Soul Search
Rásarupplýsingar
Soul Search
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
Nýlegir þættir
254 þættir
Big Questions in Books – Negotiating the sacred in Australian literature
The novelist Patrick White once said yes, religion was behind all his books – but his religious and spiritual identity was far from straightforward. I...
Remembering ethologist Jane Goodall, champion of hope
The acclaimed scientist Jane Goodall has died on October 1st, at the age of 91. But Dr Goodall's legacy, along with her study of chimps, is arguably a...
Remembering ethnologist Jane Goodall, champion of hope
The acclaimed scientist Jane Goodall has died on October 1st, at the age of 91. But Dr Goodall's legacy, along with her study of chimps, is arguably a...
Art, music and the ecologies that make and exceed us
Making art and music has been an endeavour for at least as long as humans have existed, and it has the power to connect us in all kinds of ways. From...
The ancients on life, death and the cosmos, with John Behr
What does it mean to live a good life? According to some of the earliest Christians, the answer has a lot to do with... death! Orthodox scholar John B...
Peacebuilding in Jerusalem
Jerusalem is one of the most fraught cities on earth. It's a city that has broken the hearts, yet also inspired the hopes, of millions around the worl...
Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint
The world is due to have its very first millennial saint — Carlo Acutis, the 'saint in sneakers' who died at the age of 15 in 2006. He's usually depic...
Big Questions in Books – The Mahabharata and its epic afterlives
In this fast-paced world where so much of our attention is focused on the now, why do complex ancient texts still speak to us? Soul Search explores th...
The surprising role of grass in shaping who we are
It’s a big thought — that our story as a species is partly to do with grass. But it turns out that grasses and grasslands can play a surprising role i...
A Palestinian doctor in Israel, on treating the human being
What does it take to be a good doctor in an us-and-them struggle? Dr Lina Qasem Hassan is a Palestinian doctor in Israel and head of the Israeli NGO,...
The science and spirituality of soil
The Biblical phrase “from dust to dust” tells us humans were made from soil and shall return to it. And care of soil is a shared teaching among the ma...
Death, ritual and what to expect when it’s your turn
Ancient societies had some very elaborate ideas about death – from how to treat the body, to what kind of afterlife to expect.
How much do th...
Seeking the wild: Alone Australia and connection to nature
Corinne Ooms was, a contestant in the most recent series of the reality show Alone Australia. She spent 70 days, by herself, in the remote west coast...
Astrology and tarot — telling the future, or connecting with the present?
Younger Australians are less religious than ever before, but that doesn't mean they don't engage with spiritual practices. Astrology and tarot card re...
Big questions in books — H.P. Lovecraft, cosmic horror and the ineffable
Cosmic horror is a genre that asks, what lurks in the in-between places? Who are we in the face of a vast and uncaring cosmos? H.P. Lovecraft's (rathe...
NAIDOC 2025 – Strength, vision and legacy through prayer and art
This NAIDOC week, guest presenter Brooke Prentis has a yarn with two remarkable Aboriginal leaders to find out how they carry strength, vision and leg...
The Dalai Lama's legacy for Tibetans in exile
The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most recognisable people and on July 6, he's turning 90 years old. Tibetans around the world are getting ready to...
Finding connection and community — reflections from listeners
What does community look like for you, and how does it shape your spiritual practice? As we reach the mid-year mark, Soul Search listeners and returni...
How museums hold — and provoke — questions of meaning
When you go to a museum, have you ever wondered who picked out the things you see, and why? Museums are places where we make and find meaning, and the...
Big questions in books — Jane Austen and the complications of friendship
Have you ever read a book and wanted to be friends with the characters? For over 200 years, Jane Austen's fictional figures have been companions and i...
Peacemaking, counterpower and justice — Quaker Tim Gee
How might religious traditions animate the world's modern peace movements? What tools do they provide people working towards a more just and peaceful...
Pádraig Ó Tuama — Kitchen Hymns
Do you believe in God? It's not a question we ask often, and answering it stretches language — and belief itself — to its limit. Perhaps poetry is the...
Spirituality at the edge — Sacrededge 2025
What does it look like to explore the sacred on the edges of traditional religion? Meredith Lake and Rohan Salmond visit the Sacrededge festival in Qu...
What does it mean to be liberated? Holocaust survivor Joe Szwarcberg
Eighty years ago on 11 April 1945, American soldiers marched into Buchenwald concentration camp and liberated the people they found there, including 1...
Big questions in books — Sacredness, enchantment and the apocalypse, from Narnia to Harry Potter
It's been 75 years since the publication of CS Lewis' novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. What's so enchanting about the worlds created in chi...
The 'green' Pope Francis and his climate legacy in the Pacific
In the wake of Pope Francis' death, Australian and Pacific theologians reflect on defining elements of his legacy. Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato Si...
Nicaea — The conference that changed the world
At the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago bishops from across the Christian world gathered to settle a theological showdown that rocked the fledgling re...
The Sufi soundtrack to outback Australia
Sufism, also known as Islamic mysticism, can be found in all kinds of unexpected places — like Broken Hill, a rural town in far west New South Wales....
Growing spiritually strong in Central Australia — Week with Students
Culture, history and faith collide in the remote Aboriginal community of Ltyentye Apurte. A former mission town 80kms east of Alice Springs, it remain...
Big questions in books — Ancient Chinese poetry and the nature of existence
What can ancient Chinese poetry teach us about the nature of reality? Li Bai and Du Fu are considered two of China's greatest poets. They lived 1,300...
Exploring mercy and forgiveness in Ramadan
How much mercy do you see expressed in the world around you right now? Millions of Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan — known as the month...
Deep ecology and reconnecting with the natural world
How can we navigate the ecological crisis of our time? And why does it require a shift in how we think about ourselves?
John Seed has been a ra...
Being the first female rabbi of Australia’s largest Jewish congregation
When Jacki Ninio first graduated rabbinical school she didn't want to be known as the "lady rabbi". But after nearly 26 years at Emanuel Synagogue, sh...
Pope Francis and the transformation of suffering
There's a lot of suffering in the world. From economic hardships to deep anxieties about politics, and the anxieties in our own lives. Much of Pope Fr...
Big questions in books — Dostoyevsky and the love that we owe
Our favourite, most enduring novels are full of things we ask ourselves about life and meaning. This week, we turn to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and how the...
Seeking spirituality outside of religion
"Spirituality" is a loosely defined word, but Australians are increasingly identifying that way, especially among Gen Z. So, what does living a spirit...
Is rest the lost secret to a good life?
We all know that we need good rest. And before we knew about the science of sleep, sacred traditions encouraged rest as a priority. But the frenetic p...
John Butler on spirituality, creativity and meditation
John Butler is one of Australia's most beloved musicians, known for his infectious energy. But after a period of turbulence he turned to composing med...
How faith communities are navigating history, treaty and truth-telling
Indigenous people and faith communities aren't waiting for government to do truth-telling and treaty. Although the Voice referendum did not pass, some...
Forgiveness after apartheid and the limits of remorse
In post-apartheid South Africa, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is asking, when is forgiveness possible, and where does that leave the search for justice?