There are currently 7 living generations. That makes for plenty of crossed-wires, misunderstandings and confusion about each other, and the future.

In this episode of Life & Faith, we speak to futurist, speaker and author Ashley Fell from McCrindle, a social research and advisory firm that uses cutting edge research and data analysis to decode the generations and make sense of each other and even predict the future.

It turns out that there’s much more to each generation than our slang, cultural references or relationship with technology. Join us as we explore how a better understanding of the generations can foster empathy, strengthen social trust and even offer us a window into the future.

Explore:

McCrindle Research website: https://mccrindle.com.au/

What defines a Generation? (video clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMB2_aNINdM

Inside the mind of Generation Alpha:

https://mccrindle.com.au/article/topic/generation-alpha/inside-the-mind-of-generation-alpha/

Welcome Gen Beta (Article): https://mccrindle.com.au/article/generation-beta-defined/

An Anglican priest on Ash Wednesday, a Benedictine nun on Lent, and a Lutheran minister on Bonhoeffer’s last words.

In this episode of Life & Faith, we go beyond the chocolates and hot cross buns to sit with the darkness of the Easter story that unfolds in three acts: dust, desert, and death.

Our guests provide different snapshots of the Easter season, and the unexpected glimmers of life to be found in the time.

From Anglican priest Chris Allan, from St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, we hear about the visceral experience of having the cross marked on your forehead in ash, and why Ash Wednesday is the ultimate reality check about who we are.

Then, Sister Antonia Curtis, from Jamberoo Abbey on NSW’s South Coast, allows us to briefly experience a Desert Day, a time set aside for reflection and contemplation observed by her and her community on Sundays throughout Lent.

Lastly, we dwell on the last words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pastor, theologian, and unlikely co-conspirator in the Hitler assassination plot. On the eve of his execution by the Nazis in 1945, Bonhoeffer said, “This is the end. But, for me, the beginning of life”. Rev Dr Mark Worthing, a Lutheran minister and Bonhoeffer scholar, explains how the Easter story decodes those words, and how death is transformed into life.

Explore:

Sr Antonia Curtis’ online retreat offered through Jamberoo Abbey: “High Horses, Scapegoats, and Donkeys: A Lenten Odyssey”.

The Adelaide Bonhoeffer Conference 2025, where Rev Dr Mark Worthing is giving a keynote address in late April.

In the 1940s a group of German students saw it as their duty to oppose the tyranny of Nazism.

The members of The White Rose, young students and some lecturers, became convinced that they had to take action against their own government and its crimes. They began a campaign writing and disseminating thousands of pamphlets condemning the Nazis and calling on Germans to embrace passive resistance in order to bring down the regime and end the war.

It was a highly risky thing to do. The Nazis were at the peak of their powers and opposition like this simply not tolerated.

Brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl were part of the group, and, with their friend Christoph Probst, were the first to be arrested, tried and executed.

The story of the White Rose continues to challenge and inspire all of us to think about courage in the face of injustice and moral bravery when it costs you a lot.

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Explore

Alexandra Lloyd's book, Defying Hitler: The White Rose Pamphlets