Festival of Dangerous Ideas

For some, the image of Israel, as a shining example of liberal democratic ideals has been broken by the Netanyahu Government’s actions in Gaza since 7 October, 2023. Yet, for others, the positive image projected by Israel has always been a convenient myth, allowing dominant powers within the international community to turn a blind eye to decades of Palestinian suffering.  Academic Saree Makdisi argues that we are living in a culture of denial. He says much of the West is complicit through the act of self-deception. Makdisi offers a possible outcome for both Palestinians and Israelis.   Saree Makdisi is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. His most recent books include Tolerance is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial, Reading William Blake and Making England Western. He is also a frequent contributor to The Nation, n+1, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Is God a story we’ve just told ourselves to satisfy our own desires?   Comedian and author David Baddiel knows God doesn’t exist, but wishes he did. As Baddiel wrestles with his understanding of God and spirituality as a Jewish atheist, his bold thesis uncovers how religion services the deepest needs of humanity.  This session is in conversation with Simon Longstaff and is the inaugural John Caldon Provocation, an annual event at FODI to honour the legacy of businessman John Caldon and his special brand of curiosity. David Baddiel is an accomplished comedian, author, screenwriter and television presenter. He began his career as writer and star of numerous hit UK TV comedy shows. Also an award-winning author, David has written ten hugely successful children’s books, alongside four critically-acclaimed novels, and in 2021 he released the Sunday Times Politics Book of The Year – his polemic Jews Don’t Count, which has changed the whole conversation around modern identity politics and antisemitism. David followed the book with a TV documentary on the subject that aired in 2022. David’s most recent book, The God Desire, was released in 2023 and explores his keen desire to believe in a deity and why this very desperation to believe proves his atheism correct. Simon Longstaff began his working life studying law in Sydney and teaching in Tasmania, later pursuing postgraduate studies as a Member of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1991, Simon commenced his work as the first Executive Director of The Ethics Centre, a role he continues today. Simon is an Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.    

Are we too focused on race? Have recent anti-racist movements like Black Lives Matter abandoned the ‘colourblind’ spirit of the original civil rights movement? In this live FODI edition of Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps, writer and podcaster Coleman Hughes articulates his vision for a future where individuals are judged by ‘the content of their character’, not the colour of their skin. He argues for a society that embraces a colourblind ethos, aiming to dismantle divisive narratives and foster a more inclusive culture.  Coleman Hughes is an author, podcaster and opinion columnist who specialises in issues related to race, public policy and applied ethics. Coleman’s writing has been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Quillette, City Journal, The Spectator, and the Washington Examiner. He appeared on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2021. In 2019, Hughes testified before the US House Judiciary subcommittee at a hearing on reparations for slavery. In 2024, Coleman released his first book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America. He has appeared on prominent TV shows and podcasts including The View, Real Time with Bill Maher, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Making Sense with Sam Harris. He is a columnist at the Free Press, and a contributor at CNN. Josh Szeps is one of Australia’s most influential and innovative interviewers. In New York, he was a founding host-producer of the revolutionary US streaming news network, HuffPost Live, where he hosted thousands of hours of live TV with the biggest names in politics, news and entertainment. He won a Webby Award while the organisation won a Pulitzer. Josh also appeared regularly with Al Roker as a contributor on the NBC TODAY Show. On his return to Australia, he co-anchored the national morning television show, Weekend Breakfast, and became a fixture of ABC Radio Sydney. Afternoons with Josh Szeps launched in 2021, a three-hour daily talkback radio show. In 2024, Josh left the legacy media to wrestle freely with ideas in a spicier way. Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps took off as a podcast, Substack publication, live touring enterprise and YouTube channel.

Being open about the female body has always been taboo, risky and dangerous. So, by smashing ancient menstrual taboos, and demolishing dangerous pseudoscience, the Internet’s OB-GYN Jen Gunter has long been on a mission to destigmatise the myths and misogyny surrounding women’s health. Gunter urges women to seize control, reminding them that it shouldn’t be an act of feminism to know how their body works.  Jen Gunter is an internationally bestselling author, obstetrician, and gynecologist with more than three decades of experience as a vulvar and vaginal diseases expert. Her bestselling books, The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, have been translated into 25 languages. She has a blog called The Vajenda, is the host of Jensplaining, a CBC/Amazon Prime video series that highlights the impact of medical misinformation on women, and is the recipient of the 2020 Media Award from The Menopause Society. Her TED Talk, Why Can’t We Talk About Periods? was the third most viewed TED Talk of 2020, leading to the launch of her popular podcast on the TED Audio Collective, Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter.

