Big Ideas

By ABC listen

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Category: Society & Culture

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Subscribers: 1214
Reviews: 5
Episodes: 249

Calum
 Jun 1, 2024


 Mar 31, 2022

Dennis Murray
 May 18, 2020
Well presented podcast with detailed and informative discussions on wide range of relevant current topics.


 Sep 9, 2019


 Jun 11, 2019

Description

Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.

Episode Date
Animals — Us and them? How does loving animals go together with industrial farming?
Feb 24, 2025
Animals — Us and them? Are you having a whale of a time?
Feb 24, 2025
Animals — Us and them? The cat catastrophe – pet or pest?
Feb 24, 2025
Animals — Us and them? What is the purpose of zoos in an extinction crisis?
Feb 24, 2025
Animals — Us and them? The true and the ugly of wildlife documentaries
Feb 20, 2025
Jem Bendell, the fake green fairytale, and how to survive civilisational collapse
Feb 19, 2025
A murder in Malta — how Daphne Caruana Galizia's fight for justice lives on in her son
Feb 18, 2025
Empireworld — Sathnam Sanghera on how British imperialism shaped the globe
Feb 18, 2025
Living out your mental illness in public paves the way to lasting change
Feb 17, 2025
Uncancelled culture — forgiveness and redemption in the digital age
Feb 13, 2025
I can change the world! How these changemakers found their superpower
Feb 12, 2025
Re-thinking the relationship between brain and machine
Feb 11, 2025
Video games — a new frontier in the fight for global influence?
Feb 10, 2025
Don’t be a D**khead — with musicians Kasey Chambers and Clare Bowditch
Feb 06, 2025
Should scientists stand up as things fall down? Advocacy, activism, impartiality and the risks
Feb 05, 2025
Minority report — the new shape of Australian politics, with George Megalogenis and Tory Shepherd
Feb 04, 2025
Why Australian politicians welcomed fascists after the Second World War
Feb 03, 2025
What’s the secret to governments making wise decisions?
Jan 30, 2025
Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life — how fungi do things differently, and inspire us to as well
Jan 29, 2025
Nicky Winmar and Rhoda Roberts − showing racism in sport the red card
Jan 28, 2025
Chopsticks or fork? — Jennifer Wong and Lin Jie Kong with Annabel Crabb
Jan 27, 2025
Writers who rock — on the art of music writing
Jan 23, 2025
How surfing writer Tim Baker and doctor Peter Goldsworthy learnt to live well and laugh with cancer
Jan 22, 2025
The fight to protect abortion in the United States — with Dr Angel Foster
Jan 21, 2025
The Knowledge Gene — the incredible story of the supergene that gives us human creativity
Jan 20, 2025
Is there life on Mars?
Jan 16, 2025
The delicate complexities of treating mental illness — Jonathan Rosen, Patrick McGorry with Natasha Mitchell
Jan 15, 2025
Mary Beard and the Roman Empire
Jan 14, 2025
Looking to a healthy future with Helen Clark
Jan 13, 2025
How traumatic stress hurts us — with Bessel van der Kolk
Jan 09, 2025
Are national deficits a myth? Stephanie Kelton explodes an economic holy cow
Jan 08, 2025
How to cut through political spin — Richard Denniss, Joelle Gergis, Yanis Varoufakis, Tom Keneally with Natasha Mitchell
Jan 07, 2025
Islands rising — life on the front lines of the climate crisis
Jan 06, 2025
Liberalism as the basis of life?
Jan 02, 2025
Thriving not just surviving with Tibetan master Mingyur Rinpoche, a Sufi scholar and Indian philosopher of mind
Jan 01, 2025
AC Grayling — How to live well, according to philosophy
Dec 31, 2024
Laurie Anderson on time and life
Dec 30, 2024
Hugh Mackay — Australian society in the 21st century
Dec 26, 2024
Holly Ringland helps you to get creative
Dec 25, 2024
Lifting the lid — the lost story of an extraordinary Egyptian coffin revealed
Dec 24, 2024
Andrew O'Hagan — Literature and truth in the era of fake news, algorithms and artificial intelligence
Dec 23, 2024
Eric Bogle tells it all — his songs and his life
Dec 19, 2024
The debate over shark nets: killers or life savers? With Natasha Mitchell and guests
Dec 18, 2024
Meet the mothers of Australia's women's refuge movement
Dec 17, 2024
