WOMADelaide - The Planet Talks

SPEAKERS Katja Hogendoorn, Rocio Ponce Reyes, Richard Glatz HOST Michael Harvey We might overlook them, but they outnumber us around 20 million to one. It’s an insects’ world and we’re just living in it. Join our panel of experts to examine how much we rely on insects and how resilient they are in the face of catastrophic change.

SPEAKERS Waleed Aly, Scott Stephens, Lisa Hill ABC Radio National Podcast - Recorded live at WOMADelaide If our current politics is failing our children, should they get a say in changing it? After all 16 and 17 years olds already pay taxes, work, drive, volunteer for political parties. Not that any of these are a pre-requisite for voting in Australia, so why exclude young people? Especially when...

SPEAKERS Richard Denniss, Renate Egan, Andrew Blakers HOST Nick Feik Reducing our emissions by making everything electric won’t just benefit the climate, it’s going to be great for everyone. In the long run, electrifying everything is cheaper and more efficient. We can get to 80 per cent emissions reductions by 2035 and we don't need any new technology at all. So what are we waiting for?

SPEAKERS Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Martin Breed, Luke Price HOST Lee Constable Human interactions with the environment aren’t always a disaster. There are thousands of years of history of people working and shaping the Australian environment, and more efforts than ever today to restore ecosystems both marine and terrestrial. But a healthy ecosystem doesn’t have to mean untouched by humans. And healt...

SPEAKERS Dr Jane Goodall HOST Hosted by Natasha Mitchell A pre-recorded conversation with one of the world’s most influential conservationists. Jane Goodall made discoveries that radically changed and enriched the field of primatology, and has worked for decades advocating to protect habitats and promote environmental education. From a lifetime dedicated to nature, she shares her insights into how...

SPEAKERS: Christiana Figueres HOST: Sabra Lane Former UN Secretary for Climate, Christiana Figures, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, her UN political strategist, are the architects and driving force behind the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement when 194 countries, including the EU and China, signed up to collectively tackle the climate emergency. Their mission however didn’t stop in Paris. It cont...

SPEAKER: Jan Fran HOST: Tory Shepherd Walkley Award-winning journalist and TV presenter Jan Fran is an ambassador for Plan International Australia, anorganization that works alongside children, young people, supporters and partners to tackle root causes of the injustices facing girls and the most marginalised children. She’s best known for her work as host of SBS TV’s The Feed and Medicine or Myth...

HOSTS: Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas GUESTS: Rebekha Sharkie and Sarah Hanson-Young Australia’s best politics podcast – The Party Room – has been described as biting and brilliant and Planet Talks 2019 showed it’s even better live. If you missed it, don’t worry because Fran and PK are bringing their super sharp political minds and even sharper wit back in 2020 for a special International Women’...

SPEAKERS: Damon Gameau, Will Steffen, Michelle Lim and Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor HOST: Bernie Hobbs The planet is suffering because humans have failed to listen and act. We have failed to act responsibly as individuals and governments have failed to listen to the scientific consensus and act fast. Despite being faced with unprecedented biodiversity loss, mass species extinctions and the dire cons...

Are we in the midst of a sleep loss epidemic? SPEAKERS: Greg Roach, Jill Dorrian and Danny Eckert HOST: Deb Tribe A good diet and exercise have dominated our media and social feeds as the answer to a long and healthy life. But is a silent sleep loss epidemic the greatest health challenge of the new 24/7 society we live in? Some have suggested, ‘the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life’ - but...

SPEAKERS: Robert Elliott Smith, Julia Powles, and Peter Lewis HOST: Marc Fennell Our personal data has become the most valuable commodity the world has ever seen, yet most of us happily give it away for free to the likes of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon (Big Tech). These companies have in turn used this data to accumulate extraordinary wealth, power and influence through mostly unseen and lar...

The power and passion in the student climate strike movement. SPEAKERS: Doha Khan, Harriet O’Shea Carre, Milou Albrecht HOST: Tory Shepherd They can’t vote but they’re angry, fearful for the future and demanding to be heard by governments around the world. Passionate, smart and informed, these students have helped to create a thunderous collective voice for change that is hard to ignore. Doha, Har...

SPEAKERS: Peter Owen, Bunna Lawrie and Jodie Rummer HOST: Clare Press Peter Owen (The Wilderness Society), Bunna Lawrie (Mirning Elder and Coloured Stone frontman) and Jodie Rummer (marine scientist, James Cook University) represent a large and growing movement of concerned people, councils, businesses, industries, environmental and scientific organisations opposing the proposed drilling by Norweg...

