x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

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

0:53:54

From devil horns to deep listening — Maxine Beneba...

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/20

From finding the right language to connect to Country, making the world a more poetic place for kids, to a Vulcan salute between two lovers — communication makes the world go round. Three brilliantly creative communicators join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival to consider ways we communicate and how we can do it better. With great communication comes deep connection, understanding, meaning and that wonderful feeling of being understood and

en

0:54:36

How a picnic started the fall of the Iron Curtain

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/19

A brass band, goulash cooking in giant pots over open flames, people dancing around a bonfire — a pan-European picnic at the border between Hungary and Austria in 1989 was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Suddenly hundreds of East Germans stormed the border into the West and freedom. It's a moment in history where the power of ordinary people changed the world.An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain was presented at the Adelaide Writers'

en

1:00:46

Anna Funder — Bears out there, writing in the age of...

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/18

Without permission, or payment, artificial intelligence has stolen the published words of thousands of Australian writers, and it seems that they have little power to stop it. What does this mean for the future of human creativity?Anna Funder's speech was recorded live at the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival.The panel discussion, Can Australian literature survive in the age of streamers & AI? was recorded at Readings bookshop in Hawthorn.SpeakersAnna Funder - Author, Wifedom,

en

0:52:55

The remarkable life of Marie Curie and the women...

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/14

Marie Curie is arguably the most famous scientist in history, for her breakthroughs in the field of radioactivity. But Curie also redefined what was possible for women in science, inspiring generations to follow her.Dava Sobel's 2025 For Future Reference Lecture A woman's word (about science) was recorded at the State Library of Victoria.SpeakersDava SobelAuthor, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science and many moreBelinda Smith

en

0:53:31

Wellness influencers will outlive us all! The Science...

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/13

It's Team Wellness Warriors versus Team Medical Miracles. Hear the arguments and you decide! The wellness industry is booming. It's worth billions and its influencers are all over social media spruiking miracle pills and mystery remedies, crystal healing and cancer cures. Some are even steaming their vaginas (hellooooo Gywneth Paltrow!). Have they done the research that mainstream medicine refuses to? Is your doctor really the best person to help you be the healthiest you can be

en

0:49:45

How to live an experimental life

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/12

The American essayist, philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said that all life is an experiment, and the more experiments you make, the better. So can experimenting with your career, your health, where you live or who you love, improve your life, by helping you to make better decisions?This event Test and learn: living an experimental life was recorded at the University of Sydney's Raising the Bar night.SpeakersMay Samali - Founder and CEO of the Human Leadership Lab

en

0:54:37

Dugongs — up close and personal

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/11

Their closest relative is the elephant; they eat about 60 kg of sea grass per day; and there are only three dugongs in captivity in the world. One in the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Big Ideas deep dives into the mysterious world of dugongs — with fascinating stories and surprising insights.Presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane in the Queensland Museum.Big Ideas — Turning a third of our oceans into marine parks. A good idea?SpeakersDr Janet LanyonWorld authority on dugongs,

en

0:54:35

Do you know the size of your material footprint?

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/07

In your daily life you use more material than you think: metals, stones, wood, ceramics – the list goes on. We have sufficient resources to support growth, but not enough to support greed. A circular economy could support a more sustainable resource management. Presented by Planet Ark's Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACE Hub)SpeakerJanez PotočnikCo-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel, former EU Commissioner for responsible for Science and Research and for

en

0:53:34

Sarah Wilson reckons with our civilisational collapse

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/06

If you knew the world as we know it was on the verge of collapse, would that change the way you live your life? Author, activist and podcaster Sarah Wilson has found many reasons to believe our post-industrial civilisation is nearing its end. So how does she live with this confronting reality?This conversation was recorded at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival. To explore more Melbourne Writers Festival talks, visit mwf.com.au.SpeakersSarah Wilson - Author, First, We Make the

en

0:44:35

Mike Burgess — Espionage is a growing and costly...

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/05

Foreign spies attempt to infiltrate media organisations, break into restricted laboratories, target public servants on sites such as LinkedIn, approach academics at conferences … the list goes on. On Big Ideas, you have the rare opportunity to hear Mike Burgess give an unfiltered look at the threats of espionage and reveal for the first time the true costs it has on the Australian economy.Counting and Countering the Cost of Espionage, the 26th annual Hawke Lecture presented by The

en

0:54:35

Plummeting vaccination rates threaten public health

Big Ideas ·

2025/08/04

For the ﬁrst time in human history, we have the scientific know-how to vaccinate against most of the infectious diseases that killed our ancestors. But an explosion of pseudoscience and disinformation makes people hesitate to accept the shot. And so once contained diseases like measles is on the rise again. Hear why we have to act now, or risk losing centuries of gains that vaccines have brought to the world.Presented at GleebooksSpeakersRaina MacIntyreProfessor of Global

en

Not drowning waving, a modern media tale — with...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/31

