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PODCAST

Big Ideas

Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.

society & culture politics

All Episodes

1:04:17

A song for every feeling? Pub Choir's Astrid...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/10

From innocently conning controversial radio duo Kyle and Jackie O as a kid, time in a Zambian convent as a teen, to nearly becoming an air traffic controller before finding her real passion - helping others find their voice - Astrid Jorgensen has quite a story to tell. Her new memoir is called Average At Best. She is anything but. She is anything but. On any one night, anywhere in the world, you’ll find Astrid on a stage in front of a few thousand people singing their hearts out

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0:42:51

Victoria's new treaty with First Peoples — a turning...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/09

Australia now has its first treaty with this country's first peoples. After nearly a decade of formal consultation and negotiation, the Victorian Statewide Treaty has become law, and will come into effect from early December. This address outlines the long road to achieving the treaty, why it's important, and what comes next.The 25th Dr Charles Perkins Oration was recorded on 28 October 2025 at the University of Sydney.SpeakersNgarra MurrayCo-chair, Victorian First People's

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0:54:35

Pay attention — writer Emily Maguire finds...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/08

Humans are by nature creative, but how do we turn a spark of inspiration into something more tangible? Author Emily Maguire draws inspiration from some of the world's most creative minds — from Lin Manuel Miranda, to Susan Sontag, to explore the ingredients of a truly creative life.The 2025 Colin Roderick Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Foundation of Australian Literary Studies at James Cook University in partnership with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, was recorded on

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0:54:36

Can science keep dementia at bay and keep your brain...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/04

As we grow older, changes to our bodies and minds are inevitable. But what if science could help us age better? Our experts on Big Ideas uncover the latest science behind healthy brain aging. What's possible in the fight against cognitive decline and dementia? How might you live a longer, healthier, and more meaningful life?Presented by Sydney Ideas, the talk program at the University of SydneySpeakersAssociate Professor Eleanor DrummondSenior Lecturer (Neuroscience), School of

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0:53:54

Acclaimed author Christos Tsiolkas on fence-sitting...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/03

When acclaimed Australia author Christos Tsiolkas was invited to give the 2025 Ray Mathew Lecture at the National Library of Australia, he had in mind what he wanted to say, as difficult as it was. Then he got a rage-filled message from a longtime friend. How did Christos respond? Is fence-sitting an indulgence in an ethically troubled, divisive, dislocated world? Or, is 'speaking across the fence' something writers and other creatives can offer us?"We're urged at all times — and

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1:09:58

The stories we tell about cricket — with Paul Giles...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/02

From The Don to Warny, the Gabba to the G, from its legacy of British colonialism, to the Asian powerhouse nations of today — cricket is not just a sport, but also a reflection of the societies who play it. Drawing on a wealth of writing about the sport, including novels, biographies, and media reporting, this lecture explores the cultural and historical legacy of cricket.This event was recorded at the Australian Catholic University on 30 October 2025.SpeakersPaul Giles Professor

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0:54:36

Judge Navi Pillay on the fight for human rights,...

Big Ideas ·

2025/12/01

Born in apartheid South Africa, she became the country's first female high court judge. She sat on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and helped to establish sexual violence and rape as war crimes in international law. At a time of global conflict and instability, the work and achievements of Navi Pillay are a reminder of what can be achieved when accountability trumps impunity, when the law defeats lawlessness, and justice prevails over injustice.The 2025 Sydney Peace

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0:53:51

Musician Holly Rankin on why young Australians feel...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/27

Young Australians are losing faith that our politics, our civic institutions and the mainstream media are working for them. Why is this? And how can our democracy adapt to win back the trust and engagement of new generations?The 2025 Speaker's Lecture was recorded at Parliament House on 27 October 2025.SpeakersHolly Rankin - Musician and recording artist Jack River, founder, Sentiment, director, Teach Us ConsentMilton Dick - Speaker of the House of Representatives, Labor Member for

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0:54:36

What are universities for today? The usefulness of...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/26

Are our universities facing an existential crisis by trying to be too many things? Places for learning, research, the production of new knowledge, the production of job-ready graduates, and profit-making enterprises? Does everything they do have to produce a tangible, measurable, practical, or profitable outcome? Should they also foster intellectual life and the pursuit of ideas just for curiosity's sake? Or is that an elite, outdated mission? Who gets to judge what knowledge is

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0:59:27

Jane Caro — why Australia is failing our school system

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/25

We often hear about "failing schools", but what if it is us, the Australian community, who are failing them? Public school advocate Jane Caro argues that Australia's pursuit of school choice, and the tax payer funding that enables it, has come at a huge cost to the school system, to children's education, and to our broader society.The 2025 Dymphna Clark Lecture at Manning Clark House was recorded on 26 August 2025.SpeakersJane Caro — Author, The Mother, Lyrebird, What Makes a Good

