Soul Search

Episoade

• Recovering the art of listening 16.07.2026 54min

  Would you say you're a good listener? Listening well to others, and being properly listened to yourself, is the baseline for genuine encounter with each other. There's a vulnerability and intimacy to listening when it's done properly, so how do we do it in a noisy, divided world?
• The neuroscience of spirituality with Iain McGilchrist 09.07.2026 54min

  How are our internal, spiritual lives shaped by the physical structure of our brains? Dr Iain McGilchrist is the author of two big books that have thrown into question our assumptions about knowledge and meaning and even our capacity to perceive the sacred.
• ‘Dunk ‘em in the ocean’ — The Aboriginal Catholic sharing whale stories with Rome (NAIDOC special) 02.07.2026 54min

  ‘The humpback whale is Theresa Ardler’s totem, and she went all the way to Rome to share Indigenous knowledge of the ocean with the Pope.
• Visualising the Hindu gods and goddesses 25.06.2026 54min

  The word 'god' can bring many images to mind — perhaps a man with blue complexion and four arms, an old bearded man in the sky, or a woman seated on a lotus throne. Gods and goddesses have been visualised in all kinds of ways, through different times and societies. And when it comes to Hinduism, the deities can take on countless forms.
• Can ritual help restore broken politics and bruised spirits? 18.06.2026 54min

  Rituals mark moments throughout our lives, big and small. They are also used to draw attention to political injustice and social inequality, to express lament and to reorient the participants in the ritual toward wholeness. What role might rituals play in our lives, and how can rituals be part of the reparative work in our society and politics?
• The joy and anguish of the Psalms 11.06.2026 54min

  How do you express your deepest emotions? Over the centuries many have turned to poetry, including the Book of Psalms from the Hebrew Bible. From anguish to ecstasy and anger to joy, how can one collection of poetry cover such a range of emotions and experiences?
• Being human in the age of AI 04.06.2026 54min

  Pope Leo XIV has just published his first encyclical, and it's on artificial intelligence. But for 75 years, people from diverse religious traditions have been thinking about AI and the ethics of AI, including from Buddhist and Protestant perspectives.
• Who was Vivekananda, the young revolutionary swami? 28.05.2026 54min

  Swami Vivekananda made giant contributions to interfaith dialogue and interpreting Hinduism to the west. So who was Vivekananda, the young swami who impressed America at the end of the 19th century? And why does his legacy matter to young Hindus today?
• War and peace — St Augustine and the Pope he inspired 21.05.2026 54min

  Pope Leo is the first Augustinian pontiff and has quickly made headlines speaking out about war an peace — which makes sense, because St Augustine was a major influence on Western understandings of war and when it is morally justified.
• "We will always choose Earth" — Spiritual ecology in an age of crisis 14.05.2026 54min

  NASA's Earthrise photo sparked an environmental movement, but decades later the environmental crisis has gotten worse, not better. What's missing from how we relate to our common home?
• What does pilgrimage look like today? 07.05.2026 54min

  What's the difference between a pilgrimage and a holiday? Going for Hajj in Mecca is an obvious pilgrimage, but something like going to Graceland for Elvis Week gets a bit tricky. So what does pilgrimage look like today?
• Vatican reporter Colleen Dulle on Pope Leo, moral leadership and the healing power of truth 30.04.2026 54min

  Reporting on what happens at the Vatican means being exposed to the best and worst of the church — and humanity. Colleen Dulle has had a front row seat to the biggest stories in the Catholic world. It's profoundly shaped her Catholic faith and her belief that telling the truth opens a path to healing.
• Why did an atheist spend a year as a secular priest? 23.04.2026 54min

  Does a society lose anything if we lose religion? Niki Harré is a lifelong atheist who wanted to test this. She took a year off from her job as an academic, to the point of setting herself up as a 'secular priest!' What did she uncover?
• Active body, active soul — encountering the spiritual side of sports 16.04.2026 54min

  Australia's devotion to sports takes on many religious qualities. And in many religious traditions, the physical discipline of the body is one way of working on the soul. So, how do shared activities, like running groups or football clubs, keep us healthy physically, mentally — and spiritually? 
• What’s new about death in the 21st century? 09.04.2026 54min

  We tend to think of death as constant — unchanging — but when and how we die looks very different today than it did even 100 years ago. So what does it mean to think about your own mortality in the 21st century?
• The power of pure attention with Laurence Freeman 02.04.2026 54min

  How might silence and stillness help us meet the challenges of our time? Fr Laurence Freeman is an English Benedictine monk, and one of the most well-known meditation teachers in the world.
• No really, who is my neighbour? 27.03.2026 54min

  If a neighbour turned up on your doorstep, would you know them by name? In some ways we are more connected than ever before, but knowing and loving your neighbour has become thin in our increasingly individualised society. So how can we build flourishing communities with our neighbours?
• The possibilities of the gift economy 19.03.2026 54min

  Imagine living life without money — cutting up your credit card, closing up your bank account, and finding new ways to feed and clothe yourself. On Soul Search, we examine what it might look like to step away from the cycle of getting and spending, and towards a gift economy.
• Quitting stuff for a richer life 12.03.2026 54min

  Currently around the world, billions of people are fasting for Ramadan and Lent. What are the spiritual motivations for fasting? And what happens when we press pause on food, water, and acquiring things?
• Violence against women in the church 05.03.2026 54min

  In Australia, one-in-four women will experience violence by an intimate partner. There's been little research into rates of violence against women in Christian churches, but from what we do know, the rates of violence are the same — if not higher.