God Forbid

Most of us spend most of our waking hours working, paid and unpaid. 

From housework to paid work, most of our lives are dominated by work. It's so ingrained that losing our true selves in work can feel unavoidable.  

Yet, many also find purpose, value, and joy in work – even if it's not their dream job. 

Work is less a place and more a concept, the line between work and home can be blurred. And younger Gen-Z workers are repelled by the hustle culture and burnout that comes from increased casualisation, unpaid overtime and labour shortages. 

It’s why for Millennials, nearly 2 in 3 say work is a part of who they are. But for Gen Z, half say their job is not even a central part of their identity. 

So how, when and why do we work? 

GUESTS:

• Valerie Ling founded The Centre for Effective Serving, a psychology practice dedicated to alleviating burnout and other workplace problems. 
• Kara Martin is Adjunct Professor at Boston's Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She's also the author of Workship: How to Use your Work to Worship God.
• Rabbi Zalman Kastel is founder of Together For Humanity which teaches intercultural understanding in schools and the community.

Halloween, in the western Christian tradition, remembers the dead – saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed. 

But why do so many believe the departed return? 

Regardless of the place on earth, or time in history, people say they see strange apparitions and ghostly figures. And as for things unseen, even more profess a belief in genies, spirits, angels and supernatural entities. 

All these ideas and feelings are traditionally laid bare in this realm of the supernatural, the boundaries of dark and light, good and evil, in our human imagination. 

That’s why God Forbid panellist Ali A. Olomi studies genies – or jinn as they’re known in the Muslim world. He's a popular podcaster and Assistant Professor of History at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. 

Kristy Nabhan-Warren is Professor and Chair in Catholic Studies at the University of Iowa. She is an expert on Marian apparitions – the supernatural appearance of Mary, mother of Jesus. 

And in Seattle Washington, Zack Davisson is an award winning author, lecturer, and Japanese language translator – and expert in yokai, the supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore. 

The government has removed favourable tax settings for investors to make home ownership just a bit more achievable for Millennials and Gen Z’s priced out of the market. 

The Prime Minister has spoken about the importance of giving young people access to housing so they have “a stake in the economy”

Is tinkering with, or even an overhaul, of the housing market really the only answer to growing wealth gaps in Australia? 

What if we can move towards a totally different economic structure that serves everyone? 

And what do some of Australia's faith communities say about what that model might look like? 

GUESTS:

• Dr Julie Macken Research and Project Officer of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s Justice and Peace Office, and author of Australia’s Schism in the soul: colonization, asylum seekers, and a nation’s failure to mourn    
• Asad Ansari, a specialist in Islamic finance, with 25 years of experience across Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, and Co-founder of Amanah Islamic Finance  
• Dr Jonathon Cornford runs Manna Gum, an independent Christian non-profit thinktank, and podcast host of Mannacast

From climate disasters to economic collapse, pandemics to political unrest — some people prepare for the worst long before it happens. 

But is prepping a sign of prudent foresight or a loss of faith in society? And how do ethics and religion shape ideas of survival? 

In this episode we explore the growing culture of preppers and survivalists, from community resilience to billionaire bunkers. 

Are preppers visionaries, doomsayers, or just realists? 

And in a crisis, what do we owe each other?

GUESTS:

• Dr. Bradley Garrett – Social geographer and author of Bunker: What It Takes to Survive the Apocalypse.
• Dr. Tom Doig – Journalist and author of the upcoming book We Are All Preppers Now.
• John Scarinci – Secretary General of the Australian Peoples Survival League.
• Tracy Simmons – Journalist, religion reporter, and executive director of FāVS News, a religion news website in the Pacific Northwest.

This episode of God Forbid was made on Gadigal land and in Meanjin. 

And was first broadcast March 2025.

Falling in love with a machine is supposed to be the stuff of science-fiction. About a decade ago, Spike Jonze made the film Her, about a lonely man Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falling in love with his operating system, Samantha. 

And the world renowned psychoanalyst Esther Perel recently counselled a man and his romantic partner, a chat bot! 

Is romantic love just in our hearts and heads, or does it require another human to be real? 

If an AI lover is always patient, understanding, never challenges you, and you never have to pick up after them, how could a human ever compete? 

Is AI the ultimate cure for human loneliness?  

Can AI fill the God-shaped hole in us? 