Is Australia overrun by feral animals? With Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis
Dec 16, 2024
Benjamin Law’s butt, and the power and politics of portraiture
Dec 12, 2024
The surfer and circumnavigator — the gobsmacking feats of Pauline Menczer and Bonnie Hancock
Dec 11, 2024
President Petr Pavel – on why the war in Ukraine is a fight for geopolitical stability worldwide
Dec 10, 2024
Memory, refugees and the Vietnam War — with Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen
Dec 09, 2024
Who gets to shape the story? Reporting on the conflict in the Middle East — with The Guardian’s Nour Haydar
Dec 05, 2024
50 years after Cyclone Tracy — powerful memories of horror and hope
Dec 04, 2024
Deaf defying: disability leadership as an act of resistance — with Dr Scott Avery
Dec 03, 2024
Trees, seeds, and ecotourism — the hidden histories Nature reveals about us
Dec 02, 2024
The right to discriminate? Religious schools and Australian human rights law
Nov 28, 2024
Is it still possible for empathy to trump hate? Here's how. Rhonda Magee and Mariam Tokhi with Natasha Mitchell
Nov 27, 2024
Busting the myths around menstruation and menopause, with Dr Jennifer Gunter
Nov 26, 2024
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 30 years on
Nov 25, 2024
Together, or together alone? Teens and adults debate social media's good, bad and ugly
Nov 21, 2024
ADHD, autism, depression — is social media causing social contagion? Jean Twenge, Sonny Jane Wise, Alice Dawkins, Sandersan Onie with Natasha Mitchell
Nov 20, 2024
Negotiating peace against the odds can be murky business
Nov 19, 2024
The 4-Day-Week − creating a better work life balance or just more stress?
Nov 18, 2024
From Mumbai to Studio 54 — how Asha Puthli became India's first disco star
Nov 14, 2024
Joanna Murray-Smith — You’re Right, I’m Wrong: The Artist's Role in a Shifting World
Nov 13, 2024
The future of remembering wars past — school students speak frankly with Natasha Mitchell at the Shrine
Nov 11, 2024
Ending homelessness is possible
Nov 07, 2024
What's wrong with death? Sophia Club live philosophy with Natasha Mitchell and guests
Nov 06, 2024
From Gatsby to Huck Finn — American literature in an age of polarisation
Nov 04, 2024
Old, new, best, true — the joy, power and heartache of friends
Oct 31, 2024
Unconventional women — a hidden story of nuns with Natasha Mitchell and guests
Oct 30, 2024
Candice Fox, Matthew Conon, Benjamin Stevenson – on the ethics of crime writing
Oct 28, 2024
SOS Democracy with Jon Faine — Can democracy survive social media?
Oct 27, 2024
SOS Democracy with Niall Ferguson and Barrie Cassidy — Is democracy doomed?
Oct 25, 2024
SOS Democracy with Scott Stephens — Saving democracy with decency
Oct 25, 2024
Spielberg, a tuba, and a shark named Bruce — the cultural impact of Jaws
Oct 24, 2024
Brain amoeba, weird worms and the wild parasites (inside you too!) with Natasha Mitchell and guests
Oct 23, 2024
SOS Democracy with Fintan O’Toole — The US elections and the politics of self-pity
Oct 22, 2024
From pointe shoes to jockstraps – David McAllister lifts the curtain on the secrets of ballet
Oct 21, 2024
The dangerous rise in antisemitism – Sharon Nazarian
Oct 17, 2024
A plea for peace in the Middle East — Louise Adler and Nasser Mashni
Oct 16, 2024
SOS Democracy with Niki Savva — Can politicians and journalists do better?
Oct 15, 2024
What makes you a top athlete: science, training or talent?
Oct 14, 2024
Cemeteries − the parks and public spaces of the future
Oct 10, 2024
The case for controversial ideas — philosopher Peter Singer with Natasha Mitchell
Oct 09, 2024
How Edna Walling changed gardening — with Gardening Australia's Millie Ross
Oct 08, 2024
From Gaza to Ukraine — is it harder to build peace, than to start war?
Oct 07, 2024
Superheroes, pop stars, and “good enough tv” — The life of a culture critic in 2024
Oct 03, 2024
Gold, Galahs and the Milky Way: unlocking the universe 
Oct 02, 2024
Why autistic people make terrific employees
Oct 01, 2024
Is depression a form of jetlag? Understanding the circadian rhythm
Sep 30, 2024
Restoring the fine art of traditional trades
Sep 26, 2024
