Are you a gazelle or a grizzly bear when you run? The bounce in your step defines whether you're a stronger sprinter or long-distance runner — and choosing the right sport for your biomechanics determines whether you can get to the top of the podium. Find out more about the secret weapon of biomechanics, the theory of optimal speed control within racing endurance, and how performance psychology has an impact both on and off the track. The Science of Sport was presented at the York Festival of Id...
Oct 14, 2024•53 min
Can you have a wedding between the graves? Why not! – as long as it's respectful. The future of cemetery design is multi-functional, as public spaces just like our gardens and parks. And also as a refuge for animals in the midst of our cities and suburbs. They can be places for the living as well as the dead. How can cemeteries play a broader role in our communities? Six Feed Under: Design and Death Symposium , Melbourne Design Week. Presented by Open House Melbourne. Speakers Hamish Coates Prin...
Oct 10, 2024•54 min
Renowned and controversial Australian philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer is no stranger to contentious ideas — wrestling with the ethics of how we treat each other and other species — infanticide, altruism, veganism and more. He joins Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell to talk about why. This event was organised by The Wheeler Centre and Montalto Winery Speaker: Professor Peter SingerBioethicist and authorFounder of The Life You Can Save Further information: The Life You Can Save Oxford Univ...
Oct 09, 2024•54 min
Big Ideas celebrates the blooming daphne with a look at the life, work and legacy of a pioneer of Australian landscape gardening, Edna Walling. This event was recorded on April 16, 2024 at the State Library of Victoria . Speakers Trisha Dixon Writer, photographer, tour guide leaderCo-author (with Jennie Churchill) The Vision of Edna Walling: Garden Plans 1920-1951 (1998), and Gardens in Time: In the Footsteps of Edna Walling (1988) Sara Hardy Biographer, playwright, former actorAuthor, The Unusu...
Oct 08, 2024•54 min
The United Nations was established after World War II in an attempt to maintain international peace, security, and cooperation. So why now, in the face once again of rising global conflicts, are the UN, and other world bodies, laws, and mechanisms, so unable to address these crises? This event was recorded at the University of Melbourne on 29 August 2024. Speakers Professor Alison Duxbury Deputy Dean, University of Melbourne Law School Dr Tania Miletic Co-Director, Initiative for Peacebuilding, ...
Oct 07, 2024•54 min
We've lived through the age of peak TV, (and wasn't it glorious). Then cinema was BACK, thanks to the hype of Barbenheimer. So, in this post Hollywood writers' strike world, how do we define the era of culture we are now consuming? This event was recorded at the Melbourne International Film Festival on 17 August 2024. Speakers Jared Richards ABC Entertainment reporter Alison Willmore Film critic, Vulture and New York magazines Hannah Diviney Disability advocate, actress, screenwriter and author ...
Oct 03, 2024•59 min
Does the Milky Way have a sibling and how are stars formed? How can a telescope go back over 13 billion years ago to the Cosmic Dawn? The ASTRO 3D Centre of Excellence are unlocking some of the deepest mysteries of our universe and produced perhaps the clearest and most comprehensive picture of how matter, chemical elements, and energy evolved. Some of the astronomers and astrophysicists involved share their insights. Presented by ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions...
Oct 02, 2024•53 min
Every autistic person is different, with their own strengths and challenges. We shouldn’t be asking what jobs are suitable for them. Rather: How can we make this specific job suitable for this autistic person? The result is a thriving employee with unique abilities. On Big Ideas, we’ll debunk myths like that autistic people don’t recognise emotion or don’t have social skills. You can see how wrong this perception is in the ABC TV series The Assembly. The Assembly on ABC iview Speakers Diana Tan ...
Oct 01, 2024•53 min
Surveys constantly reveal that a huge number of us are not sleeping well. What is that doing to our mental and physical health? This event was recorded at the University of Sydney's Raising the Bar night, on 9 April 2024. Speaker Dr Jacob Crouse Research fellow, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney Further information ABC Sleeptember...
Sep 30, 2024•54 min
The art and ethics of artisanal trades, from stone masonry to roof plumbing to limestone mortar plastering. What can be done to revive many of these traditional trades and bring them sustainably into the 21st century? Recorded Melbourne Design Week — presented by the Heritage Council of Victoria and the National Trust of Victoria Speakers Glen Rundell Windsor Chair maker from the Central Highlands Co-Founder Lost Trades Fair, Kyneton Victoria Samantha Westbrooke Executive Manager, Advocacy &...
