Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

We've all had that one friend who likes to embellish their stories and fancies themselves a bit of a yarn-spinner.  Lenny's friend Marcus has been like this since primary school, but now they've reached middle age, is it time to leave the white lies in the past and call his friend out?

Australian men are more likely to be more socially disconnected than Australian women, and are less likely to form strong connections with people beyond their partners. And while a majority of men think of their female partners as their best friend, less than half of their spouses feel the same way. So let's get into why the male friendship recession exists — and may actually be deepening — and ho...

There have been repeated calls from across the political divide this week to turn down the heat of our political discourse. After the alleged attack on MP Helen Haines, the way we converse and debate with each other has been called into question. So how has philosophy considered the art of debate and how to engage in respectful discussion?

When you visit a new town, where do you go to find out the must-see sights, the best coffee, and the comfiest bed in town?  Social media? A tourism website?  Or do you make a beeline for the visitor information centre to get the inside info that only a local could know?  With so much tourist information now available online, some visitor centres are scaling back face-to-face services, or closing t...

A survey report released this week says 76 per cent of Australians would have to make sacrifices to their budget if their rent or mortgage rose by $20 a week.  For some, that would mean going without food and medication.  Housing advocacy group Everybody's Home surveyed 1,150 people between July and September and found one in four were worried they would become homeless if rents continued to rise....

If you stumble across a bunch of people looking up at the sky and then frantically typing something into their phones this week, there's a chance you've found a group of citizen scientists. The Aussie Bird Count runs from October 19 to 25, and in its 13th year as the largest citizen science project in the country.  It's been a tough year for our feathered friends, but this is one way to do your pa...

Hitchhikers used to be a common sight across Australian roads. For a few good decades, thumbing a lift to the beach, home from school or further afield on an adventure was common practice. So was picking up strangers, passing time with idle conversation. Today most of us wouldn't dream of hitching a ride — the backpackers murders of the late 80s and early 90s all but brought this pastime to a scre...

Have you heard the term the "glass child"? It's used to describe the sibling of someone with a disability or chronic illness. They're called a glass child because they can become less visible than their sibling, who requires extra time and attention. They become the easy kid — not adding to their parents' stress, never needing too much. It's estimated more than 5 million Australians have grown up...

Last night, independent MP Helen Haines was the victim of an attack that has left her hospitalised in a critical condition, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as "a deliberate act".  Although we don't yet know the motivation of the attack, the Prime Minister has called for every Australian to turn down the heat of our political discourse. He spoke of how there had been a "s...

When you get the itch for an adventure, what scratches it? Is it a trip to the Himalayas? Trekking the Kokoda Trail? Or are you just bravely charting your own course through your suburb without GPS? Adventurer Beau Miles has spent years turning the outdoors into his workplace, and his adventures into his work — which has now been inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive. But Beau Miles wa...

Stress can be like a cold, if one person brings it home everyone can catch it. With students starting their year 12 exams it can be a stressful time for families as they navigate this difficult period. So how do you navigate stress in the household as a family unit?

According to new research, 46 per cent of people who would fit the definition of a "carer", don't think of themselves that way.  Because maybe caring for your aging family while juggling the younger ones is something you don't think about in depth — it's just what you do.  Care is complex, it doesn't look the same from one family to the next, and the way we define the word "carer" could be excludi...

As year 12 students across the country sit down for their HSC exams this month, the number sitting to complete senior level drama is dwindling. From 2015 to 2025, senior drama enrolments have fallen by 43 per cent across the country, the most of any arts subject. Even though their decline hasn't been as steep, music, visual arts and dance have also been in steady decline over the last decade. And...

From today, the first genetically modified whole food to be grown and sold in Australia will start hitting shelves in Victoria. It's a purple tomato that's been in the works for more than a decade, and producers have high hopes it'll be a hit with consumers. The industry regulator's latest consumer survey suggests about half of us are open to the idea of genetically modified foods. So will the pur...

A dog. A horse. A cat.  A bollard-bashing elephant seal. An adorable pygmy hippo. A short-spined raccoon. All creatures — whether you know them in real life or online — can be man's best friend. And for all the beauty that relationship can bring, it's not without its downsides or risks. So how can you invite animals into your life in a way that is beneficial for you, and them?

This week, the Aunties scale dilemma mountain with listener Anton, who's unsure about sharing his favourite hobby with the kid next door.  Anton's nine-year-old neighbour is super keen to tag along on his next bike ride with an old friend. But it's not exactly the quality time he had in mind. So how do you shake off an insistent buddy?

Wheelchairs, walkers and commodes aren't usually things of beauty. More often than not, products for people with mobility needs or disabilities are hospital-like and boring.  But do they have to be?  A shower chair just received a Good Design Award for its thoughtful, human-centred design, which the judges said re-imagines assistive furniture. What benefits might come from designing these function...

Students across France are protesting for better quality education, for the fourth week in a row. The demonstrations are part of a long history of protest that is baked into the nation's cultural identity. Closer to home, strikes and walkouts seem to be popping up more than ever, across all industries — from teachers to airline crews to miners.  So how does that sense of identity form, and where d...

Parenting doesn't come with an instruction manual. But if you're looking for advice, there are endless tomes out there decreeing the dos and don'ts. Since Dr Spock, so-called "experts" have been making parents feel guilty about the myriad ways they'll inevitably screw up their kids. These days, there is so much conflicting information it can feel impossible to sort what's useful from what's total...

You spend around 2,000 hours at work each year, and if you're doing it in the wrong position, eventually it's going to hurt.  Many people at the workplace are sitting at a desk and looking at a screen for hours on end, and while you can optimise your set-up, you also need to get physical. So what are the things can you do to best look after yourself and prevent the dreaded tech neck?

From the milk in your coffee to the phone in your pocket, so many things we use every day come off the back of a truck. But we have a growing problem. Australia is short at least 28,000 truck drivers, and that number is forecast to grow to nearly 78,000 in the next three years. A new report from the University of NSW has identified an untapped talent pool — women, who currently make up just 6 per...

For the first time ever, South Australian restaurateurs are about to find out if they've landed a spot on the world-renowned Michelin Guide. Anonymous inspectors have been dining in secret to hand-pick locations, sampling sauces and quietly judging each plate. But who decides which restaurants are worthy of a gold star, and how far do restaurants have to go to earn the privilege? While it's unclea...

The thing about cancer is — it doesn't care what else you've got going on in your life. It will strike whenever it is ready. For comedian Judith Lucy, the moment cancer chose was just weeks before she launched her latest book Well Well Well, auspiciously all about a health journey she's been on. She's spent the last few years trying ayahuasca. Someone else's poo. MDMA and psylocibin therapies. All...

Between Netflix, podcasts, games, books, and endless apps, in most houses, there are umpteen sources of entertainment vying for our attention.  And when you hear that younger generations aren't developing the reading skills they need, it can be tempting to panic and paint the digital devices as the enemy.  But the real picture is more complicated than "books good, screens bad". Technology has chan...

Last week a survey revealed that consumer confidence was at its lowest since the late 1990s.  It's the latest news in a pattern of pessimistic updates this year — but do these measures really say anything about people's habits? How do these surveys work, and are they an accurate predictor of the economy?