Religion isn’t always serious business. While the sacred is sometimes considered off-limits for comedy, religious people actually do use humour to bond with each other and teach the tenets of their faith. And in the wake of tragedy, laughter is a defence as well as a comfort.Tami Sussman is an author with a background in theatre, comedy, spoken word poetry and copywriting. Her latest book is So That Happened...But Maybe You Already Knew That. She’s running a writing workshop for tweens at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival.Shoshana Gottlieb is a writer and Jewish educator based in Sydney. She also runs JewishMemesOnly, a popular Instagram meme account. She is appearing on the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival panel, the Tragedy of Jewish Comedy.Rabbi Ralph Genende is one of Australia’s most senior Jewish community leaders. His many roles and responsibilities include Senior Rabbi and Manager at Jewish Care Victoria, and Principal Rabbi for the Australian Defence Force. He’s also the author of Living in an Upside-Down World, an anthology of over 20 years of writing examining the many crises and challenges of our times. He is appearing on several panels at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival, including Laughter and Grief.More infoSydney Jewish Writers Festival runs 23 to 27 August 2023.Read more about Shoshana Gottlieb on ABC Everyday.Hear Tami Sussman on God Forbid.

Religion isn’t always serious business. While the sacred is sometimes considered off-limits for comedy, religious people actually do use humour to bond with each other and teach the tenets of their faith. And in the wake of tragedy, laughter is a defence as well as a comfort. Tami Sussman is an author with a background in theatre, comedy, spoken word poetry and copywriting. Her latest book is So That Happened...But Maybe You Already Knew That. She’s running a writing workshop for tweens at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival. Shoshana Gottlieb is a writer and Jewish educator based in Sydney. She also runs JewishMemesOnly, a popular Instagram meme account. She is appearing on the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival panel, the Tragedy of Jewish Comedy. Rabbi Ralph Genende is one of Australia’s most senior Jewish community leaders. His many roles and responsibilities include Senior Rabbi and Manager at Jewish Care Victoria, and Principal Rabbi for the Australian Defence Force. He’s also the author of Living in an Upside-Down World, an anthology of over 20 years of writing examining the many crises and challenges of our times. He is appearing on several panels at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival, including Laughter and Grief. More info Sydney Jewish Writers Festival runs 23 to 27 August 2023. Read more about Shoshana Gottlieb on ABC Everyday. Hear Tami Sussman on God Forbid.

Does your religion make you laugh?

On SBS’s hit show Alone Australia, contestants had to spend weeks in the wilderness without any human contact. Isolation can be hard — many people fear it — but some embrace solitude as an opportunity to learn what makes us human.Dr Kate Grarock was a contestant on the reality TV show Alone Australia. She’s also an ecologist, hiker and YouTube creator.Hon Dr Joseph Randolph Bowers is a psychotherapist, spiritual director and lifelong meditation practitioner based in Armidale, NSW. He is the author of Solitude Awakens: The Heart Forest Mountain Way as well as various books exploring Mi’kmaw First Nations culture and spirituality.

On SBS’s hit show Alone Australia, contestants had to spend weeks in the wilderness without any human contact. Isolation can be hard — many people fear it — but some embrace solitude as an opportunity to learn what makes us human. Dr Kate Grarock was a contestant on the reality TV show Alone Australia. She’s also an ecologist, hiker and YouTube creator. Hon Dr Joseph Randolph Bowers is a psychotherapist, spiritual director and lifelong meditation practitioner based in Armidale, NSW. He is the author of Solitude Awakens: The Heart Forest Mountain Way as well as various books exploring Mi’kmaw First Nations culture and spirituality.

Solitude and the ache for humans

Everyone dies, but in the last 200 years or so, our beliefs about death have changed dramatically. From pandemic meditations on mortality to the history of euthanasia, attitudes about death are part of life.Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian American poet, essayist and aphorist. His most recent book is Quarantine notes: aphorisms on morality and mortalityDr Caitlin Mahar researches cultural and medical histories of dying in Britain and Australia and the history of euthanasia activism. She is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, and the author of The Good Death Through Time.

