UNDISTRACTED with Laura Bennett

Justine Whitchurch is a sobriety advocate, Health and Fitness Coach and writer who almost lost her life in 2012 when her alcohol addiction became too much. With a music career, kids and relationship in the wings, entering rehab was do or die for Justine and now she’s set on helping others break cycles of addiction.  Read more of Justine's story in her book, 'Sobriety Delivered Everything Alcohol P...

Wendy Harmer is one of Australia's most versatile and much-loved entertainers. From being born with a severe facial deformity, Wendy’s gone to perform as a stand-up comedian, a national television host and was the highest paid woman in Australian radio when she led 2Day FM's Breakfast Show for 11 years. She’s hosted on the ABC in the years since, and written multiple books, including the children’...

Julia Baird is a Sydney-based author and journalist. She co-hosts 'The Drum' on ABC TV and writes columns for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Harper's Bazaar. She is a former senior editor of Newsweek in New York and op-ed contributor for the New York Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer. Her first book, Media Tarts, was based on her PhD in History about the portrayal of female politicians....

This week, we're joined by futurist, pastor and author Erwin McManus. In the business world he’s known as a mentor, fashion designer and filmmaker, and in his hometown of Los Angeles he’s the lead pastor and visionary behind Mosaic. Erwin is a profound thinker, and he’s returned to talk to us about the impact our mind has on our personal fulfilment, performance and joy. His new book 'Mind Shift: I...

Robert Fergusson has been a teaching pastor for over 30 years. He’s an internationally recognized Hillsong Church preacher, and author of three books including 'Are you Getting This?', 'Making Connections That Work', and his latest, 'Jesus And'. In this conversation Robert gives us the questions to ask to find our purpose, explains the value of the ordinary and unpacks Jesus’ interest in our lives...

Rabbi Sobel is the spiritual advisor to the worldwide hit TV series 'The Chosen' which dramatises the life of Jesus and his disciples. His new book 'Signs and Secrets of the Messiah: A Fresh Look at the Miracles of Jesus' reexamines Scripture, biblical culture and ancient texts to help readers better understand the intention behind God's miracles. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection a...

Creator of @millennial.therapist Sara Kuburic is an existential psychotherapist. She was born in Yugoslavia and raised in Canada and is passionate about helping people seeking change to live authentic, free, and meaningful lives. Her interest in psychology came from her personal experience living through wars, navigating complex relationships, and continually learning what it means to be human. In...

Today’s guest Charlotte Ree is an author and home cook. When the world turned upside in 2020, Charlotte was 29, newly divorced and unexpectedly thrust into lockdown with loneliness, confusion and a wobbly sense of identity after her 10-year relationship. In her “bittersweet” memoir 'Heartbake' Charlotte combines her story of love lost, won and lost again with the recipes that helped her rediscover...

Simone Amelia Jordan is Australia’s most successful hip-hop journalist. She has contributed to 'The Source', 'VIBE', 'Rolling Stone', ABC and SBS and her celebrity interviews have notched over 13 million YouTube views. Simone founded and edited Australia’s highest-selling rap/R&B newsstand title, 'Urban Hitz' magazine and mentors the next generation of multicultural talent through her work wit...

NEEDTOBREATHE's newest member Tyler Burkum talks about the evolution of the band's identity through their new album 'CAVES', creating a healthy creative culture and how to allow people to be themselves.   Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au . And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app , Facebook or Instagram . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

At 23, Nashville-based artist Riley Clemmons has already spent a decade in the industry after being discovered at a school pageant. Riley sat down with Laura ahead of the release of her new album ‘Church Pew’ to unpack the peak of her identity crisis, her process of self-discovery alongside faith and how she feels about starting so young.  Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepo...

Justine Whitchurch is a sobriety advocate, Health and Fitness Coach and writer who almost lost her life in 2012 when her alcohol addiction became too much. With a music career, kids and relationship in the wings, entering rehab was do or die for Justine and now she’s set on helping others break cycles of addiction.  Read more of Justine's story in her book, 'Sobriety Delivered Everything Alcohol P...

