Life Matters - Full program podcast

Is the Australian flag a unifying emblem? A symbol of colonisation? Is it patriotic? Divisive? Exclusionary?Thousands of people attended the March for Australia rallies on the weekend... and one of the most common sights in the crowds was the Australian flag.The images have sparked a conversation about the flag's use and its meaning. Graeme Davison is an Emeritus professor of history at Monash University and John Vaughan is a vexillographer, flag designer and historian.This week, the head of the world's biggest food company, Nestle, was sacked after he failed to disclose his relationship with a subordinate. According to a 2023 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, nearly one in three employees has been in a romantic relationship with a coworker.But there's been a dramatic shift in workplace culture in recent years... and a greater understanding of workplace power imbalances.  Liv Arnold is a columnist and author, and met her husband at work. Sahra O'Doherty is the President of the Australian Association of Psychologists.Experts say the pandemic saw millions turn their backs on the jobs they'd been in for years, and decide to swap industries altogether. Linda Hartley-Clark has experience swapping careers. She's an actor turned relationship therapist. And Kate Flaherty, Career Development Association of Australia, shares her professional expertise.And a hat-snatching CEO has prompted debate after he was caught on camera taking an autographed tennis cap from a young child at the US Open and all hell breaks loose. So, what does a moment of bad behaviour reveal about a person's character? Patrick Stokes, Associate Professor of philosophy at Deakin University, discusses the ethical issues at play.

Australia’s housing crisis is a complex challenge - but what if it was also our biggest opportunity?In a new ABC Radio National series, The Home Front, Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke explores how smart, thoughtful design could transform the way we live - and help us reimagine the Great Australian Dream.For most people, calling a loved one is part of daily life. But in prison, the high cost of phone calls can cut people off from vital family support. Research shows that those who stay connected with loved ones are less likely to reoffend after release. Damien Linnane knows the cost of a phone call. He spent 10 months in prison and is editor of Paper Chained, a magazine for people affected by incarceration. Marius Smith is CEO of Vacro, a specialist criminal justice reintegration service that campaigns for fully funded phone calls in prisons.

Women do the bulk of the laundry, the cooking, the school lunches and running the family's social calendar. And this picture hasn't really changed in 20 years, according to the most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey.So, what are the struggles in trying to share the domestic mental load? Matt Johnson is co-host of parenting podcast Two Doting Dads and Alistair Thomson is a historian, co-author of Fathering: An Australian history. He's also a proud dad, stepdad and grandad.When you're caring for a loved one who's unwell, the light at the end of the tunnel is obviously their recovery. But what about cases where that won't ever happen? Bruce Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis, has recently revealed she and her 70-year-old husband now live separately due to his care requirements. Dementia advocate Pam Eade, who was diagnosed in 2021 shares her insights. As does Sophie Hennessy who runs the Nightingale Project - which runs a palliative model of advanced dementia care.Our modern lives are filled with beeps, dings, and buzzes. From washing machines and dishwashers to smartphones and fitness trackers. Driving is now a chorus of warnings and alerts - and while these features are meant to keep us safe, new research shows one in five drivers are turning them off. Milad Haghani is an Associate Professor in Urban Risk & Resilience at The University of Melbourne. And David Alais is a Professor of Psychology, University of Sydney.And finally, psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones offers advice about how to deal with trauma dumping - one-sided sharing of emotional information.

The dollar figure of detaining young people has shot up dramatically in the last five years, despite the actual number of people in the system declining. So if getting to these kids too late is costing us both financially and in community safety, just how early do we need to be intervening? Report author Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow and Emeritus Professor Ross Homel who led a decades-long early intervention and early prevention program in Queensland discuss. Right now, there's a fierce debate about what universities are for. Are they just factories for job-ready graduates? Or should they also be breeding grounds for big ideas, for curiosity, for critical thinking? Historian and academic Frank Bongiorno discusses what role universities play in modern Australia. ABC Radio National has launched its Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. We're asking some notable readers to tell me about the book that changed their life, starting with comedian Lizzy Hoo. Former AFL player Mitch Brown has publicly identified as bisexual becoming the first player in the code's history to do so. The official response from the AFL has been mixed, so Dr Victoria Rawlings is asking what would it take to create a world where people no longer need to come out? 

Are there conversations in your life that you try to avoid? And how might that be holding you back from getting what you actually want? Clinical psychologist Elisabeth Shaw says that, with the right tools, we can learn to communicate our needs and actually feel heard. Also, what do you do when your ex-mother-in-law gets in touch with some not-so-helpful life advice?

