Soul Search
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- 12. Nov. 2026
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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
Folgen 245
Building a politics of compassion in an age of grievance
Religion and politics has felt unavoidable recently, especially with the US midterms. Christian nationalism wasn't the only kind of political Christianity on display – there's also a re-emerging "religious …
Shownotes
Religion and politics has felt unavoidable recently, especially with the US midterms. Christian nationalism wasn't the only kind of political Christianity on display – there's also a re-emerging "religious left" too.
So, what does this mean for the States, and is there a different way of conducting political life together, one which involves compassion?
Guests:
Dr Nick Spencer, author and Senior Fellow at Theos think tank in the UK. He's also the host of the podcast Reading Our Times.
Rev Dr Robyn Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Public Theology and Associate Professor of New Testament at Pilgrim Theological College in Melbourne.
More info:
- For more information about the Christian nationalism report from Theos: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/christian-nationalism
Why Daoism is China's green religion
In China, Daoists have seen mountains as sacred for thousands of years — as places where heaven and earth meet, and even where sages and immortals dwell! But what can a Daoist view of nature offer us in an era …
Shownotes
In China, Daoists have seen mountains as sacred for thousands of years — as places where heaven and earth meet, and even where sages and immortals dwell! But what can a Daoist view of nature offer us in an era of climate change?
Greta Gerwig's Narnia and how metaphors shape faith
Greta Gerwig is one of Hollywood’s buzziest directors today. After her smash-hit Barbie, audiences are hotly anticipating her next movie, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. But some fans of CS Lewis’ original book …
Shownotes
Greta Gerwig is one of Hollywood’s buzziest directors today. After her smash-hit Barbie, audiences are hotly anticipating her next movie, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. But some fans of CS Lewis’ original book are upset that the lion Aslan – a Christ-figure – is being voiced by Meryl Streep.
Critics say associating the Christian God with the feminine is a modern ‘woke’ innovation... but what if it’s not? How do the metaphors we use to talk about God, shape our spiritual beliefs and practices?
Guests
Adrian Drayton is a writer and critic interested in religion on screen, and in the connections between faith and popular culture. Formerly of the Uniting Church magazine Insights, now you can find him on Substack at The Long Conversation.
Rev Dr Sally Douglas is Lecturer of New Testament Studies at Pilgrim Theological College at the University of Divinity and the author of Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine. Her latest book is Rewilding Prayer: God Beyond Gender, Faith Beyond Formulas.
More information
- Narnia: Magician’s Nephew official trailer
- Insights Magazine: Greta Gerwig Opens the Door to a Very Different Narnia | Insights Magazine
- The Long Conversation: Greta Gerwig’s Narnia and What Happens When You Try to Film Wonder?
More from Soul Search
- Zeus' Law — Hospitality in Homer's Odyssey - ABC listen
- Big questions in books — Sacredness, enchantment and the apocalypse, from Narnia to Harry Potter - ABC listen
- Imagining Jesus on screen and in literature - ABC listen
More from Radio National
How AI is opening up lost religious worlds
Across the Middle East, desert caves and ancient monasteries hid troves of ancient manuscripts. Now, advances in machine learning are helping scholars to unlock these ancient texts and the lost religious worlds …
Shownotes
Across the Middle East, desert caves and ancient monasteries hid troves of ancient manuscripts. Now, advances in machine learning are helping scholars to unlock these ancient texts and the lost religious worlds that produced them.
Hildegard — The visionary music of medieval Europe's most remarkable woman
Saint Hildegard of Bingen is perhaps Medieval Europe's most remarkable woman. She was a prolific writer, a theologian, a mystic, and Europe's first known female composer. It been about 1000 years since she …
Shownotes
Saint Hildegard of Bingen is perhaps Medieval Europe's most remarkable woman. She was a prolific writer, a theologian, a mystic, and Europe's first known female composer. It been about 1000 years since she lived, but why is the music she wrote so popular today?
Guests:
Jennifer Bain is a professor from Dalhousie University in Canada. Jennifer edited the Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen, and she's also the author of several works on Hildegard's music and its reception.
Sylvia MacRitchie-Hook did postgraduate research about Hildegard as a Ramsay Scholar at the Australian Catholic University. Her thesis is Art as Revelation: A Theological Aesthetic Reading of Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias.
More info:
Costa Georgiadis on trust and attention in the garden
Stories about gardening run deep in many cultures – from the garden of the gods in the epic of Gilgamesh, to the garden of Eden in the biblical book of Genesis. Gardening is also a practice that, for some …
Shownotes
Stories about gardening run deep in many cultures – from the garden of the gods in the epic of Gilgamesh, to the garden of Eden in the biblical book of Genesis. Gardening is also a practice that, for some people, connects the body, soil and soul. On Soul Search Costa Georgiadis shares about the life lessons he's learnt from gardening.
Guest:
Costa Georgiadis, presenter of Gardening Australia and the author of Costa’s World: Gardening for the soil, the soul and the suburbs.
