Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

ตอน

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  What Olympian Libby Trickett learned from a kids' chapter book about a boring old day 22.09.2026 4นาที

  As part of Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown, Life Matters has invited prominent Australians to share their favourite Australian children's book.  Libby Trickett was just seven years old when her mum first read her a classic Australian chapter book about a little girl having a very boring day. Years later, she's held onto the message about finding creativity in quiet moments, and passed those lessons onto her own five kids.
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  Australians are living longer. What's the secret to living those extra years well? 22.09.2026 20นาที

  They say life's short, but it's actually getting longer.  By 2066, life expectancy for Australian women will have jumped from 86 years to nearly 90. And from 82 to 86 years for men.  The number of Australians aged 85 and over will triple in the next 40 years. So how do we make sure those extra years of life are lived well?
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  Hungry for a good book? Meet the Cookbook Club 22.09.2026 14นาที

  This is a book club with a delicious difference. Instead of reading the same book and then coming together to discuss it, members of Cookbook Club Naarm cook dishes from the same cookbook, then come together to enjoy the meals together. With millions of recipes just a click away online, what is it that makes a cookbook worth reaching for time and again? 
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  Head and Heart: Adjusting to life as an empty-nester 22.09.2026 9นาที

  The kids are out of the house and finally you have time for yourself to do what you want. But suddenly the home where all those memories are kept feels empty and a bit too quiet. How can you adjust to life as an empty-nester and prepare for when that time comes?
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  Can you train yourself to be tidy? 21.09.2026 12นาที

  You either have a messy friend, or you ARE the messy friend.  Papers all over the desk, shelves bursting with knick-knacks, a car interior that requires pulling on a HAZMAT suit before entering. It can be a chaotic dynamic. So is messiness something that's just part of your personality, or is it a habit we can control - or at least try to improve? And why is it something we strive for anyway? Is tidiness really the sign of a virtuous, good person?
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  Why are some words given dictionary status, and what gets left behind? 21.09.2026 19นาที

  If I asked you to define the words "copium" or "promposal", would you need to reach for a dictionary? Lucky for you, the largest dictionary in the United States has you covered for this particular slang.They're just two of more than 1400 words added to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary last week. Even though this may as well be French to you, these words are important to someone, somewhere. Because the thing is you can't just add any old word to a dictionary. They act as records of more than just language, but of culture, the way we think about and assign value the world around us. So how and who gets to decide what words are important enough to be recorded, elevated to dictionary status? You can vote now in Radio National's Top 100 books countdown here. 
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  How to raise the dementia question? 21.09.2026 16นาที

  If you are starting to notice signs in your loved one that have you concerned, how do you start the conversation? Dementia is now the leading cause of death in Australia and a new survey reveals less than half of people living with dementia receive a diagnosis in the first year. What are the things to look out for and how do you approach having this vital conversation?
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  Ask Aunty: can you save a one-sided friendship? 18.09.2026 11นาที

  When a minor infringement can tank an entire friendship, was it ever that serious? Is it a relationship worth patching up? We call in the aunties.
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  Is the competitive gene real? 18.09.2026 41นาที

    Competition can feel baked into everyday life. Work meetings feel like they should come with score cards. Kids sport is full of frustrated parents with kids who seem like they would rather look up at the sky and bird watch than play. Open social media, scroll through snaps of an incredible round-the-world trip for a friend's 50th birthday. You didn't know you'd lost that competition, but you sure don't feel like a winner! It's in our culture, but does competitiveness feel like a trait you can't turn off or on within yourself? We unpack where your competitiveness comes from and ask where it's taken you in life.
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  Social Studies: Is it OK to play war video games? 17.09.2026 9นาที

  The story of the Gallipoli campaign is a key part of our national identity. The ANZAC history has been commemorated in plenty of media over the decades but a new video game has raised some questions. What role does conflict play in creating national myths and why are some wars commemorated more than others?
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  The AI apocalypse could be the end of the world. (No, really this time) 17.09.2026 20นาที

  "The people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade." That's a direct quote from 27-year-old Jacob Coxon. He used to train AI models at Anthropic, one of the world's biggest AI companies, before the existential dread forced him to quit. Days later, the CEO of Anthropic said autonomous bots could take over the internet within six to 12 months. AI doomsday? Add it to the list. Climate change. Nuclear war. It feels like there are a tonne of pretty real existential threats we're facing. What happens when the end of days starts to feel a little business as usual?
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  Kids sport is all fun and games — until it isn't 17.09.2026 21นาที

