Ideas at the House

When Anne-Marie Slaughter published an article in The Atlantic , titled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All", it became one of the most-read pieces in the magazine's history. It was inspired by her decision to leave her dream job at the State Department in Washington because her family needed her closer to home. Now she has taken this discussion forward as she looks at what needs to be done to make...

If the majority of people believe that it is wrong to discriminate on the basis of gender, why isn’t change happening faster? New research into how our brains work sheds light on this question– and you might not like the answer. According to new evidence, we (yes, you!) could be a little bit sexist and not even realise it. It’s called ‘unconscious bias’ and occurs when a trigger or situation cause...

Detective shows, drama series, and movie plots with murderous storylines: our fascination with crime stories knows no bounds, with women on the front lines as both stars and writers. We sit at home being terrified by the latest fictional serial killer, learning to distrust our neighbours, but is our view of the world outside being distorted? Whilst our cultural landscape is getting more criminally...

We live in a world addicted to scandal and drama, but why do women often come off worse than their male counterparts? In a political sex scandal, an older adulterous male survives whilst a young woman’s career is often left in tatters. When a sports star is accused of rape the accuser often fares worse than the alleged perpetrators as her life and morals are put under a microscope. Is this misogyn...

Like many jobs where leadership is combined with long hours and late nights, not many women list ‘Theatre Director’ as their occupation. Or ‘Artistic Director’ or ‘Director’ for that matter, to the point where this has been a vexed topic of conversation in the arts for some time. Is it just the same set of difficulties for ambitious women as we find in business or industry, where once women have r...

‘She disappeared, she never came back, men came for her; today she would be celebrating her sixteenth birthday’. These were some of the heartbreaking statements that Jennifer Clement heard when researching her novel, Prayers for the Stolen , about the plight of missing girls in Mexico. The war between the Mexican government and the drug cartels has killed more than a hundred thousand people. This...

How many people have you had sex with? No, don’t tell us! But was your first instinct to tell the truth, to exaggerate or underestimate your ‘magic’ number? We live in a time of unprecedented sexual freedom but underneath we are still governed by conventions and expectations surrounding our sex lives. Journalist and accidental sexpert, Rachel Hillsgoes beneath the covers to discuss how sex myths a...

Many questions women ask ourselves about how to achieve equality can only be answered if we understand men and masculinity. The Women’s Liberation Movement triggered a worldwide debate about men, and a generation of research about what proved to be masculinities - in the plural. Over the last thirty years, knowledge has accumulated about men’s diversity and collective power, and the making and re-...

Music was a means of self-invention for Carrie Brownstein. Before becoming a music icon, the Emmy-nominated actor and writer had a turbulent family life. From the moment she bought her first guitar at 15, music became her salvation and a way to find a sense of community. But it was her experiences in the independent music industry that sowed the seeds for the award-winning TV show, Portlandia that...

Our understanding of the human body, how it works and what it needs, has been transformed in recent years by a wave of new scientific discoveries. Yet there is a huge gap between the latest findings and the advice we are given, leaving people more confused than ever before. Dr Michael Mosley, through his work for the BBC and researching his latest books, has had access to scientists round the worl...

Australian writer Rosie Waterland has lived. Before she built a global fanbase by writing hilarious online recaps of the reality television show, The Bachelor, she had to get through a tough childhood. She had to come to terms with not being 'cool'. Navigating her way through a housing commission childhood, eating disorders and mental health issues, she embraced all that she is to become an 'Anti-...

If you could change the world overnight, what would you do first?   Featuring: Masha Gessen, Crystal Lameman, Mallory Ortberg, Ann Sherry, Anne- Marie Slaughter, Jenny Brockie (Chair) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With her feet firmly on the ground, and her finger in the mixing bowl, Nigella Lawson has charmed us with her approach to food and cooking. Based on the principle that food should be a simple pleasure to cook and to eat, her recipe books emphasise the importance of friends, family and celebration. At a time when many of the messages we get about food alternate between anxious exhortations to eat ‘...

