Signs Radio

So you've just spent four hours scrolling through all your social media feeds, giving likes and hearts and cute comments. You've caught up with what all your friends are doing and it's supposed to be fun. So why do you feel so lonely and depressed? Digital natives Maryellen Fairfax and Jessica Krause do some soul searching with host Kent Kingston.

While many of the world's major world religions find a place for Jesus Christ within their beliefs, Christianity's teaching of the Holy Spirit - the Third Person of the Trinity - is much more unique. Author, theologian and high school religion teacher Jotham Kingston lays out the basics.

Denmark-born Kirsten Oster-Lundqvist has lived in different countries around the world — now she's in New Zealand. She says her experience as a global nomad has given her a glimpse into the cultural dislocation that impacts newly arrived refugees . . . but only a tiny glimpse.

When Aleta Bainbridge's grandson, Leonard, took his own life, the shock and grief reverberated around the family. Leonard had believed a lie, and Aleta wishes from the depths of her heart that he had known the full truth of how precious he really was. If only . . . If this episode brings up difficult emotions for you, please speak to a trusted support person or contact a community organisation such as Australia's Lifeline - 13 11 14. You are not alone.

What does our obsession with this blood-soaked epic tell us about the human hunger for meaning and significance? Cultural commentator and media critic Mark Hadley offers his insights.

Trying to get some men to open up about their emotions and struggles is well-nigh impossible. But put a screwdriver in their hand and a practical project in front of them—it's incredible what can get fixed!

"No mother should ever have to bury her child." But sadly, it's something too many mothers have said while they're doing just that. What is the impact of the loss of a child on a family? On a marriage? And is there any hope of healing? If this episode raises difficult feelings for you, please speak to a trusted support person or contact Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.

Superbugs, super-fungi and the approaching whine of mosquito-borne diseases. Are you ready?

If you're impressed with your level of humility, you may have missed the point! Signs magazine's Daniel Kuberek chats with author, editor and activitist, Nathan Brown. Listeners who subscribe to the magazine at our website - http://signsofthetimes.org.au - and use the coupon code FALAFEL will receive a free copy of Nathan Brown's book along with their $A26 Signs subscription. (This is a limited offer available in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific region only and while stocks last.)

The horror, shock and grief felt in the wake of a mass shooting like what happened earlier this year in Christchurch culminates in a simple, but agonised question: Why?