Jimmy Lai was once considered Hong Kong's quintessential rags to riches success story. But now, the newspaper publisher and democracy supporter is facing a life sentence in jail under China's crackdown on press freedom and opposition in the city. How did it come to this? And what does it mean for Hong Kong? This event was recorded on Thursday July 4 with the Melbourne Press Cub and PEN Melbourne , supported by the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne . Speakers Sebastia...
Jul 29, 2024•53 min
It's only eight years until the torch will be passed on to Brisbane. The countdown is on: Are we prepared? What are the challenges? What is the politics involved? And how important is children participating in sport to ensure that the games have a future? Presented at the Bond Business Leaders Forum , Bond University. Speakers Ian Chesterman President of the Australian Olympic Committee Pat Howard Former rugby international player and coach for the Leicester Tigers; Executive General Manager of ...
Jul 25, 2024•53 min
Join a full house at the Sydney Opera House with Nobel winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell to discuss the huge social, ethical, and scientific implications of the CRISPR gene editing revolution. From curative therapies to gene edited babies - will we use it to hack our own evolution? This event was presented by the Sydney Opera House , Big Questions Institute (BQI), Sydney Writers’ Festival , UNSW Sydney . Speaker: Professor Jennifer Doudna 2020 Nobel Prize for...
Jul 24, 2024•54 min
Who's watching your local council, keeping you abreast of issues in your neighbourhood, and celebrating your community's achievements? That used to be the role of your local newspaper, but now many of us don't have one. This event was recorded at the Willy Lit Fest on Sunday 16 June 2024. Speakers Margaret Simons Honorary Professorial Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of MelbourneAuthor, Tanya Plibersek: on her own terms , Penny Wong: Passion and Principle , and others Josie Vi...
Jul 23, 2024•53 min
Moral philosopher and writer Raimond Gaita wrestles with the moral and ethical dimensions of the Israel-Gaza war to try to make sense of the incomprehensible. The Jim Carlton Integrity Lecture , "The Urgency of Ethical Challenges Facing the World" was recorded at the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne on May 8, 2024. Speaker Raimond Gaita Honorary professorial fellow, Melbourne Law School, University of MelbourneEmeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, King's College LondonFellow...
Jul 22, 2024•56 min
In the shadow of the AI revolution, as the tech giants vie for our data, our attention, and our money, beloved Scottish author Andrew O'Hagan makes an impassioned case for the role of readers and writers as "frontline workers" in the fight for reality. These events were recorded at the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival on 17 and 19 May 2024. Speakers Andrew O'Hagan Author, Caledonian Road , Mayflies,and many moreEssayist, editor-at-large of the London Review of Books Gillian O'Shaugh...
Jul 18, 2024•54 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a conversation full of surprises on the bonds that make us and sometimes break us. Bad dates, spaceships, surviving cults, the creature within, mother love, loss, and more — how do our attachments shape our minds and lives? Thanks to Griffith Review and the Brisbane Writers Festival for organising this event. Speakers: Anna McGahan Actor, playwright, screenwriter, Vogel Award winnerAuthor, Immaculate (Allen and Unwin 2023), and Metanoia: a memoir of a body, b...
Jul 17, 2024•54 min
For many Indigenous performers publicity comes with the burden of being a role model. Their only options seem to be a pedestal or oblivion, particularly if they are women. What are the challenges for them to find their place on stage and in life? Who has the right to be 'bad' in a society that expects women to be flawless? A panel of Indigenous cultural commentators explores stereotypes and puts them in the bin. Presented at the All About Women Festival by the Sydney Opera House. Speakers Barkaa...
Jul 16, 2024•42 min
Recent elections overseas have shown a rise in the popularity of far-right politics in Europe and elsewhere, fuelled by anti-immigration sentiment, economic woes and other grievances. So what does this mean for far-right movements back here in Australia? This event was recorded at the University of Canberra on May 16, 2024. Speakers Jordan McSwiney Author, Far-Right Political Parties in Australia: Disorganisation and Electoral Failure Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Deliberative Democra...
Jul 15, 2024•54 min
In some parts of the United States, you're more likely to see a book banned in public libraries and schools, than efforts towards gun control. Advocacy organisation PEN America has documented more than 10,000 book bans since 2021. Momentum to censor books is growing, and also spreading to places like Australia. So what's it like to write and sell books in this climate? This event was recorded at the Melbourne Writers Festival on the 12 May, 2024. Speakers Ann Patchett Author of Tom Lake, Bel Can...
Jul 11, 2024•53 min
From land rights to health and education, working within the system or outside of it, what makes a great Indigenous leader, and how do we create the right conditions for leadership to flourish? The 2024 Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture was recorded by James Cook University in Cairns on May 16, 2024. Speaker Professor Ngiare Brown Chancellor, James Cook University, Yuin Nation...
Jul 10, 2024•54 min
Democracy is not necessarily the winner of the recent elections in Asia. More than a billion people across the region have voted. But that doesn't ensure democratic ideals and processes are uphold. We look at Indonesia, India and Taiwan to put the election results into context and learn how they impact democracy not just in their own countries, but across the region and the globe. Presented by La Trobe Asia . Speakers Kevin MageeAdjunct Fellow at the Australia-China Relations Institute, Universi...
Jul 09, 2024•53 min
In NAIDOC Week, is reconciliation between Black and White Australians dead, buried, or in need of re-imagining? The fallout of the Voice Referendum has left many jaded, confused, angry or indifferent. Two galvanising reflections on what all Australians can learn from the referendum, with visions for what next. Speakers Professor Tom Calma AOAboriginal Elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja and Woolwonga tribal groups in the Top End of the NT. Former Aboriginal and Tor...
Jul 08, 2024•54 min
From loneliness, to our technology addiction, growing inequality and our shrinking middle class, our faith in God, to the complex legacy of the Baby Boomers, Hugh Mackay paints a compelling portrait of modern Australia, and asks some pointy questions about its future. This event was recorded at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia on May 16, 2024. Speakers Hugh MackaySocial psychologist and researcherAuthor, The Way We Are. Lessons from a lifetime of listen...
Jul 04, 2024•58 min
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests in a coal country heartland. Communities in Muswellbrook and Singleton in the NSW Upper Hunter are living at the coalface — quite literally — of the vexed debate over Australia's slow transition to a post-Carbon future. Australia's oldest coal-fired Liddell power station {"Lady Liddell") was shut down by AGL last year, AGL's Bayswater Power Station will close within a decade, coal mines are being closed, others expanded, and now the Coalition is proposing a nucle...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr
Throughout history, empires and civilisations have risen to greatness and then fallen into decline and vanish, leaving only ruins and some artefacts. Why? Are there common features of collapse? From the great societies of Mesopotamia to those of Khmer and the Maya and Aztec of the Americas; from the Roman empire to Carthage. They all follow a similar route. What are the lessons for our civilisation and our future? Presented at the York Festival of Ideas . The festival is led by the University of...
Jul 02, 2024•54 min
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