GUESTS:

• Professor Meghan Sullivan, Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Also, the Founding Director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good
• Caragh OBrien, author of AnnieBot (written under the pen name Sierra Greer) a novel told from the perspective of a robot girlfriend for a man called Doug. AnnieBot won the 2025 Arthur C. Clarke award for UK science fiction book of the year. 
• Professor Uri Gal, Professor of Business Information Systems at the University of Sydney Business School, whose research focuses on the organisational and ethical aspects of digital technologies - his recent article for the ABC is here.

Since the Stone Age we’ve used, and abused, drugs and alcohol. And some cultures believed their mood-altering effects brought you closer to God.  

But if you go to an Alcoholics Anonymous or AA meeting today, you’ll be told that getting closer to God means getting away from the drink.

AA also welcomes atheists, of course, as the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. But as part of the program, surrendering to a higher power is essential. Not necessarily God, but something outside of the bondage of self.

But why does the twelve step program work brilliantly for some — and fail miserably for others? And what are the spiritual roots of the program? 

And it's not just alcoholism, there are twelve step programs for gamblers, social media and sex addicts, also overeaters and clutterers anonymous. 

GUESTS:

Joanna Thyer, Multi-Faith Chaplaincy Coordinator at the University of Technology Sydney. She's also author of 12 Steps to Spiritual Freedom - Understanding the Christian Roots of Twelve Step Programs, and Steps to Life.

Melinda Lake, psychologist and co-founder & CEO of Australian Recovery Centres in Northern NSW. She's also worked with AABCAP on Addiction in Buddhism and Psychotherapy.

Amber Rules, Clinical psychotherapist and Director of Sydney Addictions Recovery in Sydney's inner west.

Pope Leo XIV has recently slammed the use of God's name to justify what he terms as the "absurd" pursuit of war, specifically challenging military leaders who describe operations in Iran as a holy war "in the name of Jesus Christ". 

Is a "holy war" antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ?  

Sister Brigid Arthur, Rev Tim Costello and Rev Michael Woolf certainly think so. 

All of them have been at the forefront of contemporary societal battles about some of the most pressing issues of our day: asylum seekers and refugees, gambling reform and homelessness.  

So, what can Christian leaders offer us in this context? Can they be holy warriors for our most pressing concerns? 

GUESTS:

• Rev Tim Costello  is Chief Advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Member of the Order of Australia, Executive Director of Micah Australia.
• Rev Dr Michael Woolf is Senior Minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston in the US state of Illinois and Co-Associate Regional Minister with the American Baptist Church, and author of Sanctuary and Subjectivity: Thinking Theologically about Whiteness and Sanctuary Movements 
• Sister Brigid Arthur is a Brigidine sister who coordinates the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project, which advocates for asylum seekers, and helps them out with practical needs like housing, rent and utilities, friendship. 

Fairytales are among the oldest forms of human storytelling, with their roots in the oral traditions of pre-literate societies. 

Over centuries, these tales have been reworked to suit the religious, moral and political order of the day. They are instructive, entertaining and sometimes terrifying. 

Why is there this ongoing appeal – indeed a revival – of fairytales among young and old alike?  

Guests: 

• Marguerite Johnson, classicist, historian and Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland.  
• Tom Wright, theatre writer and Artistic Associate at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney  
• Michelle Smith, Associate Professor in Literary Studies at Monash University  

This program first aired in March 2024

It’s Eastern Orthodox Easter this weekend, where the faithful will announce to each other Christos Anesti. Christ is Risen.

Also risen? The fortunes of Eastern Orthodoxy among men – though this is contested. Over the last 50 years, the numbers of people around the world identifying as religious have dropped. But the numbers of Christians seem to have stabilised, just in the last few years. Why?

If you go to the movies, or turn on your TV, you’ll find it hard to avoid the medieval fantasy genre. With its castles and fortresses, cloaks and crowns, and even dungeons and dragons.

The stories are fantastical but of course, fictional in their portrayal of medieval Europe and the Islamic Golden Age.

But how can a better understanding of what actually happened, in a rapidly changing Europe and Middle East, 500 to 1,000 years ago, help us navigate complexities in the world today?

GUESTS:

• Dr Michael Barbezat, Research Fellow in Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the Australian Catholic University.
• Dr Miles Pattenden, Senior Research Fellow in Medieval Studies, also at ACU.
• Dr Mahsheed Ansari, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University. 

This program was first broadcast in October 2023