Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

The holidays are over, but the aftermath isn't. Maybe you said yes to a few things in the moment – and now you wish you hadn't.Messages start coming in. Plans you half-agreed to suddenly need dates. An acquaintance reaches out for a catch-up. It can feel easier to say yes, just to be polite and avoid awkwardness.But that yes can quietly stretch you thin, and take time away from the people you actually want to see.Why do we find it so hard to say no? And what can we gain when we learn the art of letting someone down gently? 

Around 70 per cent of Australian businesses are family-owned — from married couples running the local restaurant, to multi-million-dollar companies with siblings at the helm. For many, the idea of future-proofing and succession planning to hand the business down to the next generation is front of mind. But what happens if your kids don't want to inherit the business you built?

Do you have a productivity playlist? Whether it's lofi beats, hard rock or classical music, research suggests that listening to music while we work can improve performance.But it's not one-size-fits-all. Science suggests that music is most helpful during boring, repetitive jobs — but if you're trying to tackle a more complex task the background music might be more distracting than enhancing.So how do you craft the best playlist for focus? And what do you do if your coworkers aren't into it? 

Cycling can ease congestion and boost our health, but whether people ride often comes down to how safe it feels.The way our cities are designed shapes that experience, and the infrastructure we build doesn't work equally for everyone.Research shows women are more likely to make multi-stop trips through busy streets and feel less safe, while men tend to take longer commutes on protected bike paths.So how do we design cities that make cycling appealing – and safe – for everyone?

As the national skills shortage bites, the trades are attracting more people looking for a new career. So if you want to swap collars and get on the tools, what does it take to make a long-term career in the trades?

When you think of your home, what springs to mind? Is it four walls and a roof, or something far more personal, like the smell of your favourite meal or the sound of someone who knows you best? For some, home is their happy place, a sanctuary of comfort and calm. But for others, it's complicated. Maybe home is where stress lives, or where you don't quite feel seen. If home doesn't bring that feeling of relief, where do you go to find peace?

If your good friend has a new life partner, you would, of course, be welcoming when they come visit. But what if their special someone has four legs, a tail, and an irritating need to hump your leg under the dining room table?

Giving your child a name that suits them can feel like an impossible task, and we turn to our own cultural touchpoints for inspiration.So what does it say about our cultural references when Charlotte, Oliver, Amelia and Noah top the charts every year? 

Costa Georgiatis, landscape architect and Gardening Australia presenter who champions verge gardening and urban cooling. Claire Dole, research fellow studying community attitudes to urban greening. Dave Broon, community organiser behind Valley Verges focused on natives and micro-wetlands. They discuss transforming nature strips into biodiversity corridors, council incentive programs, waterwise native plantings, and balancing planting with pedestrian access.

School is back and across the ditch there's a new subject in the New Zealand curriculum: financial education will be taught in classrooms from year 1 to 10.It's something we've talked about in Australia for decades, but it's still not part of our mandatory curriculum. So if we're serious about teaching children how money really works, what should that look like?