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.
Episodes
The neuroscience of spirituality with Iain McGilchrist
How are our internal, spiritual lives shaped by the physical structure of our brains? Dr Iain McGilchrist is the author of two big books that have thrown into question our assumptions about knowledge and meaning and even our capacity to perceive the sacred.
‘Dunk ‘em in the ocean’ — The Aboriginal Catholic sharing whale stories with Rome (NAIDOC special)
‘The humpback whale is Theresa Ardler’s totem, and she went all the way to Rome to share Indigenous knowledge of the ocean with the Pope.
Visualising the Hindu gods and goddesses
The word 'god' can bring many images to mind — perhaps a man with blue complexion and four arms, an old bearded man in the sky, or a woman seated on a lotus throne. Gods and goddesses have been visualised in all kinds of ways, through different times and societies. And when it comes to Hinduism, the deities can take on countless forms.
Can ritual help restore broken politics and bruised spirits?
Rituals mark moments throughout our lives, big and small. They are also used to draw attention to political injustice and social inequality, to express lament and to reorient the participants in the ritual toward wholeness. What role might rituals play in our lives, and how can rituals be part of the reparative work in our society and politics?
The joy and anguish of the Psalms
How do you express your deepest emotions? Over the centuries many have turned to poetry, including the Book of Psalms from the Hebrew Bible. From anguish to ecstasy and anger to joy, how can one collection of poetry cover such a range of emotions and experiences?
Being human in the age of AI
Pope Leo XIV has just published his first encyclical, and it's on artificial intelligence. But for 75 years, people from diverse religious traditions have been thinking about AI and the ethics of AI, including from Buddhist and Protestant perspectives.
Who was Vivekananda, the young revolutionary swami?
Swami Vivekananda made giant contributions to interfaith dialogue and interpreting Hinduism to the west. So who was Vivekananda, the young swami who impressed America at the end of the 19th century? And why does his legacy matter to young Hindus today?
War and peace — St Augustine and the Pope he inspired
Pope Leo is the first Augustinian pontiff and has quickly made headlines speaking out about war an peace — which makes sense, because St Augustine was a major influence on Western understandings of war and when it is morally justified.
"We will always choose Earth" — Spiritual ecology in an age of crisis
NASA's Earthrise photo sparked an environmental movement, but decades later the environmental crisis has gotten worse, not better. What's missing from how we relate to our common home?
What does pilgrimage look like today?
What's the difference between a pilgrimage and a holiday? Going for Hajj in Mecca is an obvious pilgrimage, but something like going to Graceland for Elvis Week gets a bit tricky. So what does pilgrimage look like today?
Vatican reporter Colleen Dulle on Pope Leo, moral leadership and the healing power of truth
Reporting on what happens at the Vatican means being exposed to the best and worst of the church — and humanity. Colleen Dulle has had a front row seat to the biggest stories in the Catholic world. It's profoundly shaped her Catholic faith and her belief that telling the truth opens a path to healing.
Why did an atheist spend a year as a secular priest?
Does a society lose anything if we lose religion? Niki Harré is a lifelong atheist who wanted to test this. She took a year off from her job as an academic, to the point of setting herself up as a 'secular priest!' What did she uncover?
Active body, active soul — encountering the spiritual side of sports
Australia's devotion to sports takes on many religious qualities. And in many religious traditions, the physical discipline of the body is one way of working on the soul. So, how do shared activities, like running groups or football clubs, keep us healthy physically, mentally — and spiritually?
What’s new about death in the 21st century?
We tend to think of death as constant — unchanging — but when and how we die looks very different today than it did even 100 years ago. So what does it mean to think about your own mortality in the 21st century?
The power of pure attention with Laurence Freeman
How might silence and stillness help us meet the challenges of our time? Fr Laurence Freeman is an English Benedictine monk, and one of the most well-known meditation teachers in the world.
No really, who is my neighbour?
If a neighbour turned up on your doorstep, would you know them by name? In some ways we are more connected than ever before, but knowing and loving your neighbour has become thin in our increasingly individualised society. So how can we build flourishing communities with our neighbours?
The possibilities of the gift economy
Imagine living life without money — cutting up your credit card, closing up your bank account, and finding new ways to feed and clothe yourself. On Soul Search, we examine what it might look like to step away from the cycle of getting and spending, and towards a gift economy.
Quitting stuff for a richer life
Currently around the world, billions of people are fasting for Ramadan and Lent. What are the spiritual motivations for fasting? And what happens when we press pause on food, water, and acquiring things?