Sep 26, 2024•54 min
Liana Buchanan is a guardian of the rights of our most precious asset - our children. In a keynote speech, the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People, Victoria, presents some brutal realities of the failures in some systems that are meant to protect children at risk in Victoria. But there is hope. Amelia Hunt, a young person who has experienced out of home care describes how young people are raising their voices and having direct input into reforms. Recorded at the Castan Centre fo...
Sep 25, 2024•54 min
Student activists from the Pacific Islands successfully got the International Court of Justice to define the responsibilities of nations to combat climate change, and the legal consequences of failing to do so. This is the story of their win. Seeing first-hand the dire impact of climate change in their countries, they want to ensure nations around the world understand their obligations to take positive climate action. The 2024 Talbot Oration presented by the Australia Museum Speakers Chynthia Ho...
Sep 24, 2024•54 min
The median Australian house price is now about $800,000 – almost eight times the average income – and well beyond the reach of many people, without help. So how did we get here, and with a federal election looming, are the political parties game to seriously take this on? "Any solution to housing that is easy and popular won't work." — Alan Kohler Presented at the Sydney Writers Festival and Readings Bookshop . Speakers Alan Kohler Finance presenter, ABCAuthor of The Great Divide: Australia's Ho...
Sep 23, 2024•55 min
Australia's high country is a spectacular and precious place. It's also a place that is changing, with shorter, less predictable snowfall. So, what does the future hold for the Alpine region, in a changing climate? This event was recorded on 13 June, 2024 at the Australian National University in partnership with Protect Our Winters Australia and the Australian Mountain Research Facility. Speakers Ruby Olsson Lead author, Our Changing Snowscapes: Climate change impacts on and recommendations for ...
Sep 19, 2024•54 min
Frequently described as victims, as failures or even as women without morals, single mothers often get a bad rap. They are part of Australian statistics. Of the 1.1 million single parents, 83 percent are women, they are more likely to live in poverty and up to 65 percent have fled violent relationships. In this frank conversation, three women thrash and burn some of the assumptions about single mothers. Recorded at the All about Women Festival by the Sydney Opera House Speakers Barkaa Malyangapa...
Sep 18, 2024•53 min
History is the stories we choose to tell about ourselves and others. So how have those stories changed over time? And how has that shaped new understandings of our national identity? Presented by the Friends of the National Library of Australia . Speakers Peter Stanley Former Research Professor, Australian Centre for the Study of armed conflict, University of New South Wales (UNSW)Former Principal Historian, Australian War MemorialFormer inaugural head of research, National Museum of AustraliaAu...
Sep 17, 2024•55 min
What is the allure of gothic fiction? How does it give shape to your most unsettling impulses? A panel of masters of the genre explore the creepy houses, dysfunctional families and the perfect degree of decay and rot that’s needed to create the ‘good scare’. From the classics of Jane Eyre to Harry Potter – we’re celebrating gothic tales. Presented at the Brisbane Writers Festiva l Speakers Angela "A.G." Slatter Author of six novels, including The Briar Book of the Dead, All the Murmuring Bones, ...
Sep 16, 2024•54 min
What is the true meaning of Orwellian and what can George Orwell's writings teach us about navigating the 21st century? Since his book 1984 was published 75 years ago, there have always been comparisons drawn between the dystopian themes of the novel and contemporary injustices, inequality, censorship and corruption. Historian Laura Beers deconstructs many of the misconceptions around Orwell's writings to expose a complex, flawed man who had a commitment to liberty and economic justice. Provided...
Sep 12, 2024•53 min
It's the living force of the nation, but how much do we understand our Constitution? Twenty five pages sets out our laws, roles of government and political structure. Enacted by a people's vote of white men over 120 years ago it does not include rights for all citizens, for Indigenous Peoples or environmental protections. So how does the Constitution work for a contemporary Australia? Recorded at the National Archives Constitution Day event Speakers Justine Bell-James Associate Professor & D...
Sep 11, 2024•53 min
The idea of "freedom" is one that's often used in relation to the economy: we have "the free market" and "free trade agreements", freedom from regulation, from government intervention, and so on. But whose freedom are we talking about, and at whose expense? This event was recorded at the Perth Town Hall on 14 August 2024. Speakers Joseph Stiglitz Professor, Columbia University Business SchoolAuthor, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society Ebony Bennett Deputy Director, The Australia ...
