Big Ideas

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. Speakers Dava Sobel Author, The Elements of Marie Curie: H...

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...

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 R...

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...

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) Speaker Janez Potočnik Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resou...

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...

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. Countin...

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 t...

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. Speakers Geraldine Doogue - Host (with Hamish Macdonald), Global Roaming , ABC Radio National

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. Speakers Kate Darian-Smith Professorial Fellow at the Un...

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,...

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 pharmaceutic...

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 co...

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...

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 Rev...

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. Speakers Katie Kiss Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Social Justice Commissioner Gail...

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. Spe...

Acclaimed British author Jeanette Winterson argues that 200 years ago, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, was a message in a bottle, a prophesy, of today's AI revolution. This conversation was recorded at the Sydney Writers' Festival , in partnership with the University of New South Wales's Centre for Ideas on 21 May 2025. Speakers Jeanette Winterson Author, 12 Bytes: How artificial intelligence will ch...

Citizen Jury is ABC Radio National's experiment in citizen-led democracy. The ingredients? A gnarly issue + a jury of citizens = conversations + ideas for solutions + a public event to share them. Join Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell in Dubbo, NSW for our first Citizen Jury. We all want electricity at the flick of a switch, but who bears the brunt of making that happen? Join citizens who live...

John Maynard Keynes was an economist whose dreams went beyond balance sheets and into political ideas and cultural movements. He advised world leaders during world wars, witnessed the great depression first hand and counted himself as one of the Bloomsbury group, a set of London's most influential writers and intellectuals like Virginia Woolf. This discussion from CUNY Graduate Center is an in dep...

Photojournalism can define a moment, a movement, an era or even a whole generation. It can lift a weary spirit, move opinions, or change the way we view the world. Three of Australia's best photojournalists tell the stories behind some of Australia's most iconic photographs, and reflect on the profession's past, present and future. This event was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 27...

Australia faces many big challenges, but is our democracy up to the job of solving these, or are we experiencing a decision deadlock? One process that could help governments meet the moment is known as citizen jury or assembly, where a cross section of ordinary people deliberate together over a thorny policy issue, then provide advice. How do these work, are they effective, and should they play a...

We bathe in the amniotic fluid our mother's womb. Our cells are full of water. For Walbanja woman, artist, educator and researcher Dr Jodi Edwards, this ocean-within intimately connects her to the ocean she grew up with on Sea Country. From saving the Sea kin to sensing the Gaia imperative — join Jodi with Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell, and also hear from award-winning author James Bradley and C...

The Kurdish poet Behrouz Boochani and the Australian writer Arnold Zable explore the power of friendship as an act of resistance, nourishment and healing. This event was recorded with the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne 29 April 2025. Speakers Behrouz Boochani Kurdish-Iranian writer, journalist, scholar, cultural advocate, filmmaker, and public advocate for human rightsAuthor, No Fr...

In October 2023, Australians voted no to a Voice to Parliament for First Nations people. In this panel from the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival , four speakers who saw the campaign up close discuss what went wrong, and even whether the whole endeavour was worth it. Ultimately they’re all trying to answer the question, where do we go from here?  Speakers  Thomas Mayo Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalg...