Life Matters - Full program podcast

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Helping you figure out all the big stuff in life: relationships, health, money, work and the world. Let's talk! With trusted experts and your stories, Life Matters is all about what matters to you.

  1. 16 HR AGO

    How new airline rules will impact passengers, and the appeal of a quiz show

    Travel can have its frustrations: A cancelled flight, lost bags, a lengthy delay forcing you to spend hours at an airport, and the stress of trying to rebook the family's holiday at the last minute. The Federal Government has released new rules to establish reasonable standards for airlines and airports ... like when refunds should be issued and when food and drink vouchers are appropriate. So, what protections would you like to make your airline travel smoother? Traveller Peter Mansell had a planned trip to Bali that didn't go according to plan, Adam Glezer is founder of Consumer Champion, and Andy Kelly is Choice's Deputy Director of Campaigns. The internet pile-on is a well-established phenomenon in 2025. We've been living our lives online for decades now, so is it time for our behaviour on the internet to turn a corner? In two new projects, podcaster and author Clare Stephens asks what would we learn if we paused, just as the pitchforks are coming out, to ask what are we actually trying to achieve here?  Have you ever wondered how to get your mug on a quiz show? Or have you wondered who comes up with all those left-field questions? Hamish Watt is the senior question producer for one of the country's highest rating quiz shows - Channel 9's Tipping Point Australia. Dawsons Creek. Little Britain. Friends. At the time, you thought these TV shows were hilarious. But by 2025 standards, they haven't aged well. But is that fair? Patrick Stokes, Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at Deakin University, debates whether we can view things that were made in a different time with different ethical standards and moral expectations.

    55 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Life Matters

    The deep exhaustion of burnout makes it feel like you'll never emerge at the other end. A 2023 report found 80% of the Australian workforce struggles with burnout. So, what are the signs you are headed for a crash? How do you course-correct? Dr Roland Bull shares his personal experience of burnout and Dr Rachel Hannam, Clinical Director at North Brisbane Psychologists, talks about the steps you can take to overcome burnout. In Melissa Leong's new book Guts: A memoir of food, failure and taking impossible chances, she explores themes of abuse in the hospitality industry, racism, and mental health. The MasterChef judge also reveals how her career in food was an accident.  In 2016, Peter Drew's posters became some of the most recognisable art in the country. He made his "Aussie" posters at a time of great distress about rising racism and anti-immigration sentiment. Now he's decided, 10 years from the first poster going up, it's time to relaunch the project.

    55 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    The campaign for sports finals without gambling ads, and do our universities have a trust problem?

    One advocacy group wants 2026 to be the first year where you can watch the footy finals without the gambling ads. Can you even picture it? Currently, gambling ads are all-pervasive - on jerseys, on the TV between tackles and even on the field itself. Martin Thomas is CEO of Alliance for Gambling Reform and Dylan Jacotine is sharing his recovery from gambling addiction online. Students and staff at Australia's universities feel "betrayed, undermined and let down" according to the chair of a senate inquiry examining governance at our higher education institutions. Meanwhile, new Deakin University research found one third of Australians do not trust universities and two in five agree university managers "are more focused on revenue than quality." Deakin University's vice chancellor Professor Iain Martin says whether this is perception or reality makes little difference now. When's the last time you read a poem? Perhaps you were at a wedding, a funeral, or another special occasion. Or maybe you're the one who has written a sonnet for a special someone. In the age of algorithms and distraction – what's the role of poetry? Erik Jensen is the author of a poetry collection titled A Lick of Fireweed. He is also editor-in-chief and chief executive of Schwartz Media.  School's out! And a lot of lucky families are at the beach, or somewhere exotic or far-flung. But if you're not posting postcard-perfect pics on Instagram, it's easy to feel a strong sense of FOMO - fear of missing out. Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones explains how can you put the green-eyed monster in its place. Statement from Responsible Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell:  The industry has already reduced TV advertising by 71% over the past five years.  Banning advertising won’t stop people from gambling - it will simply hand the market to illegal offshore operators who aggressively target vulnerable Australians and children online, refuse to pay out winnings, contribute nothing to Australian sport, racing or tax revenue, and operate without any of the safeguards licensed providers must follow. That’s why a balanced, middle-ground approach is needed - one that reduces children’s exposure to ads while keeping gambling within the regulated system, which polling shows is what Australians want.

