RSSMix.com Mix ID 8318968

In many ways, young people who attend places of worship today are vastly different to those who attended decades ago. A new generation isn’t just attending in person, but also via online platforms like messaging, podcasts and even game streaming services. On God Forbid, James Carleton and the panel explore how Gen Z is engaging with religion, and how faith groups are responding.

While all ten crew members of the Blythe Star got out alive after she capsized, not all would survive the ordeal that followed.

A new interview with Elizabeth Strout about Oh, William! and the Bookshelf that Made Her; and favourite review discussions from the year about Jane Austen, Joan Silber and Kevin Barry with readers Ruth Wilson and Michael McGirr

Almost two years since the COVID outbreak began, tens of thousands of Australians are spending Christmas in isolation, as daily COVID cases hit a fresh record;

Pre Christmas precautions: mask mandates are back in two states, but is it too late to save the holiday season from further restrictions?; Omicron's already hit short-staffed restaurants forced to close as employees await COVID test results; And, just when things couldn't seem to get any worse, a looming wine shortage?

Early data from South Africa and the United Kingdom suggests omicron is milder, with fewer people needing hospital treatment compared with other variants. And New South Wales prepares to open its first bilingual school of Aboriginal language. Indigenous education leaders say it'll drive a new generation of learning for First Nations kids.

Writers and their bookshelves. Sarah Winman's Still Life moves between England and Florence, while Nick Earls' Empires travels from Brisbane to Alaska, London, Vienna and Hong Kong. But what are the books that shaped these novels and these writers?

As New South Wales reintroduces QR check in codes, Western Australia mandates booster shot;

A funding increase for pharmacies and GPs being crunched by demand for booster shots.

The Prime Minster joins calls to rethink COVID testing requirements for holidaymakers, as lengthy queues and demand put pressure on testing centres. And domestic violence centres brace for the weeks ahead with incidents of violence expected to rise.

New modelling predicting how quickly the Omicron wave of COVID cases could climb will be presented to today's national cabinet meeting and a discussion about whether to speed up the booster program

Long testing lines, rapid tests and booster shots hard to find, but in some good news, there's more evidence Omicron might not be as severe as other strains of COVID.

Testing sites under pressure as COVID cases continue to surge. How are health services coping? What does the rise in cases mean for the hospitality and retail industries that rely on Christmas trade. And a new mentoring program supporting women with disability as they navigate parenthood.

When a balloon pops, sometimes it leaves lots of small fragments of rubber, and sometimes it leaves just a couple of larger pieces. What's going on? This program was originally published on 14 May 2019

There'll be an emergency meeting of National Cabinet tomorrow to discuss the Omicron variant, as the World Health Organisation suggests cancelling some festive events because of its spread

Governments plead for Australians to stick to their Christmas plans but will people hold their nerve as Omicron cases rise?; and a resounding win for pro-Beijing candidates in the Hong Kong elections, though most of the city's residents stayed at home and didn't vote.

If you mention Transient Global Amnesia – TGA – the chances are that nobody has heard of it. When Dasha Ross lost her memory for a day she was diagnosed as having experienced this mysterious ‘neurological enigma'. This enigma affects over a thousand Australians a year, and Dasha was determined to find out why, and what causes it. This program was originally broadcast in April 2021

As restrictions come into force around the world due to soaring COVID numbers, there are calls for more to be done locally, with experts warning caution is needed until more is known about the Omicron variant. And a new leadership program supporting people who are vision impaired to develop skills to climb the corporate ladder.

Health authorities are encouraging us to do rapid COVID tests before seeing friends and family over the holiday break, but in some areas they're proving tricky to find

Two teams. Scientists and science journalists. And your quiz mistress with a whip. Let the mischief begin.