Our guest this week is Canadian Noah Reid who famously played Patrick Brewer on the hit series 'Schitts Creek' and, who after that rendition of Tina Turner’s 'Simply the Best', was revealed to be a wonderful singer songwriter in his own right as well an actor. Noah is bringing his Everything is Fine tour to Australian in October and joins us to talk about playing characters that shape culture, fin...

Clinical psychologist Melissa Levi has specialised in older people’s mental health and dementia for over a decade and in her book, 'We Need to Talk About Ageing' she dispels some of the myths about older age to help us prepare for the unknowns and redefine how we view “growing old”. In this conversation Melissa speaks about the influence of her Zaida on her understanding of healthy ageing, the ble...

Ben McKelvey is an author, journalist and editor. He’s been the editor of Mr Jones, Sports& Style and Juice magazines and worked at the Sydney Morning Herald as a Senior Feature Writer. As a freelance writer, Ben has been embedded with the ADF in East Timor and Iraq, and has worked independently in Iran, Syria and Afghanistan. Having written extensively about other people’s story, Ben’s now tu...

Today’s guest is debut author Pip Finkenmeyer. She describes her first book, Sad Girl Novel as a “self-aware skewering” of early adulthood that taps into the trending “Sad Girl” genre to explore identity formation, friendship, neurosis and what we look to for validation and meaning. For Pip, the book mirrored her own life in part as, like protagonist Kim, she considered the evolving markers of adu...

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Martin Smith is a legend of the Christian music industry. For nearly 40 years he’s written songs that have been sung around the world, first as the lead-singer of Delirious? and now as a solo artist. For the release of his last album Dancing in the Fire, Martin joined Laura to talk about the changing seasons of life, what it takes to last in a fickle industry and how artists can...

Our guest this week is author, educator and actress Zoe Coyle. Zoe has stepped into the shoes of many different characters, but it’s one in her new book 'The Dangers of Female Provocation' that frames our conversation today. The book is for mature audiences: it deals with themes around marriage, trauma, betrayal and intimacy that won’t be for everyone, but at its heart is the story of a woman name...

When you rely on a church community for support and direction in life, what happens when your church gets sick? When the community is unsettled? On this episode Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, Stuff the British Stole) talks about his new documentary 'The Kingdom'. It looks at the impact of Australian mega-church Hillsong's changing status on the Pentecostal movement, who...

Our guests today are Melissa Doyle and Naima Brown, the authors of 'How to Age Against the Machine', an empowering guide for women ageing on their own terms. Melissa Doyle is one of the best-known and trusted voices in Australian media with more than 30 years of journalistic experience, including fourteen as the host of Channel 7’s 'Sunrise'. Naima Brown is an experienced TV producer, journalist a...

This week Colony House front man Caleb Chapman makes his second visit to the show. The band have been writing music for over a decade together, starting with their debut album ‘When I Was Younger’ and now onto their fourth project ‘Cannonballers’. Caleb delves into the impact of A.I. on artists, what fans are seeking from live shows and how recent shootings in America have shaped the band’s approa...

Lorraine Murphy is an award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author, speaker and mum of two. She started her first business – The Remarkables Group - in 2012 before selling it in 2017 to focus on what she calls her “soul on fire work” of writing, speaking and mentoring. Lorraine has a knack for helping people draw out their best qualities and understand the unique ways we can apply them to life....

Timothy Keller is a world-renowned pastor, theologian, and Christian apologist. Millions have listened to his sermons and read his books, but not many people know how he become the man he is today. Journalist Collin Hansen talked to family and friends and had the most extensive access to Keller’s personal notes and sermons to reveal these influences in 'Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectu...

International minister and author John Bevere joins Laura to help reorient our understanding of holy fear and see why the Bible invites us to "fear" God. In his new book, 'Awe of God' John explains the value of the virtue of fear and how it's come to be something we dismiss. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au . And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app ,...

We consume so much music, art, shows you can forget the work that goes into making it. Everything we watch and listen to is a labour of love for those who make it, and today we’re looking at how that applies to the art of worship music with Hillsong Worship's Hannah Hobbs.  Hannah is a songwriter and musician who has composed songs for Hillsong Worship for many years, including “Touch of Heaven”,...