the precarious state of the world. Peter Hartcher is a leading Australian political and foreign affairs journalist. He has had a long career in the media, beginning with a cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald fresh out of school in 1982. He is now the Political and International editor for the Herald and for The Age. He...

Sheridan Voysey, from Friendship Lab , explains why, in an age of increasing loneliness, the art of cultivating friendship is needed as much as ever before. When Sheridan Voysey was confronted with the question, “Who can you call at 2am when everything goes wrong?”, he realised that friendship was a facet of his life he had neglected for too long. This set him on a path to consider how we cultivat...

Niall Williams discusses the conversion of his treasured novel into a major film starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne. Four Letters of Love is the 1997 novel by Irish writer Niall Williams, and has just been adapted, by Williams, into a movie starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne. Life & Faith speaks with Niall Williams about the film and th...

Julia Verdouw used silence, faith and writing poetry to survive the sudden death of her husband. Julia is an accomplished academic and policy expert, but her book In the Valley of the Shadow may be her most important work.  Through reflection, poetry and prayers, the book documents her journey of grief. Regardless of who we are or what we believe, suffering comes for us all. Perhaps the worst...

A columnist’s job is to process deeper currents in news, politics, and culture – all in 800 words. Who are we as a nation and a people, and what’s going on for us beneath the daily headlines of the 24/7 media cycle? Few of us stop long enough to wonder – but if we ever wanted to find out, a good place to start would be Sean Kelly’s writing in The Sydney Morning Herald . Sean Kelly is a former...

Stories and stats from the UK suggest that something has shifted, spiritually, over the past few years. -- Since 2018, two million more people in England and Wales have started regularly attending church – an increase fuelled largely by Gen Z, and by young men especially. So say the results from a new survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society, results which cut...