Big Ideas

Students are dropping out, academics are burning out, so is enough being done to save higher education? It's a multibillion-dollar sector, employing and educating millions, with expectations it can deliver the solutions and the workers Australia needs. But Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner says universities are in serious trouble. This conversation was recorded at Readings Books on 15 July 2025. Sp...

Some boys are being radicalised by misogynist online subcultures like the 'Manosphere' and the 'incel' (involuntarily celibate) scene. Parents are anxious and boys are confused. What's happening, why, and what can be done? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival for an insightful exploration with three influential Australians. Speakers Jess Hill , investi...

Is the world really in the midst of an AI revolution, or is it all just clever marketing, powered by immense amounts of money, capital and hype? This episode arms you to spot AI hype in all its guises, expose the exploitation and power-grabs it aims to hide, and push back against it at work and daily life. The conversation with Emily M Bender was recorded at RMIT University in partnership with Rea...

Barry Jones and Kerry O'Brien - Two titans of Australian political and social commentary share insights into how to think well, how to act well and how to make sense of politics, history, the fragility of civilisation, science and love. Presented at the Byron Writers Festival Speakers Barry Jones Former science minister, Labor member of the Victorian and Commonwealth parliaments, author Kerry O'Br...

They cook, make babies, and look impossibly perfect while doing it. Tradwives are using social media to redefine femininity and womanhood… or are they just setting it waaaayyy back? The Tradwives Club was presented by the Sydney Opera House at the 2025 All About Women Festival. Speakers Megan Agnew — Senior Features Writer (New York), The Times of London Rosie Waterland — Comedian, author of Broke...

Esther Freud’s first semi-autobiographical novel Hideous Kinky became a film starring Kate Winslet and told the wild story of two little girls living in Morocco with their bohemian mother.  More than 30 years on, those girls are back and growing up fast in her sequel, My Sister and Other Lovers.  Esther joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the Byron Writers Festival to explore the ties that bi...

What happens when the harsh realities of our daily lives — death, war, illness, hardship — invade that most private of realms — our sleep? Four poets and writers explore how things show up in dreams that otherwise can't be expressed, and how they've used the subconscious to inspire their creative work. This conversation was recorded at the Addi Road Writers Festival on 17 May 2025. Speakers Mireil...

With Donald Trump mediating conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, what has become of the United States' strategy in the Asia Pacific region? The event Asia Disrupted: Trump's First Six Months was recorded at La Trobe Asia on 1 August 2025. Speakers Daniel Flitton — Managing Editor, The Interpreter The Lowy Institute Dr Lupita Wijaya — Research fellow, La Trobe Asia Ambika Vishwanath — Principal...

Even years later, children's books can hold a special place in our hearts, and they also teach, comfort, inspire, and grow young minds, and set kids up for life. Two of Australia's best loved children's authors explore the importance of storytelling for children, and reflect on the books that have changed their lives. This talk was recorded at the Sorrento Writers Festival on 24 April 2025. Speake...

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 connect...

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 th...

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?...

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...