Our favourite, most enduring novels are full of things we ask ourselves about life and meaning. This week, we turn to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and how the Russian literary tradition can help clarify questions about truth, love for one another, and ethics.

"Spirituality" is a loosely defined word, but Australians are increasingly identifying that way, especially among Gen Z. So, what does living a spiritually fulfilled life look like, and what kinds of spiritual help do people look for in times of crisis?

We all know that we need good rest. And before we knew about the science of sleep, sacred traditions encouraged rest as a priority. But the frenetic pace of modern life makes it difficult to pause. So how can we make rest a priority, and include it in our rhythms?

John Butler is one of Australia's most beloved musicians, known for his infectious energy. But after a period of turbulence he turned to composing meditative and instrumental music as a form of healing.

Indigenous people and faith communities aren't waiting for government to do truth-telling and treaty. Although the Voice referendum did not pass, some churches and First Nations people are building better relationships and even forming treaties of their own.

In post-apartheid South Africa, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is asking, when is forgiveness possible, and where does that leave the search for justice?

This episode originally broadcast on 15 September 2024.

What does it mean to be fully alive? Elizabeth Oldfield has ditched the conventional script of what life can look like — instead choosing to live in what she calls a "micro-monastery".

The episode originally broadcast on 21 July 2024.

The nature of consciousness is a subject of enormous interest to both science and religion. Modern, secular mindfulness techniques have their foundation in ancient Buddhist thought, but it's only recently that neuroscientists have given serious attention to what actually happens in the brain when we meditate.

This episode originally broadcast on 5 May 2024.

How do you cultivate a lifetime of curiosity? When Amy-Jill Levine was a child, her parents would ask, "Did you ask any good questions today?" That mindset has propelled AJ through a lifetime of discovery, learning about all kinds of things, but especially sacred texts and the people who read them.

The world Christians live in is changing, so Christian theology is too. David Bentley Hart — one of the world’s most prominent and influential theologians — calls elements of mainstream Western Christian thought “a psychotic fantasy”. Wow! In Australia, theological colleges grapple with environmental and postcolonial questions, and it might just change the church here going forward.

This episode originally broadcast on 3 August 2023.