The decline of the mainstream media has forced many outlets to try new things to keep audiences engaged and informed. So what works, and what is the industry's future?The ABC's 2025 Andrew Olle Lecture was recorded in Sydney on Friday 25 July 2025.SpeakersGeraldine Doogue - Host (with Hamish Macdonald), Global Roaming, ABC Radio National

en

0:57:05

From Con the Fruiterer to East West 101 — the...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/31

Australia is a multicultural country, but up until recently, when you turned on the telly, you wouldn't know it. So what role has TV played in Australia's diverse communities, on screen, behind the scenes and in the living rooms across this country, over the past 70 years?This event was recorded at Sydney's Gleebooks on Friday 11 July 2025.SpeakersKate Darian-SmithProfessorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, President of the Academy of Social Sciences in AustraliaKyle

en

0:56:56

FAT is not an F-word! The radical practice of fat joy

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/30

Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with three women embracing the radical practice of finding joy in big bodies. Fat bodies are often stigmatised, stereotyped, shamed, medicalised, and politicised. Even the word F.A.T gets denigrated. But there is another way. Reckoning with eating disorders and society's limitations, Dani, Evie, and Kalpana are no longer holding back from the delights of food, fashion, dance, ocean swimming, and more. Hear why, for them, the personal is

en

0:44:03

How animals use natural medicine to heal themselves

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/29

Meet apes that swallow leaves to dislodge worms and sparrows that use cigarette butts to repel parasites. Many animals use medicine to treat themselves — something that for a long time has been thought to be the exclusive domain of humans. Now scientists are turning to the medical knowledge of the animal kingdom to improve agriculture, create better lives for our pets, and develop new pharmaceutical drugs.Presented at the Free Library of PhiladelphiaListen to Big Ideas: SpeakerJaap

en

0:58:45

The dark side of collaboration — when thinking...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/28

At face value, collaboration sounds like a good thing: collaboration in the classroom, with colleagues, or between nations. But throughout history, collaboration was not always considered a virtuous act, and those who were identified as collaborators were shunned, humiliated or worse. This talk explores how people justify their involvement in wrongdoing, and how when collaboration devolves into conformity, it risks silencing dissent.This event was recorded at the Bundanon Art

en

0:54:36

Adam Liaw on what spaghetti bolognese tells us about...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/24

Food is essential to human life, but are we taking it for granted? Popular chef, writer and broadcaster Adam Liaw is an advocate for good food for everyone. He takes us on a journey through the history and science of food, and its place in our societies, economies and cultures throughout time, arguing that food should play a central role in government policy making.The 2025 Hugh Stretton Oration was recorded at the University of Adelaide on 14 May 2025.SpeakersAdam LiawCook,

en

0:54:00

Mao and Stalin — did they lead the way for tyrannical...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/23

Books on tyrants, dictators, and authoritarian leaders are suddenly bestsellers again as we all try to make sense of the tilt towards tyrannical leadership around the world, the mass compliance it commands, and its use of terror, fear, and often violence, to govern. Two of Australia's leading scholars on China and the Soviet Union, Linda Jaivin (author of BOMBARD THE HEADQUARTERS! The Cultural Revolution in China) and Sheila Fitzpatrick (author of The Death of Stalin) join Big

en

0:55:11

One land, two laws, it’s black and white — with...

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/22

At a time when governments are retreating from promises of progress for First Nations people, what can be achieved through legal and human rights mechanisms?The 2025 Mabo Oration was recorded at the Cairns Performing Arts Centre on 30 May 2025, with thanks to the Queensland Human Rights Commission and QPAC.SpeakersKatie KissAboriginal and Torres Strait islander Social Justice CommissionerGail MaboVisual Artist, Artistic Director, Choreographer, Writer and Actor

en

0:54:29

Doctor Who turns 60 — why the world still loves you

Big Ideas ·

2025/07/21

Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change. It's been able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction. Why we are so addicted to fiction, and why does this wonderful wandering time traveller mean so much to so many. This talk was provided by the York Festival of Ideas. The Festival is led by the University of York, UK.SpeakerJohn HiggsAuthor of Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who (Weidenfeld

en

623 results

Similar Podcasts

Voices of Life

APG Mannheim

Promo Estereo Podcast

Promo Estereo

Talking Timelines Podcast

Talkingtimelines

גיקונומי

ראם שרמן ודורון ניר

Drømmefanger

Drømmefanger