Life & Faith

Centre for Public Christianity

Growing up as the son of a diamond smuggler. The leaps of faith required for scientific discovery. An actress who hated Christians, then became one. Join us as we discover the surprising ways Christian faith interrogates and illuminates the world we live in.

  1. The Year of Getting Off Your Phone

    1D AGO

    The Year of Getting Off Your Phone

    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 in the ‘relationship’ we have with our phones, and wanting to make a change. But breaking up is hard! In this first episode of Life & Faith for 2026, we consider the forces at work when it comes to our digital habits, why we might choose to reduce our phone use, and how. Simon, Justine, and Natasha confess and compare their daily average screen time. Felicia Wu Song, author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, describes the ‘digital ecology’ we inhabit and the ‘liturgies’ we participate in – and proposes some practices, or ‘counterliturgies’, that might help us move in a different direction. Plus, a bunch of people who’ve taken various steps to get off their phones tell a remarkably consistent story about why they did it, and how it’s changed their lives. More and more of us are joining the ranks of the ‘digitally exhausted’, and looking for a better way forward. If you want it to be, this is the year of getting off your phone. Explore: Felicia Song’s book Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age

    1h 5m
  2. The Many Careers of Colin Buchanan

    12/10/2025

    The Many Careers of Colin Buchanan

    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 over the years. And if you don’t know him, you’ll definitely feel like you do at the end of this rollicking hour spent in his company. Come along for the ride as Colin takes Life & Faith on a journey into the heart of the outback, the inner workings of the creative process, and the depths of the Bible, with stops along the way to chat comedy, Christmas, and Play School bloopers. He also plays us a song or two. --- EXPLORE: Check out Colin’s music (past and forthcoming), and upcoming performances, here

    58 min
  3. Embracing the Weird

    11/26/2025

    Embracing the Weird

    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 security and foreign affairs analysts, and has interviewed Prime Ministers and Presidents all over the world. He also writes about Christianity and culture and his last three books have been on that subject. The first, in 2018 was “God is Good For You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times.” In 2021 he delivered “Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World.” And in 2025 we have “How Christians Can Succeed Today.” Greg is able to bring ancient stories to life with his journalistic style, insight and good humour. And he makes a compelling case for why this story remains relevant and life-giving for our times of upheaval, conflict and uncertainty. Explore: How Christians Can Succeed Today Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World God is Good For You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times

    39 min
  4. The World’s Most Popular Book

    11/12/2025

    The World’s Most Popular Book

    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 Bible? How was it put together? What kind of influence has it had on our lives, even if we are not Bible readers ourselves? Life & Faith delves into these questions in a suitably epic episode. We speak to an academic about the cultural influence of the Bible, and a New Testament lecturer about how the Bible came together. We talk to the Australian representative of the biggest Bible app in the world about to celebrate their billionth download. And we hear from two people whose lives have been changed by reading the Bible. What do we know about “The biggest story ever told” and what does this story still have to tell us? Explore: The Great bible Swindle YouVersion and the One Billionth Download

    1h 3m
  5. Red Frogs to the Rescue

    10/29/2025

    Red Frogs to the Rescue

    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 famous red jelly frogs, this movement of young volunteers has become a household name in Australia and overseas.  Andy Gourley, the founder of Red Frogs, tells us the origins of this remarkable movement. Twenty seven years ago Andy, who was a youth worker at the time, turned up at “schoolies” on the Gold Coast with a small team of people to try to lend a hand and help keep things under control. And keep people safe from life changing mistakes and consequences. Andy could not have imagined that the steps he took that week would lead to a movement in nine countries that has assisted tens of thousands of young people to  party safely, and to make better decisions at a crucial stage of their lives. This year 24 tons of red frogs will be delivered to sites around the country as around 1500 volunteers assist 70,000 school leavers. Andy says he never gets tired of helping out when people most need it. For him it’s an honour. Find out why on this episode of Life & Faith. --- Explore: The Red Frogs website

    33 min
  6. The Art of Persuasion

    10/15/2025

    The Art of Persuasion

    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 how – even on tricky and controversial debates - we can build trust, strengthen relationships and move minds. --- Explore Michael McQueen’s website: https://michaelmcqueen.net/ Check out Michael’s latest book Mindstuck: https://www.mindstuck.michaelmcqueen.net/ Take a look at this Google Talk by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, on his book as referenced in this episode: Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjVQJdIrDJ0

    34 min
  7. Stroke of Luck

    10/01/2025

    Stroke of Luck

    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 for others. This was far from the first challenge Emily had faced in her life. Born of rape and raised in the slums of Kenya, her journey has been an unlikely one; as the title of her memoir attests, it has been Against All Odds: A Journey of Resilience, Identity & Success. Emily was recently awarded an OAM (Order of Australia) for her service to people with a disability and to multicultural communities. In this conversation, she tells Life & Faith about how she ended up in Australia, why she calls what happened to her a “stroke of luck”, and how she is trying to change the narrative for people living with a disability. “She [my grandmother] made me believe that nothing was impossible. She was a Christian woman and she made me believe that: never, ever to let anybody else’s perception of you become a reality.”  ---  EXPLORE Check out Emily Korir’s memoir Against All Odds  Learn more about the work of BET Group Global

    38 min
  8. Which Dystopia Won

    09/17/2025

    Which Dystopia Won

    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, where people exchange freedom for pleasure ... and everyone is too busy having a good time to worry about being manipulated?   Or is it C. S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength: the third book of Lewis’ “Ransom trilogy” or “Space Trilogy”, published 80 years ago this year?  In this episode of Life & Faith, we hear from three expert fans about how each book anticipated our times.   Peter Marks, Emeritus Professor in the Discipline of English and Writing at the University of Sydney, walks us through why Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is “news that has stayed news”, and how Apple, once the upstart defender of individuality, has become a Big Brother-type figure. Peter has written the books Imagining Surveillance: Eutopian and Dystopian Literature and Film and George Orwell the Essayist: Literature, Politics and the Periodical Culture.  Scott Stephens, Editor of ABC Religion & Ethics, and co-host with Waleed Aly of the podcast The Minefield, talks about the endless entertainment of Huxley’s Brave New World, and why he thinks Huxley could have invented the recommendation algorithm.   And Susannah Black Roberts, an essayist and editor of Plough Magazine in the United States, explores how C. S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength anticipated the transhuman ambitions of Silicon Valley, and why “staying human” is a way to survive the looming age of AI.  Explore Why Peter Marks believes Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is “news that has stayed news”.  Matthew Purdy, in The New York Times, arguing: “We are all living in George Orwell’s world now”.   Episode of The Minefield podcast where Scott Stephens and Waleed Aly discuss Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and being on the brink of a world without books.  Susannah Black Roberts contributed an essay to this collection of writings on the Ransom Trilogy – Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C. S. Lewis’ Ransom Trilogy   George Orwell’s review of Lewis’ That Hideous Strength   The Rolling Stone article by Miles Klee arguing “People are losing loved ones to AI-fuelled spiritual fantasies”  “They asked an AI a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/technology/chatgpt-ai-chatbots-conspiracies.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ik8.i3RW.c-5DjHWESt-Q&smid=url-share" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    1h 8m
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Growing up as the son of a diamond smuggler. The leaps of faith required for scientific discovery. An actress who hated Christians, then became one. Join us as we discover the surprising ways Christian faith interrogates and illuminates the world we live in.

Information

  • Creator
    Centre for Public Christianity
  • Years Active
    2008 - 2026
  • Episodes
    570
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Centre for Public Christianity
  • Show Website
    Life & Faith

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