Open House Interviews

Dementia robs memory, language and life skills. It changes relationships and it changes people. But does it take away faith and your relationship with God. HammondCare's Lois Haultain has found many ways people with dementia are able to stay close to God.

Growing up, Anne Connor knew her father was touchy. Her father could be moody, edgy, depressed all without apparent reason. It was not until decades after his death that they learnt the horrible truth. He accidentally shot and killed his friend in WW2, a tragedy which haunted him for the rest of his life. Anne's book, "Two Generations" is a fictionalised memoir of how that dark secret darkly impacts a family.

Can the finance industry serve a human rights purpose? As the Banking Royal Commission heads to a conclusion Open House asks how can trust be restored?

Pure science research often comes up with the best solutions to real world problems. Professor Justin Chalker from Flinders University has proved just that with the second astounding use for a polymer made from used cooking oil and petroleum by-products.

How does a formerly great city, find a place in the world when the industry that had sustained it is gone? You call in pastor Chris Lambert and his non profit Life Remodeled. In 2017 he mobilized 11,032 volunteers in six days. They started work on a Community Innovation Centre, repaired 53 homes, boarded up 534 vacant houses and removed blight on 367 blocks.

How must it feel to have grown up in Australia not knowing what has become of your relatives in North Korea? We visit the Siloam Korean Presbyterian Church in Sydney's Strathfield.

Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) Australian Director, Carolina Gottardo, says it is hard not to see a mismatch between what Australia says officially in support of the UN Compacts on Refugees and on Migration and the actions of the Australian government toward refugees and asylum seekers.

Quiet Faith is a play by award winning Australian theater producer, David Williams. Based on hours of conversation he recorded with everyday Christians, Quiet Faith was created in the midst of debates about, among other things, asylum seekers.

Dr Colin Klein from ANU has studied a massive download of data from the conspiracy section of social media site Reddit and found some interesting new information about who spreads on-line conspiracy theories and why. His work shatters the image of conspiracy theorists as deluded, tin-foil hat wearing people who insist all things are connected and are prepared to believe just about anything.

The digital revolution is changing the nature of ‘personhood’ and society’s view of human worth. The next revolution, biological technology, will do so even more. We ask Andy Crouch what history tells us. Does Christianity have anything to say? How can we contribute to human flourishing?