Soul Search

To mark International Women's Day, we hear from two remarkable women – worlds apart – on their experiences of liberating religion and women from within their religious and cultural contexts.

How do we live well in times of crisis? Whether it's a global pandemic or a more personal dilemma, two of Australia's leading spiritual guides share their thoughts on how to make it through difficult times – and even find spiritual nourishment and growth.

He was the moral conscience of South Africa, a hero in the struggle against apartheid, and one of the spiritual giants of our time. The legacy of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu lives on through people like Michael Battle, Director of the Desmond Tutu Centre in the US. Dr Battle lived with the renowned bishop and theologian as his student and personal chaplain during the dismantling of apartheid.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr called him an 'Apostle of Peace' when nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. To many, he's known as the Buddhist monk who introduced the practice of mindfulness to the West and popularised it. Explore the life and legacy Thich Nhat Hanh –renowned Zen master, monk, poet, peace activist, teacher and global spiritual leader.

How secular, or not, is China today? As many of us celebrate Lunar New Year, Soul Search heads to China. Professor Mayfair Yang discusses the resurgence of popular religion in China – from local cults to lineage organisations, Protestant Christianity to modern Taoism. Then we chat to British-born, Australian-Chinese illustrator, Chrissy Lau, who is at the forefront of modern representations of Lunar New Year – reimagining her own heritage for a new generation.

Francis Spufford is a storyteller who sees grace and beauty in the grimiest and grittiest of places. He challenges us to look closely and catch a glimpse of something wildly precious and extraordinary, even holy and eternal. Also, Mehmet Ozalp previews the inaugural Sydney Muslim Writers' festival and explains the significance of the pen in the Islamic faith.

How Kate Bowler, a self-described incurable optimist and expert on the American prosperity gospel, faced the biggest challenge of her life – which upended everything she knew about health, wealth and what it means to live a good and successful life.

Many Indigenous languages have a word that means something like ‘deep listening’. In Ngan'gikurunggurr, a Northern Territory language, that word is dadirri. We hear from renowned Aboriginal elder and 2021 Senior Australian of the Year, Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, who advocates for a kind of listening — a quiet awareness — that sums up a whole way of being. We also meet Wiradjuri and Wailwaan woman Fleur Magick Dennis on a different kind of meditation and ethical reflection.

Do you ever look around and think, there must be a better way to do life, here? We’re meeting people asking the big question of how to live well in the world as we find it. Hear from Dr Jonathan Cornford, a political economist on a mission to live more slowly, gently, and simply, and Asher Packman, the current President of Meditation Australia.

Muslim cameleers have a rich history in Australia – that you may not have heard much about. They're the men who transformed the economic, cultural and spiritual life of many outback communities at the turn of the 20th century.