Everyone dies, but in the last 200 years or so, our beliefs about death have changed dramatically. From pandemic meditations on mortality to the history of euthanasia, attitudes about death are part of life. Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian American poet, essayist and aphorist. His most recent book is Quarantine notes: aphorisms on morality and mortality Dr Caitlin Mahar researches cultural and medical histories of dying in Britain and Australia and the history of euthanasia activism. She is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, and the author of The Good Death Through Time.

Making peace with mortality

The 14th Dalai Lama is arguably the most prominent Buddhist in the world. He has influenced the West considerably, including religious traditions other than his own. How did this come to be, and who will succeed him as the 15th spiritual leader of Tibet?Professor Mario Aguilar is Professor of Religion and Politics in the School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, Scotland. His many books include The Way of the Hermit: Interfaith encounters in silence and prayer.Dr John Powers is a Lecturer in Buddhism Studies at the University of Melbourne. Read his article on the politics of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation on The Conversation.

The 14th Dalai Lama is arguably the most prominent Buddhist in the world. He has influenced the West considerably, including religious traditions other than his own. How did this come to be, and who will succeed him as the 15th spiritual leader of Tibet? Professor Mario Aguilar is Professor of Religion and Politics in the School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, Scotland. His many books include The Way of the Hermit: Interfaith encounters in silence and prayer. Dr John Powers is a Lecturer in Buddhism Studies at the University of Melbourne. Read his article on the politics of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation on The Conversation.

The Dalai Lama and the Scottish hermit

Is it possible to really, actually, know yourself? Descartes said the self was the only thing we can know — I think therefore I am — but other philosophical traditions say the self doesn’t even exist.Indian religion and philosophy has explored these questions from all angles for thousands of years, and new ideas continue to develop even today. From the ancient teachings of Vasubandhu, to the relatively modern tradition of the Brahma Kumaris: What, if anything, is the soul?Sister Jayanti is Director of the Brahma Kumaris in Europe and the Middle East, and since 1982, the Brahma Kumaris’ main representative to the UN.Associate Professor Monima Chadha is Associate Professor of Philosophy, and a member of the Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Her latest book is Selfless Minds: A Contemporary Perspective on Vasubandhu's Metaphysics (Oxford University Press, 2023)For more on the soul, body and the self, explore Flesh Week by ABC Religion and Ethics.

Is it possible to really, actually, know yourself? Descartes said the self was the only thing we can know — I think therefore I am — but other philosophical traditions say the self doesn’t even exist. Indian religion and philosophy has explored these questions from all angles for thousands of years, and new ideas continue to develop even today. From the ancient teachings of Vasubandhu, to the relatively modern tradition of the Brahma Kumaris: What, if anything, is the soul? Sister Jayanti is Director of the Brahma Kumaris in Europe and the Middle East, and since 1982, the Brahma Kumaris’ main representative to the UN. Associate Professor Monima Chadha is Associate Professor of Philosophy, and a member of the Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Her latest book is Selfless Minds: A Contemporary Perspective on Vasubandhu's Metaphysics (Oxford University Press, 2023) For more on the soul, body and the self, explore Flesh Week by ABC Religion and Ethics.

The soul and the self

Birth: we all go through it — according to some religions, at least twice! For Flesh Week, Soul Search looks at ideas and experiences of birth, including the Christian story of Mary as the mother of God, and being a Muslim 'milk mother'.Guests:Raidah Shah Idil is a multi-genre writer based in Malaysia who has studied Islamic Sciences with scholars in Jordan. She is milk mother to her nephew.Jodie McIver is a registered midwife, a theology graduate and a mother of three. Her first book is Bringing Forth Life: God’s purposes in pregnancy and birth.