There's a small town on the west coast of Tasmania locked in a David and Goliath battle to save their last bank. Janet Lay has lived in Queenstown on Tasmania's west coast and has started a petition to keep their local bank in town. Since 2017, 36 per cent of brick and mortar bank branches have closed around regional Australia. Simon Lyons from the Regional Banking Investment Alliance asks how can we stop the flow of banks bailing on the regions? Since strict gun control measures were introduced following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, the number of firearms in Australia has increased by 25 per cent according to figures from The Australia Institute. In light of this week's fatal shooting of two Victorian police officers, we asked violence prevention specialist Dr Samara McPhedran what's behind the rise in gun ownership - and whether Australia's gun laws are still keeping people safe.Australia's newest Miss Universe has just been crowned, so we ask sociologist Dan Woodman if beauty pageants are still relevant in a body positive world?Australia is building more data centres to keep pace with our increasing participation in the digital world, but what do these resource-hungry facilities mean for communities nearby? Councillor Naim Kurt is the Deputy Mayor of a region soon to be home to these centres and Bronwyn Cumbo discusses the rise in these centres in Australian communities. EDITOR'S NOTE: August 28, 2025: An earlier version of this segment stated Bendigo Bank would charge fees to business customers using Bank@Post services. Bendigo Bank has since clarified its retail and business customers will be able to use Bank@Post services fee-free for the next 12 months. Statement from Bendigo Bank spokesperson:Following a review of evolving customer preferences, a reduction in business activity and an increase in costs, the Bank has made the difficult decision to close the Queenstown branch located at 33 Orr St, Queenstown. The Bank apologises for any inconvenience.Bendigo Bank is proud of its regional heritage and operates Australia’s second largest regional branch network. To preserve our ability to continue delivering for our customers and communities, we must ensure our branches are adequately supported and resourced. From Tuesday, 1 July 2025,  operating hours will reduce to Tuesday and Thursday from 10.00am to 1.00pm and 1:30pm to 4:00pm before our Queenstown branch and ATM close permanently from Friday, 26 September 2025. The Bank is in the process of communicating these changes to customers. For more information, click here. A range of banking options are available to customers impacted by this change. There is no action for customers to take as there will be no impact to how their accounts operate.   Customers can continue to transact as normal at any Bendigo Bank branch, ATM or at any time via internet banking, our mobile app or by phone on 1300 236 344. Customers can also choose to bank in-person using Bank@Post at any of the 3,500 Australia Post outlets across Australia. The nearest Australia Post LPO where customers can transact fee free for at least the next 12 months is located next door to the branch at 32 Orr Street, Queenstown.  Bendigo Bank maintains more branches per customer than any other Australian Bank. The Bank is committed to its branch network and the personalised interactions that occur in branch every day. For more branch closure information, click here. 

There's no shortage of advice for the early years of parenting, but what about the other end of the journey, when your kids leave home? For some, like senior writer at Good Weekend Tim Elliott, it brings a deep sense of loss. For others, like Kate Christie, author and empty nester, it's a time to celebrate new freedoms. Where do you stand on the empty nest spectrum?The term sovereign citizen is in the news again following the fatal shooting of two police officers in Victoria this week. But what does it actually mean, and is this ideology becoming a more serious threat to public safety and the rule of law? Legal researcher Dr Harry Hobbs explains. Running a marathon, a half-marathon, even a 5K, is no small thing, but for blind and vision-impaired runners, it's a whole different level of difficult. A Sydney running club is making it possible by pairing vision-impaired runners like Nicole Tillotson  with specially trained guides Caroline Wong.

Since online gambling became widely accessible it's never been easier to spend big - and lose even bigger. It's opened up a new frontier for gambling advertising with companies offering huge sums to creators like Konrad Benjamin of Punters Politics to promote online casinos to their social media followers. Konrad and online gambling researcher Dr Mark Johnson dive into what can be done to control this nascent issue.Early findings from the Class Inclusion at Work report reveal that only 44% of class-marginalised workers were offered career development opportunities in the past year, compared with 76% of their more privileged peers. You'll hear about the impact this has from Catherine Hunter the CEO of Diversity Council Australia and Dr Angelo Capuano, law lecturer at Central Queensland University who faced social class barriers early in his career.Are you a Swiftie? Maybe a part of the Bey-hive? If you're a serious fan of any artist, you understand the hype when they announce a new album or tour. When Taylor Swift announced her new album last week, it sent fans into overdrive, many of whom have already had an almost a religious experience at her shows. You'll hear from consumer behaviour expert Paul Harrison about why a select few celebrities inspire such fanaticism.Jordan Fyfe is a disabled artist, researcher and advocate who is currently finishing her PhD, and an ABC Top 5 Arts Resident for 2025. Her research focuses on the many barriers that face people with disabilities to attend or work in the arts - and what needs to change to improve access. 

The downsides to downsizing from the family home might include leaving your friends, your GP and the neighbourhood you love. So we asked someone who has made the move, a buyers agent and the CEO of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute whether making it easier for Australians to downsize would really move the needle on the housing crisis.What would have helped you come to terms with your own mental health challenges earlier? Osher Günsberg is one of the best-known names in Australian entertainment and mental health advocacy. His latest book tackles what to do when it feels like you've tried everything to feel better, and are asking the question "now what?" - and it's something he wished he had earlier in his journey. If you met your life partner online, you might want to keep scrolling past this one. A cross-cultural study compared relationship satisfaction, intimacy, passion, and commitment and on all four measures, people who met online scored lower than people who met in real life. Love researcher Adam Bode and Simone Springer who runs a singles meet up group discuss the merits of how you meet your lover. 

Rates of perfectionism are skyrocketing, but one of the world's leading experts says you can shift the perfectionistic mindset. And, the aunties weigh in on how to respond to an out-of-the-blue package from an ex best friend.