Life Matters - Full program podcast

Running rarely feels easy, even for people who love it. Your legs ache, lungs burn, and then there's the nagging voice in your head telling you to walk the rest of the way. And yet, despite that discomfort, run clubs are booming and marathons are selling out. Author Konrad Marshall and Parkrun Australia founder Tim Oberg discuss our love-hate relationship with running and why we keep coming back to it. 
Tiny homes are booming, and some in the sector argue they could be part of the solution to our housing shortfalls. Travel writer and tiny house advocate Louise Southerden explains what it's like to live in a tiny home for the long haul, while Paul Burton, an emeritus professor of planning, explores whether they could really help to address Australia's housing crisis. 
Scientists are turning to optical atomic clocks to measure time with unprecedented precision. Though, that still won’t explain what “be there in a sec” really means. Hinze Hogendoorn, a professor of visual time perception, unpacks how our sense of time is deeply personal, why it shifts as we age and whether there’s any way to slow it down.

From its beginnings as a protest march in Sydney's inner city, Mardi Gras has become an internationally renowned celebration of LGBTQIA+ life. But this year festival organisers  have announced the huge post-parade party has been cancelled. Historian Scott McKinnon and queer club owner Tim Brown ponder the question: how important is the party?
Family businesses are often treated like heirlooms — they carry a legacy and an expectation that they'll be passed down through generations. But when it's time for the founders to step back, things get complicated. Ombudsman Bruce Billson and Gina Dang, who runs a strawberry empire alongside her six siblings, chat through all the challenges that come with succession planning.
Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones explains how to say now without hurting people's feelings or damaging relationships, and what we can learn from letting someone down gently.

As the national skills shortage bites, the trades are attracting more people looking for a new career. Australia's jobs and skills commissioner Barney Glover AO and Melbourne carpenter Tristan Santoro discuss what it takes to make a long-term career in the trades. 
Whether it's lofi beats, hard rock or classical, research suggests that listening to music while we work can improve productivity. Professor of music Emery Schubert and AFLW footballer Darcy Vescio chat through their optimal performance-enhancing playlists.
More and more Australians are choosing cycling for their daily commute, skipping the traffic congestion and squeezing in some exercise. But the way our cities are designed shapes how we get around, and research shows there's a gender imbalance when it comes to cycling accessibility.

When you think of your home, what springs to mind? For some, home is their happy place, a sanctuary of comfort and calm. But for others, it's complicated. Psychologist Chris Cheers discusses what it means to feel at home in our space, mind and body. 
And Ask Aunty delves into pet politics — Denise Eriksen and James Colley discuss how to deal with a mate's four-legged friend if you're not that enamoured by a slobbery extra guest under the dinner table.

School is back and across the ditch there's a new subject in the New Zealand curriculum: financial education will be taught in classrooms from year 1 to 10. The Barefoot Investor author Scott Pape discusses how Australia could incorporate financial lessons into our own curriculum.
There's a turf war in Melbourne right now over who's responsible for maintaining the nature strip on either side of the road. But could there be a better way to make use of these public pockets of land?
Giving your child a name that suits them can feel like an impossible task, and we turn to our own cultural touchpoints for inspiration. So what does it say about our cultural references when Charlotte, Oliver, Amelia and Noah top the charts every year?