Birth: we all go through it — according to some religions, at least twice! For Flesh Week, Soul Search looks at ideas and experiences of birth, including the Christian story of Mary as the mother of God, and being a Muslim 'milk mother'. Guests: Raidah Shah Idil is a multi-genre writer based in Malaysia who has studied Islamic Sciences with scholars in Jordan. She is milk mother to her nephew. Jodie McIver is a registered midwife, a theology graduate and a mother of three. Her first book is Bringing Forth Life: God’s purposes in pregnancy and birth.

Skin-on-skin — birth, spirituality and parenthood

Under one of the last remaining scarred trees in Sydney, Pastor Ray Minniecon is imagining a reconciled community.

Reckoning and reconciliation at Glebe’s scarred tree

Julian of Norwich

In a plague-riven Medieval Europe, a woman wrote a book in English that has inspired 650 years of devoted readers.

The great Medieval mystic and writer — Julian of Norwich

The search for a language that can hold rage and heal pain.

Pádraig Ó Tuama on poetry, rage, and remaking religion 

The river is sacred to many cultures, including the Barkindji community of NSW. For them, the beloved Barka, also known as the Darling River, is a life source and Ancestor.

The sacred river

Soul Search explores contemporary religion and spirituality from the inside out — what we believe, how we express it, and the difference it makes in our lives

The Indigenous people of Papua have a philosophy of nature that’s helping them resist deforestation. And, we explore shinrin-yoku – the Japanese art of forest bathing.

Forest bathing and the 'more than human world' 

Around 84% of the world’s population affiliates with a religion, so how might that matter in the Anthropocene, for the ways our species interacts with the rest of environment? And can religious beliefs and practices add something to the pursuit of climate justice?Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker is the co-founder and director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and a member of the global steering committee of the Interfaith Rainforest Alliance. Professor Guillermo Kerber is an expert on ecological thinking in Latin American theology, and former director of the World Council of Churches' program on care for creation and climate justice.Laudato si', Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter on care of our common home.

Around 84% of the world’s population affiliates with a religion, so how might that matter in the Anthropocene, for the ways our species interacts with the rest of environment? And can religious beliefs and practices add something to the pursuit of climate justice? Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker is the co-founder and director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and a member of the global steering committee of the Interfaith Rainforest Alliance.  Professor Guillermo Kerber is an expert on ecological thinking in Latin American theology, and former director of the World Council of Churches' program on care for creation and climate justice. Laudato si', Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter on care of our common home.

Religion and ecology in a warming world

Tim Winton

Tim Winton is one of Australia’s most awarded and prolific authors. Ningaloo Reef has inspired him for decades, both in his written work and environmental activism.

Tim Winton on Ningaloo and the holiness of all that lives

The varieties of atheism in different times and cultures are the subject of a new book that aims to reveal just how diverse non-religious experience is.

The varieties of Atheism – from Dostoevsky’s Russia to now

There’s already been a lot in the media about the upcoming referendum for a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Similar Indigenous bodies have existed in Australian churches for some time, such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council. Rev Canon Glenn Loughrey is an elected member of this council.Rev Canon Glenn Loughrey is a Wiradjuri man, a member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council and artist in residence at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne. This year, he is the Diocese of Melbourne’s designated advocate for the recognition of First Nations people in the constitution, and an enshrined Voice to Parliament. His memoir is titled, On Being Blackfella’s Young Fella.Glenn Loughrey blogs at RedShoesWalkingABC News: A 'permanent acknowledgement of country' installed at Melbourne's St Paul's Cathedral

There’s already been a lot in the media about the upcoming referendum for a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Similar Indigenous bodies have existed in Australian churches for some time, such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council. Rev Canon Glenn Loughrey is an elected member of this council. Rev Canon Glenn Loughrey is a Wiradjuri man, a member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council and artist in residence at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne. This year, he is the Diocese of Melbourne’s designated advocate for the recognition of First Nations people in the constitution, and an enshrined Voice to Parliament. His memoir is titled, On Being Blackfella’s Young Fella. Glenn Loughrey blogs at RedShoesWalking ABC News: A 'permanent acknowledgement of country' installed at Melbourne's St Paul's Cathedral

