Failure is a part of life, whether we like it or not. While most of us don't ever want to fail, failure does have things to teach us — about ourselves, about resilience, about persistence, and about doing the things we love. Over six years, Siang Lu received more than 200 rejections from publishers for three manuscripts — before going on to publish a Miles Franklin award winning novel. What did he learn about failure, and what did it teach him about success? The 2025 E.W Cole Lecture was recorde...
Apr 02, 2026•54 min
Misinformation, disinformation, deep fakes, false news — do you feel confident spotting them? They’re doing real harm to our relationships, our communities, our health, even to the future health of our democracy. New research has found 73% of Australians believe disinformation will be a major threat to our national security in the next decade. Former Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers believes we can’t afford to be complacent. Australia is only one of 29 fully fledged democracies in th...
Apr 01, 2026•55 min
In more than 40 years on the front lines of international human rights Alex Neve has heard Canada described as ‘the land of human rights’ — and seen the profound ways Canada has failed to uphold universal human rights, both at home and abroad. In his final Massey Lecture, he lays out his vision for a way forward. Lecture five and last of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series : Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World Speaker Alex Neve Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada (...
Mar 31, 2026•54 min
Eleanor Roosevelt once said that universal human rights begin in “small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world.” In his fourth Massey Lecture, Alex Neve reflects on moments when people power won the Lecture four of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series : Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World Speaker Alex Neve Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada (2000 to 2020); adjunct Professor in international human rights, Unive...
Mar 30, 2026•55 min
Our inherent human rights belong to us from the moment we are born. There is nothing we need to do to earn them, and they are supposed to apply to us until the day we die. But in his third Massey Lecture, Alex Neve argues the powerful have made human rights a ‘club.’ Lecture three of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series : Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World Speaker Alex Neve Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada (2000 to 2020); adjunct Professor in international human...
Mar 26, 2026•55 min
The ideals behind the concept of human rights — such as the sacredness of life, reciprocity, justice and fairness — have millennia-old histories. After the carnage of the Second World War and the Holocaust, these ideas took a new legal form. In his second Massey Lecture, Alex Neve considers six dizzying years that laid out a blueprint for a new world. Lecture two of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series : Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World Speaker Alex Neve Secretary-General of A...
Mar 24, 2026•55 min
Human rights are universal, right? For everyone, everywhere, without exception. That promise, born out of the Holocaust and World War II, has been broken repeatedly. But in a time of fear and fracture, can we renew it? World-renowned Canadian human rights activist and lawyer Alex Neve has seen the best and worse of humanity. He's worked in war zones in Darfur and Eastern Chad, with detainees in Guantánamo Bay, on reconciliation for Indigenous communities in Canada, and beyond. In this special se...
Mar 23, 2026•55 min
This episode explores the past and present expectations and experiences of Australian fathers, in the workforce, domestic duties, and child-rearing, and examines how their roles have also shaped the lives of mothers, children, and society. These conversations were recorded at the launch of the book Fathering: An Australian History at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Speakers Fathering and Mothering: Professor Jacqui McDonald Convenor of the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium , De...
Mar 19, 2026•54 min
Dive into the world of heroin chic and Girl Power to make sense of the mixed messages Millennial women experienced as they came of age. Before social media warped our sense of self, other aggressive forces were at work, hellbent on exploiting feminism for profit, and taking women down while they did. Sophie Gilbert, a Pulitizer-nominated culture writer with The Atlantic, investigates the impacts in her eye-opening book Girl on Girl: How pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves...
Mar 18, 2026•56 min
She's attracted controversy and cancellation, but Palestinian Australian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah has not been deterred from speaking out about the plight of Palestinians in the war on Gaza, and the experience of Muslim Australians since 9/11. At this event organised in the wake of the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week, she joins that festival's former Director Louise Adler, to talk about her latest novel, Discipline, and the experience of art imitating life. This conversation...
Mar 17, 2026•54 min
When a violent crime makes the news, mental illness is often part of the story. But how that story is told, the words chosen, the details included, the connections drawn, has consequences that ripple far beyond the news cycle. For people living with schizophrenia or psychosis, irresponsible reporting isn't just frustrating. It affects how neighbours treat them, how employers see them, and how they see themselves. For the general public, sensationalised coverage quietly builds a picture of mental...
