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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

0:52:17

Vladimir Putin’s Russia — with exiled journalist and...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/08

The exiled founder of Russia's only independent television news channel, Mikhail Zygar, takes us inside Vladimir Putin's Russia, with a firsthand account of how the President has successfully silenced the media, opposition and Kremlin critics, to cement his hold on power.The 2025 AN Smith Lecture: Journalism against autocracy: Putin, Trump and the future of news was recorded at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism on 31 March 2025.SpeakersMikhail

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0:53:24

Rituals, rats, and reeded vertebrae! The mysteries of...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/07

A story of continents crashing and cleaving apart, the making of a civilisation, the language of the dead, and ... a mummified rat makes a cameo too. The Incan empire was vast and sophisticated. It built the stunning citadel in the clouds of Machu Picchu in the Andes mountains. But within a century its people were catastrophically wiped out by the onslaught of the Spanish conquistadors. Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with two intrepid researchers — an archaeologist and a

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0:53:28

Mental ill-health and the power of words

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/06

The language used to talk about mental ill-health can play a key role in reducing or enforcing stigma. And it's constantly evolving. But what terms should be used and when? And by whom? The wrong word can not only deeply hurt a person's feelings. It can end careers, destroy relationships, cut access to support systems. This special World Mental Health Day PsychTalks event was presented by the Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia Network (MISRA), the Melbourne School of

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0:54:05

Worried about the future? A mosquito could help you...

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/05

What can a mosquito teach us about time? Noone likes a mosquito bite — but for a brief moment when it stings you, you know you are alive. Humans are temporal beings, but across cultures, our concepts of time are vastly different. This event explores what we can learn from science, philosophy and Indigenous perspectives that can alter experiences of and attitudes to time, to make better decisions for the future.This event was recorded at the Sophia Club in London on 17 October

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0:54:05

Australia votes— are our political parties on the nose?

Big Ideas ·

2025/05/01

This election has been described as a boring campaign, but with some fascinating contests. So just what is going on in the minds of voters as Australia heads to the polls this weekend?This event was recorded at the Sorrento Writers Festival on 27 May 2025.SpeakersFrank BongiornoProfessor of History, Australian National UniversityPresident, Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Historical AssociationAuthor, Dreamers and Schemers: A Political

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0:56:11

Has the world lost the plot? John Lyons, Greg...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/30

Are we living through a key turning point in world history? How do we make sense of this present moment, and what's on the horizon?Trump's trade wars, long-held alliances dismantled, the deadly conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the rise and rise of AI, the tech oligarch takeover, China's military build-up, NATO's demise, and much more. It's a confusing time. Four seasoned analysts and journalists with their finger on the pulse join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to share their

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0:56:03

The painting that changed Australia — the story of...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/29

It's been called a coming-of-age story for a nation. The Whitlam Government's purchase of Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles in 1973 helped to bring down the government. So how did this abstract expressionist masterpiece become the most famous, most controversial artwork in Australia?Then: how does political portraiture affect how we feel about politicians — and how we vote? Jacqueline Maley looks at The Art in the Optics — and explains why political portraiture is more important than

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0:54:04

Are Donald Trump and US politics bringing global...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/28

Until recently, the USA provided about 30% of global health funding. It was dominant in supplying HIV/AIDS medication and funded a major part of medical research. Much of this has now stopped with Donald Trump restricting gender affirming care, withdrawing from the WHO and holding funds from USAID - and the list goes on. What are the impacts on pandemic preparedness, future global  health priorities and  resource mobilisation?This conversation has been presented by the The

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0:49:51

Sir Simon Schama — On antisemitism

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/24

Acclaimed British historian Sir Simon Schama reflects on the history of antisemitism, the Holocaust and contemporary culture. He says that for millennia Jewish people have been "the other of convenience. We are the dark mirror in which the wish fulfilment of other societies takes it out on people who are said to represent its opposite."Presented at the Adelaide Writers Festival in partnership with the University of Sydney.SpeakerSir Simon SchamaBritish historian and television

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0:57:41

How do we make cancer treatment worth it, work...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/23

Cancer is common and chemo and radiotherapies can save or extend our lives. But sometimes they don't, or they stop working, or they come with disabling long-term side effects. In a state of desperation, some of us seek out unproven alternatives which might even put us at greater risk of cancer. Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests to find out how scientists are attacking the problem of cancer treatment.This event was organised by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell

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0:53:35

Pankaj Mishra — the world after Gaza

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/22

For the past 18 months, Israel's war in Gaza has polarised the world. The Indian author and essayist Pankaj Mishra reckons with the conflict through the lens of colonialism, morality and history.This event was recorded at the University of NSW Centre for Ideas on 27 February 2025.SpeakersPankaj MishraAuthor, The World After Gaza, From the Ruins of Empire and Age of Anger: A History of the PresentEssayist, New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, The New Yorker and

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0:54:05

Uncovering Pompeii — 300 years of archaeology

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/21

Two thousand years ago, life in Pompeii stood still when Mount Vesuvius erupted, preserving the town in volcanic ash for centuries. Today, this ancient Roman city captures the imagination like few others.This event was recorded at the National Museum of Australia on 14 December 2024.SpeakersDr Sophie HayRoman archaeologist, press and communications officer, Paco archeological de PompeiiProfessor Steven EllisProfessor of Classics and Roman Archaeology at the University of

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0:54:06

When women resist authoritarianism — what's happening...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/17

Authoritarian regimes are threatened by women who fight for their freedom — and are pushing back in even more extreme and deadly ways. The world watched wide-eyed as Iranians took to the streets and social media for the #WomenLifeFreedom movement. We watched Afghan women and children run towards American planes taking off from Kabul as the Taliban returned to power. In Myanmar, women have taken up arms against the military junta. What do women at these front-lines need you to know

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0:44:16

A season of death — with Raimond Gaita and Michelle Lesh

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/17

The only certainty in life is that we will all some day die. Most of us don't know when that day will come. But others must face their mortality front on. Mark Rafael Baker was no stranger to death, losing three loved ones in seven years — and then he was confronted with his own.This event was recorded at Readings Bookshop Melbourne in October 2024.SpeakersMichelle LeshLecturer at Melbourne Law School, University of MelbourneRaimond GaitaEmeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy,

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0:54:03

Where is the soul in science? Natasha Mitchell and...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/16

Join Natasha Mitchell and guests to grapple with some gritty paradoxes about science and religion, and in this era of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and existential angst — are they serving the needs they used to? Science drives much of modern life, and yet fewer people are drawn to studying it at school putting scientific literacy at risk. There's been a rise in anti-science sentiment and a questioning the authority of scientific expertise. Many societies are becoming more

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0:54:05

When the Tech Bros come to town — with Kara Swisher...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/15

We know them as Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs. But to Kara Swisher, they're Mark, Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Steve. She was once a Silicon Valley insider, but now she's one of big tech's most vocal critics.This event was recorded at Adelaide Writers Week on Monday 3 March 2025.SpeakersKara SwisherAuthor, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web and There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere:

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0:54:05

The biggest threat to the planet is a story —...

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/14

It's the story that sustainable environment regulation and programs ALWAYS come at the cost of jobs and prosperity.It doesn't matter whether it's true or not, talking about the risk to profits usually drowns out the alternative narrative of scientists and environmental campaigners.Peter Cosier was there, at the beginning — and talks about the wins and losses of environmental politics in Australia.Presented at the Lyrebird FestivalSpeakersPeter CosierChair of Accounting for

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0:54:05

BBC Reith lecture 4 — Can you change a violent mind?

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/10

Is prison time for violent offenders mostly about appeasing a sense of revenge? And if so, are there better ways to rehabilitate perpetrators? Dr Gwen Adshead assesses the effectiveness and impact of therapeutic interventions and restorative justice - and she's looking at how Norway does it.The 2024 BBC Reith lecture seriesSpeakersDr Gwen AdsheadAward-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You Know. Encounters in Forensic PsychiatryAnita Anand

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0:54:05

BBC Reith lecture 3 – Does trauma cause violence?

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/09

The long term impact of childhood trauma on your body and mind is profound and devastating. Many perpetrators of violent crimes have suffered abuse themselves. But is it as easy as to say that trauma causes violence? There are many more people who have lived through trauma and don’t start hurting others.The 2024 BBC Reith lectureSpeakersDr Gwen AdsheadAward-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You Know. Encounters in Forensic PsychiatryOlivia

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0:53:38

BBC Reith lecture 2 — Goodness as the antidote to evil

Big Ideas ·

2025/04/08

You all have the capacity for evil behaviour in you — given the right mix of circumstances. Rigidity of thinking about others, egocentricity, setting your moral rule book and dehumanising victims are contributing factors. But just as innate to you is the antidote to evil: goodness. Find out how to maintain this fine balance on Big Ideas.This is the second 2024 BBC Reith lectureSpeakersDr Gwen AdsheadAward-winning forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, author of The Devil You

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