A Voice to Parliament, a voice to the church

Shehan Karunatilaka

Everyone loves a ghost story. It’s a genre that exists across history and in nearly every society. In certain forms of Buddhism, accruing bad karma puts you at risk of coming back as a horrifying and pitiable hungry ghost — figures quite different to the spectres found in Western folklore.Shehan Karunatilaka is the author of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize. He is appearing at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 5 May, the Brisbane Writers Festival on 10 and 11 May, and Sydney Writers Festival on 24, 25 and 26 May.Andy Rotman is Professor of Religion, Buddhist Studies, and South Asian Studies at Smith College, Massachusetts, and the author of Hungry Ghosts.

Everyone loves a ghost story. It’s a genre that exists across history and in nearly every society. In certain forms of Buddhism, accruing bad karma puts you at risk of coming back as a horrifying and pitiable hungry ghost — figures quite different to the spectres found in Western folklore. Shehan Karunatilaka is the author of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize. He is appearing at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 5 May, the Brisbane Writers Festival on 10 and 11 May, and Sydney Writers Festival on 24, 25 and 26 May. Andy Rotman is Professor of Religion, Buddhist Studies, and South Asian Studies at Smith College, Massachusetts, and the author of Hungry Ghosts.

‘Every culture has its ghosts’ — Booker winner Shehan Karunatilaka

Death is a core feature of most video games — for the player’s avatar at least. In fact, games might be one of the last, mainstream cultural spaces that regularly grapple with questions of mortality and the afterlife.What questions and longings as human beings are explored in this burgeoning industry?Dr Frank Bosman is a researcher in the School of Catholic Theology, Religion and Practice at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands. He is the author of Gaming and the Divine: a new systematic theology of video games.Dr Heidi Campbell is Professor of Communication at Texas A&amp;M University, and director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. Heidi’s many books include an edited collection on Playing with Religion in Digital Games.More on digital religion on Soul Search:Islam and the internetDigital religion — an overview

Death is a core feature of most video games — for the player’s avatar at least. In fact, games might be one of the last, mainstream cultural spaces that regularly grapple with questions of mortality and the afterlife. What questions and longings as human beings are explored in this burgeoning industry? Dr Frank Bosman is a researcher in the School of Catholic Theology, Religion and Practice at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands. He is the author of Gaming and the Divine: a new systematic theology of video games. Dr Heidi Campbell is Professor of Communication at Texas A&amp;M University, and director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. Heidi’s many books include an edited collection on Playing with Religion in Digital Games. More on digital religion on Soul Search: Islam and the internet Digital religion — an overview

Game over — death and religion in video games

It's been 100 years since Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun's burial chamber, focusing the world's attention on ancient Egypt and its preoccupation with what happens after death. But can we excavate the afterlife, or at least how past societies thought about it?Dr Stan Florek is a Collection Officer at the Australian Museum in Sydney and the author of several articles about the museum's collection from ancient Egypt.Dr Sven Ouzman is an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia.

It's been 100 years since Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun's burial chamber, focusing the world's attention on ancient Egypt and its preoccupation with what happens after death. But can we excavate the afterlife, or at least how past societies thought about it? Dr Stan Florek is a Collection Officer at the Australian Museum in Sydney and the author of several articles about the museum's collection from ancient Egypt. Dr Sven Ouzman is an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia.

Excavating the afterlife – Ancient Egypt and beyond

Disability theologians are asking, what does resurrection and renewal mean if Jesus’ wounds remained after he rose from the dead? It’s a question that challenges our received notions about disability and identity – not just for Christians, but potentially for anyone affected by disability. That’s one in six people in Australia and, in the end, almost all of us at some point in our lives.The Rev Professor John Swinton is founder of Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability, and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His many books include Dementia: Living in the Memories of God.Dr Louise Gosbell is a ministry leader with Our Place Christian Communities, and the author of The Poor, the Crippled, the Blind and the Lame.More from Soul Search on Disability: The world’s largest minority.