Violence against women in the church
In Australia, one-in-four women will experience violence by an intimate partner. There's been little research into rates of violence against women in Christian churches, but from what we do know, the rates of violence are the same — if not higher.
Gender expansive Christianity
There's a paradox to Sydney. It's long been an oasis for LGBT people in Australia, but it's also globally known as the home of particularly traditional — some would say conservative — kind of Christianity. There's a tension in this dual identity, but these two communities do sometimes overlap. When LGBT people grow up in these churches, they need to decide.
Why are we fascinated with monsters and evil creatures?
What's your favourite monster story? Descriptions of monsters and evil creatures are more than just a cheap thrill — they can reveal a lot about our moral systems, and our beliefs about how the universe works.
The Philokalia — the book at the heart of the Orthodox world
As the Russia-Ukraine rages, there's a book cherished by both sides — the Philokalia holds what many consider the true spiritual essence of Orthodoxy: Stillness and ceaseless prayer.
How live performance connects us, body and soul
When was the last time you saw a live performance that took your breath away? In a digital age, there's something spellbinding about the physicality of live music and theatre that connects us to each other, our bodies, and perhaps the divine.
The discipline of inner peace
When you think of inner peace, you might be thinking of a feeling, and many of us are searching all over for it! But what if it's more like... exercise?
Can video games be part of the “good life?”
Are video games a waste of time? Aristotle said a good life is one of flourishing and realising your potential. So, can games enrich our lives, or are they a kind of "false pleasure?"
Being Aboriginal and Catholic in remote Australia
Culture, history and faith collide in the remote Aboriginal community of Ltyentye Apurte. A former mission town 80kms east of Alice Springs, it remains one of the most Catholic communities in the country.
Cyprian Consiglio on music and modern monasticism
Is there a mantra that helps you meditate, or perhaps some music that helps you connect with your sense of the sacred? Music has a long and intimate relationship with spirituality, and has helped people throughout the ages and across faith traditions to access something of the divine.
Dostoyevsky, love and the Russian novel
Have you made any resolutions to read more books this year? Many of us turn to fiction to ask and explore big questions. This week we look at Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and how the Russian literary tradition can help clarify our questions about truth, love for one another, and ethics.
The Dalai Lama in music and memory
The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most recognisable people and he turned 90 in July, 2025. Tributes flowed from Tibetans around the world, including from Grammy-nominated musician Tenzin Choegyal.
Holocaust survivor Joe Szwarcberg on liberation and telling the truth
Eighty years ago on 11 April 1945, American soldiers marched into Buchenwald concentration camp and liberated the people they found there, including 14-year-old Joe Szwarcberg.
How food reveals what we believe
Food is a basic need, but also more than just a way of nourishing the body. The food on our plates and the drinks in our cups tell us all kinds of things about who we are and what we believe.
Finding belonging through travel and art
Where do you feel like you belong? A sense of belonging can change or be refined throughout our lives, and through experiences like travel or creating art. On Soul Search, we examine the complexities of belonging, and what it is that makes us feel at home — or far from it.
Disability and incarnation with Lorna Hallahan
Disability is an all-of-us thing. Almost everyone will experience disability — in our communities, and, with time, directly in our own bodies.
Seeking silence in a noisy world
Today, we're taking a break from all the noise and distraction – to pay attention to the quality of silence. Why is it so precious in many of the world's spiritual traditions? And how do we find it?An artist shares her encounter with a transforming silence in Antarctica, and a Quaker shares her habits around seeking silence.
Poetry and the complications of home with Miriam Wei Wei Lo
When was the last time you felt at home? Was it something about the place, how people treated you, or perhaps something more internal? Award-winning poet Miriam Wei Wei Lo explores a longing for home through her poetry, and why homes can be complicated.
Steve Biddulph on fear, faith and masculinity today
Anyone who has raised kids knows it's hard work. We do our best, but it can confront us with how we were raised ourselves. Steve Biddulph is one of the world's best known parenting educators, and now in retirement, Steve has been reflecting on anxiety, the value of spirituality, and the challenges of masculinity today.
Medieval mystics and the climate crisis — St Francis, forest bathing and Ibn Arabi
What do the mystics have to teach us about healing our external — and internal — landscapes?
Imagining the future — sci-fi, doomsday preppers and hope punks
The way we imagine the future matters. Not only does it change how we feel, those feelings change how we live today — and that might just change how things actually turn out!
Life without money and the possibilities of the gift economy
Imagine living life without money — cutting up your credit card, closing up your bank account, and finding new ways to feed and clothe yourself. On Soul Search, we examine what it might look like to step away from the cycle of getting and spending, and towards a gift economy.
