Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

Have you heard the term the "glass child"? It's used to describe the sibling of someone with a disability or chronic illness.

They're called a glass child because they can become less visible than their sibling, who requires extra time and attention. They become the easy kid — not adding to their parents' stress, never needing too much.

It's estimated more than 5 million Australians have grown up in that situation. So how can we provide better support to the siblings who the system forgets? 

Hitchhikers used to be a common sight across Australian roads.

For a few good decades, thumbing a lift to the beach, home from school or further afield on an adventure was common practice. So was picking up strangers, passing time with idle conversation.

Today most of us wouldn't dream of hitching a ride — the backpackers murders of the late 80s and early 90s all but brought this pastime to a screeching halt. But there are people who are willing to take the risks, so knowing the risks we do now, is it still worth it? 

If you stumble across a bunch of people looking up at the sky and then frantically typing something into their phones this week, there's a chance you've found a group of citizen scientists.

The Aussie Bird Count runs from October 19 to 25, and in its 13th year as the largest citizen science project in the country. 

It's been a tough year for our feathered friends, but this is one way to do your part to protect our birds.

Stress can be like a cold, if one person brings it home everyone can catch it. With students starting their year 12 exams it can be a stressful time for families as they navigate this difficult period.So how do you navigate stress in the household as a family unit?

When you get the itch for an adventure, what scratches it?

Is it a trip to the Himalayas? Trekking the Kokoda Trail? Or are you just bravely charting your own course through your suburb without GPS?

Adventurer Beau Miles has spent years turning the outdoors into his workplace, and his adventures into his work — which has now been inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive.

But Beau Miles wants to challenge the way we view adventure, not as a huge, risky undertaking months in the making, but something you can squeeze into regular life.

So what advice does he have for bringing a little more adventure to your everyday life?

Last night, independent MP Helen Haines was the victim of an attack that has left her hospitalised in a critical condition, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as "a deliberate act". 

Although we don't yet know the motivation of the attack, the Prime Minister has called for every Australian to turn down the heat of our political discourse.He spoke of how there had been a "significant increase" in the number of people charged with threatening parliamentarians over the last few years and discourse has gone in the wrong direction. Today, politicians from across the aisle have echoed the same sentiment. But is it possible to put this genie back in the bottle? 

According to new research, 46 per cent of people who would fit the definition of a "carer", don't think of themselves that way. 

Because maybe caring for your aging family while juggling the younger ones is something you don't think about in depth — it's just what you do. 

Care is complex, it doesn't look the same from one family to the next, and the way we define the word "carer" could be excluding a whole range of people from crucial support services.

From today, the first genetically modified whole food to be grown and sold in Australia will start hitting shelves in Victoria.

It's a purple tomato that's been in the works for more than a decade, and producers have high hopes it'll be a hit with consumers.

The industry regulator's latest consumer survey suggests about half of us are open to the idea of genetically modified foods. So will the purple tomato shift the mood? Are we likely to see more genetically modified fruits and vegetables in our supermarkets in future? 

As year 12 students across the country sit down for their HSC exams this month, the number sitting to complete senior level drama is dwindling.

From 2015 to 2025, senior drama enrolments have fallen by 43 per cent across the country, the most of any arts subject.

Even though their decline hasn't been as steep, music, visual arts and dance have also been in steady decline over the last decade.

And the old argument goes, what job is a drama education going to get you anyway? We can't all be Margot Robbie.

But is that really the point? In fact, what is the point of an arts education? 

This week, the Aunties scale dilemma mountain with listener Anton, who's unsure about sharing his favourite hobby with the kid next door. 

Anton's nine-year-old neighbour is super keen to tag along on his next bike ride with an old friend. But it's not exactly the quality time he had in mind. So how do you shake off an insistent buddy?