Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

According to a recent study, women in bodybuilding are four times as likely to use anabolic steroids -- which help your body build muscle -- than average, with one in seven using these drugs.They're illegal... but they're also unregulated, and very often miss-labelled.. meaning it's unclear what you're putting into your body.

From homeschooling to homesteading, groups of women are eschewing moden life to take up the "traditional" roles of 1950s-era wives and mothers.And while many of us yearn for simplicity, an expert warns against the dark side of the tradwife subculture. 

According to the Australian Federal Police, children as young as 12 are being radicalised by extremist groups online. And now terrified families say there's nowhere to turn.So, what does early intervention look like? And where can families find help?

Riots, murders, and politically-motivated terrorism. No matter what side of politics you sit on ... or even if you consider yourself pretty removed from politics ... it's obvious there is a deepening divide right now. It's called "us versus them" thinking.

Conspiratorial thinking has spread through the megaphone of the internet, and Australians aren't immune.Now it's the subject of a new book, Conspiracy Nation: exposing the dangerous world of Australian conspiracy theories, which takes readers to the places where home-grown conspiracy theories spread.

COVID lockdowns changed many people's relationship with alcohol. For journalist Kate Halfpenny and her husband Chris Ogge, a decision to leave the city during the pandemic gave them extra space... but also stirred up something else.Chris's drinking, already a quiet presence in their life, began to take over ... and suddenly, what was supposed to be a new beginning became a breaking point.

There are around 20,000 babies born in Australia and New Zealand each year, conceived through assisted reproductive technology.But not everyone has equal access to IVF.  One West Australian woman says she was forced to become a "reproductive refugee" and cross the country to access the medical care she needed to become a mum.

Two of the world's top models, Gigi and Bella Hadid, confirmed their family had been keeping a secret. The sisters revealed they have a younger half-sibling, after their father had a relationship with another woman more than 20 years ago.Meanwhile, actress Mariska Hargitay also recently shared a family secret she'd been keeping for decades - the man who raised her was not her biological father.Family life involves many complexities and tangles. So, why do families keep secrets? And what makes people finally reveal the truth?

Everyone talks about how to keep the romance alive in relationships after you have kids.But what about keeping the friendship alive with your friends who have had kids when you haven't?And what happens if you find their kids particularly difficult to be around?

Home can be a place of comfort and sanctuary. It can also be where stress lives or where you don’t quite feel seen. Are there ways to think through the contradictory emotions home evokes to find a sense of calm?