What rights for children in care?
Sep 25, 2024
Students win fight for climate justice before the world's highest court
Sep 24, 2024
Housing as a human right? With Alan Kohler and Kevin Bell
Sep 23, 2024
Saving winter — the future of snow in Australia's Alpine region
Sep 19, 2024
Busting single motherhood myths
Sep 18, 2024
How history shapes who we are — with Frank Bongiorno and Peter Stanley
Sep 17, 2024
Why a scary tale is good for you − Angela Slatter, Kathleen Jennings, Naomi Novik and Shelley Parker-Chan
Sep 16, 2024
Are we taking Orwell's name in vain?
Sep 12, 2024
How valid is the Australian Constitution today?
Sep 11, 2024
Gas, tax and the free market — with Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz
Sep 10, 2024
A maze with no exits — Ma Thida on Myanmar’s struggle for democracy
Sep 09, 2024
So you want to know what’s good for your kids?— with Norman Swan
Sep 05, 2024
Milk — a misunderstood, maligned, miracle food?
Sep 04, 2024
From landmines to killer robots — inside the campaigns to ban weapons of war
Sep 03, 2024
Richard Flanagan, Michael Robotham on the hidden costs of cheap books
Sep 02, 2024
Caribbean identity in Australia — with Maxine Beneba Clarke and Sienna Brown
Aug 29, 2024
Tim Flannery and the mystery of Big Meg — why did the world's largest predator disappear?
Aug 28, 2024
Intellectual influencers — the new generation of social media stars
Aug 27, 2024
Is bush tucker the future of food security?
Aug 26, 2024
Public broadcasting is not as simple as ABC — with Kim Williams and Kerry O’ Brien
Aug 22, 2024
In this climate, having kids is wrong! The Beaker St Festival Great Debate with Adam Spencer, Wendy Zukerman, First Dog on the Moon and more
Aug 21, 2024
The fairy wrens want to you to hear this. Rewilding our cities and why it matters.
Aug 20, 2024
Insects — nature's ultimate superheroes
Aug 19, 2024
Night Sky LIVE – a wondrous encounter with the dark sky
Aug 15, 2024
New Cold Wars — America’s struggle to defend the West, with David E. Sanger
Aug 14, 2024
How to overcome the fear and anxiety that are holding you back
Aug 13, 2024
Postmortem — Why forensic science is nothing like CSI
Aug 12, 2024
Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah: Why we must listen to the Global South
Aug 08, 2024
The Men Who Killed the News — Eric Beecher's inside story of how media moguls abused their power, manipulated the truth, and distorted democracy
Aug 07, 2024
Meredith Whittaker on big data, mass surveillance and the AI gold rush
Aug 06, 2024
If West Germany and Europe could reconcile after WW II − then we all can make peace
Aug 05, 2024
When world news hits home, with Benjamin Law
Aug 01, 2024
Because I Am Not Myself You See — Ariane Beeston speaks fearlessly on mental health, motherhood, and postnatal psychosis
Jul 31, 2024
Tony Armstrong's extraordinary objects showcase Australian history
Jul 30, 2024
Lawfare in Hong Kong — the case of Jimmy Lai
Jul 29, 2024
Is Australia fit for the Olympics in 2032?
Jul 25, 2024
Nobel scientist Jennifer Doudna with Natasha Mitchell at Sydney Opera House — the gene editing revolution, ethics, and what's next?
Jul 24, 2024
Read all about it! — why local news matters and what we can do to save it
Jul 23, 2024
Moral philosopher Raimond Gaita on Israel, Gaza and the student protests
Jul 22, 2024
Andrew O’Hagan's defence of literature and truth in the age of the machines
Jul 18, 2024
The surprising bonds that make us, break us, move us — Ceridwen Dovey, Anna McGahan, Ahona Guha
Jul 17, 2024
Barkaa, Steph Tisdell and Rudi Bremer: Indigenous performers are expected to be perfect
Jul 16, 2024
The Australian far right today
Jul 15, 2024
Ann Patchett, Lauren Groff and Tony Birch — when writing and selling books becomes a political act
Jul 11, 2024
A reflection on Indigenous leadership, from Mabo and beyond
Jul 10, 2024
State of democracy in Asia
Jul 09, 2024
Black, White, and what next? A case for reconciliation after the Voice Referendum
Jul 08, 2024
Hugh Mackay on Australia today
Jul 04, 2024
Hope at the coalface — can this coal town thrive in a post-Carbon future?
Jul 03, 2024
Why civilisations vanish
Jul 02, 2024
