Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

Award winning Chef, author and TV personality Manu Feildel was told as a child he was descended from the Vikings. What young boy wouldn't want that to be true? Will Manu find out he has Viking heritage? And will his love of the culinary arts be reflected in his bloodline? His story is revealed in the SBS series Who Do You Think You Are.

From "Ozempic face" to "Ozempic babies", women who are taking semaglutide for weight loss are reporting unexpected pregnancies, some even while they're taking the contraceptive pill. So, what do we know for sure about how Ozempic affects fertility, and pregnancy? While it's early days, we get some helpful advice about using semaglutide and family planning.

We're used to leaving a doctor's appointment with a prescription for medication, or a referral for a specialist, but what about a prescription for a movie club? A cooking class? A craft circle? Dance Therapy? Doctor's orders! Social prescribing is a treatment system where healthcare providers connect people with social activities in their local community to improve their mental and physical health. So how does it work? And could it be coming to a GP near you?

You're seeing someone and you know it's not exclusive because he's into polyamory. But on your date he played you a voicemail from another person he's seeing. You're worried he might be sharing personal information about you to other people he's seeing as well. If you don't know those people, does it really matter? Or should this be a deal breaker?

Whether you're a fashionista or you just throw on whatever is at the top of the pile in your bedroom, you probably have views about the clothes you wear and what they communicate about you as a person. Is what you wear an expression of your emotions, your identity, your past, your future? And how do those clothes make you feel?

Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock have proposed to run for the Federal seat of Higgins as job-share representatives. It seems there are a few hurdles to overcome before job-sharing is an easy option for politicians, but what about in our own workplaces? Professor Rosalind Dixon looks at different models of job sharing, how it work for both businesses and employees, and whether this presents a new model for leadership.

David Hobson is a stalwart of Australian opera, a composer and all around entertainer in his partnership with comedian Colin Lane. He reflects on the wisdom and altruism of his late mother, how hypnosis eased his fear of flying, and why we could all afford to be a bit less self-indulgent and more 'audience first'.

When colonial settlers arrived on the first fleet, they brought sheep with them, and sheep grazing expanded so rapidly that ‘mutton was cheaper than bread’. But it was the sheep’s wool that was of financial value and mutton seen as merely ‘the soil on which the wool could grow'. So how did this lowly ‘by-product' become what historian Barbara Santich calls a 'cultural superfood'? How did the farming of this food forever alter the Australian landscape? And how are sheep farmers today trying to use their industry to heal the land and the planet?

For many of us, our relationship with food can become tied to our actual relationships: to the way our parents cooked, or the meals we make for a partner. But what about when that relationship changes? In his new novel, Family Meal, Bryan Washington follows 3 characters at pivotal moments of their lives, as they spiral in the aftermath of grief, and grow to find the possibility of change.

It's been more than four years since Covid first appeared and upended our lives, but for thousands of Australians, Long Covid has left them dealing with symptoms long after the original infection. Professor Steven Faux share what we know, and what we still need to know about the symptoms, the treatment, and the policies around Long Covid.

Jo Peck had just had her 60th Birthday when she was greeted with the news her husband of 25 years had his business elsewhere. So Jo took a dive into the dating pool, heart first. Her Memoir is called Suddenly Single at Sixty.

Some organisations might seem beneficial, helping to link people into others of like mind. But for some, when they go in further to a group, they realise it has taken over their life. After attending a free clairvoyant reading at a Mind Body Spirit festival, Carli McConkey became trapped in a new-age cult for 13 years. She says there are tell-tale signs and calls for police to do more on cult-like groups, ahead of her appearance tonight on SBS Insight program Cult Following.

There's a crisis in gendered violence here in Australia, with 27 women murdered this year already, and protesters around the country demanding action. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a National Cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on the issue. So what can be done? If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT - that's 1800 737 732

You know the saying; a man is not a financial plan? It's meant to encourage women to take the reins of their own financial futures. But young women are still much less confident and less skilled than young men in that realm. Research from ASIC's Moneysmart has found that Gen Z women are more likely than Gen Z men to be overwhelmed by finances, have no savings, and use risky buy now-pay later services. How can we improve the situation?

It’s frustrating if you're working hard for a promotion at work just to see a colleague you feel is less deserving advance ahead of you. But failing upwards calls into question the idea that our workplaces are meritocracies, which is the ideal, if not the reality, that we aspire to. Can work ever be entirely based on competence? And why do some get to fail and succeed while others don't?

Imagine you are swept up in a great big love. You marry on an ocean liner, and all seems like a fairytale until the honeymoon takes a serious turn. Kerstin Pilz's memoir is called Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband.

You catch up with an old school friend and her husband for lunch. When you ask the husband questions the pair talk over the top of each other and your friend's voice gets louder and louder. It's a distressing experience that is making you reconsider moving back to your home town, because you'll need to see more of them. What can you do?

The way we are as parents can be heavily influenced by our own experiences in childhood, both good and bad. When it came to parenting your own children, how much you have stuck to or strayed from how you were parented?

When it comes to presentation and manner, Australians are pretty casual, and more of the world is following suit. Employees are pushing back against formal dress codes in workplaces, and formal dress is necessary in fewer social settings. So are we losing anything by dropping the formalities? How does our presentation change the way we relate to each other, and ourselves?

Geraldine Turner is a legend of the Australian stage, and has earned a lot of wisdom through her long career. She shares her mantra for getting through stage fright, and what she's learned about figuring out a person's true character.