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
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 54 minutes
- Episodes
- 254
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
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 …
00:54:04 |
Thu 04 Sep 2025
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.
00:54:04 |
Thu 28 Aug 2025
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 rela…
00:54:03 |
Thu 21 Aug 2025
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…
00:49:45 |
Thu 14 Aug 2025
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 connec…
00:54:04 |
Thu 07 Aug 2025
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 a…
00:54:05 |
Thu 31 Jul 2025
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 ha…
00:54:05 |
Thu 24 Jul 2025
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 te…
00:54:04 |
Thu 17 Jul 2025
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 …
00:54:07 |
Thu 10 Jul 2025
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.
00:54:04 |
Thu 03 Jul 2025
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 T…
00:54:04 |
Thu 26 Jun 2025
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 comm…
00:54:01 |
Thu 19 Jun 2025
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 — q…
00:54:06 |
Thu 12 Jun 2025
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.
00:54:04 |
Thu 05 Jun 2025
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?
00:54:04 |
Thu 29 May 2025
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…
00:54:05 |
Thu 22 May 2025
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 fes…
00:54:05 |
Thu 15 May 2025
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.
00:54:04 |
Thu 08 May 2025
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…
00:54:03 |
Thu 01 May 2025
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 e…
00:53:54 |
Thu 24 Apr 2025
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