Mar 16, 2026•54 min
Over five decades, one single, sprawling dominion, from Yemen to Myanmar, became twelve modern nations. This is the story of how the actions of politicians in London and revolutionaries in Delhi, princes in remote palaces and soldiers in trenches, redrew the map of British India, uprooting millions, and leaving a legacy that explains much about the region today. This conversation was recorded at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali, Indonesia. Speakers Sam Dalrymple Author, Shattered Lands: Five Pa...
Mar 12, 2026•54 min
Nobel Prize winning work often happens in a young scientist's 20s or 30s — early in their careers. Are the conditions right in Australian universities today for young, hungry minds to do what Nobel laureates Brian Schmidt, Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel did in the 1990s and 1970s at the Australian National University in Canberra? The three join Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell and a huge crowd at the ANU to talk curiosity, discovery, the future of science, and more. This event was organi...
Mar 11, 2026•59 min
Presenting a road map to a world with fewer Putins and Kim Jong Uns. Political scientist Marcel Dirsus exposes the precarious reality behind the façade of the dictator's absolute power, and the remarkable ways in which even the most ruthless despots can be felt. Gareth Evans, Geoffrey Robertson, Tobias Buck and Dorcy Rugama take a closer look at crimes against humanity. When is reconciliation possible? Are international courts still useful? How important is truth telling? How Tyrants rise (and f...
Mar 10, 2026•54 min
The inaugural ABC National Forum is a live, televised panel discussion bringing together Jewish Australians to examine their lives in Australia in 2026, amid a sharp rise in antisemitism since October 7, 2023. Moderated by Insiders presenter and National Political Lead David Speers, the forum launches a new series designed to create a space for Australians to confront major national challenges and seek common ground.
Mar 09, 2026•1 hr 8 min
The roots of antisemitism run deep. Christians and Muslims have told stories for centuries about Jewish people. Stories that have weaponised the relationships among these world religions. In a world of ongoing conflict, how do we recognise, and then bridge, the divide of religious prejudice? This is a special episode of Big Ideas, prepared by the ABC's specialist religion and ethics team.The best of talks, forums, debates, and festivals held in Australia and around the world. Guests Amy-Jill Lev...
Mar 09, 2026•54 min
A global pandemic, a foreign war, a failed referendum on Indigenous rights, increasing inequality and a fractured media — these and other forces have been causing deep divisions in Australian society. So how can we instead focus on the ties that bind this country together, to reconcile our differences and foster community? What can be done to strengthen our social cohesion? The 2026 Menzies Oration was recorded at Federation University with the Menzies Leadership Foundation on 18 February 2026. ...
Mar 09, 2026•54 min
In March 2021, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers banned female students over the age of 12 from singing in public. The prohibition sparked a wave of online protests across the country, with women and girls posting videos of themselves singing, using the hashtag "I am my song". Aged just 14, Nila Ibrahimi's song, Boro Bakhair Ba Maktab or "Go to school" became an anthem of the movement. The 2025 Gandhi Oration was recorded at University of NSW Centre for Ideas on 2 October 2025. Speakers Nila Ibrahimi...
Mar 05, 2026•55 min
The Panopticon was a prison design by the famous philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham which placed prison guards in a central tower overlooking inmates. So why does scientist and climate advocate Tim Flannery want us to re-imagine the Panopticon as a path towards a more compassionate society? And why does he find warmth and connection even in conflicted communities angry about climate change policies? This event was hosted by RMIT University and Now or Never , Melbourne's festival of a...
Mar 04, 2026•1 hr 5 min
Join acclaimed author and human rights advocate Thomas Mayo and media icon Ray Martin AM as they deliver two powerful orations on justice, reconciliation, and the future of Australia. Thomas Mayo invites us to imagine a reconciled Australia that has learned from its history and forged new pathways forward. Ray Martin is demanding we stop talking and start acting on social justice for Aboriginal people. Two voices. Two generations of advocacy. One urgent question: who will we become? The Walyalup...
