Life Matters - Separate stories podcast

Studying computer programming left Stephanie Sharp feeling isolated and like a sure-fire failure. She was ready to drop out when she surprised herself.

For communities hit by drought and bushfires, music can be a source of joy and assist in recovery, particularly for children.

For decades, Cameron Hardiman’s everyday workload involved drug busts, car chases and, sometimes, dangling from a helicopter over seven-metre waves in the middle of a stormy ocean. What does it feel like when being fearless is part of your job?

How do you be a supportive parent without insulating children from life? The pros and cons of colonic irrigation, board games surge again in popularity, and the new research into why some children are fussy eaters.

A friend, her husband and yourself rent a house. Although you all pay the same the balance isn't equal, with issues of how things are done and where things go. How can you make this arrangement work for all of you without a showdown?

When NSW public servant Munther Emad put his hand up to run a bushfire evacuation centre for the first time in his life, he never dreamed he'd end up being evacuated too. Munther had been helping fire affected residents in the NSW South Coast town of Eden, when staff and locals were told to leave as the bushfire emergency threatened what should have been a safe place for the community.

The highly successful Backtrack program, which originated in Armidale, is expanding to other communities with kids in need, like Dubbo and Broken Hill. Founder Bernie Shakeshaft has been named NSW Local Hero in the Australia Day awards.

Board games have experienced a big resurgence in recent years and some of the people who are playing them are finding benefits in socialising and unplugging from the world of screens.

Gloria Rono is a disability support worker and a model, who's a finalist in the Australian Supermodel of the Year competition. She's also faced criticism online for being a curvy model — bigger than what a traditional supermodel might look like.

It's hard to imagine a future where Australia is not held at the mercy of megafires. But two experts in fire science and land management say there is another way.