Disability theologians are asking, what does resurrection and renewal mean if Jesus’ wounds remained after he rose from the dead?  It’s a question that challenges our received notions about disability and identity – not just for Christians, but potentially for anyone affected by disability. That’s one in six people in Australia and, in the end, almost all of us at some point in our lives. The Rev Professor John Swinton is founder of Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability, and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His many books include Dementia: Living in the Memories of God. Dr Louise Gosbell is a ministry leader with Our Place Christian Communities, and the author of The Poor, the Crippled, the Blind and the Lame. More from Soul Search on Disability: The world’s largest minority.

Disability and the shape of hope

Samson: a problematic hero from the Book of Judges, whose superhuman strength does nothing to protect him from his own flaws.It’s a fraught story of liberation and redemption – in a manner of speaking – which are prominent themes during Passover and Easter. Samson isn’t usually associated with either festival, but Handel’s oratorio of the story will be performed on Holy Saturday at the Sydney Opera House by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.Rabbinat Ellyse Borghi is a Jewish Orthodox rabbi living in Melbourne.Brett Weymark OAM is Music Director of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Samson: a problematic hero from the Book of Judges, whose superhuman strength does nothing to protect him from his own flaws. It’s a fraught story of liberation and redemption – in a manner of speaking – which are prominent themes during Passover and Easter. Samson isn’t usually associated with either festival, but Handel’s oratorio of the story will be performed on Holy Saturday at the Sydney Opera House by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Rabbinat Ellyse Borghi is a Jewish Orthodox rabbi living in Melbourne. Brett Weymark OAM is Music Director of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Samson and the complications of liberation

I was hoping to learn more about religion and spirituality by listening to this podcast, but it appears to be a re-titled show originally called the Spirit of Things, which seems to have a rather uncritical take on spirituality.  I personally have a harder time learning about something when it isn&#39;t at least somewhat self critical.

Religiously focussed with a generally positive view

The Spirit of Things is absolutely wonderful.  Based in Austrialia, the show is universal.  I listen to it every Sunday.  If you&#39;re in touch with the Spirit or searching within the Spirit, then the Spirit of Things is definately for you.

In Touch . . . In the Spirit

Soul Search

What happens when stories of your homeland are shrouded in secrecy and pain? Author Aatish Taseer is the son of an Indian Sikh and a Pakistani Muslim, whose search for his roots led him to Varanasi, the ‘spiritual capital of India’. And the mother and son duo behind Counting and Cracking reveal how the play helped them understand Sri Lanka's past.

Self discovery — with a Hindu twist

Rumi's poetry is beloved around the world, but has his specifically Sufi Muslim insights been translated away? And we'll also head to the NSW mining town of Broken Hill, where historian Samia Khatun found a mysterious 150-year-old book of Bengali Sufi poetry at the old mosque. So how did it get there, and how did reading it change her?

Rumi, Hafez and Sufi poetry in surprising places

How does faith work as a solvent to despondency and fear? This week, Tim Costello and Evert-Jan Ouweneel from World Vision on the power of hope 'in a broken world'. And musician William Crighton on why he's no longer religious, but finds meaning and happiness in the earth around him.

Faith vs Fear

Richard Rohr

Jean Vanier

Franciscan priest Fr. Richard Rohr reflects upon his spiritual life and new book 'The Universal Christ,' and we remember Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche communities for people with intellectual disabilities.

Richard Rohr's contemplation and Jean Vanier's action

The best podcasts about ourselves as well as the world through the lense of Science. Specific topics include things about our brain, emotions to biology, physics and more!

Best Episodes on Science, Humans & The World

The best self improvement podcast episodes. From improving productivity, to finding purpose in your life to what constitutes freedom, this topic is on anything and everything that can help people to improve their lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!