Sep 10, 2024•56 min
Just over a decade ago democracy was within reach in Myanmar, but now the country is in danger of becoming a failed state. So what happened, and what keeps hope for the country alive? This event was recorded on 18 July 2024 at The Wheeler Centre, in partnership with PEN Melbourne , and RMIT Culture . Speakers Ma Thida Writer, human rights activist and doctorAuthor, A-maze: Myanmar's struggle for democracy: 2011-2023 , Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein (2016) and many moreChair, Wri...
Sep 09, 2024•53 min
It's a tough time to be a parent. From screens, to mental health, neurodiversity, gender, diet and schooling, this generation is in unchartered territory in many ways. So what does the evidence tell us that will give parents the best chance to raise happy healthy children, without killing themselves in the process? This event was recorded at Waverley Library in Sydney on 8 August 2024. Speakers Norman Swan Presenter, Health Report, ABC Radio National Author, So you want to know what's good for y...
Sep 05, 2024•55 min
From soy to oat to almond, plant mylks are all the rage. But is it possible that we've misunderstood and unfairly maligned old fashioned cow's milk? Speakers Matthew Evans Farmer, Fat Pig FarmsAuthor, Milk: the truth, the lies and the unbelievable story of the original superfood Host, Gourmet Farmer, SBS Nick Haddow Bruny Island Cheese CoAuthor, Milk Made: A book about cheese...
Sep 04, 2024•53 min
It was the stuff of scifi blockbuster movie The Terminator in the early 1980s, but now lethal autonomous weapons systems are actually being used in conflict zones around the world. And the arms race is on to develop more effective, more deadly killing machines, that don't need human inputs to do their job. This event was recorded at Human Rights Watch in Sydney on 4 June 2024. Speakers Mary Wareham Deputy Director, Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division, Human Rights WatchCo-Laureate (with Jody Will...
Sep 03, 2024•46 min
We all love a bargain, but what is the real cost of those books we buy online or in a supermarket for 12 dollars or less? Should Australia adopt a fixed book price common in Europe? How can we support and grow an industry that nourishes our minds and souls. A conversation on the challenges facing the Australian book industry. Presented at the Sydney Writers Festival . Speakers Ray Bonner Pulitzer Prize winning author, journalist, co-owner of Bookoccino, the Northern Beaches bookstore Richard Fla...
Sep 02, 2024•52 min
The connections between the Caribbean and Australia go back to white settlement, with deep links to the slave trade and British colonialism. What does it mean to be a writer of Caribbean descent in modern Australia? And how can the act of writing and storytelling enable a new sense of belonging and home? This event was recorded at the Callaloo and Wattleseed Symposium at the University of Western Sydney on 3 May 2924. Speakers Maxine Beneba Clarke Author, The Hate Race, Foreign Soil, poetry book...
Aug 29, 2024•53 min
10 humans in length, weighing 50 small cars, and with a bite that could take out two of you in one bite. This beast was BIG. But if Megalodon was so mighty, why did it disappear? Tim Flannery and his daughter Emma have written a book about the mystery of the giant extinct shark, and he joins Natasha Mitchell with two other fossil aficionados, palaeontologists Erich Fitzgerald and Cheng-Hsui Tsai, to take you into a very different watery world of wilderbeasts. Speakers: Professor Tim Flannery Pal...
Aug 28, 2024•53 min
A new generation of female and non-binary intellectuals are using social media to share their scholarship and reach younger audiences. It's a tricky balance — juggling their followers' expectations and reactions, both bouquets and brickbats, maintaining their rigour, and making a living from these algorithmically-gamed corporate platforms. Meet the new influencers. Presented by the Sydney Opera House Speakers Hannah Ferguson Founder & CEO of cheekmedia.co Sisonke Msimang Writer, activist and...
Aug 27, 2024•53 min
Could our continent's ancient past help solve future food security crises? Or even offer new treatments for skin cancer and inflammatory bowel disease? Tasty on your dinner plate, potentially transformative for your health — First Nations experts explore the rich potential of traditional bush foods and Indigenous plant knowledge. Presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane . Speakers Suzanne Thompson Founder & Managing Director of Yambangku Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Tourism Devel...
Aug 26, 2024•53 min
New ABC Chair Kim Williams wants to see change at Australia’s national public broadcaster. In a fragmented media landscape and a fractured world, what is the role of public broadcasting, and how can the ABC stay relevant for its listeners, viewers and readers? This event was recorded at the Byron Bay Writers Festival on Saturday 10 August 2024. Speakers Kim Williams ABC Chair Kerry O’Brien (host) Journalist and author...
Aug 22, 2024•59 min