Ordinary citizens are starting to realise that their dwindling share of our common wealth is no accident, but the inevitable result of the current system. As life becomes more precarious, has the time come when the ‘discontented majority’ will flex their muscles and seize, by whatever means, a fairer share of the economic and social pie? Or will the world’s wealthiest 1% step back from the precipice by realising that inequality is as much of a problem for them as it is for everyone else?  Myra Hamilton is an Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. She is a sociologist and social policy scholar whose work identifies and challenges inequalities arising from gender, age and social disadvantage. Among other things, her most recent work challenges the notion of the ‘generation wars’ and seeks to uncover the workings of elite privilege and its harms. Carl Rhodes is Dean and Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. Carl writes about the ethical and democratic dimensions of business and work. His work endeavours to question and reformulate the role of business in society so prosperity can be shared by all.  Jordan van den Berg, an office-worker in Melbourne, is known for his reviews and visits of the worst rentals Australia has to offer by his audience on TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube as purplepingers. Alongside his reviews, Jordan also uses his platform to passionately contribute to Australian political discourse, educating his audience on anything and everything that society failed to educate young Australians. Chaired by philosopher, writer, and public commentator, Gwilym David Blunt.

Journalists play a vital role in a democracy, holding power to account. The traditional model of journalism sees journalists as disinterested seekers of the truth, striving for ‘objectivity’ and suppressing their own opinions. But as newsrooms and editorial pages previously staffed only by white male journalists have evolved, and as the internet has driven the rise of opinion journalism, we are faced with two important questions: Does it matter who journalists are? And does it matter what they think? At a time when media business models are in crisis, how should we think about bias, representation, truth and opinion? What happens when journalists themselves become ‘the story’? And if we can’t talk about these thorny questions in the media itself, can the media do its job at all?  Antoinette Lattouf is a broadcaster, columnist, author, speaker, human rights advocate, mental health ambassador who dabbles in satire and is terrible at reverse parking. She is the creator and co-host of The Antoinettes podcast, a weekly commentary and comedy podcast. She is also the co-host of news and analysis podcast The Briefing. The multi-award-winning journalist is the co-founder of Media Diversity Australia – a not-for-profit organisation working towards increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the media. Andy Mills is an American reporter and podcast producer who co-created The Daily at The New York Times, Reflector and several documentary series including Rabbit Hole and The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Josh Szeps is one of Australia’s most influential and innovative interviewers. In New York, he was a founding host-producer of the revolutionary US streaming news network, HuffPost Live. He won a Webby Award while the organisation won a Pulitzer. Josh also appeared regularly with Al Roker as a contributor on the NBC TODAY Show. On his return to Australia, he co-anchored the national morning television show, Weekend Breakfast, and became a fixture of ABC Radio Sydney. Afternoons with Josh Szeps launched in 2021, a three-hour daily talkback radio show. In 2024, Josh left the legacy media to wrestle freely with ideas in a spicier way. Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps took off as a podcast, Substack publication, live touring enterprise and YouTube channel. Chaired by Louise Adler, Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, who has spent over 30 years in the culture business and continues to be committed to the dissemination of dangerous ideas.

When it comes our most divisive political, economic and social issues there is a fracture between the views of the old and the young. As older generations continue to monopolise wealth and how policy is shaped, younger generations are becoming more and more disenfranchised. The inequality and anger between generations is growing, and it might just be the biggest threat to our democracy. In a world going to be inherited by younger generations, UK academic David Runciman says we hardly ask children about their political views. Perhaps the solution is giving children the right to vote – an audacious plan that might just rescue democracy. David Runciman is Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge and was Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies from 2014-2018. He is the author of many books, including The Confidence Trap, How Democracy Ends, Confronting Leviathan and The Handover. His most recent book is The History of Ideas: Equality, Justice and Revolution, based on his popular podcast series Talking Politics. He currently hosts the podcast Past Present Future. He is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books, where he has written widely about contemporary politics. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Literature.

