Life Matters

ChatGPT... Grammarly... Google Gemini...  AI tools have changed student life in the space of just a couple of years. Cheating seems easier than ever before. So, how do teachers monitor AI use, while accurately assessing students' work? Mark McLauchlin is a nursing student who is fighting AI cheating accusations. Dr Jasmine Thomas, Associate Director of I.C.T. Governance and Partnerships at the University of Southern Queensland and Dr Cameron Edmond, lecturer in game development, at Macquarie University's School of computing are both navigating the world of academia and AI.

Footy fever is in the air with the AFL and NRL grand finals just around the corner. But that's not the only kind of heat hitting the world of sport. As temperatures rise, so do the challenges for athletes, clubs, and fans alike - from the grassroots to the global stage. Dr Greg Dingle is a Senior Lecturer of Sport Management at La Trobe University and former AFL player Tom Campbell is co-founder of Footy For Climate.

It's been almost a week since Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and the public commentary has been extreme. There's no doubt the conservative commentator was a polarising figure - in life, inspiring both devotion .. and hatred. Patrick Stokes, lecturer in philosophy at Deakin University, discusses the ethics at play when it comes to the death of someone whose views you disagree with.

Koalas are cuddly, world-famous, and deeply woven into our national identity. But behind the cute image is a species in crisis. Last week the NSW state government announced a major move: a Great Koala National Park on the Mid North Coast. A nationwide chlamydia vaccine rollout is also coming. Dr Christine Hosking, Conservation Planner & Researcher at The University of Queensland, and  Dr Stuart Blanch, Conservation scientist with the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, debate whether these steps will help our national treasures.

Eating disorders can affect anyone, and anyone can have body image concerns... but the stereotype remains that it's an illness that mostly affects women. This is despite the fact that an estimated one third of people with eating disorders are male... a number that's rising, according to eating disorder charity the Butterfly Foundation. Because of this stereotype, men often face an added challenge...  treatment is typically focused on women. Dr Richard Knight is a social worker and researcher who has lived with an eating disorder and Richard Newton, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Monash University, has worked with people with eating disorders for more than 40 years.

ABC Radio National has launched its Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. Over the next few weeks, you can vote for the books that you believe belong on the list. We're asking some notable readers to tell us about the book that changed their life. This week, we spoke to Take 5 host Zan Rowe. 

Indoor farming, where rows of fresh produce are stacked in vertical towers, could be a viable way to insulate homegrown food from our rapidly changing climate. Australia's biggest fully automated vertical farm is looking to expand next year. So, what role could farming up - instead of out - play in our food futures? Paul Gauthier is a Professor of Protected Cropping at the University Queensland and leading researcher in vertical farming.

So, now you know! You have ADHD! But, what comes next? Is there a way that you, and those who love you, can “do life” that better suits your ADHD brain? Journalist and author Matilda Boseley and psychiatrist Dr Sunil Reddy share how to make households, workplaces, relationships and day-to-day life as ADHD-friendly as possible.

And what do you do when you're stuck between your best mate and your best mate's wife? Aunties Nelly Thomas and James Findlay step in to help letter-writer Tom move forward when thing go wrong in his close friend's marriage.

Dealing with angry and abusive customers has become part of the job for many retail workers in Australia. Some retailers have introduced measures like body-worn cameras, extra CCTV and duress alarms to improve safety. But the problem has become so serious that this week a major independent supermarket chain said it's considering closing stores because of violent customer behaviour. Retail workers Megan Sheather and Gabbi Colloff share their experiences. Professor Gary Mortimer, retail consumer behaviour expert, QUT Business School, explains why retail work is so fraught nowadays.

Scams these days are pretty sophisticated. And given the number of ways they can get to you, social media, email, text message, it might feel almost quaint to get a scam phone call. But people lose more money to phone scams than any other method of contact, with Australian victims losing over $107 million dollars this way last year. Kathy Sundstrom is the National Manager of Outreach & Engagement at IDCare and Dr Kate Gould who leads the Monash Cyberability project, explain why scams are so prevalent.

In our regular segment My Two Cents, we ask those questions you'd rather not answer about money. Comedian and former triple j breakfast host Matt Okine shares why sometimes it's ok to make money decisions with your heart, not your head. 

Ballerina Cappuccina, Chimpanzini Bananini, Bombardiro Crocodilo ... do these names mean anything to you? If you know what I'm talking about, you've probably got a tween in your household because they're the latest batch of online memes designed to waste time and turn your brain to mush. It's been labelled brainrot...  Essentially, material designed to waste your time... And it's not just tweens. We're all guilty of it occasionally. Dan Woodman, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Melbourne, explains the appeal behind the scroll.

