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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

0:54:39

From Bangalore to Balmain – Padma Raman’s lifelong...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/12

The racism and resilience Padma Raman’s parents experienced lit a social justice fire in her early on. She landed on the sunny shores of Sydney in the 1980s and watched both her parents face racism and discrimination seeking work. She’s gone on to dedicate her career to making the world a better place for women and girls. It’s taken her to the halls of Federal Parliament and the United Nations. The Pamela Denoon lecture is presented by the ANU Gender Institute and the National

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0:58:10

Fashion's fails — we can fix its toxic legacy! Kit...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/11

Australians have a hardcore addiction to fast fashion. That means dyes in our waterways, microplastics in our bodies, and hundreds of thousands of tonnes of textiles dumped in landfill. Fashionista or not, do you feel powerless to change an industry dominated by global fashion giants making giant profits? Meet four passionate crusaders with fashion, finance, tech, textile, and industry know-how who are already finding ways.They join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 Ocean

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0:54:06

Warren Ellis on why he bought a Sumatran wildlife...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/10

Warren Ellis is best known as the charismatic violinist with legendary Australian instrumental rock trio Dirty Three and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Justin Kurzel's new documentary Ellis Park is a both portrait of Ellis as he comes to terms with his Ballarat childhood, and a film about the devastating impacts of wildlife trafficking, and why Ellis was driven to buy land in Sumatra to home rescued animals.The pair join the ABC's Zan Rowe at the film's premiere to talk about their

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0:46:56

To infinity – who's in charge of outer space?

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/09

How do nations work together to control access to our vast universe, negotiate who gets what resources, or even who gets to set up new colonies on far away planets? And how do we ensure that we don’t just export earthly conflicts on take-off? ‘Unlocking Cooperation: Space Diplomacy’ is a talk from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. SpeakersDr Diane HowardFormer Director of Commercial Space Policy at the National Space Council in The White HouseMai'a

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0:55:06

Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza — with...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/05

What's happening in Gaza is horrifying and shocking. As the world watches on, how are different Jewish communities reckoning with a war being waged in their name by Israel, against Hamas and the Palestinian people?This event was recorded at The Wheeler Centre on 27 May 2025 in partnership with the Jewish Council of Australia.SpeakersPeter BeinartAuthor, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning and The Crisis of ZionismProfessor of Journalism and Political Science at

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1:06:04

We asked for workers and got people — inside the...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/04

Who picks and processes those yummy strawberries you're about to put in your shopping trolley, or the crisp veggies you might stir-fry tonight? Did you know it could be a nurse or a police officer from a Pacific Island or Timor Leste on a temporary seasonal visa? A workforce we rarely hear about, lives in limbo, and stories from the coalface. From economic gains and cultural exchanges to exploitation and absconding, what are the successes and problems of the Pacific Australia

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1:00:01

The unbearable intimacy of voicing someone’s words —...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/03

Words can mean everything, or nothing at all: it all depends on how they're delivered. This relationship between writer, script, actor and audience creates a particular tension that lies at the heart of performance. Who gives meaning to the words, interprets the creative material, who holds the power?This is a lecture, but not as you know it, by members of the multi award-winning British theatre company Forced Entertainment.The 15th annual Rex Cramphorn Memorial Lecture was

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0:55:06

Gina Chick on what dark nights of the soul can teach...

Big Ideas ·

2025/06/02

Gina Chick made her name as the inaugural winner of Alone Australia, but her story begins a long time before that. It involves unimaginable hardship, death grief, illness and injury. How has she learnt to sit with all that life has thrown at her, and remain joyful and true to herself, in the face of adversity?This event was recorded at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne, with thanks to Readings Books.SpeakersGina ChickAuthor, We Are the Stars (Winner of the Australian Book

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0:54:04

Safe at home – who profits when you’re afraid of your...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/29

Your personal safety is big business, so much so that it’s given rise to “security capitalism”, a phenomenon where attempts to buy personal safety shape the world around us. As security becomes just another status symbol, do these gadgets make us safer or do they create a whole new list of anxieties – a self-fulfilling prophecy of perceived threat and risk aversion? This conversation 'Trapped: Does the security industry make us less safe?' was recorded at the CUNY Graduate

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0:56:43

The ghosts are here — Tasma Walton, Darren Rix, Craig...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/28

The ghost people arrived by boat. They never left. But the stories of first encounters and what came next live large, 250 years later, in First Nations families and communities. An ambitious journey to reclaim the names and stories disappeared by Captain James Cook, but never lost. A deeply personal excavation of herstories and the women wrenched from their Country by colonial sealers. A Polish freedom fighter and the fight for the mountain that bears his name. Join Big Ideas host