Too posh, or not posh enough? — Polly Toynbee on the shackles and privileges of class
Jul 01, 2024
AC Grayling on philosophy and life
Jun 27, 2024
The radical work of mourning — a toolkit for planet dwellers
Jun 26, 2024
Highway to Hell — Joelle Gergis on climate change and Australia’s future
Jun 25, 2024
Marc Fennell on stuff the British stole
Jun 24, 2024
Don Watson on democracy
Jun 20, 2024
The incredible saga of the world’s first peace treaty — it comes from the Middle East
Jun 19, 2024
Higher education for everyone in Australia — is it doable?
Jun 18, 2024
Creativity in the Sri Lankan diaspora
Jun 17, 2024
Andre de Quadros on freedom dreaming
Jun 13, 2024
Ocean bounty — deep sea mining, Sea Shepherd sagas, and seaweed solutions
Jun 12, 2024
Queer journeys through the law
Jun 11, 2024
What are the secrets to a long and happy life?
Jun 10, 2024
The Art of Opposition
Jun 06, 2024
Uprooted and unprotected — 110 million displaced lives
Jun 05, 2024
Is nuclear power the fastest way to decarbonise the planet?
Jun 04, 2024
Laura Tingle — Off course discourse
Jun 03, 2024
Why we drink — the past and present of Australia’s relationship to alcohol
May 30, 2024
Where is the soul in science?
May 29, 2024
Not drowning, fighting — life on the front lines of the climate crisis
May 28, 2024
Evolution can explain why humans are such weird animals
May 27, 2024
How to make the Global North and the Global South play nicely together
May 23, 2024
From panic attacks to finding freedom — Tibetan master Mingyur Rinpoche joins a Sufi scholar and an Indian philosopher of mind
May 22, 2024
Fareed Zakaria on how economic and technological progress leads to revolutions
May 21, 2024
Girt by Sea — Australia’s maritime security
May 20, 2024
Costa Georgiadis on how to stop Australia's invasion by feral species
May 16, 2024
A new future for Black and White Australia — Thomas Mayo, Margo Neale, David Marr with Natasha Mitchell
May 15, 2024
Anne Manne - Crimes of the Cross
May 14, 2024
10,000 puffs — how vapes got the next generation hooked on smoking
May 13, 2024
What Oppenheimer can teach us about regulating new technologies
May 09, 2024
Superpowers and superpeacemakers — your guide with John Lyons, Sam Roggeveen, Ilaria Walker and Natasha Mitchell
May 08, 2024
Helen Clark on how to build a healthier future for all
May 07, 2024
Tenacity and two squat houses — how an Australian movement was born for women leaving violence
May 06, 2024
Donald Trump, American authoritarianism and how journalists should cover it
May 02, 2024
Jonathan Rosen, Patrick McGorry with Natasha Mitchell— friendship, madness and the tragedy of good intentions
May 01, 2024
Slowing down fast fashion with Aja Barber
Apr 30, 2024
Mariana Mazzucato — a moonshot guide to changing capitalism
Apr 29, 2024
Is it time to change Australia's security strategy for South East Asia?
Apr 25, 2024
How to challenge political spin with straight talk — Richard Denniss, Joelle Gergis, Yanis Varoufakis, Tom Keneally with Natasha Mitchell
Apr 24, 2024
Dr Norman Swan with biotechnology pioneers on what's next for medicine
Apr 23, 2024
It's personal! — field stories from the frontline of Australia's Ambassador for Gender Equality
Apr 22, 2024
Trees as an alternative crop — the future of forestry in Australia?
Apr 18, 2024
The shark net controversy — hear the debate at Bondi's Ocean Lovers Festival with Natasha Mitchell
Apr 17, 2024
Life on Mars — and beyond
Apr 16, 2024
A heart-to-heart with Eric Bogle — his songs and his life
Apr 15, 2024
The war in Gaza, Palestinians, and Israelis – what can we learn from the past about the future?
Apr 11, 2024
A mummified mystery! This ancient Egyptian coffin was closed for years. Then Australian scientists opened it.
Apr 10, 2024
Mary Beard — Empress of Rome 
Apr 09, 2024
Michael Gawenda on Jewishness, the Australian Left, and the State of Israel
Apr 08, 2024
Cheng Lei, Sean Turnell and Kylie Moore-Gilbert on the ruthless practice of hostage diplomacy
Apr 04, 2024
Ripples, resilience, and rivers – the politics of water with Natasha Mitchell and guests
Apr 03, 2024
Forging a fire ready future
Apr 02, 2024
What makes a charity successful?
Apr 01, 2024