The late philosopher and scientist, Daniel Dennett talked about ‘counterfeit people’ as one of the great dangers of AI – but are we now willing to court the same dangers through our adoption of multiple identities across the metaverse. Moving from the confinement of physical reality to the landscape of the metaverse, where looks, preferences, and genders are limitless, we can each acquire many digital selves. Is a ‘virtual you’ a truer reflection of your deepest self – revealing desires and aspects that otherwise remain hidden? What is the human cost of leaving the physical world behind? What are the ethical implications of living without boundaries in a digital space where the borders between morality and legality, in the ‘real world’, begin to dissolve?  Lizzie O'Shea sues companies and governments that do the wrong thing. She has run major cases against major technology companies on behalf of thousands of people who have been harmed by them. She is also a founder and the chair of Digital Rights Watch, which advocates for human rights in online spaces.  Patrick Stokes is associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University, and a writer, radio producer, and media commentator on philosophical matters. He is currently engaged in a three-year Australian Research Council-funded project, ‘Digital Death and Immortality.’  Emily van der Nagel is a Lecturer in Social Media at Monash University. She researches social media identities, platforms, and cultures, with a particular focus on digital intimacies. Her book, Sex and Social Media, co-authored with Katrin Tiidenberg, takes a feminist, sex-positive approach to how social media platforms shape and restrict sex. Emily is currently working on a research project about how Australians use social media to create and subscribe to content on OnlyFans. Chaired by Professor of Evolution at UNSW Sydney and a popular science author, Rob Brooks.

Since the dawn of time, our pro-natalist society has implemented certain systems, norms and lenses in which we view child rearing. These often oppressive and coercive conditions make it difficult for many to think about their reproductive options. But with the emergence of artificial wombs and womb transplants, what impact could this have on reproductive autonomy? And what ethical and political questions will follow?    Brigitte Gerstl is the program manager for the uterus transplant program at the Royal Hospital for Women (RHW). Brigitte played a pivotal role in establishing Australia’s first live donor uterus transplant research study program at the RHW, she is currently developing the deceased donor pathway within the program. In this role, she oversees patient screening, ethics, and governance, while also monitoring patient progress and clinical and psychosocial outcomes.  Dr. Luara Ferracioli is Associate Professor in Political Philosophy at the University of Sydney. Her main areas of research are the ethics of immigration and family justice.  Mianna Lotz is an academic, ethics advisor, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University where she specialises in and teaches ethics and applied ethics with a research focus on emerging reproductive technologies, adoption, surgical innovation, family ethics, and the welfare and rights of children and parents.  Chaired by Kathryn MacKay, Senior Lecturer at Sydney Health Ethics. 

Throughout history we have found ways to regulate human behaviour through the threat of social exclusion. But while the idea of ‘cancellation’ is not new, the online sphere has radically shifted the way we hold people to account and punish perceived wrongdoing.  Is redemption possible in the digital age? And can narratives of growth and forgiveness help us shift the power from condemnation to compassion? What does ‘forgiveness’ look like in the digital age?    David Baddiel is an accomplished comedian, author, screenwriter and television presenter. His works include the Sunday Times Politics Book of The Year – his polemic Jews Don’t Count, and The God Desire. Roxane Gay is an author whose works include Ayiti, An Untamed State, The New York Times’ bestselling Bad Feminist, and The New York Times’ bestselling Hunger: A Memoir of My Body and the nationally bestselling Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business. Andy Mills is an American reporter and podcast producer who co-created The Daily at The New York Times, Reflector and several documentary series including Rabbit Hole and The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Megan Phelps-Roper is an author and podcast producer who left a life of religious extremism in 2012. She has spent the past decade using her experiences to work with schools on anti-bullying campaigns, with law enforcement organisations investigating deradicalisation, and with tech companies on the intersection of safety, free speech, and the value of dialogue across ideological divides. She hosted and produced The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Chaired by philosopher, Tim Dean.