The exiled founder of Russia's only independent television news channel, Mikhail Zygar, takes us inside Vladimir Putin's Russia, with a firsthand account of how the President has successfully silenced the media, opposition and Kremlin critics, to cement his hold on power. The 2025 AN Smith Lecture: Journalism against autocracy: Putin, Trump and the future of news was recorded at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism on 31 March 2025. Speakers Mikhail Zygar Exiled Russian ...
May 08, 2025•52 min
A story of continents crashing and cleaving apart, the making of a civilisation, the language of the dead, and ... a mummified rat makes a cameo too. The Incan empire was vast and sophisticated. It built the stunning citadel in the clouds of Machu Picchu in the Andes mountains. But within a century its people were catastrophically wiped out by the onslaught of the Spanish conquistadors. Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with two intrepid researchers — an archaeologist and a leading mammalogis...
May 07, 2025•53 min
The language used to talk about mental ill-health can play a key role in reducing or enforcing stigma. And it's constantly evolving. But what terms should be used and when? And by whom? The wrong word can not only deeply hurt a person's feelings. It can end careers, destroy relationships, cut access to support systems. This special World Mental Health Day PsychTalks event was presented by the Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia Network (MISRA ), the Melbourne School of Psychological S...
May 06, 2025•53 min
What can a mosquito teach us about time? Noone likes a mosquito bite — but for a brief moment when it stings you, you know you are alive. Humans are temporal beings, but across cultures, our concepts of time are vastly different. This event explores what we can learn from science, philosophy and Indigenous perspectives that can alter experiences of and attitudes to time, to make better decisions for the future. This event was recorded at the Sophia Club in London on 17 October 2024. Speakers Ric...
May 05, 2025•54 min
This election has been described as a boring campaign, but with some fascinating contests. So just what is going on in the minds of voters as Australia heads to the polls this weekend? This event was recorded at the Sorrento Writers Festival on 27 May 2025. Speakers Frank Bongiorno Professor of History, Australian National UniversityPresident, Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Historical AssociationAuthor, Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Austr...
May 01, 2025•54 min
Are we living through a key turning point in world history? How do we make sense of this present moment, and what's on the horizon?Trump's trade wars, long-held alliances dismantled, the deadly conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the rise and rise of AI, the tech oligarch takeover, China's military build-up, NATO's demise, and much more. It's a confusing time. Four seasoned analysts and journalists with their finger on the pulse join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to share their prognoses. This even...
Apr 30, 2025•56 min
It's been called a coming-of-age story for a nation. The Whitlam Government's purchase of Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles in 1973 helped to bring down the government. So how did this abstract expressionist masterpiece become the most famous, most controversial artwork in Australia? Then: how does political portraiture affect how we feel about politicians — and how we vote? Jacqueline Maley looks at The Art in the Optics — and explains why political portraiture is more important than ever today. The...
Apr 29, 2025•56 min
Until recently, the USA provided about 30% of global health funding. It was dominant in supplying HIV/AIDS medication and funded a major part of medical research. Much of this has now stopped with Donald Trump restricting gender affirming care, withdrawing from the WHO and holding funds from USAID - and the list goes on. What are the impacts on pandemic preparedness, future global health priorities and resource mobilisation? This conversation has been presented by the The Australian Institute fo...
Apr 28, 2025•54 min
Acclaimed British historian Sir Simon Schama reflects on the history of antisemitism, the Holocaust and contemporary culture. He says that for millennia Jewish people have been "the other of convenience. We are the dark mirror in which the wish fulfilment of other societies takes it out on people who are said to represent its opposite." Presented at the Adelaide Writers Festival in partnership with the University of Sydney . Speaker Sir Simon Schama British historian and television presenterProf...
Apr 24, 2025•50 min
Cancer is common and chemo and radiotherapies can save or extend our lives. But sometimes they don't, or they stop working, or they come with disabling long-term side effects. In a state of desperation, some of us seek out unproven alternatives which might even put us at greater risk of cancer. Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests to find out how scientists are attacking the problem of cancer treatment. This event was organised by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research , Unive...