SPEAKERS: Quentin Beresford and David Ritter HOST: Deb Tribe Our Prime Minister recently declared the need for “fair dinkum power" when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. But can this “fair dinkum power” be good for the planet, leaving the 90 per cent of the nation’s coal reserves in the ground estimated for Australia to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement? Join Prof Quent...

SPEAKERS: Angie Plummer, Cecile Godde, Matthew Evans and Andy Lowe HOST: Deb Tribe Can we really tackle climate change without addressing our relationship with meat consumption and the livestock industry? Ditching the snag on the BBQ and shifting to a more plant based diet is a demand-side solution but only half the consumption / production equation. What needs to be done to change a livestock ind...

SPEAKERS: Gavin McIntyre, Brian Pickles, Alison Pouliot and Mike Hornblow HOST: Robyn Williams Fungi preceded trees and animals on the Earth by hundreds of millions of years, and they’ll be cleaning humanity’s mess long after we’re gone. But can the humble ‘shroom help us save the planet right now? Bioneer Gavin McIntyre from ground breaking New York biofabrication company Ecovative Design, mycolo...

SPEAKERS: Fran Kelly, Patricia Karvelas, Senator Penny Wong and Minister Simon Birmingham. Radio National’s brilliant politics podcast The Party Room comes out of the studio and into the Park for the first time. Join two of Australia’s most respected journalist broadcasters, Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, plus special guests Senator Wong and Minister Birmingham as they analyse and interpret the...

SPEAKERS: Brian Pickles, Monica Gagliano and Alex Gaut HOST: Robyn Williams Join pioneering scientists Brian Pickles and Monica Gagliano alongside Nature Connection guide, Alex Gaut as they discuss the fascinating world of tree communication, plant cognition and the healing powers of forest bathing. Gagliano’s bio acoustics research in plant cognition and Pickles’ work revealing a mycelium communi...

Internationally celebrated environmentalist, scientist, explorer, writer and 2007 Australian of the Year, Professor Tim Flannery will open the Planet Talks with a keynote address and conversation about our sustainable relationship with the planet joined by the father of Australian science broadcasting, the legendary Robyn Williams. Currently Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society...

Speakers: Kathy Jetnil Kijiner, Ursula Rakova, Julian Burnside, and Tim Costello Host: Ben Doherty While the world’s richest countries talk about climate change, many of the poorest nations are experiencing its devastating effects right now. Climate justice activists, Ursula Rakova (Carteret Islands) and Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (Marshall Islands) are the human face of climate change. Their homelands...

Speakers: Genevieve Bell, Kristin Alford and Toby Walsh Host: Bernie Hobbs Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Machines represent the most significant social and organizational challenges since human civilisation emerged 5000 years ago. How humanity engages with these technologies today is the key to ensuring that the future development of these tools benefit both society and the environment. J...

Speakers: Vaughan Levitzke, Vivian Sim, and Anne Sharp Host: Deb Tribe An estimated five trillion plastic items - mostly less than five millimetres in size - are currently circulating the surface of the world's oceans and scientists cite microplastics (particles less than 5mm) entering our food chain as a potential toxic ticking time bomb. Let that sink in for a minute... ('scuse the pun). Three e...

Our Most Vital Connection to Nature & What They Tell Us About the Planet & Ourselves Speakers: Jim Robbins and Sonia Kleindorfer Host: Robyn Williams Our human relationship to birds is like no other creature on earth. These wondrous and miraculous animals captivate, inform and enrich all life on the planet in extraordinary ways. New York Times writer and author of "The Wonder of Birds" Jim...

Speakers: Clare Press, Gab Murphy and Megan O’Malley Vogue Australia's Sustainability Editor-at-Large, respected fashion journalist and author Clare Press brings her popular "slow fashion" podcast Wardrobe Crisis to a live recording at the Planet Talks! The WARDRODE CRISIS Podcast decodes the fashion system and digs deep to explore fashion’s effects on people and planet. Sitting down with Clare ar...

Speaker: Peter Greste Host: Ben Doherty Peter Greste is an award winning foreign correspondent who worked for Reuters, the BBC and Al Jazeera around the world, including London, Belgrade, Africa, South America and Afghanistan. Most recently however, he has become best known for his campaign for press freedom after enduring 400 days in a Cairo prison on charges of terrorism and producing fake news...