The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast
Channel Details
The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast
The Religion and Ethics Report, where religion and ethics meet news and current affairs in Australia and around the world.
Recent Episodes
401 episodes
Teaching the Holocaust to school students in 2026
Hearings resumed this week at the antisemitism royal commission, with public figures, including MPs, recounting their experience with anti-Jewish prej...
America at 250: The inseparable relationship between The United States and religion
July the 4th marks 250 years since the founders of the United States ratified the Declaration of Independence.
For a nation that was designed e...
Teaching the Holocaust
Hearings resumed this week at the antisemitism royal commission, with public figures, including MPs, recounting their experience with anti-Jewish prej...
Who controls the Al Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem?
If the geopolitics of Israel and Palestine isn’t hot enough, there’s now a controversy over control of the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in the Old City of J...
Christian Brothers closed down. What now for their sex abuse victims?
The Christian Brothers have announced a plan to sell off their remaining 36 properties in Australia at an estimated value of $216 million.
The...
With Christian Brothers dissolved, what now for the sex abuse victims?
After 180 years in Australia, the Catholic order of Christian Brothers is closing down – bankrupt and shamed by the child sexual abuse scandal. The Ch...
Can the US Dems capture the pro-life vote?
A litmus test for anyone seeking office as a Democrat in the US is unqualified support for abortion.
At the moment, it’s popular. Even in Repub...
Why are statues of a 17thC warrior King causing riots in India?
India is in the midst of statue-building frenzy, with monuments springing up all over the country to the 17th century Hindu leader known as Shivaji. <...
Pauline Hanson and the Australian religious right
As Pauline Hanson’s appeal seemingly grows by the week, at least according to opinion polls, how is she building a coalition that might not deliver he...
Is Pauline Hanson courting the religious right?
As Pauline Hanson’s appeal seemingly grows by the week, at least according to opinion polls, how is she building a coalition that might not deliver he...
Valerie Browning on the beautiful potential of Ethiopia
We have an image of Ethiopia as a harsh, even forsaken place, of famine and a landscape literally cracked by rising global temperatures.
But Eth...
Has the MAGA movement hijacked music from evangelicals?
If you attend a Donald Trump rally in the United States, you’ll increasingly hear another song that, strictly speaking, has nothing to do with politic...
A new Broken Bay cathedral causes controversy
On the northern fringe of Sydney, among gum trees and very loud native bird song, the Catholic Church plans to build Australia’s newest cathedral.
Could religious welfare work lose out with the new tax laws?
Churches and charities are warning that the federal government’s plan to increase taxes on discretionary trusts could cost the welfare and community s...
Churches fear their charities may suffer under new tax plans
Churches and charities are warning that the federal government’s plan to increase taxes on discretionary trusts could cost the welfare and community s...
Can Quakers be voices for peace in 2026?
As wars continue in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, voices for peace still try to break through the pessimism.
One of the most prominent is...
The dilemma of the "ISIS brides"
One of the so-called ISIS brides appeared in a Melbourne court this week, charged with terrorism related offences.
Rayann El Houli is one of si...
Fears around the return of women linked to ISIS
One of the so-called ISIS brides appeared in a Melbourne court this week, charged with terrorism related offences. Rayann El Houli is one of six women...
Will Pope Leo's critique of AI cut through to Sillicon Valley?
In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century.
A view of the Ebola crisis from the capital Goma in the DRC
The deadly Ebola virus spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo is now outpacing the ability of health workers to respond, according to the...
Victoria Lorrimar on Pope Leo's encyclical
In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century.
Anglican Bishop reports from Congo on Ebola
The deadly Ebola virus spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo is now outpacing the ability of health workers to respond, according to the...
The passing of Dr Peter Hollingworth
Dr Peter John Hollingworth was an Australian bishop who served as Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until his resignation in 2003, resigned, in...
Antisemitism or political protest? What the Royal Commission heard
After two weeks of hearings at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, Australians have a clear picture of a Jewish community exp...
Can political protest also be antisemitism?
After two weeks of hearings at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, Australians have a clear picture of a Jewish community expe...
AFTER THE STORM: The aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacre
On the 15th of March 2019, Farid Ahmed and his beloved wife Husna travelled to the Deans Avenue Mosque in Christchurch for Friday prayer.
As th...
Far right European youth make a religion of their ideology
New research suggests many far right youths drawn to the extremes are looking for something more basic – a sense of belonging.
Some have co-opt...
The young religious far right in Europe
The most popular, and understandable, image of the far right today usually involves people dressed in black, shouting Nazi slogans or erupting into vi...
After the Storm: Beyond the horror at the Tree of Life
In 2018, a gunman walked into in a synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood of Pittsburgh.
He killed 11 worshippers in one of America's wors...
Christian ministers joining the political fray in the US
In a move that defies the stereotype of American mega-churches, the pastor of 24,000-strong Methodist parish in Kansas has announced he’s running as D...
Christian clergy and the US midterms
In a move that defies the stereotype of American mega-churches, the pastor of 24,000-strong Methodist parish in Kansas has announced he’s running as D...
AFTER THE STORM: How does a community heal after terror?
When a white supremacist gunman opened fire during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, nine worshippers, including t...
A deep dive into the Vatican conclave
A year ago, more than a hundred cardinals were deep in conversation, even a little conspiratorial.
They’d just buried their beloved Pope Franci...
Will new Hungarian PM be as friendly to Israel as Orban was?
The defeat of Viktor Orban’s nationalist government in Hungary is causing ripples from the heart of Europe all the way to the Middle East. Orban was a...
Post Orban, will Hungary and Israel still be best of friends?
The defeat of Viktor Orban’s nationalist government in Hungary is causing ripples from the heart of Europe all the way to the Middle East.
Orba...
What is the theology of "a just war"?
Pope Leo’s showing he won’t by cowed by Donald Trump, who recently attacked him as weak and liberal after papal criticism of the Iran war. Leo hasn’t...
Archbishop in US territory of Guam speaks out on immigration
It’s not just the Iran war that’s inflamed tension between the Vatican and the White House.
The church has also spoken out against the Trump ad...
The improbable life of an ANZAC chaplain
The name Walter Dexter has faded into history but during World War I he was one of the British empire’s most famous churchmen.
He became most d...
Is there such a thing as a "just war"?
Pope Leo’s showing he won’t by cowed by Donald Trump, who recently attacked him as weak and liberal after papal criticism of the Iran war.
Leo...
The future for humans and technology
Soon after he returns from his 10-day trip to Africa, Pope Leo will finish his first encyclical.
It’s almost certainly on the opportunities --...