Three decades after a federal treaty was first promised - but never materialised - Victoria has introduced the first ever treaty legislation into its parliament. It has been a hard won battle for First Nations people, and this landmark Victorian process has survived where others have fallen in the wake of the failed Voice referendum. Katie Kiss, Kaanju and Birri Widi woman and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner joins Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, Bundjalung woman and co-founder of advocacy organisation Common Threads, to discuss what this means for the rest of the country.

Research shows most of us would love to reconnect with old friends, but only one in three of us actually takes that step. So what holds us back? Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones discusses how can we start welcoming old friends back into our lives.

If it seems like everyone you know is running a marathon or a half-marathon, you're probably not mistaken. Last week, the entries opened for Brisbane Marathon and recently, the Sydney Marathon attracted huge crowds.  Every Australian city now boasts run clubs - some people are even using them to find a partner. Dr Lloyd Rothwell, Sports Management Researcher at the University of Technology Sydney and Erchana Murray-Bartlett, ultramarathoner and run coach, talk about why running is having a moment.

Convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson will spend at least 33 years behind bars for the deaths of three family members via an infamous death cap mushroom lunch. The sentence was the culmination of an almost two-years long criminal justice process.... heavily scrutinised by the public and the press. Dr Brianna Chesser, Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice at RMIT University, discusses why public fascination with female offenders remains high.

What's the role of workplace uniforms? Last week, Qantas announced Australian fashion designer Rebecca Vallance would design its first new uniform in more than a decade. It's a bold move for the national carrier. Do uniforms serve as branding? Or do they inspire a sense of pride in workers? Dr Prudence Black is a Research Fellow in the School of Humanities at the University of Adelaide and Pam Jabbour is CEO Total Image Group.

Do you ever visit a new city... or new part of your own town and realise ... "there's nothing unique here, I could really be anywhere in the world"? The same chain stores are selling the same clothing everywhere. The same two grocery chains are ubiquitous in every suburb. It's just ... bland. So, what's be behind this gradual creep? And when did you start to notice it? Paul Harrison, Chair of Consumer Behaviour at Deakin University's Business School discusses the death of the main drag.

Finals season is here, and AFL and NRL players are facing some of the most high-pressure moments of their careers. But you don’t have to be an athlete — or a sports fan — to know that feeling. Whether it’s pitching an idea at work, sitting an exam, or giving a speech at a wedding, we all face moments when we're under pressure to perform and the nerves kick in. Shayne Hanks, Sport and Performance Psychologist from Performance Boost, shares what we can learn from elite athletes.

As our cities grow we're building new houses, new shops and new amenities from scratch. Melanie Davern, from Australian Urban Observatory and Jane Martin from Food for Health Alliance unpack why so many new developments become fast food highways. Its in light of a proposal to change local planning processes in Victoria to address the growing problem of fast food over-saturation in suburbs like those in the Surf Coast, the Mayor Mike Bodsworth's discusses the potential impact, would it make us healthier?

Philip Johns is the president of the 70 year old Rotary Club of Port Pirie in South Australia, but he's worried the club won't see many more birthdays. From Lions Club playgrounds to Rotary rotundas and sausage sizzles galore, the contribution of local service clubs is visible in every community, but they're folding after in the face of volunteer shortages. Philip joins Mark Pearce, CEO of Volunteering Australia to discuss what community service looks like in 2025. 

ABC Radio National has launched its Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. We asked broadcaster David Marr about the book that changed his life. 

And speaking of reading, if you can't remember the last time you got some quality hours in with your favourite book - there's a retreat for that! Amy Hart is the co founder of 'A Place to Pause' and Anna Burkey from Australia Reads discuss the rise and usefulness of the reading retreat. 

Is it possible to change your personality? Many of us may have thought about it, but journalist and staff writer at The Atlantic, Olga Khazan, actually did it.

After spending a year intensively researching the science of personality change, she applied that science to herself. She wrote about her experience in her new book, Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change. And Dr Carly Johnco, clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at Macquarie University, discusses the evidence-based ways to change the essence of yourself.

In Ask Aunty, our letter writer needs advice about how to deal with her daughter's young friend who is sharing TMI (too much information) about her parents. Today's aunties are writer, actor, and author Fiona Harris, and comedian Matt Okine.

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.