Festival of Dangerous Ideas

No one has a monopoly on truth when it comes to the past and present lives of Australia's Indigenous peoples. Conservatives tend to deny that Indigenous peoples should have special status in the Constitution. Progressives tend to turn a blind eye to the profound dysfunction that plagues so many Indigenous communities – and refuse to accept that Indigenous people want and deserve all of the benefit...

Why has humanity still not worked out how to make nuclear weapons safe?   As an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser continues to explore subjects ignored by the mainstream media and gives a voice to people at the margins of society. He's followed the harvest with migrant farm workers in California, spent time with meatpacking workers in Texas and Colorado, told the stories of marijuana grower...

In the West, slavery is often seen as a dark part of the colonial past. Although it's illegal in all countries, it remains alive and well—and is growing dramatically. Impervious to recession, it forms a thriving part of the globalised sex industry run by organised crime. International trafficking of women and children for sex is a multi- billion dollar  business that won't be anywhere near 'abolit...

Is innovation overvalued? It is the dominant ideology of our era. But what if building, maintenance and repair prove much more important to our daily lives than  the vast majority of  technological innovations?   Co-founder of The Maintainers,  a research group focused on maintenance, repair, infrastructure and mundane  labor , Lee Vinsel is an Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies...

One of the last bastions of acceptable discrimination is against fat people. Health arguments rein force the social and cultural pressure  to  avoid fatness at all costs.  But is it possible to imagine things differently and help women to escape from the complex web of body image,  food and weight concerns?   Sarai Walker received her MFA in creative writing from Bennington College. As a magazine...

With 'normal' education on hold, a mountain of public debt, high levels of long-term unemployment and the mental health effects of isolation yet to fully emerge, the legacy of COVID-19 disproportionately falls on the shoulders of one demographic above all others … the nation's youth. Hear from three of Australia's most dynamic youth voices as they discuss present and future concerns. These young v...

As lockdowns and quarantines continue, some of us may feel like we're losing our grip on reality. Misinformation and conspiracy theories spread worldwide and algorithms continue to serve up our own custom-made versions of the internet. Are we just a few lines of code away from being a conspiracy theorist? Hear about technology's role in the spread of COVID-19 related misinformation and how the mos...

In stripping away so much of ordinary life, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a lot about us – not all of it pretty. It's also confronted us with brutal ethical choices. Who deserves to be saved when you're running out of ventilators? How much are we willing to give up so others can get by? Who gets to decide and what beliefs are shaping their decisions? Step back from the day-to-day dilemmas of...

COVID-19 has highlighted the particular vulnerability of the aged. However, as we find out more about the ageing process, we are uncovering new ways to treat it. One revolutionary approach is to look at ageing as a disease and tackle its causes. With breakthroughs in genetics and emerging technologies, scientists have been able to make animals live longer. If this works on humans as well, will we...

#BlackLivesMatter has become the call to action for a generation of US human rights activists to denounce the violence and prejudice still experienced by African Americans. In the wake of the violent deaths of African Americans George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and many others call for change is insistent and consistent. So what does need to change in politics, in the media...

Why are young people worse off than their parents? Why is the gap between older and younger Australians – in terms of work, wealth and wellbeing – growing wider? Is Australia cheating the young? Jennifer Rayner was born into aspirational Australian suburbia during the Hawke years and came out of age in the long boom of the Howard era. Her lifetime tracks the yawning inequalities that have opened u...

Globalism is a Western construct which may not survive in its current form. Asia's rising powers are starting to look past global institutions to construct alternatives which could see what we know as the global community become obsolete. Michael Wesley deconstructs our current realities as finite as "just because globalism is so basic to how we live doesn't mean it's inevitable and here to stay"....

The latest science suggests that it is too late to prevent human-induced climate change. Technological optimists are now turning their minds to mitigation through techniques of geo-engineering, like giant space mirrors or seeding the oceans with iron to prompt carbon-absorbing algal blooms. But projects to alter the entire planet will expose all life to massive risk. So, why not address the source...

