Some principles, some practices, and a bit of inspiration for the digitally exhausted.

We pick up our phones 150 times per day on average.

Three out of four Australians check social media as soon as they wake up. Four out of five check it before they go to bed.

These ‘micromoments’ add up – the ways we choose (consciously or not) to spend our time shape us. Many of us find ourselves dissatisfied in the ‘relationship’ we have with our phones, and wanting to make a change. But breaking up is hard!

In this first episode of Life & Faith for 2026, we consider the forces at work when it comes to our digital habits, why we might choose to reduce our phone use, and how.

Simon, Justine, and Natasha confess and compare their daily average screen time. Felicia Wu Song, author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, describes the ‘digital ecology’ we inhabit and the ‘liturgies’ we participate in – and proposes some practices, or ‘counterliturgies’, that might help us move in a different direction. Plus, a bunch of people who’ve taken various steps to get off their phones tell a remarkably consistent story about why they did it, and how it’s changed their lives.

More and more of us are joining the ranks of the ‘digitally exhausted’, and looking for a better way forward. If you want it to be, this is the year of getting off your phone.

Explore:

Felicia Song’s book Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age

Life & Faith brings you a conversation with an Aussie icon.

“Write the song and just let the song be a mirror on life, and then see if people see themselves in the picture.”

You might know Colin Buchanan as an Australian country music star, as a much-loved writer and performer of kids’ music, as a Play School presenter, or from one of the other myriad hats he’s worn over the years. And if you don’t know him, you’ll definitely feel like you do at the end of this rollicking hour spent in his company.

Come along for the ride as Colin takes Life & Faith on a journey into the heart of the outback, the inner workings of the creative process, and the depths of the Bible, with stops along the way to chat comedy, Christmas, and Play School bloopers. He also plays us a song or two.

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EXPLORE:

Check out Colin’s music (past and forthcoming), and upcoming performances, here

Greg Sheridan on why the early Christians were able to change the world.

Greg’s third in a trilogy of books on Christianity examines the “success” of the early Christians in upending the ancient world, and how this story speaks to contemporary life.

Greg Sheridan has been the foreign editor at the Australian newspaper since 1992. He is one of Australia’s leading national security and foreign affairs analysts, and has interviewed Prime Ministers and Presidents all over the world.

He also writes about Christianity and culture and his last three books have been on that subject. The first, in 2018 was “God is Good For You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times.” In 2021 he delivered “Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World.” And in 2025 we have “How Christians Can Succeed Today.”

Greg is able to bring ancient stories to life with his journalistic style, insight and good humour. And he makes a compelling case for why this story remains relevant and life-giving for our times of upheaval, conflict and uncertainty.

Explore:

How Christians Can Succeed Today

Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World

God is Good For You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times