Nicola Scott is an Australian comic book artist working in the American industry. After working for Dark Horse, Image and IDW, she quickly became a fan-favourite working exclusively for DC Entertainment on monthly titles Birds Of Prey, Secret Six, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Superman and New York Times Bestseller Earth 2. She has recently made the gigantic leap of leaving DC comics to start a creat...

The gifted UK cult British comic artist, designer and Mad Max: Fury Road  designer/co-writer, Brendan McCarthy offers a rare insight into his 35 year career – covering graphic classics such as 2000 AD's Judge Dredd , the revolutionary 80s US invasion by British comics creators, pioneering pre-Pixar computer animation on the Reboot TV show of the 90s, designing classic pop videos, movies, and a hig...

The internet is the 21st century's nervous system and it has made universal surveillance a reality. In the past, even the most repressive authoritarian states would reach a point where it was cheaper to guarantee social stability with schools and hospitals rather than with guns and surveillance devices. But the automation of surveillance has moved this point dramatically. Where the Stasi needed an...

What happens when a Professor of Economics gets his hands on the economic levers of a country in the eye of the financial storm? Yanis Varoufakis' seven month stint as Greece's Minister of Finance took him into the heart of the Eurogroup, the IMF, and the continent's top decision-making bodies. With bluntness and force, he put the case for a different solution to Greece’s ills and accused the coun...

Paul Keating, visionary, reformer, true believer, rabble rouser, polymath, and our most intriguing prime minister bares his soul to the country's sharpest political interviewer, Kerry O'Brien. Kerry and Paul wrestle with history to produce a tour de force of political wisdom and personal insight that weaves through the Keating years in a unique and compelling way. Building on the transcripts of th...

Peter Fray is the Deputy Editor of  The Australian . He was the editor-in-chief and founder of the fact-checking website,  PolitiFact Australia  and had a long and distinguished career at Fairfax Media, most recently as Editor-in-Chief and publisher of the  The Sydney Morning Herald  and previously as Editor of  The Canberra Times  and  The Sunday Age. Julia Baird is a journalist, broadcaster and...

Frank Brennan SJ AO has a longstanding reputation of advocacy in the areas of law, social justice, refugee protection and Aboriginal reconciliation. He is known for his 1998 involvement in the debate surrounding the Wik peoples’ landmark court case. He is a Jesuit priest, professor of law and writer. Brennan was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1995 for services to Aboriginal Aust...

Laurie Penny is a feminist, journalist and author. Her books include  Unspeakable Things  (2014), Cybersexism  (2013) and  Meat Market  (2011). She writes and speaks on social justice, pop culture, gender issues and digital politics for numerous news sources including The Guardian, The New York Times, Vice and Salon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tariq Ali is a British-Pakistani political commentator and a prolific writer, journalist and filmmaker. He has been a leading figure of the international left since the 1960s. His books include  The Duel: Pakistan on the Flightpath of American Power ,  The Obama Syndrome  and  The Extreme Centre: A Warning . Helen Joyce became international editor of  The Economist  in January 2014 having previous...

AC Grayling is a distinguished philosopher notable for his ability to make philosophy relevant to contemporary readers and audiences. He is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He is associated with the new atheism movement and is sometimes described as the 'Fifth Horseman of New Atheism'. He has written and edited more than 30 books...

Sarai Walker received her MFA in creative writing from Bennington College. As a magazine writer, her articles have appeared in Seventeen and Mademoiselle. She served as an editor and writer for Our Bodies, Ourselves, before moving to London and Paris to complete a PhD. Her first novel,  Dietland , was published this year, and takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality and our weight loss obse...

Marc Lewis, a professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is a cognitive neuroscientist known for his research on the development of emotions and personality in childhood and adolescence. His current work, based on an integrative review of the neuroscience of addiction, shows that addiction is not a pathological state but rather an unfortunate result of a brain doing what it's su...