Mar 03, 2026•54 min
Universities are under pressure — particularly the study of subjects like languages, history, social sciences and the creative arts. This lecture looks back to a time, post war, when governments turned to universities to transform Australia's economy and society, and backed it up with significant investment and oversight. In the face of contemporary challenges, is it time once again to rethink the purpose of universities — and particularly the study of the humanities — to equip Australia with th...
Mar 02, 2026•55 min
As Bridgerton continues to captivate millions and we just marked the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, the Regency era has never been more thrilling. But how much must you know about corsets and carriages before you can break the rules? What's behind Bridgerton's runaway success? Should we love or loathe what it does with Regency history? Indeed, what would Jane Austen think of it all? Presented at the History Unbound Historical Novel Festival Speakers Alison Goodman Writer of crime, fan...
Feb 26, 2026•55 min
Feeling a little world weary? Is Stoicism the philosophy you need a little more of in your life? Can an introvert be your guide to getting out the front door? Jenny Valentish's latest book is The Introvert's Guide to Leaving the House: Solid advice for introverts, awkwards, sociophobes and stand-offishes. Brigid Delaney is author of The Secret and the Sage: A Stoic Conversation to Hold you Together in a Fractured World. What happens when a self-described introvert prepared to go out on a limb, a...
Feb 25, 2026•55 min
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is calling for a braver response to the actions of the Belarusian dictatorship. She explores the impact of the war against Ukraine on her country, on Europe — and the rest of the world. And what are Putin's strategies for Asia? Has Russia been able to advance its economic and geopolitical interests in Southeast Asia? How did regional states react to Russian aggression against Ukraine and what explains their differing responses to the invasion? "Freedom's Frontier: Belaru...
Feb 24, 2026•55 min
The hard fought for gains of one generation can pave the way for the next, but the road to equality is never straight. After meaningful progress for LGBTQIA+ people in recent years, that same community is now faced with some setbacks, and a rising hostility, So why are the human rights of LGBTIQA+ people being challenged, curtailed and politicised right now? The 2025 Higinbotham Lecture at RMIT University was recorded on 15 October 2025. Speakers Joe Ball Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Comm...
Feb 23, 2026•55 min
What is it really like to be an astronaut? How do you even become one? What happens when an argument breaks out on the International Space Station? And why are big fashion brands clamouring to design for space? As NASA prepares to return humans to the moon for the first time in 50 years, we hear from a panel of superstar astronauts about life in space. This astronauts' forum was recorded at Sydney Science Festival on 2 October 2025, presented by Sydney's Powerhouse Museum . Speakers Katherine Be...
Feb 19, 2026•56 min
Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker is a fierce advocate for intellectual and academic freedom — and one of the world’s most prominent and provocative thinkers about human language, the mind, and how societies work. He joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with an 800-strong Melbourne audience to discuss his latest book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage. Steven Pinker doesn’t shy away from controversy...
Feb 18, 2026•1 hr 12 min
In its second term, the Albanese Government enjoys a large majority in parliament and an opposition in disarray. But faced with a fragmented, fractious electorate, ever more entrenched inequality at home and volatility abroad, and with an emphasis on a stable and moderate governing style, is this government making the most of its political advantages? Does Labor still have the courage to take on the good fight? This event was recorded at the Hawke Centre at the University of Adelaide on 4 Decemb...
Feb 17, 2026•55 min
Liberalism is one of the most influential — and contested — political philosophies of the modern age. But what does it actually mean in contemporary Australia? Is it a philosophy of individual freedom and limited government? A cultural attitude toward diversity and change? Or has it become something else entirely? A panel of practitioners and philosophers, current politicians and historical scholars explores liberalism as a set of political and cultural ideas, as a practical governing philosophy...
Feb 16, 2026•55 min
It makes the world go round, but it's also the root of all evil. It hasn't always had a great rap, yet most of us would like more of it. From clay tablets to coins, credit cards to crypto, for 5000 years, money has shaped our world. This podcast episode was originally recorded on 8 October 2025 at The Wheeler Centre . Discover more talks and bold conversations by following The Wheeler Centre wherever you get your podcasts or at wheelercentre.com . Speakers David McWilliams Economist, author, The...
Feb 05, 2026•55 min
