Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

Author, columnist, and screenwriter Kathy Lette has written dozens of books — but she credits just one as the spark that set her on the path to becoming a writer. In this instalment of Book That Changed My Life, she goes behind the scenes of Vanity Fair by English author William Makepeace Thackeray.

Remember to get toothpaste. Change that dentist's appointment. Pick up a present before the birthday party on the weekend. Check whether the dog's overdue for a worming tablet. Find some time to catch up with the friend who's back in town. Do some of those exercises the physio has been nagging you about. If that all sounds familiar, you probably know what it's like to be spiralling under the weigh...

The cost of insurance has skyrocketed across Australia. In south-west Queensland, residents have seen premiums increase by 500 per cent, while some insurers have left town completely.  With few options left on the table, local councils have stepped in. The South West Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils has been formed to investigate a new model where they would offer their communities mut...

It's never been cooler to be a bird nerd. Birdwatching as a hobby is capturing everyone from retirees to footy players. And it turns out birding is great for business, with eco-tourism and regional economies benefiting from the rise of "twitchers". So if you want to pick up a pair of binoculars, when's the right time to start and what etiquette notes should you brush up on to begin?

Australia's Privacy Commissioner has put the rent tech sector on notice, ruling that a platform had been unfairly collecting excessive amounts of personal information from prospective tenants. The decision noted a "significant power imbalance" in the rental property market that had made consumers particularly vulnerable to unfair practices. It's been hailed as a win for renters, and it could lead...

A grandiose sense of self importance, an intense need for admiration, an inflated sense of entitlement and a lack of empathy — these are the hallmarks of narcissistic personality disorder. In an era of toxic reality TV and mercurial political leaders, it can feel like we're surrounded by narcissists. But a label that has a real clinical definition has become therapy-speak shorthand for any kind of...

When someone dies, splitting up their assets and sharing possessions among the family can be tricky — even when things are divided equally.  This week, the Aunties give advice to a listener who feels cheated out of their inheritance, after a relative gave away some of the family jewels.

Work is a big part of Australian culture, but for people who are on the road to becoming an Australian, it's a hard value to grasp. Many refugees and asylum seekers leave their countries, where they were doctors, lawyers or teachers, and find the jobs that are available to them in Australia aren't anything like what they're used to. Last week the Coalition's immigration policy pushed Australian va...

Most Australians enjoy the occasional alcoholic drink — around two thirds of people over 14 have indulged in the past year, and 6.6 million of us are drinking at risky levels.

It could be a butterfly on your windowsill, a cloud shaped like a star or a love heart in your coffee.  Ghost signs are the little coincidences or symbols that, when we notice them in our day, feel like a direct message reminding us of a loved one who's died.  So why do we look for meaning in these places, and can establishing ghost signs help us process our grief?

There are plenty of ways you could end up with a concussion. A bump can happen anywhere, but recent moves to minimise the risks in professional sports have put the footy field in the spotlight. So if you're a parent making the decisions for your kids, do you know enough about concussion to decide when they're OK to play? New research suggests most parents aren't confident in their knowledge around...

Jackie O's lawyers are accusing her former employer of failing to protect her mental wellbeing while she was on air with Kyle Sandilands. It's an allegation that's put workplace safety under a very public microscope, raising questions around what responsibility employers have to protect not just physical health, but also mental and emotional wellbeing. When does a high-pressure environment become...

If you're living the single life, you're likely feeling the sting in your wallet. Managing all the household bills is a lot harder to do on one income than on two. But over time, it's the little unexpected things that can add up to a significant disadvantage. Analysis from financial comparison site Finder estimates the average single person in Australia has $19,260 less in savings than the average...

Adult diagnoses of ADHD in Australia have soared in recent years, but the system is still struggling to support people equitably. An investigation by Four Corners has revealed a complicated picture when it comes to treatment, with hotspots where prescriptions for ADHD medication are far higher than expected , and other pockets of missed diagnosis, where people are being left undiagnosed and untrea...

A new poll from the Australian National University says most people think life was better 50 years ago. Objectively, it's kind of bleak out here. But does that mean optimism is dead? That it's all hopeless? But it can't be all doom — it's time to unpack why hope isn't about ignoring reality and why optimism doesn't have to mean being naive. Because it turns out, being cynical doesn't make you smar...

A new report has estimated the total cost of what Australia spends providing food for public institutions and programs. The cost of providing food for our hospitals, aged care centres, the defence, long day care centres and other public programs totals $2.1 billion. The report from Good Food Purchasing Australia identifies a range of improvements that could be made to make the food healthier,  bet...

The concept of a birth doula to help someone along their journey of childbirth has become pretty common place, but have you heard of a death doula? They can be involved at any stage of the dying process from helping you navigate your wishes, all the way to being engaged after you've passed to help your loved ones grieve. It's something that impacts everyone at some point, so would you want someone...

Do you really care what kids wear to school? The World Health Organisation recommends children should get an hour of intense activity a day, but that can be hard to do in a formal uniform.  New research reveals the public are broadly in favour of a permanent move to sports uniforms so that children can boost their physical needs. A shift in uniforms may also have other hidden benefits to students'...

When was the last time you had the thrill of discovering a brand new song from a brand new artist, and it made you feel the way you did hearing Midnight Oil for the first time? Or Kylie Minogue. Or the Beastie Boys.  New research shows a dramatic decline in sales of new music over the last 20 years, and it's creating a nostalgia-spiral that could mean even when you want to find new music it all so...

There's no such thing as a free lunch — or, as it turns out, a free installation to connect an outdoor shower to your hot water system. The Aunties share advice for a listener who suspects they've been swindled by a fellow parent at the school fete.

In recent years, the number of Australians being diagnosed with ADHD and autism has risen. Neurodivergence has entered the mainstream, and the way we talk about it is changing. With more and more people learning about the way their brains work, conversations about how to support this growing population are moving from schools and homes and into workplaces. So what does a truly neuro-inclusive work...

These days, it's not uncommon for children to be a little fussy about what they eat. Estimates vary around the world, but as many as half of kids exhibit signs of picky eating. But has this always been the case? Food historian Helen Zoe Veit argues the phenomenon of childhood pickiness is a modern problem, driven by changes in eating habits, food production and parenting trends over the last two c...

What does politeness mean to you? We have seen what is deemed to be polite change rapidly over the last 100 years. But who decides what is and isn't acceptable, how does it evolve and is there a future for politeness?

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has seized on the fuel crisis to underline the need for electrification and renewable energy. But a lot of Australians have already done it. Households are spending their own money, taking the risk, and figuring out how to cut fossil fuels out of their lives. Some are even getting close to off-grid, in the middle of cities. So here's the real question: if people are doi...

Have you given career advice to the young people in your life? The traditional pathway for school-leavers to study and then find a job may not be as realistic as it once was, with unpredictable economic conditions and rapidly changing industries making the workforce virtually unrecognisable. So if the same route you went down to pursue your career is no longer attainable for your kids, how do you...