Through the lens of her own middle-class family, prolific British journalist Polly Toynbee explores the guilt of privilege, the myth of mobility and the role of class in British society and politics. This event was recorded at the UNSW Centre for Ideas on March 11, 2024. Speakers Polly Toynbee Columnist, The GuardianAuthor, An Uneasy Inheritance, my family and other radicals Nick Bryant Journalist, author and commentator...
Jul 01, 2024•55 min
You wouldn't be human if you hadn't from time to time wondered what the meaning of all of this is. Who am I? Is there a purpose? Why am I here? And how can I live a good life? Well of course you're not alone – some of history's biggest thinkers have been coming up with answers to these questions for thousands of years. So what can we learn from their conclusions? This event was recorded at Melbourne Writers Festival on May 11, 2024. Speaker AC Grayling Professor of Philosophy, Northeastern Unive...
Jun 27, 2024•55 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a poetic discussion on the ways you can create space to grieve for species that are going, going, gone. Powerful interests collude to tell us that expressing emotion is hysterical, and that humans are separate from Nature, but proper mourning paves the way for what to do next — and places us right back where we belong. Speakers Professor Thom van Dooren Environmental philosopherProfessor of Environmental HumanitiesDeputy Director of the Sydney Environment Ins...
Jun 26, 2024•54 min
Leading Australian climate scientist Dr Joelle Gergis takes a timely look at Australia's perilous future in a warming world. "Most Australians aren't aware how bad things are and how much worse they will get." — Joelle Gergis This event was recorded at Gleebooks in Sydney on Tuesday June 4, 2024. Speakers Dr Joelle Gergis Climate scientistAuthor, Highway to Hell — Climate Change and Australia's Future (Quarterly Essay #94, Black Inc Books ) Marian Wilkinson Journalist and author...
Jun 25, 2024•53 min
A huge number of ancient artefacts, First Nations' ceremonial objects and precious art sits in museums, galleries, private collections all over the world — with polite plaques. But their history is often messier than the plaques suggest. Throughout its reign, the British Empire 'stole' a lot of stuff. One of the arguably most controversial examples are the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of sculptural reliefs from the temple of Athena (the Parthenon) on the Acropolis in Greece. The second season...
Jun 24, 2024•54 min
Author, essayist and speechwriter Don Watson says that the price of democracy is energy, imagination, and unstinting hard work. Through the lens of Trump's America, and the malaise of Australian politics, Watson questions whether our modern democracies are up to the job. This event was recorded on Bunurong country at the Sorrento Writers' Festival on April 25 2024. Speaker Don Watson, Author, essayist and speechwriter...
Jun 20, 2024•54 min
On the doorstep of Gaza comes the remarkable story of the world's first peace treaty — a 3200-year-old text. Egyptologist Dr Camilla Di Biase-Dyson joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to share a political and personal soap opera that brought an enduring peace to a region now suffering from a bloody war. Speaker: Dr Camilla Di Biase-Dyson Linguist and EgyptologistSenior Lecturer, Macquarie University...
Jun 19, 2024•54 min
Disadvantaged and marginalised students often don't get the financial and teaching support that they need. Equity everyone, regardless of their background, is one of the most pressing challenges facing out higher education sector. The government released the Universities Accord Final Report earlier this year – and it recommends sweeping changes. What are the main recommendations? And are they any good? Access, Achievement, Accord 2024 was presented at The Australian Student Equity Symposium , Cu...
Jun 18, 2024•54 min
Award winning playwright S. Shakthidharan has described his groundbreaking theatre work Counting and Cracking as "a radical act of belonging". The epic, three-act, three-hour tale captures the Australian migrant experience through the story of one Sri Lankan family across four generations. To celebrate the play's return to the stage, we hear from four Sri Lankan Australians about the role creativity has played in their lives, culture and community. This event was recorded at the University of Me...
Jun 17, 2024•53 min
Drawing on his experiences working across continents in the "shatter zones" of society — jails, war zones, refugee shelters – Andre de Quadros explains how music and creativity can be used to build peace, reconciliation and empowerment in a troubled world. Later, Anne-Marie Forbes explains how music improves mental, physical and community well-being. These events were recorded at the 2024 Miegunyah Lecture at the University of Melbourne on April 11, 2024, and Melodies as Medicine at the Universi...
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2024 Ocean Lovers Festival in Bondi. From deep sea mining to illegal fishing on the high seas, who is the boss of the ocean? And why are scientists-turned-entrepreneurs singing the praises of seaweed? Two panels of big thinkers exploring new frontiers for ocean exploitation — and inspiration — the risks, the rewards, and the regulation of this vast wilderness which covers 70% of the planet's surface Panel 1 - Who owns the high seas and deep seas? Deep sea ...
Jun 12, 2024•59 min
It took until the late 1990s for Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. Since then, the law has changed and evolved in a multitude of ways for LGBTQIA+ people, but not without a fight virtually every step of the way. This event was recorded as part of Victorian Law Week on May 22, 2024. Speakers Elizabeth Bennett SC, BarristerVice President, Victorian Barristers Network Sam Elkin Author, Detachable Penis: A queer legal saga (Upswell publishing)Legal aid lawyer (inaugural lawyer for Victoria's...
Jun 11, 2024•53 min
Firstly, make sure you become a grandparent. It apparently adds five years to your life. And it can make you very happy - if you do grandparenting right! Hear about the does and don'ts in this discussion about how to age well. Then add a good diet. With the six secret ingredients provided by one of Australia's most recognised leaders in the fields of sports nutrition and dietetics. And lastly, ignore social attitudes and images, that tell you how old you should feel. 'How To Grow Old. It ain't f...