    55 min

  4. 3 DAYS AGO

    The debate over entry fees for Australia's iconic landmarks and letting driverless technology take the wheel

    In Victoria, there's a push to charge a fee to view the iconic Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. Around the country, some of our national parks are free, but you pay to visit the most popular, like Kakadu. Nearly all of our beaches are free... but you'll get often slugged for parking. So, what's reasonable when it comes to charging access to Australia's great natural wonders? Liz Price is General manager of Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism and Professor Sarah Gardiner is Director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism. Keeping up with the best, most up-to-date nutrition information that's backed by science isn't always easy. Just recently, a study that spruiked the benefits of apple cider vinegar for weight loss was retracted. But is the genie already out of the bottle? How hard is it to unpick scientific research that people have already been told is good, when it in fact goes bad? Simone Pettrigrew is Director of Health promotion at George Institute for Global Health. ABC Radio National has launched its Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. Over the next few weeks, you can vote for the books that you believe belong on the list. We're asking some notable readers to tell me about the book that changed their life, and sat down with host of The Assembly Leigh Sales. Tesla's latest software upgrade has arrived on our shores. A software update just dropped... and it upgrades your car, to take a ton of driving tasks off your hands. But experts say driverless technology can be fraught with issues. Hussein Dia is Professor of Future Urban Mobility at Swinburne University of Technology.

    55 min

  5. 6 DAYS AGO

    Embracing the ups and downs of a friendship group, and how do you share family responsibilities?

    For many of us, friendship groups are a key part of our social circle. Maybe it's your friend group from school or uni... or the gang you bonded with at your first job... it could be the parent group at your child's school. Friendship groups can be a source of joy, comfort, and camaraderie. They can also be tricky to navigate and Sahra O'Doherty, President of the Australian Association of Psychologists, offers some advice about how to walk that line. And in Ask Aunty, letter-writer Lydia and her husband are in their 70s, and slowing down a bit. So they think it seems fair that, after all those years of managing everything, their children should do some of the heavy lifting. But what happens when their children seem unwilling? Aunties Denise Eriksen, journalist and executive Director of Screen Careers, and Bridie Jabour, author, journalist and associate editor at Guardian Australia, offer their advice.

    54 min

  6. 24 SEPT

    Breaking free of prejudice and who deserves a bronze statue?

    For decades the thinking has been that bringing together people from different cultural or religious groups would be enough to effectively reduce prejudice in society. But new research from the University of Queensland says that method simply isn't working anymore. Staying prejudiced isn't an option if we want to live in a peaceful country. So how can we open the door of our echo chambers, and let other voices in? Dr Alexander O'Donnell is a research fellow at the Univeristy of Queensland's Institute of Social Science Research, Giridharan Sivaraman is the Race Discrimination Commissioner and Rabbi Zalman Kastel is the founder of Together for Humanity, an educational organisation that works to combat prejudice. In Victoria, plans are underway to memorialise former Premier Daniel Andrews with a bronze statue. Meanwhile, there's also a push to immortalise one of Melbourne's former local pollies, Darebin councillor Gaetano Greco. So who - if anyone, really - should get a statue in contemporary Australia? Clare McCracken is a Senior Lecturer at RMIT University's School of Art and Robert Hitchcock is a sculptor who has captured dozens of people in bronze.  If you're a fan of 90s sitcoms, you'll know that the friendship depicted in the sitcom Friends isn't necessarily representative of real life. People in their mid to late-twenties, seemingly working very little, and spending every day and night, sitting around, drinking coffee and chatting with their mates. But contrary to this, many of us will finish school, then spend the next few years wondering where all our mates went. Dan Woodman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne, discusses why young adults are seemingly lonelier than older people.

