UNDISTRACTED with Laura Bennett

Our guest this week is Canadian Noah Reid who famously played Patrick Brewer on the hit series 'Schitts Creek' and, who after that rendition of Tina Turner’s 'Simply the Best', was revealed to be a wonderful singer songwriter in his own right as well an actor.Noah is bringing his Everything is Fine tour to Australian in October and joins us to talk about playing characters that shape culture, finding identity in fatherhood and being a child in the entertainment industry. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clinical psychologist Melissa Levi has specialised in older people’s mental health and dementia for over a decade and in her book, 'We Need to Talk About Ageing' she dispels some of the myths about older age to help us prepare for the unknowns and redefine how we view “growing old”. In this conversation Melissa speaks about the influence of her Zaida on her understanding of healthy ageing, the blessing of maturity and how our sense of meaning and purpose can grow as we get older.Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben McKelvey is an author, journalist and editor. He’s been the editor of Mr Jones, Sports& Style and Juice magazines and worked at the Sydney Morning Herald as a Senior Feature Writer. As a freelance writer, Ben has been embedded with the ADF in East Timor and Iraq, and has worked independently in Iran, Syria and Afghanistan.Having written extensively about other people’s story, Ben’s now turned his attention to his own, in 'A Scar is Also Skin', a memoir of stroke, heart attack and remaking. On his unsteady path to recovery, Ben started to question everything about his life. He wondered what makes us who we are, and what role family, fate and physiology plays.Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s guest is debut author Pip Finkenmeyer. She describes her first book, Sad Girl Novel as a “self-aware skewering” of early adulthood that taps into the trending “Sad Girl” genre to explore identity formation, friendship, neurosis and what we look to for validation and meaning. For Pip, the book mirrored her own life in part as, like protagonist Kim, she considered the evolving markers of adulthood and escaped to Europe in search of creative community and inspiration. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Martin Smith is a legend of the Christian music industry. For nearly 40 years he’s written songs that have been sung around the world, first as the lead-singer of Delirious? and now as a solo artist. For the release of his last album Dancing in the Fire, Martin joined Laura to talk about the changing seasons of life, what it takes to last in a fickle industry and how artists can serve this generation. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is author, educator and actress Zoe Coyle. Zoe has stepped into the shoes of many different characters, but it’s one in her new book 'The Dangers of Female Provocation' that frames our conversation today. The book is for mature audiences: it deals with themes around marriage, trauma, betrayal and intimacy that won’t be for everyone, but at its heart is the story of a woman named Odessa who’s dealing with the realities of fear, anger and uncertainty that give us a way into conversations around the role of rage civilized society and how good people can find themselves doing bad things. Zoe also speaks about the evolution of friendships, the benefit of regret and how to accept change.Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you rely on a church community for support and direction in life, what happens when your church gets sick? When the community is unsettled?On this episode Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, Stuff the British Stole) talks about his new documentary 'The Kingdom'. It looks at the impact of Australian mega-church Hillsong's changing status on the Pentecostal movement, who inherits the church members who’ve left and what should they do differently. Marc also opens up about his own history with Christianity, and how someone like him who's been in and outside of the church interprets the tipping point the "Hillsong scandals" have triggered. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guests today are Melissa Doyle and Naima Brown, the authors of 'How to Age Against the Machine', an empowering guide for women ageing on their own terms. Melissa Doyle is one of the best-known and trusted voices in Australian media with more than 30 years of journalistic experience, including fourteen as the host of Channel 7’s 'Sunrise'. Naima Brown is an experienced TV producer, journalist and writer who has worked for SBS and NBC News New York in addition to Channel 7.The pair met while they were working together on Channel 7’s flagship programme 'Sunday Night' and wrote this book in answer to some of their own questions and concerns, and the ones facing women more broadly.Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Colony House front man Caleb Chapman makes his second visit to the show. The band have been writing music for over a decade together, starting with their debut album ‘When I Was Younger’ and now onto their fourth project ‘Cannonballers’.Caleb delves into the impact of A.I. on artists, what fans are seeking from live shows and how recent shootings in America have shaped the band’s approach to their work. Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lorraine Murphy is an award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author, speaker and mum of two. She started her first business – The Remarkables Group - in 2012 before selling it in 2017 to focus on what she calls her “soul on fire work” of writing, speaking and mentoring. Lorraine has a knack for helping people draw out their best qualities and understand the unique ways we can apply them to life. Originally from Ireland, then migrating to Australia and now living in Spain, Lorraine joined us to talk about how to adapt to life’s changing seasons, redefine your identity and restore resilience.Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.