Big Ideas

Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a poetic discussion on the ways you can create space to grieve for species that are going, going, gone. Powerful interests collude to tell us that expressing emotion is hysterical, and that humans are separate from Nature, but proper mourning paves the way for what to do next — and places us right back where we belong.SpeakersProfessor Thom van Dooren Environmental philosopherProfessor of Environmental HumanitiesDeputy Director of the Sydney Environment Institute, University of SydneyAuthor, Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of ExtinctionThe Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared WorldsA World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of ExtinctionsDr Blanche VerlieClimate change educator, sociologistLecturer in Gender and Cultural StudiesSydney Horizon Fellow, University of Sydney.Author, Learning to Live With Climate Change: From Anxiety to TransformationAssociate Professor Zoe SadokierskiBook designer, writer, creative producerCo-director, Visualisation Institute, University of Technology Sydney.Author, Father, Son and Other Animals

Leading Australian climate scientist Dr Joelle Gergis takes a timely look at Australia's perilous future in a warming world."Most Australians aren't aware how bad things are and how much worse they will get." — Joelle GergisThis event was recorded at Gleebooks in Sydney on Tuesday June 4, 2024.SpeakersDr Joelle Gergis Climate scientistAuthor, Highway to Hell — Climate Change and Australia's Future (Quarterly Essay #94, Black Inc Books)Marian Wilkinson Journalist and author

Journalist Marc Fennell discusses the British Empire's history of stealing artefacts. They delve into controversial examples like the Parthenon Marbles and the importance of repatriation. The conversation highlights the ethical considerations, legal complexities, and societal re-evaluation of colonial legacies in returning cultural objects.

Author, essayist and speechwriter Don Watson says that the price of democracy is energy, imagination, and unstinting hard work. Through the lens of Trump's America, and the malaise of Australian politics, Watson questions whether our modern democracies are up to the job. This event was recorded on Bunurong country at the Sorrento Writers' Festival on April 25 2024.SpeakerDon Watson, Author, essayist and speechwriter

On the doorstep of Gaza comes the remarkable story of the world's first peace treaty — a 3200-year-old text. Egyptologist Dr Camilla Di Biase-Dyson joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to share a political and personal soap opera that brought an enduring peace to a region now suffering from a bloody war.Speaker:Dr Camilla Di Biase-DysonLinguist and EgyptologistSenior Lecturer, Macquarie University

Disadvantaged and marginalised students often don't get the financial and teaching support that they need. Equity everyone, regardless of their background, is one of the most pressing challenges facing out higher education sector. The government released the Universities Accord Final Report earlier this year – and it recommends sweeping changes.What are the main recommendations? And are they any good?Access, Achievement, Accord 2024 was presented at The Australian Student Equity Symposium, Curtin University.SpeakersDr Kylie AustinPresident for Equity Practitioners in Higher Education AustralasiaProfessor Verity FirthVice President Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at the University of New South WalesProfessor Barney GloverCommissioner of Jobs and Skills AustraliaProfessor Harlene HayneVice-Chancellor of Curtin UniversityProfessor Mary O'KaneChair of the Universities Accord Review; director and executive chairman of the consultancy O'Kane AssociatesProfessor Shamit Saggar (host)Executive Director Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success, Curtin UniversityFurther informationAustralian Universities Accord Final Report Document

Award winning playwright S. Shakthidharan has described his groundbreaking theatre work Counting and Cracking as "a radical act of belonging". The epic, three-act, three-hour tale captures the Australian migrant experience through the story of one Sri Lankan family across four generations. To celebrate the play's return to the stage, we hear from four Sri Lankan Australians about the role creativity has played in their lives, culture and community.This event was recorded at the University of Melbourne (UMAC) in partnership with Rising Festival and The Wheeler Centre on June 2, 2024.SpeakersS. Shakthidharan Writer, Director, Producer and composer of original musicAuthor, Counting and CrackingCo-Founder and Co-Director, KurinjiMinoli De Silva Owner, Ella by MinoliFinalist, Masterchef AustraliaSuren Jayemanne Comedian, writer, presenterBhakthi Puvanenthiran (host) Entertainment and Features Editor, ABCFurther informationHow writing the epic play Counting and Cracking helped Tamil playwright S. Shakthidharan's mum face her traumaABC Online, May 27, 2024'We are here, we belong' — The unifying impact of Counting and Cracking The Stage Show, ABC RN, June 11, 2024

Drawing on his experiences working across continents in the "shatter zones" of society — jails, war zones, refugee shelters – Andre de Quadros explains how music and creativity can be used to build peace, reconciliation and empowerment in a troubled world. Later, Anne-Marie Forbes explains how music improves mental, physical and community well-being.These events were recorded at the 2024 Miegunyah Lecture at the University of Melbourne on April 11, 2024, and Melodies as Medicine at the University of Tasmania on April 10, 2024.SpeakersAndre de Quadros Professor of Music, Boston University2024 Miegunyah Visiting Fellow, University of MelbourneAnne-Marie Forbes Associate Professor Musicology, University of TasmaniaFellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.Nourish Women's Choir

Join Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2024 Ocean Lovers Festival in Bondi. From deep sea mining to illegal fishing on the high seas, who is the boss of the ocean? And why are scientists-turned-entrepreneurs singing the praises of seaweed?  Two panels of big thinkers exploring new frontiers for ocean exploitation — and inspiration — the risks, the rewards, and the regulation of this vast wilderness which covers 70% of the planet's surfacePanel 1 - Who owns the high seas and deep seas? Deep sea mining and illegal fishing Associate Professor Aline JaeckelAustralian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS)University of WollongongCaptain Peter HammarstedtDirector of Campaigns and Chairman of Sea Shepherd AustraliaMattheiu RytzDirector of the film Deep RisingPanel 2 - Is algae the new gold?Dr Michael AskewExecutive Director and co-founderAlgae CoDr Pia WinbergFounder and chief scientistVenus Shell SystemsDr Alexandra Thomson,Industry Engagement ManagerClimate Change Cluster (C3) Research InstituteUniversity of Technology Sydney

It took until the late 1990s for Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. Since then, the law has changed and evolved in a multitude of ways for LGBTQIA+ people, but not without a fight virtually every step of the way. This event was recorded as part of Victorian Law Week on May 22, 2024.SpeakersElizabeth Bennett SC, BarristerVice President, Victorian Barristers NetworkSam Elkin Author, Detachable Penis: A queer legal saga (Upswell publishing)Legal aid lawyer (inaugural lawyer for Victoria's first Queer legal service)Host, Queer View Mirror, Triple RYves Rees (host) Senior Lecturer in History, La Trobe University