Life Matters - Full Program Podcast

What are the impacts of scare campaigns on election outcomes and voter intentions? In our 30th anniversary series, former PM the late Malcolm Fraser opens up about his new life to Norman Swan, and what relationship lessons, if any, can we take from watching reality tv?

Prolonged grief was recently added to the US psychologist's diagnostic manual and is now considered a mental health condition. So, how long should you grieve for? Plus, the legacy of Dolly the sheep and the future of cloning.

As people around the world experience climate change, the push for 'climate justice' intensifies. But where does that term come from and what does it mean? Also, what's it like to parent when you have ADHD, and a Life Matters 30th anniversary interview from the archives with Ireland's first female president, Mary Robinson.

With unemployment rates relatively low, there many be an opportunity for people in middle age and older who can often experience age discrimination when looking for jobs. But how realistic is it to expect long held views about older workers to change?

How to talk to teenagers about why sleep matters, in a way that won’t get them rolling their eyes at you. In the Too Hard Basket, is it fair enough to feel annoyed when your younger colleague calls you, and everyone else, love, hon or darl? And from the Life Matters’ archives, Pamela Stephenson reflects on life with Billy Connolly.

New research indicates many of our larger towns and cities are failing to provide adequate public transport to those who need it most, our 30th birthday archive interview features former PM Paul Keating, and a long time angler and fish scientist discusses his history and our sustainable future.

The 2022 Budget has delivered more than eight billion dollars of cost of living relief including a $250 one-off payment for people on pensions and welfare, a $420 tax offset for low and middle income earners and the fuel excise is being halved for six months. Will it be enough to persuade voters and as part of Life Matters 30th birthday celebrations a little chat with Jane Fonda.

Many of us have romanticised ideas about the community spirit of a life in the bush, but what does life really look like for children growing up in regional, rural and remote Australia? Also, Life Matters kicks off its 30th anniversary special series remembering and re-examining the threat that, in 1999, had the whole world in a panic - the Y2K bug.

From socially distanced mourners to funerals held over zoom, the pandemic disrupted the grieving process for many families and changed longstanding traditions to mark the passing of, and celebrate, loved ones. What will this mean for the future of how we grieve and honour the deceased?

Household mould has been linked to everything from asthma to depression, but what does the science say about the real harms of these kinds of fungal outbreaks? Who do children perceive as leadership material? And in the Too Hard Basket, who gets the cat?

The role animals play in our lives has changed markedly over the centuries. So what values do they represent for us these days? The utter destruction of roads in floods and fires has prompted the question; is it time to rebuild using a more resilient, but more expensive material, concrete?

One in five Australians live in outer suburbs but liveability isn't keeping up with housing growth, so how do you smash the soulless stigma and foster a sense of community and why some people have food baggage or hang-ups well into their adulthood.

Lateral violence is when people in the same group bully their peers, or those further down the hierarchy. How is this playing out in the healthcare profession? Also, as the conflict in Ukraine continues, can consumer boycotts influence how things play out? And, how does our skin affect how we move through the world?

Oil is behind every process and product. It ships your online order, gets your vegetables to the greengrocer, and likely runs your car. Skyrocketing petrol prices can have big ramifications for households, but experts say those prices will be far slower to fall.

Neuroscientist Matt Walker says we need to find gentler ways to drift off to sleep. He shares tips and tricks that will literally help save your life. We visit The Social Outfit, an initiative that’s reviving skills and building social connections in the fashion industry. And The Too Hard Basket tackles driver etiquette.

We're being encouraged to return to the workplace. So what are the pros and cons? Aimée Lutkin is single and has been for six years and she wants us to be more ok with that. Elizabeth Holmes, Simon Leviev and Bernie Madoff. Why are we taken in and then entranced by modern fraudsters?

Long COVID could affect tens of thousands of Australians, by the end of this year but there are already 250 thousand people living with similar symptoms from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Can their experience help us better manage long COVID and ME/CFS?

As climate change worsens and natural disasters become more frequent, can we keep relying on private insurance to bail us out? If not, how big is the role of government, at various levels, compared to individual householders?

Renowned Australian author Helen Garner steps back in time to the mid-90s in the latest instalment of her personal diaries. Biologist and writer Merlin Sheldrake goes on a literally mind-bending journey into the magical world of fungi. And listener Bill Boyd shares his true confession.

Biochemist and mathematician Jessie Inchauspe argues that managing our intake of glucose, and the sequence in which we eat food containing it, can have a massive influence on our health and how we feel day to day. And we tackle a book club dilemma in the Too Hard Basket.