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Oct 18, 2023 • 10min

Would you let strangers watch you sleep for money?

It's no secret we should be working a little bit less, and sleeping a little bit more. And in the age of the always on hustle, some people are doing just that - and these "Sleepfluencers"are making a whole lot of money. So who are these people that are cashing in on their sleep cycles? Why are people paying to watch strangers sleep? And how could the online phenomena of sleepfluencing be a gateway to better mental health? Guest: Anna Levy from ABC Digital 
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Oct 11, 2023 • 11min

Can we capitalism our way out of climate change?

We all try to do our bit for the climate, we say no to plastic bags, we consider buying an electric car, we bring our keep cups to the cafe...but it’s going to take us drinking from a keep cup everyday for 100 million years to cancel out the problems caused by the big polluters - so how do we get everyone on the same page? Are we incentivising the wrong things when it comes to climate? And, should we be thinking about ways to make the economy a little less single use, and a little more circular and sustainable? Guest: Antony Funnell from Future Tense
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Oct 4, 2023 • 10min

Opting out of the cult of productivity

In the last little while, you've likely told someone "you've had a busy few weeks", or "work is so crazy right now" but can you actually remember a time when you weren't busy? Will the busy-ness every stop or are we destined to feel like we're on the cusp of burnout for the rest of our lives? Is it possible to reach that mystical balancing point where we can be productive at work but also have enough of ourselves left for the other parts of our lives too?Guest: Lisa Leong from This Working Life
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Sep 27, 2023 • 10min

TikTok is changing the way we think about faith

Around 85% of the world’s population is religious. And 22% of the world’s population is on TikTok, so it makes sense that a whole lot of religious content is making it’s way into people’s feeds. So with more and more people of faith getting online, is TikTok about to become the new religious pulpit? How is the advent of the religious influencer changing the idea of faith? And how can we ensure people aren’t radicalised by disinformation and those all-knowing algorithms?Guest: Sami Shah from God Forbid
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Sep 20, 2023 • 10min

Making sense of the Voice Referendum

On October 14th, Australians will head to the polls to vote in the Voice referendum. An important vote which could ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a say when it comes to matters relating to them. In our history, we’ve only had 44 referenda and of those, only eight have been successful. So will this one buck the trend? And will it really improve the lives of Indigenous people?Guest: ABC Indigenous Affairs reporter and host of The Voice Referendum Explained Carly Williams
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Sep 13, 2023 • 10min

Bushfire season is coming - how to deal with climate anxiety

Summer in the northern hemisphere was the hottest on record. There were unprecedented wildfires and floods resulting in mass destruction and deaths, so what does that tell us about what summer will be like in Australia? And after already experiencing such widespread devastation during the 2019 bushfires, how can we better handle the spike in our collective climate anxiety? Guest: Nate Byrne from ABC News
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Sep 6, 2023 • 10min

The truth about Stockholm Syndrome

The term Stockholm syndrome has become a phrase we throw around to describe people in toxic relationships and bad jobs, but originally it was a diagnosis for a young woman who fell for her captor during a week long bank heist. But it turns out the psychologist who first invented the term never even met the woman. So what’s the history of this strange syndrome? Is it an early understanding of what we now call coercive control or is it all just a sexist myth?Guest: Rebecca Armitage
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Aug 30, 2023 • 10min

Does the RBA want people to lose their jobs?

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard of the recent hike in RBA interest rates. But let’s face it, with the cost of housing as it is, living under a rock is looking more and more likely. These increases are a measure to curb spending to bring down inflation, but the RBA is secretly hoping something else will happen …. and that’s for you to lose your job. So do we really need inflation to be below 3%? And in a cost of living crisis, why is it better to have higher unemployment?Guest: Richard Aedy from The Money
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Aug 23, 2023 • 10min

Is the golden age of literary fraudsters over?

There's nothing better than disappearing into a good book. You can fall in love with people who have never existed and revel in events that never happened. But how does your perception of that book change when that author isn’t who they made themselves out to be? There's a long tradition of literary fraudsters in Australia, So why are we still so scandalised when this happens? And why is it still so hard to catch an errant author at it – what other hoaxes could be out there?Guest: Sarah L'Strange from The Book Show
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Aug 15, 2023 • 10min

Varroa mites are coming for your food

Recently, a tiny, pesky parasite called the varroa mite was detected in Australia for the first time, and already they are absolutely wreaking havoc on bee colonies. Bees are fundamental for Australia's produce, without them - we'd lose a third of our fresh fruit and vegetables. So what impact will these mites have on our food supply? And is there anything we can do to stop them wiping out local bees entirely?Guest: Carl Smith from ABC Science

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