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0:54:05

Words to sing the world alive — waking up First...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/27

At the time of colonisation, there were more than 250 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia, but these days, all are considered endangered. Many First Nations people are working hard to revive and reclaim their mother tongues. In the anthology, Words to Sing the World Alive: Celebrating First Nations Languages, 40 Indigenous Australians share words and phrases that are meaningful to them.This event was recorded at the Clunes Booktown Festival on on Dja Dja Wurrung Country on 22

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0:52:45

From vulture bone flutes to ‘organised sound’—...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/26

Music has been around for at least as long as humans, and possibly even longer. How have forces like religion, the economy, society and technology, shaped music over time? And why, in lullabies and concert halls, songlines and streaming services, have humans always been irresistibly drawn to making it?This event was recorded at Sydney's Gleebooks.SpeakersAndrew FordHost, The Music Show, ABC Radio NationalAuthor, The Shortest History of Music, and moreAward-winning composerKirsty

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0:54:39

If it bleeds it leads – Bruce Shapiro on documenting...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/22

From wars with global consequences to violent crimes in the suburbs, trauma underpins so much of the news cycle. It’s something award-winning journalist Bruce Shapiro came to understand intimately when, as a young crime reporter, he was stabbed. It changed his whole perspective on his profession, dedicating a large part of his career to the question of how trauma in yourself - or your source - changes the way you approach a story. Hear how trauma became newsworthy, how reporters

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1:07:03

Live to 150? David Sinclair on why we age — and why...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/21

What if we could turn back time on our biological clock and slow down — even reverse — aging? High profile Harvard scientist David Sinclair is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To. His lab’s work is as ambitious as it is controversial. He wants to radically change the way we live our lives — and push at the boundary of what it means to be human. Professor Sinclair joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 World Science

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1:00:04

Australia and the spectre of war — from Vietnam to today

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/20

It's been 60 years since then Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies sent Australians to fight in the Vietnam War. Since that time, the defence force has been involved in many armed conflicts and peace keeping missions around the world — but with varying degrees of public support. So how have successive Australian governments managed public consensus around military engagements? And with war once again a threat to global security, might they have to do so again?These events were

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0:54:57

Australia votes — what message should we take from...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/19

If democracy is the will of the people, what does this federal election result say about Australia? In his election night victory speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians had voted for Australian values, claiming these were fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all. But is this right message we should take from the election result?This conversation was recorded live at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival in partnership with The Wheeler Centre. To explore more

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0:54:11

What are you wearing? Why we aren’t buying Australian...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/15

Australians are now the biggest consumers per capita of clothes in the world. But just three per cent of clothing is made here in Australia. So is it time for a fashion rethink?This event was held at the Melbourne Museum as part of Melbourne Fashion Festival's Fashion Talks program on 4 March 2025. SpeakersTara MosesChief Operating Officer, RM WilliamsSarah SheridanCo-founder, Clothing the GapsAmy GallagherCo-founder, KlokeJuanita PageFounder, Joseph and JamesJaana Quaintance-James

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0:54:03

Mark Zuckerberg claims corporations are culturally...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/14

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has said “a lot of the corporate world has become culturally neutered” and that it needs more “masculine energy”? Has it and does it? At Meta, he recently shut down initiatives that promote equity and diversity in his workplace. In the USA, so has Ford, Mcdonalds, Walmart, and the Trump administration. But in Australia, less than 5% of CEOs in private companies are women and the gender pay gap is slow to budge. Meanwhile, future male leaders are being courted

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0:55:53

History lessons — historians Orlando Figes, Bettany...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/13

Democracies in retreat, attacks on science, border disputes, death and destruction. It can feel like we are living in unprecedented times - but here's the thing: world history has a habit of repeating itself. So what lessons does history teach us about this moment in which we find ourselves? Do we humans learn anything from the past, or are we destined to repeat the same mistakes?This event was recorded at Adelaide Writers' Week on 5 May 2025.SpeakersOrlando FigesHistorian of

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0:53:49

Chatting with 2025 Grammy winner Ruthie Foster

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/12

After five nominations, Ruthie Foster has taken home the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album - affirming her status as an American music legend. In this intimate conversation, she shares what made her want to be a singer; the roles of her grandmother and mother in her life; why faith is so important to her and why she wants to sing about real people. And much more…A Heartlands Conservation presented at the Blue Mountains Music Festival.SpeakersRuthie FosterAmerican

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