Recorded in 2011 and the beginning of the Arab Spring, Mona Eltahawy reflects on the hunger for freedom and democracy unleashed within Arab populations living under dictatorship. This is considered alongside questions about whether Saudi Arabia's oil makes Western support for freedom and democracy melt away, and whether the west can't afford to prefer Arab democrats to Arab dictators. Mona Eltahaw...

Will we run out of water – and if so, when? Will the Earth suffer? Explore how water drives modern conflict and is not about to stop. Alok Jha is the science correspondent for ITV News in the UK. Before that, he did the same job at The Guardian for a decade, where he wrote news, features, comment and presented the award-winning Science Weeklypodcast. He has also reported live from Antarctica and p...

In the late 90s, political theorists, economists and politicians were talking confidently about the "end of history" and the undisputed triumph of liberal "democratic" capitalism. Communism was written off as dead and buried. But after 9/11, the GFC, the Arab Spring, and the protests spreading over Europe, the ideological gloss of capitalism may be beginning to fade. If the alternative is Putin's...

Compassion has become a commodity whose possession marks us as a better person, or better than other people. Writer and commentator Helen Razer diagnoses society with compassion fatigue – and the physical burn out, trauma and psychological depletion is real. Helen Razer is a writer, broadcaster and commentator who is now chiefly engaged in the work of writing on social and cultural matters. She wo...

Society preaches forgiveness for the rich and retribution for the poor. Entrenched inequality and its companion, poverty, are the dark side of the American dream for a citizenry united by name, but not by rules. Is the divide fair, the result of natural winners and losers, or is it built into the system? We know that inequality is bad for the rich as well as the poor, and that more equal countries...

In a complex and fast-moving world, if we want to move ahead we need to rethink the conditions for making progress in science, business and society in a fundamental way. We need to realise there is no 'right way', lose our fear of failure, embrace opportunity and take risks. We need to stop looking for leaders who can provide us with all the answers, and encourage the search for many solutions. We...

The stories of Anders Behring Breivik and Lance Armstrong may seem to have little in common, but each shows the consequences of the epidemic of narcissism that marks our age. Our lives no longer centred on social and family groups, but have become highly individualistic. We are primed for narcissism by consumer culture, changing family dynamics and growing inequality. It's time we looked at the so...

The tumultuous 17th century Enlightenment created the modern mind. What were the radical forces that shaped this intellectual world view we still share? And how is this under threat today? A.C. Grayling is the Master of the New College of the Humanities, London, and its Professor of Philosophy, and the author of over thirty books of philosophy, biography, history of ideas, and essays. His books, T...

We take you back to the unforgettable Christopher Hitchens. Hitch was the opening speaker at the very first Festival of Dangerous Ideas in 2009. Erudite, acerbic and incisive as ever, Hitch's talk - the original dangerous ideas - holds a very special place in our hearts.  A Decade of Danger celebrates 10 years of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas and will highlight 10 unmissable speakers from across...

Enjoy Dee Madigan's talk on political advertising from FODI 2016. This detailed look at how political propaganda gets made will enlighten, disgust and entertain in equal measures. A Decade of Danger celebrates 10 years of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas and will highlight 10 unmissable speakers from across the festival's history. Sign up at festivalofdangerousideas.com to find out more about the l...

Revisit Evgeny Morozov's prophetic talk about the future of technology from FODI 2013. It warns of the growing influence of tech corporations in our everyday lives and describes - with eerie accuracy - the world we live in today.  A Decade of Danger celebrates 10 years of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas and will highlight 10 unmissable speakers from across the festival's history. Sign up at festiv...

We look back at Philippe Legrain's impassioned talk about immigration from FODI 2016. By flipping current assumptions on their heads, he builds a case for open migration and the potential it has to benefit a nation's society, economy and culture. A Decade of Danger celebrates 10 years of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas and will highlight 10 unmissable speakers from across the festival's history. S...