More info:
Wendell Berry's guide to a fulfilling low-tech life
In today's fast-paced, tech-saturated society, is it possible to live a life of fulfilment? Until his recent death, the writer, farmer and sustainability activist Wendell Berry believed that life's meaning came …
Shownotes
In today's fast-paced, tech-saturated society, is it possible to live a life of fulfilment? Until his recent death, the writer, farmer and sustainability activist Wendell Berry believed that life's meaning came from cultivating the land and building meaningful relationships with one another.
The science and spirituality of compassion
In a world that prizes self-interest, is compassion a weakness? In 1992 the Dalai Lama asked a psychologist, instead of focusing only on negative emotions, why don't we study happiness and compassion? Now, the …
Shownotes
In a world that prizes self-interest, is compassion a weakness? In 1992 the Dalai Lama asked a psychologist, instead of focusing only on negative emotions, why don't we study happiness and compassion? Now, the psychology of compassion has become an established field, and a place for rich conversation between science and religion.
The untold stories of Buddhism in Australia
When you imagine an Australian Buddhist, who do you think of? Buddhism in this country has a multicultural history which reaches back before federation and the White Australia Policy.
Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf on friendship, walking and the sacred spark in language
Yale professors Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf have been friends for years, through serious ups and downs. Together they discuss poetry, suffering and the divine — helping one another express the big things …
Shownotes
Yale professors Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf have been friends for years, through serious ups and downs. Together they discuss poetry, suffering and the divine — helping one another express the big things we encounter throughout our lives.
Guests
Miroslav Volf is a theologian and the founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. He has written or edited over twenty books, including his most recent co-authored book Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian.
Christian Wiman is a poet and the Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is also an author, editor, or translator of fourteen books, including his most recent co-authored book Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian.
Read an extract of Glimmerings on ABC Religion and Ethics: ‘Glimmerings are what the soul’s composed of’: Letters between a poet and a theologian - ABC Religion & Ethics
More from Soul Search
- The Zen masters of haiku - ABC listen
- Poetry that soars — from Rumi to Australia - ABC listen
- Big questions in books — Ancient Chinese poetry and the nature of existence - ABC listen
Vote now for your favourite Australian books of all time!
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/countdown/top100books
- Toby Davidson recommends Holocaust Island, by Graeme Dixon
- Emma Beattie recommends In Their Branches, by Gretchen Miller
- Steve Biddulph recommends Night Train to Varanasi, by Sean Doyle
Australian poetry and the 'deep speech' of place
The Australian landscape comes up again and again in Australian poetry — it's part of what makes poetry from this place so distinctive. So, how does the contemporary Australian poetry scene engage with the …
Shownotes
The Australian landscape comes up again and again in Australian poetry — it's part of what makes poetry from this place so distinctive. So, how does the contemporary Australian poetry scene engage with the land, and how has it shaped the art and spirituality of Australian poets?
GuestsLaurie May is a poet, a spoken word performer and a poetry educator based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, and the Executive Director of Red Dirt Poetry.
Laurie May’s poetry recommendations are:
- I am the Desert, by Marie Elena Ellis I Am The Desert by Marie Elena Ellis - Red Dirt Poetry
- Home Between the Cedar Trees, by Jihad Yassine Home Between the Cedar Trees by Jihad Yassine — Guest House Publishing
- Trials of Hope, by Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Trials of Hope (የተስፋ ፈተና) - Fremantle Press
- A Savage Turn, by Luke Patterson Luke Patterson debut poetry collection is utterly lawless - ABC listen
- The Harbour, by Dimitris Tsaloumas The poetry of Dimitris Tsaloumas - ABC listen
Laurie’s Top100 Books recommendations are:
- Seven Little Australians, by Ethel Turner
- Looking for Alibrandi, by Melina Marchetta
- Trials of Hope, by Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes
Mark Tredennick OAM is an Australian poet and essayist based outside of Bowral in New South Wales. He has received the Newcastle Poetry Prize, the Blake Poetry Prize, the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize, the Calibre Essay Prize and the Wildcare Nature Writing Prize. You can read a selection of his poems and essays on his website.
Mark Tredennick’s Top 100 book recommendation is Creekwater Journal, by Robert Gray (1974)
More from Soul Search
- The Zen masters of haiku - ABC listen
- Poetry that soars — from Rumi to Australia - ABC listen
- Big questions in books — Ancient Chinese poetry and the nature of existence - ABC listen
Vote now for your favourite Australian books of all time!
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/countdown/top100booksThe Zen masters of haiku
Haiku poetry is both simple and evocative, largely due to Zen Buddhism. The now familiar 5-7-5 haiku verse developed in ancient Japan, and now, across language and culture, haiku remains a popular way for …
Shownotes
Haiku poetry is both simple and evocative, largely due to Zen Buddhism. The now familiar 5-7-5 haiku verse developed in ancient Japan, and now, across language and culture, haiku remains a popular way for people to engaging with nature, the seasons, and the fleeting moments of life.