    55 min

  7. 23 SEPT

    Fact-checking President Trump's autism claims and how volunteering can "fill your cup"

    The US President Donald Trump has linked autism to vaccines ... even pointing the finger at paracetamol. His claims have been widely criticised by medical experts worldwide and Australian regulators have been quick to point out the safety of both vaccines and paracetamol. But when a US President speaks, the ripple effects are global... and Australia's autism community is paying close attention. Dr Andrew Whitehouse is Deputy Director of The Kids Research Institute Australia and a director of Autism Awareness Australia.  Autism activist Dr Jac den Houting is a Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University, and ABC Top 5 Humanities Resident for 2025. As Australians face increasing time pressures both at home and work, the number of volunteers has dropped. So how can you make the time to keep your volunteering commitments alive? Mark Pearce is the CEO of Volunteering Australia and Bhawana Basnet is a finalist in the Queensland Volunteer Awards 2025. There is a deepening divide in society and no matter what side of politics you sit on ... or even if you consider yourself removed from politics ... the "us versus them" mentality is wide-spread. Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones discusses what's behind this thinking.

    55 min

  8. 22 SEPT

    The positive power of petitions and the struggle of living with long COVID

    For a long time signing an online petition was seen as the slackest form of activism. But now the digital world has supercharged petitions. Australia's under 16 social media ban started as an online petition. Supported by regular people, calling for change. Whether it's slowing down traffic on your street or shaking up national policy, petitions can give regular people power. Julie-Ann Finney led a petition calling for a Royal Commission into Veteran suicides. Paige Mulholland is communications manager at Change.org and Dr Sky Croeser is a senior lecturer in Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University. Last week, New South Wales' first public long COVID clinic announced it will close its doors at the end of the month. In a statement, St Vincent's Hospital said patients who had been visiting the clinic would continue to receive the same comprehensive care but "within well-established clinical frameworks and with specialist input available as required". The statement also said: "Patients currently under the care of the Long COVID Service will be contacted directly by our team in the coming days to discuss their transition and ongoing symptom management." But the clinic's closure is leaving many long COVID patients frustrated and angry... and unsure exactly how they will manage their condition, which is complex and can be debilitating. And as we approach the sixth anniversary of COVID first surfacing ... patients, clinicians and researchers are still grappling with some basic questions. Why are some people struck down with long COVID and not others? How can we better diagnose it? What treatments will help the most? And how can we ensure all Australians have access to this help? Charlotte Sangster is living with long COVID and Dr Emma Tippett is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Burnet Institute and Founder of the Clinic Nineteen. If you're on any kind of social media, you may have seen this mythical dessert popping up everywhere. Dubai chocolate. It's milk chocolate, filled with pistachio cream. But what's really remarkable is how much it costs - about $25 for a standard-sized block. There's the same excitement around Labubus, Ooshies, and even - if you were around in the 90s - the Beanie Baby craze. So, is an item going viral enough to make it worth something? Dr Paul Harrison, Deakin University's head of Consumer Behaviour, discusses what makes some trends reach fever pitch... and others fizzle. In our regular segment My Two Cents, we ask those questions you'd rather not answer about money. In this episode, hear how veteran rock and roller Mick Thomas of Weddings, Parties, Anything and The Roving Commission, makes his money decisions.

    55 min
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About

Helping you figure out all the big stuff in life: relationships, health, money, work and the world. Let's talk! With trusted experts and your stories, Life Matters is all about what matters to you.

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  • Creator
    ABC listen
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2025
  • Episodes
    1.5K
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    Life Matters - Full program podcast

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