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. In the final instalment of the Big Questions in Books series we explore the (sometimes ambivalent!) Australian expressions of the sacred in literature, from Helen Garner to Tim Winton.
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 as much to do with hope – and the spiritual curiosity that underpinned her quest for hope in difficult times.
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 mountains of the southern Philippines to urban Melbourne, people are creating things that connect us to each other — and the transcendent.
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 Behr tells the stories of some of these saints and martyrs, and unpacks what they are telling us today.
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 world. In the midst of conflict in and around a city that means so much to so many, how does one work for peace?
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 depicted holding a phone or laptop, and his cause for sainthood blends the medieval and mystical with the hyper modern.
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 the multigenerational epic, the Mahabharata.
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 in moulding who we are. How do we restore our relationship with native grasses, and what are some of the threats from introduced grasses like buffel?
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, Physicians for Human Rights. What’s it like to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel, and what do health services even look like in Gaza right now?
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 major religions. Science too, tells us we’re connected. Yet it’s being degraded across the world, and there are warnings that 90 per cent of the planet's soil could be seriously damaged by 2050. Can we save it, and where does spiritua
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 those ideas influence how we think about death and the afterlife? And what are some of the ways in which our attitudes are transforming in Australia today?
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 ranges of Lutruwita, Tasmania. And there, she had to navigate the psychological challenges of solitude and the physical challenges of survival in the wild. She experienced a profound change in how she experiences the world and her
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 reading are especially on trend, but rather than telling the future, many practitioners say it connects them with the present.
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 (rather mixed!) legacy is everywhere if you know where to look, but trying to put the ineffable into words has been a human obsession for thousands of years. What do we hope to find by courting the strange and unexplainable?
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 legacy through their ministry and art.
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 celebrate, including Grammy-nominated musician Tenzin Choegyal.
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 returning guests share their reflections on finding community in a busy — and sometimes isolating — world.
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 they're sites where intangible — often political — questions about history and national identity are documented with and without physical objects.
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 inspirations for many readers of her novels.
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 society?
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 best response! Meredith Lake speaks with Pádraig Ó Tuama at Sacrededge festival about his most recent book of poetry, Kitchen Hymns, which explores this question and more.
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 Queenscliff, Victoria, an arts and spirituality festival that this year explores "Stories of the Edge: Listening to Story — Discovering our Own".
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 14-year-old Joe Szwarcberg.
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 children's fiction — in Narnia, Middle Earth, or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?
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 was the first in papal history to focus on the environment. How might Francis' teaching about the cry of the earth, and the cry of the poor matter in our region?
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 religion: Who was Jesus — a perfect human? Or God himself? Or something else? What they decided would become the very foundation of the Christian faith itself, and would shape art, religion and culture even today.
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. Sufi music has a special place in the history of Central Australia, and is still played in the desert region, attracting attention and acclaim from Sufis throughout the world.
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 remains one of the most Catholic communities in the country.
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 years ago, yet their poems are still very popular to this day.
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 of mercy — and follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, who is described as someone who embodied mercy.
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 rainforest activist for over 40 years. And over the decades he's fostered a diverse spiritual community around care for the environment and reconnection with the natural world.
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, she says being a woman in a job mostly performed by men has allowed her to care for her congregation in unique ways.
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 Francis' work grapples with how we suffer and relieve suffering, together. What kinds of insight can suffering offer, both individually and collectively?
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 Russian literary tradition can help clarify questions about truth, love for one another, and ethics.
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 spiritually fulfilled life look like, and what kinds of spiritual help do people look for in times of crisis?
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 pace of modern life makes it difficult to pause. So how can we make rest a priority, and include it in our rhythms?
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 meditative and instrumental music as a form of healing.
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 churches and First Nations people are building better relationships and even forming treaties of their own.
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?This episode originally broadcast on 15 September 2024.
Elizabeth Oldfield describes a different way to live
What does it mean to be fully alive? Elizabeth Oldfield has ditched the conventional script of what life can look like — instead choosing to live in what she calls a "micro-monastery".The episode originally broadcast on 21 July 2024.
Mindfulness — the science and spirituality of an ancient tradition
The nature of consciousness is a subject of enormous interest to both science and religion. Modern, secular mindfulness techniques have their foundation in ancient Buddhist thought, but it's only recently that neuroscientists have given serious attention to what actually happens in the brain when we meditate.This episode originally broadcast on 5 May 2024.
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