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.

Known as one of the most fierce and outspoken politicians in the country, Jacqui Lambie does not hold back. Not with her opinion, her work ethic, or her convictions. And she’s done the unthinkable, for a politician, she’s changed her mind and admitted to it. Rising to public office with the Palmer United Party in 2013, she quickly struck out on her own in 2014 as an independent for Tasmania in the Senate. Lambie, an Aboriginal Tasmanian who served in the Australian Army, has fought hard for welfare recipients, veterans and families affected by ice addiction, speaking compellingly on these issues from personal experience. Senator Lambie is anything but predictable and has come dangerously close many times to bursting the Canberra bubble. Expect candid frankness on Australia’s socio-political landscape and where Lambie sees us heading in this opening address for FODI 2022.

It’s been over 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union and 22 years since Vladimir Putin came to power. Now in the throes of a Ukraine invasion, the Russian regime combats any conflict with an utter disregard for internal opposition and external western pressure.  From the inside, fighting Putin is the only option for Russian activists. From the outside, what are the strategic options for western countries against this authoritarian superpower? Do military action or economic sanctions work? Or do we need to consider less orthodox approaches?    In this talk from 2014, in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the shooting down of MH17, Russian journalist & activist Masha Gessen and foreign policy analyst Tom Switzer test different ideas on how to deal with Putin.

We may not want to admit it, but there is a spectrum of perversion along which we all sit. Whether it’s voyeurism, exhibitionism, or your run-of-the-mill foot fetish, we all possess a suite of sexual tastes as unique as our fingerprints—and as secret as the rest of the skeletons we’ve hidden in our closets.   In his 2012 talk Jesse Bering humanises so-called deviants while at the same time asking serious questions about the differences between thought and action. He presents us with a challenge: to understand that our best hope of solving some of the most troubling problems of our age hinges entirely on the amoral study of sex.  Jesse Michael Bering is an American psychologist, writer, and academic.

A playerless piano performs a repeating piece of music in which every note of a scale is played on every beat of the bar. The melody is absorbed into chaos, as the words of Noami Klein and Waleed Aly speak of our interconnectedness and entanglements. Produced by The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Ethics Centre and Audiocraft.

On the precipice of a new age, what are the forces that will bring us together, and what is driving us apart? Simon Longstaff sits between Waleed Aly and Naomi Klein as they discuss the decline of meta-narratives in society and politics, reconciling coloniser and Indigenous histories and narratives, and trends of hyper-individualism and conspiracy. Neither are wholly optimistic nor pessimistic about the future that lies ahead. Waleed Aly is a broadcaster, lawyer, academic and Walkley Award-winning journalist.  Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author and Senior Correspondent for The Intercept.  Produced by The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Ethics Centre and Audiocraft.

CellF is a cybernetic musician and the world’s first neural synthesiser, created by Perth-based artist and researcher, Guy Ben-Ary. Its ‘brain’ is made of biological neural networks bio-engineered from the artist’s own cells, that grow in a petri dish and control in real time its ‘body’ – an array of synthesizers that play music live with human musicians. Revivification is a short piece that responds to S.Matthew Liao and John Rasko’s discussion. Produced by The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Ethics Centre and Audiocraft.  

From the ancient tale of Gilgamesh to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the dream of immortality has long captured the imagination of writers and scientists. But how close are we to conquering death? In a conversation moderated by Simon Longstaff, neuro-ethicist S. Matthew Liao speaks with stem cell-researcher John Rasko about the age of regenerative medicine, the heroes and fraudsters of the past, and the reality of a distant future where genetic engineering helps humans to colonise future planets. S. Matthew Liao is a philosopher specialising bioethics. John Rasko is an Australian clinical haematologist, pathologist and scientist, pioneering in the application of adult stem cells and genetic therapies.  Produced by The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Ethics Centre and Audiocraft.  

Tongues is an explicit, potent musical manifesto, exploring having your voice taken away, in response to Roxane Gay and Kate Manne’s discussion. Tongues is written and performed by Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian Inuk improvisational singer, avant-garde composer, bestselling author, and Saul Williams, Sumach Valentine, Jesse Zubot; published by Songs of Six Shooter B (SOCAN), Martyr Loser King (ASCAP), Warp Music Limited (PRS/ASCAP), Jesse Zubot (SOCAN). Courtesy of Six Shooter Records Inc. Produced by The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Ethics Centre and Audiocraft.