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0:54:35

Coming Out and Inviting In — with Zoe Terakes, Nina...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/24

Join ABC's Mon Schafter and four incredible speakers as they share honest, powerful stories about revealing their identities on their own terms. From fear to freedom, isolation to community - this is a conversation about truth, courage, and connection. Held in recognition of 40 years of ACON, it celebrates every journey of coming out and shines a light on personal stories, collective resilience, and the power of being seen.SupportIf this conversation raises any concerns for you,

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0:54:36

Searching for convivencia — philosopher AC Grayling...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/20

If you're a feminist, or pro-civil or gay rights, does that make you "woke"? And if you're not, does that mean you should be cancelled, or abused online, or lose your job? So many of our public debates nowadays are divided along these lines, but is there a better way?This event was recorded at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival. To explore more Melbourne Writers Festival talks, visit mwf.com.au.SpeakersAC Grayling Philosopher, author, Discriminations: Making peace in the culture

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1:10:05

The Sophia Club live philosophy — what are friends for?

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/19

Friends are different from family. We choose them and they choose us. Philosophers long wondered about what makes friendship such a distinctive relationship in our lives. Is being a good friend a kind of moral virtue? Can friends help us find our true selves? What about the dark and difficult side of friendship — toxic friends and frenemies? How is the love between friends different from romantic love? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests at the Sophia Club, a live

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0:44:48

Understanding China's history is crucial for Australia

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/18

To deal with China as a major trading partner, and also a national security threat requires understanding the history that made China what it is today. That history is shaped by resistance and different waves of uprising. How have governments dealt with these movements? How do they influence politics today?China: Past, Present, Future was recorded live at the 2025 Sydney Writers' Festival.Listen to Big Ideas — Behrouz Boochani and Arnold Zable: The language of

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0:55:15

Universities and other antidotes to authoritarianism

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/17

The United States has long been famous for its world leading universities. But in the face of research funding cuts, government attacks on free speech, DEI and the right to protest, and the persecution of foreign students, could all that be changing?The speech, Poison Ideas: Universities and other Antidotes to Authoritarianism, was recorded at the 2025 conference of the Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DASSH) representing 350 deans and

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0:54:36

One day, everyone will have always been against this...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/13

The Western world is supposed to stand for values like freedom, justice and human rights, a commitment to meet wrongdoing with consequence, guided by rules and obligations. How then, do we reconcile that with Western governments' and media's support of and complicity in the horrors in Gaza? How do we witness the bloodshed and destruction, and yet look away?This conversation was recorded at the Canberra Writers Festival on 26 October 2025.SpeakersOmar El Akkad Author, One Day,

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1:03:07

Fixing Australia's housing crisis — is increasing...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/12

Build more houses. That'll fix Australia's housing crisis won't it? If you listen to governments, you'd sure think so. Under the National Housing Accord, all governments have agreed to support a target of building 1.2 million new, well-located dwellings in 5 years. But will that increase housing affordability, availability, quality, security of tenure, and the growing gap between the haves and have-nots? What's missing from this picture?Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the

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0:54:35

Gough Whitlam's dismissal — why is it still relevant...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/11

Whitlam's dismissal and following double dissolution 50 years ago, was arguably the most tumultuous period in Australia's political and constitutional history. This political crisis raises key questions about constitutional change and the robustness of Australia's current democracy. What are the lessons? And could it happen again?Presented at the National Archives of AustraliaSpeakersAnne TwomeyProfessor Emerita of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney Law SchoolFrank

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0:54:36

An intriguing story of art and espionage — how a...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/10

In the 1930s, New Zealand-born, Cambridge educated Arthur Dale Trendall carved a niche for himself as the world's foremost expert in the study of ancient South Italian vase painting. How then, did he end up leading a crack team of code-breakers working in Melbourne to decipher Japanese messages for the Allies during the Second World War?This lecture was recorded at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance in partnership with La Trobe University's Trendall Research Centre.SpeakersDr

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0:53:59

Empire of AI — Karen Hao goes inside the reckless...

Big Ideas ·

2025/11/06

When it was founded in 2015, openai — the company behind Chat GPT — had a mission to develop artificial intelligence tools that would benefit humanity. But somewhere along the way, that mission changed. While the use of AI in our daily lives is increasingly pervasive, the technology's toll on the environment, human rights, copyright, privacy and workers and resources in the global south is starting to mount. In her new book, leading AI reporter Karen Hao details the AI industry's

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