Apr 23, 2025•58 min
For the past 18 months, Israel's war in Gaza has polarised the world. The Indian author and essayist Pankaj Mishra reckons with the conflict through the lens of colonialism, morality and history. This event was recorded at the University of NSW Centre for Ideas on 27 February 2025. Speakers Pankaj Mishra Author, The World After Gaza , From the Ruins of Empire and Age of Anger: A History of the PresentEssayist, New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, The New Yorker and more Simon Longst...
Apr 22, 2025•54 min
Two thousand years ago, life in Pompeii stood still when Mount Vesuvius erupted, preserving the town in volcanic ash for centuries. Today, this ancient Roman city captures the imagination like few others. This event was recorded at the National Museum of Australia on 14 December 2024. Speakers Dr Sophie Hay Roman archaeologist, press and communications officer, Paco archeological de Pompeii Professor Steven Ellis Professor of Classics and Roman Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati Dr Lily...
Apr 21, 2025•54 min
Authoritarian regimes are threatened by women who fight for their freedom — and are pushing back in even more extreme and deadly ways. The world watched wide-eyed as Iranians took to the streets and social media for the #WomenLifeFreedom movement. We watched Afghan women and children run towards American planes taking off from Kabul as the Taliban returned to power. In Myanmar, women have taken up arms against the military junta. What do women at these front-lines need you to know right now? Joi...
Apr 17, 2025•54 min
The only certainty in life is that we will all some day die. Most of us don't know when that day will come. But others must face their mortality front on. Mark Rafael Baker was no stranger to death, losing three loved ones in seven years — and then he was confronted with his own. This event was recorded at Readings Bookshop Melbourne in October 2024. Speakers Michelle Lesh Lecturer at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne Raimond Gaita Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, King's Colle...
Apr 17, 2025•44 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests to grapple with some gritty paradoxes about science and religion, and in this era of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and existential angst — are they serving the needs they used to? Science drives much of modern life, and yet fewer people are drawn to studying it at school putting scientific literacy at risk. There's been a rise in anti-science sentiment and a questioning the authority of scientific expertise. Many societies are becoming more secular with fe...
Apr 16, 2025•54 min
We know them as Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs. But to Kara Swisher, they're Mark, Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Steve. She was once a Silicon Valley insider, but now she's one of big tech's most vocal critics. This event was recorded at Adelaide Writers Week on Monday 3 March 2025. Speakers Kara SwisherAuthor, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story , aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web and There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time...
Apr 15, 2025•54 min
Jobs vs the environment. Profits vs environmental protection. One pitted against the other. That dominant story has defined environmental regulation in Australia, drowning out the stories scientists or environmental campaigners want to tell. Scientist, environmentalist, and government insider, Peter Cosier, has worn all the hats and he wants to change how we think and talk about Nature. An eye opening account of Australian environmentalism and its politics. Presented at the Lyrebird Festival Spe...
Apr 14, 2025•54 min
Is prison time for violent offenders mostly about appeasing a sense of revenge? And if so, are there better ways to rehabilitate perpetrators? Dr Gwen Adshead assesses the effectiveness and impact of therapeutic interventions and restorative justice - and she's looking at how Norway does it. The 2024 BBC Reith lecture series Speakers Dr Gwen Adshead Award-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You Know. Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry Anita Anand (host)BBC Radio...
Apr 10, 2025•54 min
The long term impact of childhood trauma on your body and mind is profound and devastating. Many perpetrators of violent crimes have suffered abuse themselves. But is it as easy as to say that trauma causes violence? There are many more people who have lived through trauma and don’t start hurting others. The 2024 BBC Reith lecture Speakers Dr Gwen Adshead Award-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You Know. Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry Olivia PhelpsGovernor...
Apr 09, 2025•54 min
You all have the capacity for evil behaviour in you — given the right mix of circumstances. Rigidity of thinking about others, egocentricity, setting your moral rule book and dehumanising victims are contributing factors. But just as innate to you is the antidote to evil: goodness. Find out how to maintain this fine balance on Big Ideas. This is the second 2024 BBC Reith lecture Speakers Dr Gwen Adshead Award-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You Know. Encoun...
