Life Matters

Helping you figure out all the big stuff in life: relationships, health, money, work and the world.

A new program has launched in Queensland to teach teenagers how to safely ride e-bikes and e-scooters on the roads. It comes as trauma experts warn the number of serious injuries and fatalities associated with these devices is rising, so when the stakes are so high, is education enough? 

Are you a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person? A long-term study out of Yale University suggests it actually pays to be an optimist, with people who have a positive attitude around getting older showing improvement in areas like memory, cognition and physical mobility. Geriatrician Kate Gregorevic unpacks the science behind ageing well.

Why is it that you can hold onto the lyrics to a song from 25 years ago, or the entire script of a classic movie, yet can't remember where you parked your car or why you walked into a room? Researcher Michelle Spear talks through the mysteries of our memory.

Breaking up can be brutal, especially if you have children together. Navigating feelings of anger, sadness, betrayal and shock without bringing the kids into it can be complicated. Family mediation specialist Danielle Lundberg shares the secret to staying sane while bringing up kids with your ex.

Life Matters listener Katherine asks the Aunties for advice on clearing her cat's name after a neighbour wrongly accused them of a stinky crime.

Helping you figure out all the big stuff in life: relationships, health, money, work and the world.

At a pivotal moment in her career, one moment changed everything for comedian Denise Scott. She knew it was bad immediately, and a few appointments later it was confirmed: breast cancer. Now, on the other side of treatment, Denise is touring a new stand-up show, Tickety Boo.

Skate parks, playgrounds and BMX tracks are everywhere — but a recent survey shows teenage girls are barely using them. What would make our parks and playgrounds more inclusive of teenage girls? And could redesigning them benefit everyone?

This Working Life host Lisa Leong dissects the juiciest tips from her interview with world-renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel on how to navigate conflict in the workplace.

There are growing calls for the childcare subsidy to apply to a broader number of care options. Whether it's grandparents, nannies, au pairs, or whatever the case may be, how might that work? And if your choice is a childcare centre, what does that mean for you?

When Jan Warnock was diagnosed with a terminal illness, she decided she wanted to say goodbye on her own terms. So the family held a living wake. Jan's husband Julian Warnock and anthropologist Cindy Stocken share how celebrating life before you go, with the people you love, can make space for grief and healing. 

For Head and Heart, resident psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones explains why it's human nature to judge people, but we have a choice to make about what to do with that judgement.

Meals on Wheels has been around for more than 70 years, but in a growing number of communities the service is facing challenges. Meals on Wheels chair Paul Sadler, volunteer Carol Gillman and geropsychologist Nancy Pachana discuss changes rolling out across the country and the future of Meals on Wheels.

Learning to drive is a rite of passage for many Australians, and often it's the people who raised us sitting in the passenger seat. But do we have the skills to prepare our teenagers to hit to road?

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has put forward a proposal to increase annual leave from four weeks to five. At the same time, the average worker is doing around the same amount of unpaid work each year. Fiona Macdonald and Rae Frances talk through how we could tackle big changes to the way we work.

If you had to rank your sex life between 1 to 10, where would you land? According to a recent survey, nearly half of Australians are unhappy with their sex lives, putting us well below the global average. So what's going on? Sexologists Tanya Koens and Cam Fraser unpack the orgasm gap, barriers around intimacy and how to speak your mind in the bedroom.

For Ask Aunty, a grieving widow shares how reading his late partner's diary revealed a hidden betrayal. How do you navigate grief while wrestling with regret, and should you keep people's secrets after they're gone?

Electronic shelf labels — those little digital screens replacing paper tags — are becoming more widespread across supermarkets in Australia, where prices can be updated instantly at the push of a button. It's certainly saved hours of employee time printing and updating labels manually, and although it's not inherently problematic, some are concerned that the way it's being used overseas could have implications for Australian shoppers. ABC technology reporter James Purtill retail marketing and consumer behaviour professor Gary Mortimer from Queensland University of Technology unpack what this could look like on Australian shelves.

Australia Post has warned the day will soon come when it delivers its last letter, with the rising cost to provide the service outstripping demand. So what might a post-post world look like, and how will the record of history we leave behind change without letters?

As workplace culture makes headlines following the fallout between radio duo Kylie Sandilands and Jackie O, behavioural scientist Aaron McEwan look at how to recognise toxic behaviour in the workplace, and what you can do about it.

Crowded lecture theatres and late nights at the uni bar were once staples of university life. But with so much learning now delivered online, campuses aren't the hive of social activity they once were. Life Matters' resident sociologist Dan Woodman and psychologist Andrew Martin unpack what the students of today are missing and whether it matters.

Art is a powerful force that can change our thinking and move us to action — but could it save lives? Professor Daisy Fancourt shares what she found in researching her new book, Art Cure: The Science of How The Arts Saves Lives with Philip Samartzis, an artist capturing the sound of cutting-edge science in Antarctica.

The way we interact online has changed dramatically since the inception of the internet, and artificial intelligence presents a huge challenge. Digital literacy researcher Luci Pangrazio and AI educator Natasha Banks explore how we're preparing ourselves, and the next generation, to navigate these ever-changing spaces.