Soul Search

Soul Search returns to our Sacred Landscapes series that explores the connections between spirituality and place. We turn to the cool climates with our guides – Dr Jonica Newby and Professor Jakelin Troy – taking us into the coldest regions of Australia and deepening our understanding of the spiritual importance of snow.

Professor Elaine Pagels has spent decades seeking to understand religion and, as her latest book reveals, this isn’t a merely academic exercise but a quest bound up with her own experience of life and bereavement.

It's the end of the Merkel era in Germany. We take a look at the faith and politics of this remarkable leader who has been at the helm of Europe's largest economy for almost 16 years. Then, we step a little further back in German history to explore the life and work of Karl Barth, a prolific theologian who was one of the main authors of the Barmen Declaration – a document resisting the Nazification of the church.

What happens when a sceptical writer immerses herself in peak Christian belief at a creationist museum? What happens when a Christian minister confronts the past and present horrific failures of the church? Hear from authors Sarah Krasnostein and John Dickson about what they learned when they confronted belief and unbelief, how it moved and changed them.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." To mark 700 years since Dante's death on 14 September 1321, we're taking a close look at his life and masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. Join Dr Meredith Lake and a host of Dante experts and enthusiasts as we journey from hell to purgatory to paradise.

Soulmates. Star-crossed lovers, couple goals, my other half. Or besties, brother-from-another-mother, my person. Whatever form they come in, they're the people we can't live without. So, what role do soulmates have in shaping our thoughts and ideas, emotions and behaviours, and all the significant and trivial aspects of our daily lives?

Strangers. We pass them in the street. We live next door to them. We have conversations with them online. What brings strangers together, and what keeps us apart? Why do our interactions with strangers matter? In this episode we explore interactions between strangers in our pandemic world, and in a community reeling from tragedy.

Siblings. Most of us have them, and they're the closest and longest relationships many of us will have in our lifetimes. So, how do sibling relationships shape us? And what can we learn from brothers and sisters in religious traditions, fairytales and folklore?

Acclaimed ethologist and 2021 Templeton Prize winner, Jane Goodall, tells us about the many teachers who have gifted her with lessons on humanity and hope: from her childhood reading tree to her first dog, the Gombe forest and, of course, her beloved chimps.

As the Tokyo Olympics draws to a close, we mark another significant date on the calendar: Hiroshima Day. Hear from two women about their work to spread peace around the world by planting Hiroshima A-bomb survivor trees in 36 countries so far – and counting.