Jun 10, 2024•47 min
It's often said that democracies can't function well without a strong opposition to hold the government of the day to account. But what does it take to be an effective opposition? This event was recorded at the Centre for Independent Studies on Thursday 16 May 2024. Speakers Scott Prasser Co-author with David Clune, The Art of Opposition (Connor Court publishing) Senior Fellow, Centre for Independent Studies John Howard Former Prime Minister 1996 – 2007 Tom Switzer Director, Centre for Independe...
Jun 06, 2024•53 min
From stopping the boats to building a wall, countries have gone to great lengths to stop the flow of people migrating across borders in search of a better life. But are these efforts realistic – let alone humane — when there are an estimated 110 million people forcibly displaced by war, persecution, hunger and climate change worldwide? This event was recorded at the University of Tasmania on May 8, 2024. Speakers Dr Tamara Wood Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Tasmania Sanushka Mudaliar Dir...
Jun 05, 2024•56 min
Humanity faces two existential threats: catastrophic climate change and nuclear annihilation, according to former US Deputy Secretary of Energy turned nuclear industry player Daniel Poneman.Yet, he argues nuclear energy is an essential part of the mix of carbon zero power sources as we transition away from coal. He discusses global developments in nuclear power generation, including new generations of reactor design, and critical issues like cost, safety, and proliferation risks. Presented at th...
Jun 04, 2024•54 min
Laura Tingle delivers the 2024 John Button Oration at the Melbourne Writers Festival, looking at how our public discourse has changed over her 40-year career – and throughout history. She explores what is to blame for the demise in civility in our public debate, and the seeming inability of our media and the political class to solve the intractable problems we face. This event was recorded on Saturday 11 May 2024, at the Melbourne Writers Festival , in partnership with University of Melbourne Sc...
Jun 03, 2024•45 min
Australians love a drink, or at least, that's a perception that's deeply ingrained in our national identity... but how true is it, these days? This Big Ideas explores the politics, problems, and pleasures of Australia's long and chequered relationship with alcohol. This event was recorded at Clunes Booktown Festival on Saturday March 23 2024. Speakers Alex Ettling Author, Knocking the Top off: A People's History of Alcohol in Australia Sarah MacLean Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at ...
May 30, 2024•54 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests to grapple with some gritty paradoxes about science and religion. In this era of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and existential angst — are they serving the needs they used to?
May 29, 2024•53 min
When you're faced with the reality that your home, livelihoods and culture will be swallowed up by the rising seas of a warming climate, how do you respond?
May 28, 2024•53 min
You might think humans have escaped biology and evolution altogether with our strange and different ways: Women live well past their reproductive years, and we have baffling long childhoods as a species. We display a dazzling mix of selfishness and altruism, and gossiping can in fact be a strategy for survival.
May 27, 2024•54 min
As violence continues in Europe and the Middle East and as positive collective action on urgent global-scale issues seems out of reach, do we need new forms of international cooperation? How can Global South and Global North nations work together more effectively? What roadblocks hinder joint action on crucial issues such as security, development, climate, and AI? How can ethical reflection and engagement pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable multilateralism? A panel of international p...
May 23, 2024•44 min
Join Natasha Mitchell as she speaks to Tibetan master Venerable Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, along with an Indian philosopher of mind and a Sufi scholar, to wrestle with the self and its dissolution.
May 22, 2024•53 min
You would think that times of intense progress and technological innovation are good for societies, but history shows that's when revolutions happen. Author and prominent CNN TV host Fareed Zakaria explains how rapid transformation of economy through technology often leads to an identity crisis and upheaval against the establishment. It's just too much too quickly. Sounds familiar? Yes – we in the middle of one. But Fareed Zakaria is optimistic it will all end well....
May 21, 2024•54 min
Since the announcement of the AUKUS plan for nuclear submarines, we’ve been hearing a lot about Australia’s maritime security. But as an island “girt by sea”, that security depends on much more than our military capability.
May 20, 2024•53 min
Australia's unique biodiversity, a product of almost 50 million years of glorious evolutionary isolation, is in freefall. The threats are not just the rabbits, the cane toads, the cats and foxes – the common culprits. Let's not forget the small but impactful smooth newt or the fierce red fire ants, and the many invasive weeds. Twenty new weeds will establish in the wild in Australia this year – and every year to come … unless things change. But is it possible to stop this ongoing invasion? How d...
May 16, 2024•54 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a robust conversation about forging a shared future between Black and White Australians through deeper understanding. Indigenous curator Margo Neale thought her nickname was "Abo" when she was a little girl. She didn't understand it was racist. Writing on politics and race for decades, David Marr thought he knew a lot — until he unearthed an family story. Thomas Mayo is thinking deeply about what's possible for Black and White Australia after the Voice refere...
May 15, 2024•54 min
For more than half a century, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle allowed and covered up an extensive network of paedophile priests who sexually abused hundreds of children in their care.
May 14, 2024•54 min
Through sinister marketing and loose regulation, the tobacco industry has hooked a whole new generation of kids on smoking. How did it come to this, and will the federal government’s new laws to crack down on vaping actually work?
May 13, 2024•54 min
What lessons can we learn from J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the nuclear bomb? How should we govern and legislate new technologies that have the power to change the world? Like nuclear technology in the mid of last century, now large digital platforms and generative AI are putting humanity at the threshold: progress or possible exploitation and abuse? How can we regulate cutting-edge technology on a global stage?
May 09, 2024•54 min
