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
Smaller conflicts than those we're witnessing right now have set off world wars. Who will be the crucial superpowers and super peacemakers in the next five years? Get your head around the major machinations and manoeuvres with Natasha Mitchell and guests.
May 08, 2024•53 min
We are living in an "age of crises," says former New Zealand prime minister, Helen Clark. With her leadership experience and expertise in governance, politics, and policy, Helen Clark and a panel of health and international relation experts explore the challenges facing the world today and what is needed to achieve a healthier and thriving future for all. While it's easy to feel overwhelmed by complex problems, speaking up about inequality can make a difference. Helen Clark urged everyone to "ra...
May 07, 2024•54 min
Women’s refuges are now a central part of our response to family violence, with hundreds operating across Australia. But that hasn't always been the case.
May 06, 2024•54 min
As Donald Trump makes his case for re-election in 2024, under a cloud of criminal prosecutions, how can journalists better cover such a norm-busting and rule-breaking political figure?
May 02, 2024•54 min
New York writer Jonathan Rosen’s memoir The Best Minds: a story of friendship, madness, and the tragedy of good intentions is a story of tenderness, heartache, and horror as he explores the vexed tensions between civil rights, medical power, and the complexities of recognising and treating severe psychotic illness. He joined Natasha Mitchell with psychiatrist Patrick McGorry for a powerful conversation at the 2024 Adelaide Writers Week . In light of the recent Bondi shopping centre killings, thi...
May 01, 2024•53 min
You don't need that dress, you need a hug. Or so says fashion activist and writer, Aja Barber.
Apr 30, 2024•54 min
It took 400,000 people to land man to the moon. And it's using that example as inspiration that the influential Italian American economist Mariana Mazzucato argues we can change capitalism.
Apr 29, 2024•54 min
Could Asia Pacific be with China within a couple of years? Is the independence of Taiwan worth for Australia to get involved? Would Indonesia be a better security partner for Australia than the US? On Big Ideas, a panel of foreign policy experts dissect evolving dynamics of South East Asia and offer insights into how Australia can navigate the delicate diplomatic dance with the two global giants and emerging regional powers. There are many different views on Australia's geopolitical position and...
Apr 25, 2024•54 min
Join host Natasha Mitchell and guests for some straight talk that cuts through spin and jargon. Has the way politicians speak ever made you shout at the television, feel bamboozled, helpless, or shut out of democratic debate over our shared future? Pollie-talk can make important issues opaque, the inequitable seem fair, and the fair seem inequitable. Hear from Richard Denniss (author of Econobabble: How to decode political spin and economic nonsense), Yanis Varoufakis (author of Technofeudalism:...
Apr 24, 2024•55 min
Only 50 years ago, if you were 60 years old your chance of dying was the same as an 80-year-old's today. Thanks to progress in medical technology, you can live longer than ever before. Quantum technology and quantum screening, modelling with digital twins, harvesting the power of AI and real time monitoring of your molecules – a panel of health experts discusses the new frontiers in the development of drugs and health technology.
Apr 23, 2024•54 min
Gender equality isn't just about equal pay, it's a health and safety issue. Women perceive safety very differently to men, and that's why they need a seat at the table when policies are being nutted out. Just a month after Australia gets its first Gender Equality Strategy, Stephanie Copus Campbell speaks about her first-hand experience on women's rights and discrimination in Papua New Guinea and many other countries in the region — and her observations as the international Ambassador for Gender ...
Apr 22, 2024•53 min
How valuable are trees as an alternative crop? And what's the role of agroforestry in the future of sustainable farming?
Apr 18, 2024•54 min
They use of shark nets to protect us from sharks is highly controversial. Do they work, what do they do to marine life, are there alternatives, and why are sharks so political? Join Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2024 Ocean Lovers Festival for a robust interrogation of of an issue that ignites passions. Speakers Lawrence Chlebeck Marine biologist and campaigner Humane Society International Dr Chris Pepin-Neff Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Sydney Author, Flaws: Shark Bites a...
Apr 17, 2024•55 min
It's a question that has focused the minds of astronauts, scientists, space entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike – is there, could there be, life on Mars? The race is on to find out, with NASA hoping to land astronauts there by the late 2030s.
Apr 16, 2024•54 min