Apr 08, 2025•54 min
Teenagers 'live' online and on social media. How can they reap the many benefits that social media can offer? There are plenty of them: an endless pool of knowledge and curiosity. But parents need to help them navigate the risk and threats online — of which there're also plenty. On Big Ideas, we have a panel of experts with a plethora of valuable information, advice and resources. Presented by the Raising Children Network and hosted at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Check out the ABC...
Apr 03, 2025•54 min
Two of Australia’s most influential and legendary storytellers, author Tim Winton and filmmaker Rachel Perkins, join Natasha Mitchell at WOMADelaide’s Planet Talks to discuss the power of stories and the role of artists to create change in the world. SpeakersRachel PerkinsMulti-award-winning filmmaker, and founder of Blackfella films Director, presenter, co-writer, co-producer The Australian Wars series (available on SBS On Demand)Co-director, co-writer, co-producer First Australians Tim WintonM...
Apr 02, 2025•54 min
Populism is part of American political history. It has been and still is the dominant vocabulary of dissent. But the current resurrection of authoritarian politics in the US is different. While the two parties could absorb populist movements in the past, this time populism has absorbed the party. Presented at the American Academy in Berlin Speaker Jefferson Cowie James G. Stahlman Professor in American History at Vanderbilt UniversityAmerican Academy in Berlin, Axel Springer Fellow — Class of Sp...
Apr 01, 2025•54 min
What makes a good conversation? And do good conversations have anything in common? Ian Williams studies his daily conversations and explores how our age has left many people in what he calls a "drought of loving voices." In searching for conversations that feel transcendent, not transactional, he argues that in great conversations, the content is less important than the interaction: the sincerity and openness of the engagement. Good conversation is an art, and you don't know how it will change y...
Mar 31, 2025•58 min
We're in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself. The term "appropriation" has come to create guardrails around what can be said and by whom. Award-winning Canadian writer Ian Williams considers the role of speech and silence in reallocating power, and what it means to truly listen. The CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time was recorded live across Canada in November 2024. This fourth lecture W...
Mar 27, 2025•53 min
Bookstores are full of titles that are supposed to help us deal with difficult conversations — about emotions, misunderstandings and hurt feelings. The problem is that difficult conversations are almost always about something other than what they seem to be about. And what we're actually looking for in a conversation isn't always answers — it's communion. The CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time was recorded live across Canada in November 2024. This th...
Mar 26, 2025•53 min
Public space is important for democracy. This is where we articulate our values, and perhaps change our minds. So how do we open ourselves up to connection with strangers while safeguarding our personal sovereignty and resisting efforts to convert us? And what can we learn from our conversations with strangers and loved ones alike about how to navigate the murky waters of national conversations? The CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time was recorded liv...
Mar 25, 2025•52 min
Ever felt that no one is really listening? At a time when we're more connected than ever, why does it seem like we can barely talk to each other? Civic and civil discourse have deteriorated, and the air is raw with anger and misunderstanding on all sides. Award-winning Canadian author and poet Ian Williams is reviving the lost art of conversation in his CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time . These lectures were recorded live across Canada in November 2...
Mar 24, 2025•52 min
In his influential 1964 book The Lucky Country, Donald Horne wrote that Australians played an aristocratic role in Asia: "rich, self-centred, frivolous, blind". A lot has changed in 60 years, but does Australia still think it's better than its neighbours? Recorded at the Australian Academy of the Humanities annual symposium , The Ideas and Ideals of Australia — The Lucky Country turns 60, on 13 — 15 November 2024 at the Australian National University. Speakers Louise Edwards Emeritus Scientia Pr...
Mar 20, 2025•56 min
Australia's housing crisis hasn't always been with us. So what choices created it, and what choices are now needed to fix it? Buying a house is now out of reach if you're on an average wage, and rental options are expensive and precarious. If we don't address the issues urgently, generations to come will face homelessness or profound poverty paying rents on a pension. There are solutions. Are politicians courageous enough to try them? Join Natasha Mitchell and guests at Adelaide Writers Week . S...
Mar 19, 2025•58 min