  Whether it's netball, hockey, soccer or footy, if you've got sporty kids, you're might be entering finals season at this time of year. Have you noticed whether the tension on the sidelines has ramped up as the games get towards the pointy end? Recent research from Flinders University looking into adult sideline behaviour in junior sporting leagues has found while it's all fun and games at the younger levels, as players get older, the element of competition becomes more serious. For the adults around them — parents, coaches, umpires — that environment can foster poor behaviour. So when does sport shift from a bit of fun, to something more serious?
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  Rhyme and verse! The youth resurgence of poetry 16.09.2026 7นาที

  Poetry has always been a pure, earnest and powerful way for humans to express themselves. And in 2026, as our lives are increasingly filled with generative responses, it may offer the ultimate form of AI resistance.  A recent UK study revealed that 24 per cent of people aged eight to 18 read poetry at least once a month, with 18 per cent writing their own prose in their free time.  So what's behind this surge of young people turning to this timeless form of expression?
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  The case for DNF — an ultramarathon runner on what she learned by not finishing a race 16.09.2026 22นาที

  Among readers, there are two main camps: the completionists, who'll battle through every boring chapter even if they're absolutely hating it, and those who DNF (do not finish). The DNFers argue life is just too short to waste time on a book that doesn't spark joy.  But it can be much harder to walk away from a goal that's taken years of effort, or feels intrinsically tied to your identity. Endurance runner Jane Davies recently wrote about her DNF experience, pulling out of a 100km race more than halfway through.  When you've embarked on a huge challenge that requires immense preparation and hard work, how do you make the decision that it's time to quit?
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  How we define heart attacks puts women at risk. That's about to change 15.09.2026 17นาที

  Every day at least 150 people are hospitalised experiencing a heart attack. And research suggests that if you're a woman in one of those hospital beds, you're likely to experience roadblocks getting timely treatment. Thanks to a complex web of cultural and clinical blind spots, there's a gender gap in heart attack health care — researchers estimate that 20 per cent of heart attack deaths in women could be avoided. Last week peak heart health bodies from around the world endorsed a new definition of heart attack that could help tackle this.
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  Do we need to return to pen and paper in the classroom? 15.09.2026 22นาที

  The NSW government recently announced it will be implementing screen time caps in public school classrooms from 2028.  It follows weeks of conversations in which federal education minister Jason Clare suggested students might need a "digital detox". But in the digital world we live in, what is the balance of screens and pen and paper learning?
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  Buyer Beware: Does the celebrity rebrand ever work? 15.09.2026 9นาที

  Madonna. Martha Stewart. Miley Cyrus. What do they all have in common? They've all attempted a celebrity rebrand.  Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, AKA Raygun has recently launched a rebrand of her own.  After her kangaroo-hopping routine at the Tokyo Olympics was widely criticised online, she's sharing her side of the story in a tell-all Netflix doco — a tactic out of the celebrity playbook. So do these attempts to rewrite the public narrative change public perception? Or are our minds already made up?
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  What Misery Guts taught Hugh Van Cuylenburg about true happiness 14.09.2026 5นาที

  Can you ever truly make someone else happy? You could spend years searching for the answer to this existential question, but perhaps all it takes is some perspective from a fictional 12-year-old. As part of Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown, Life Matters has invited prominent Australians to share their favourite Australian children's book.  For Hugh Van Cuylenburg, the first book he can remember reading on his own has stuck with him forever, and the parallels to his own life have been profound. Like Morris Gleitzman's Keith Shipley, he had to learn the hard way that true happiness comes from within.
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  Why the humble 'hello' is dying out as a greeting 14.09.2026 10นาที

  When the phone is buzzing in your pocket and you answer it, what do you say? There are reports that the humble "hello" is dying, with a UK study showing that 40 per cent of 18-24 year olds agree answering the phone without any greeting is acceptable. How does language change over time and what could be the future of greetings be?
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  From laptops to loos, why are schools fundraising to cover essentials? 14.09.2026 17นาที

  When Cate Gilpin discovered her school's Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) was fundraising thousands of dollars for classroom literacy resources, she couldn't understand why it wasn't coming out of government funds. Research shows her school is not an isolated case. P&Cs are being forced to scale up their revenue-raising activities to cover what many consider to be essentials — like laptops, classroom resources, and toilet repairs. Education experts say that relying on communities to fill the public education funding gap is creating greater inequity in an already broken system.