Poetry that soars — from Rumi to Australia
Poetry is one of the world's most enduring artforms. It predates writing, and we’re still compelled to express our deepest thoughts through verse. What does poetry have to do with spirituality and the sacred — …
Shownotes
Poetry is one of the world's most enduring artforms. It predates writing, and we’re still compelled to express our deepest thoughts through verse. What does poetry have to do with spirituality and the sacred — whether its big, mystical experiences, or the small moments that nonetheless ring with truth?
Dr Toby Davidson is a poet and Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities at Macquarie University. He is the author of Christian Mysticism and Australian Poetry, and editor of the Collected Poems of Francis Webb. His third collection of poems is called The Grand Reopening.
- Hear Francis Webb read from his Collected Poems
- The 2026 Francis Webb poetry reading Tickets, Saturday 29 August • 2 PM - 4 PM | Eventbrite
- Toby Davidson in The Conversation: Australian poetry classics: Francis Webb, the 20th century’s ‘most unjustly neglected poet’, is our best kept literary secret
Dr Milad Milani is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Western Sydney University and co-founder of the Sufi Studies Network at Monash University.
More from Soul Search
- Rumi, Hafez and Sufi poetry in surprising places – ABC Listen
- Spiritual Classics: Rumi – ABC Listen
- The joy and anguish of the Psalms – ABC Listen
- Zeus' Law — Hospitality in Homer's Odyssey – ABC Listen
More from ABC Radio National
Submit your own poem to the Middle of the Air poetry competition, partnering with Red Room Poetry.
Zeus' Law — Hospitality in Homer's Odyssey
Underneath all the sex and violence of Homer's Odyssey, hospitality shines as a key theme. So, what does "Zeus' Law", outlining the responsibilities of hosts towards guests and strangers, have to teach us …
Shownotes
Underneath all the sex and violence of Homer's Odyssey, hospitality shines as a key theme. So, what does "Zeus' Law", outlining the responsibilities of hosts towards guests and strangers, have to teach us today, as our own society debates difference?
GuestsDr Susan Lupack is an archaeologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities at the Macquarie University. She is co-editor the new Cambridge Guide to Homer.
Dr Ben Brown is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney
More from Soul Search
- Gods: from Ancient Greece to the Antipodes - ABC listen
- The ancients on life, death and the cosmos, with John Behr - ABC listen
More from the ABC
Katherine May on winter's transformative power
Some people love crisp winter mornings and bracing ocean swims — one of those people is author Katherine May, who says there are winter periods in life too. In her book Wintering, Katherine writes about her own …
Shownotes
Some people love crisp winter mornings and bracing ocean swims — one of those people is author Katherine May, who says there are winter periods in life too. In her book Wintering, Katherine writes about her own cold and fallow seasons, and says we shouldn't run from our winters because they contain seeds of transformation.
Guest
Katherine May is an internationally renowned writer and podcaster based in Kent, in the south east of England. Her work covers nature, spirituality, slow living and neurodivergence. Her bestselling books include Wintering: the power of rest and retreat in difficult times and Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age.
Katherine is on Instagram and Substack. Her podcast is called The Clearing.
More from Soul Search
More from the ABC
How gardening is a conversation
Gardeners have cultivated — or dominated — the natural world for thousands of years. But as any green thumb will tell you, in the garden nature has an opinion about how things will go and you won't always get …
Shownotes
Gardeners have cultivated — or dominated — the natural world for thousands of years. But as any green thumb will tell you, in the garden nature has an opinion about how things will go and you won't always get your way.
So, what does your garden say about you? And what does your garden say to you?
Guests
Georgina Reid is a landscape designer, gardener, writer and former editor of Wonderground — a print and online journal exploring questions of nature, culture and care.
Megumi Bennett has been practising bonsai and ikebana for over 5 decades. She is the founder of the Bonsai Society of Sydney inc and is also a member of Ikebana International. Megumi received the bonsai instructors qualification from the Nippon Bonsai Association, Japan in 2008. She is the first overseas person to receive this recognition. Her book is My Journey with Australian Native Fig Trees, Bonsai and Botanical Art (2025).
More from Soul Search
Philosopher Simone Weil's guide to paying attention
With so much going on in the news and in the world right now, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, and even powerless. But how can the philosophy of a brilliant young Frenchwoman help us navigate through tragedy and …
Shownotes
With so much going on in the news and in the world right now, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, and even powerless. But how can the philosophy of a brilliant young Frenchwoman help us navigate through tragedy and troubles? Simone Weil wrestled with the question of how to live a moral life, and she gives us a remarkable vision of how to pay attention.
Recovering the art of listening
Would you say you're a good listener? Listening well to others, and being properly listened to yourself, is the baseline for genuine encounter with each other. There's a vulnerability and intimacy to listening …
Shownotes
Would you say you're a good listener? Listening well to others, and being properly listened to yourself, is the baseline for genuine encounter with each other. There's a vulnerability and intimacy to listening when it's done properly, so how do we do it in a noisy, divided world?
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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 …
Shownotes
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?
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