Festival of Dangerous Ideas

Our modern society is dependent on extraordinary levels of abuse and violence towards non-human animals. While we may love animals, we continue to interact with them in thoughtless, violent and cruel ways. We destroy their habitats, regulate their slaughter, farm and exploit them, and even in extreme circumstances, sexually abuse them.  Historian Joanna Bourke asks us how we can love and care for animals better?   Please note this session contains themes that may be sensitive to some listeners including depictions of animal abuse and bestiality.  Joanna Bourke is a historian, academic and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, and a Fellow of the British Academy. She is also the Gresham Professor of Rhetoric (London, 2019-2023). She is the Principal Investigator on a Wellcome Trust-funded project entitled SHaME (Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters). She is the prize-winning author of 14 books, as well as over 100 articles in academic journals.

Former Facebook product manager, Frances Haugen did not set out to be a whistleblower, but when it became a question of saving lives, she knew it was time to tell the truth. On top of her concerns about mental health and hate speech, finding out that the Facebook platform was being used by human traffickers in Ethiopia tipped the balance. With almost half the people in the world using Meta’s platforms, and leadership of the company vigorously denying her accusation that it values profits over people, Frances Haugen wants to show us Facebook from the inside, so we can see what it really values. Frances Haugen is a specialist in algorithmic product management, having worked on ranking algorithms at Google, Pinterest, Yelp and Facebook. She was recruited to Facebook to be the lead Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, which dealt with issues related to democracy and misinformation, and later also worked on counter-espionage. During her time at Facebook, Haugen became increasingly alarmed by the choices the company makes prioritising their own profits over public safety and putting people’s lives at risk. As a last resort and at great personal risk, Frances made the courageous decision to blow the whistle on Facebook. Haugen fundamentally believes that the problems we are facing today with social media are solvable. 

As we confront the challenges of the 21st century, we’ve been encouraged to think that we can innovate our way out of anything, or that coding and technology are the answers. But what if the most important tools for our time are human skills like compassion, creativity and collaboration? To protect our own futures, it’s time to stop relying on technology to save us and focus on the things that make us truly human. Jane Caro is a Walkley Award winning Australian columnist, author, novelist, broadcaster, documentary maker, feminist and social commentator. Osher Günsberg is a television and radio presenter and journalist.  Yasmin Poole seeks to challenge policymakers to think differently. She is Plan International’s National Ambassador, advocating for young women to be heard in Australian politics.  Kevin Roose is an award-winning technology columnist for The New York Times and examines the intersection of tech, business, culture, and the combined effect they have on society.  Alok Vaid-Menon is an internationally acclaimed writer, comedian, poet, and public speaker whose work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition.   

The last few years have seen courageous sexual assault survivors become heroines and heroes, conquering the forces that have silenced them for so long. While laws are changing and we continue to unravel the culture of shame that has protected perpetrators and punished survivors – how can we evolve the conversation? Can we ever get to the heart of the matter, and think about a world without rape? Or are our efforts doomed to failure as we tinker at the edges of an eternal crime? Please note this session contains themes that may be sensitive to some listeners including discussions of rape and sexual assault.  Joanna Bourke is a historian, academic and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, and a Fellow of the British Academy.  Jess Hill is a Walkley-award winning investigative journalist who’s been reporting on domestic abuse for several years. Saxon Mullins is Director of Advocacy at Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy. In 2018 Saxon appeared on Four Corner’s episode I am that girl where she gave up her anonymity to tell the story of her 2013 sexual assault and the subsequent criminal trials and appeals. Bronwyn is a Wiradjuri woman who has worked all her life for equality and the recognition of First Nations people and their rights.  Sisonke Msimang is an award-winning writer whose long-form writing on money, power and sex has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs the Washington Post, Lapham’s Quarterly and a range of other publications.     

Our obsession with true crime is everywhere – from news stories and podcasts to the big screen. However in recent decades, rates of almost all crime around the world have declined dramatically, with the notable exception of sexual assault. Meanwhile the number of people in prison has increased alarmingly.  TV and film critic Wenlei Ma, journalist Kate McClymont, and former Executive Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics Don Weatherburn investigate why the data on crime, the inmate numbers and our obsession with these stories doesn’t add up.