Julia Baird on how grace saves us from a dark world
Mar 28, 2024
The Deficit Myth with Stephanie Kelton — what to ask when governments can't afford to fix things.
Mar 27, 2024
Bessel van der Kolk on The Body Keeps the Score
Mar 26, 2024
Why are young people more unhappy and worried?
Mar 25, 2024
Are we all liberals at heart?
Mar 21, 2024
Imagination and Mindset, and The Importance of Doubt (Boyer Lectures 3 and 4)
Mar 20, 2024
The Atomic Revolution and the Quantum Promise (2023 Boyer Lectures 1 and 2)
Mar 19, 2024
Trump vs Biden vs the world — what will it mean for Australia?
Mar 18, 2024
I've Been to a Parallel World
Mar 14, 2024
The education gap between rural and metropolitan Australia is costing us billions
Mar 13, 2024
Solving the mysteries of the universe − with philosophy
Mar 12, 2024
How Russia’s war on Ukraine ends
Mar 11, 2024
Corruption at the crossroads in Australia
Mar 07, 2024
Spending time with Laurie Anderson
Mar 06, 2024
Finding your creativity with Holly Ringland
Mar 05, 2024
Nature for people – how the natural world affects our health
Mar 04, 2024
Swiftposium – the academics of Taylor Swift
Feb 22, 2024
Intuition — the science of knowing WHAT without knowing WHY
Feb 21, 2024
Uncivil society – polarisation and breakdown in our conversations
Feb 20, 2024
How to tell stories that change the course of history — from slavery abolition to gaming culture
Feb 19, 2024
A queer love letter to libraries
Feb 15, 2024
Be the change you want to see — Chanel Contos, Isabelle Reinecke, Semara Jose, Sarah Brown
Feb 14, 2024
Nazanin Boniadi — fighting for women's rights in Iran
Feb 13, 2024
Caroline Polachek on the art of pop music
Feb 12, 2024
How to speak freely about topics no one wants to talk about
Feb 08, 2024
A new way to fix the hot mess of housing in remote Aboriginal Australia?
Feb 07, 2024
Psychedelics – from magic to medicinal
Feb 06, 2024
Gabriel Krauze on Who They Was — his wild life in crime and literature
Feb 05, 2024
Does Australia need more tiger parents?
Feb 01, 2024
When I grow up I want to be ... why we all need to reimagine aging.
Jan 31, 2024
Craig Foster on how Australia can pull its socks up on human rights
Jan 30, 2024
Escaping the Burrow — Astra Taylor on The Age of Insecurity (Massey Lecture 5)
Jan 29, 2024
Beyond human security — Astra Taylor on The Age of Insecurity (Massey Lecture 4)
Jan 25, 2024
Consumed by Curiosity — Astra Taylor on The Age of Insecurity (Massey Lecture 3)
Jan 24, 2024
Barons or Commoners? — Astra Taylor on The Age of Insecurity (Massey Lecture 2)
Jan 23, 2024
Cura's Gift — Astra Taylor on The Age of Insecurity (Massey Lecture 1)
Jan 22, 2024
Catherine Deveny, Shannon Burns, and Akuch Anyieth on memoir
Jan 18, 2024
Will AI render human creativity worthless? The Beaker St Festival Great Debate
Jan 17, 2024
The day the invisible was made visible — Manus Island detention survivors speak
Jan 16, 2024
Osman Faruqi — censoring hip hop
Jan 15, 2024
Safer beaches and guilt-free seafood
Jan 11, 2024
On ya bike or not? Global movers, shakers, and city shapers reimagining car culture
Jan 10, 2024
The power, politics and cost of women speaking out
Jan 09, 2024
Nuclear technology: the shady beginnings and the uncertain future
Jan 08, 2024
Greek-Australian identity: Are we WHITE yet?
Jan 04, 2024
I am not my chromosomes — science, rights, and the intersex experience
Jan 03, 2024
Why thinking in Deep Time is good for your head
Jan 02, 2024
It's not as simple as moving house! Meet climate refugees with a (scaly, sticky, furry) difference
Jan 01, 2024
Bri Lee and fellow voyagers ponder the ethics of travel
Dec 28, 2023
George Monbiot's Regenesis — you won't think about dinner the same way again
Dec 27, 2023
(Too) hot right now — life on a sweltering planet
Dec 26, 2023
Wellmania's Brigid Delaney on the gift of the Stoics
Dec 25, 2023
The buff-breasted button-quail: Is one of our rarest native birds still alive?
Dec 21, 2023
The soul in the machine — anthropologist, technologist, futurist Genevieve Bell and guests
Dec 20, 2023
Sigrid Thornton, Rachael Maza, Sophie Hyde, Anousha Zarkesh — about older ladies in the movies
Dec 19, 2023
Infidelity and other affairs
Dec 18, 2023