God Forbid

These days, we want Rights, not religion. Choice, not Church. Pleasure, over prayer. 
In Australia, and the world  increasingly, the market is the Messiah, and the self is the saviour. 
But, if we’re the freest people who’ve ever lived, to choose our partners, careers, genders, and Gods or no God, free to buy anything, stream anything, be anything...why then do we seem to be unravelling?   
In a world of loneliness, anxiety, extremism, polarisation, the more we chase freedom, the more it seems to slip away. 
Are we in a freedom trap?
GUESTS:
Priyan Max Jeganathan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity, author of The Freedom Trap.
Alexander Lefebvre is Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He's the author of Liberalism as a Way of Life.

What is the state of women in Australia and globally in 2026?    Mainstream social media is increasingly clogged with misogyny, there's the horrendous revelations around Jeffrey Epstein, a rise in women killed by their partners and online harassment of women is at a peak. Are we going backwards? 
Guests:
Ginger Gorman is a journalist and author of Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and its Human Fallout
Nayomi Kannangara is CEO of the International Women's Development Agency.

Why would you trade the visible for the invisible?  
And experts believe in the census later this year – for the first time ever - those ticking “no religion” will surpass Christians. 
And it’s happening across the global north - even the US – where 95% believed in something 30 years ago – today, nearly 1-in-3 American’s say they’re atheist or agnostic or no religion in particular. 
So why in this sea of secularism would some swim against the current? People raised without faith, who find themselves drawn to prayer, or ritual, or surrender to the unseen? 
To the disbeliever it can look madness. 
Or maybe in a world of clicks and content the hunger for sacred silence makes more sense than we think. 
GUESTS:
​Tanya Luhrmann, Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University and author of “How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others” 
Kelsey Osgood, a journalist, a convert to orthodox Judaism, and the author of “Godstruck - Seven Women's Unexpected Journeys to Religious Conversion”
Abdullah Kunde is a medical doctor a convert to Islam, and Founder and President of the Muslim Debate Initiative Australia.

If forgiveness is a gift to yourself, what do you give when the harm is unforgiveable? 
And it’s hard to believe, but some families endure unspeakable harm and somehow remain intact, while others fracture over what seems like nothing at all. 
How do we hold space for the reality of suffering, even trauma – but also the possibility of redemption? 
Our culture justifies righteous anger – the victim rightly must be vindicated, not blamed. 
But the question remains challenging for all of us, because perfect families don't exist. 
And any relationship worth having, comes at a cost. 
GUESTS:
Dr Karen Pack is a lecturer at University of Notre Dame Australia, a religious historian, ordained minister, trained pastor and teaches around the world.  Her new book is “Queer Omissions: Unmarried Women and Social Justice Activism in the Church” 
Professor Michael Salter, from UNSW, is the director of the Australasian hub of Childlight, the Global Child Safety Institute and is an internationally recognised expert in child sexual exploitation, complex trauma and gender-based violence.

Imagine losing the only person who never judged you, never walked away, always made you feel safe. 
Our culture, and our religions, can make us believe human loss is different to animals dying. 
But tell that to someone who believes one of the most important relationships in their life is with their pet. 
GUESTS:
Dr Millie Cordaro, Professor of Psychology at Texas State University
Dr Daniela Rizzo is a theologian at Alphacrucis University College and author of Animal Pneumatology
David Michie is an author, known around the world for his series of books about Buddhism and animals