The great school debate and friction-maxxing
From Life Matters - Full program podcast by ABC Australia
May 3, 2026 · 55 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges of school choice for parents, the act of writing by hand as a form of resistance, and the influence of voice on attraction and communication.
Parents have never had more options to give their child the best start in life. But when it comes to choosing the "best" school to provide your child a quality education, that decision can be costly. Author Jane Caro explains how the gap between public and private schools has widened to a chasm, and turned what many would consider a basic right to education into a minefield of parental guilt. In an age where people are writing entire novels using ChatGPT, author Bri Lee chose to compose her latest work completely by hand. It's a small act of resistance pushing back against the relentless quest for convenience — just one example of a broader trend described by columnist Kathryn Jezer-Morton as 'friction-maxxing'. New research has explored which voices we find more attractive and how our sexuality might shape the kinds of speech that turns us on. Researcher Cate Madill explains what shapes the way we talk, and how our voices reflect power, status and our place in the world.
People in this episode
Guests: Jane Caro, Bri Lee, Cate Madill
Topics covered
- education
- parenting
- school choice
- writing
- communication
- sexuality
- voice
Keywords
- school debate
- public vs private schools
- parental guilt
- friction-maxxing
- attractive voices
- sexuality
- communication
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: ABC Australia
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