Australia is professed to be the most successful multicultural society in the world. However, with our treatment of multicultural communities throughout the pandemic, a selective immigration progress and fraught ongoing Indigenous relations – Australia continues to deliver some sharp lessons about race. Why is it that some lives are remembered, commemorated and valued more than others?  Delivered in the wake of the Queen’s passing, author and activist Sisonke Msimang explores the preciousness of white life in the precarious face of Black Lives. Sisonke Msimang is an award-winning writer whose long-form writing on money, power and sex has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs the Washington Post, Lapham’s Quarterly and a range of other publications. She is also a columnist for The Guardian Australia. Currently a fellow at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), she has fellowships at Yale University and the Aspen Institute, where her work has focussed on the form and content of women’s stories.  She served as the Executive Director of a human rights organisation that provided grant funding and advocacy support to amplify the voices of activists living and working across Southern Africa. Much of that work involved gender justice in conflict and crisis-affected countries, most notably Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe. 

In a world where the internet saturates everything, where does the internet stop and our human selves begin? As we’re nudged and pushed by an endless stream of alerts, notifications and recommendations, our attention and money are pulled in directions that seem to only serve the interests of the platforms.  As we’re inevitably drifting towards automation, NY Times tech columnist and host of the Rabbit Hole podcast Kevin Roose, offers us a digital wellness check up in how we can fight back to preserve our humanity. This session was presented in partnership with UNSW Sydney. Kevin Roose is an award-winning technology columnist for The New York Times and the best-selling author of three books, Futureproof, Young Money, and The Unlikely Disciple. His column, The Shift, examines the intersection of tech, business, culture, and the combined effect they have on society. He is the host of Rabbit Hole, a New York Times-produced narrative audio series about what the internet is doing to us, and a regular guest on The Daily, as well as other leading TV and radio shows. He frequently writes and speaks on topics including automation and A.I., social media, disinformation and cybersecurity, and digital wellness. 

From Russia and China to America, Turkey and beyond, illiberal leaders have used corruption, machismo, disinformation, propaganda and violence to stay in power and expand their influence for decades.   With authoritarianism now governing over 60% of the world’s population, are we witnessing a backslide in democracy and a more efficient model of governance emerging?    Join historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat as she examines the authoritarian playbook, how strongmen think and what drives them.  Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an expert commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda — and the threats these present to democracies today. Author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Strongmen and over 100 op-eds and essays in CNN, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, she brings historical perspective to her analyses of current events. Her insight into the authoritarian playbook has made her an expert source for television, radio, podcasts, and online events. Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University and an advisor to Protect Democracy.

While we’ve all watched the rise of the US in our lifetimes, its recent decline has been a hot topic of conversation – with ballooning inequality, military overreach, gun violence and police shootings, the great recession, and a dramatic slide into decadence and division provided by recent politics and structures of power. While the idea of a slightly less-powerful America might be attractive to many countries tired of US dominance, can we reach the conclusion that America has reached a of tipping point into irreversible decline?  One of the BBC's finest foreign correspondents, Nick Bryant has covered some of the most momentous events of our times, the attacks of September 11, the war in Afghanistan, the Asian tsunami, the election of Barack Obama and the presidency of Donald Trump. Historian and author Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an expert commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda — and the threats these present to democracies today. Author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Strongmen and over 100 op-eds and essays in CNN, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, she brings historical perspective to her analyses of current events.  Geraldine Doogue is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter, best known for her work with ABC RN Saturday Extra which specialises in foreign policy, regional issues and agenda-changing commentators. Prize-winning historian, writer and economic commentator, Adam Tooze combines deep historical expertise with up to date economic analysis to answer questions about current and future political power and economical shifts that could be used to navigate in our dynamic contemporary world.

The 21st century was supposed to be better than this.  As we confront the impacts of climate change, wars old and new, the pandemic and its aftermath, and a dangerously fragile global financial system, it’s time to ask ‘Why can’t we get our act together and solve the issues that matter?’ As we find ourselves dealing with a multitude of challenges that we predicted would arrive, but seem unable to prevent, acclaimed historian Adam Tooze looks back to see a better future. Prize-winning historian, writer and economic commentator, Adam Tooze combines deep historical expertise with up to date economic analysis to answer questions about current and future political power and economical shifts that could be used to navigate in our dynamic contemporary world. Tooze teaches at Columbia University where he is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History and the Director of the European Institute.