Sydney Writers' Festival

Humankind stands at a crossroads: will artificial intelligence make us superhumanly productive, liberating us from life’s most mundane tasks? Or have we opened Pandora’s box, unleashing sentient technology that will eventually destroy us? In a colossal contest of persuasion and wit, two teams of our best and brightest debate whether artificial intelligence is better than the real thing. Decide once and for all with team captains Annabel Crabb and David Marr, as they duke it out alongside teammates Matilda Boseley, Rhys Nicholson, Tracey Spicer and Toby Walsh. Adjudicated by Yumi Stynes. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:
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Robyn Davidson once described Unfinished Woman as an “infinite book”. “I feel absolutely that I have to write it and absolutely that I can’t write it.” Twenty-five years in the making, this unforgettable memoir charts her expeditions since crossing the Gibson Desert with camels –  the subject of her debut, Tracks, which her then-landlord, Doris Lessing, presciently declared “a classic”. Robyn’s exploits include having a “volcanic” love affair with Salman Rushdie in London, migrating with nomads in Tibet and marrying an Indian prince in the Himalayas. She finally returns to the long-avoided country of her childhood and her mother’s tragic suicide. Explore her remarkable life, in conversation with Michaela Kalowski. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some consider Pride and Prejudice the first romantic comedy, with Jane Austen having set the ground rules for others to follow. Certainly, with its witty heroine and enemies-to-lovers plotting, Pride and Prejudice has created many of the tropes we continue to see in rom-coms today. YA authors Kate and Angourie Rice (Stuck up and Stupid), Sophie Gonzales (The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist) and Gabrielle Tozer (The Unexpected Mess of it All) talk with Nathan Luff about Austen’s lasting influences on the genre and the fun involved in reimagining rom-coms for contemporary readers. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:
Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What kind of world could we create if we stopped believing inequality is the price of progress? Archaeology professor David Wengrow’s groundbreaking book, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, co-authored with the late David Graeber, overturns the theories of Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens), Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel) and Steven Pinker (Enlightenment Now). Challenging dominant narratives that the agricultural revolution meant abandoning an egalitarian Eden, the book unearths advanced early civilisations that weren’t governed by kings, presidents or authoritarian rule. Transform your understanding of human evolution with David, in conversation with ABC RN’s Richard Fidler, and learn how rewriting history may provide political inspiration for today. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Your Favourites’ Favourites, our most loved writers introduce one of their favourite authors. Acclaimed Women & Children author Tony Birch sits down with debut writer Graham Akhurst, a Fulbright Scholar who drafted his YA novel, Borderland, while studying in renowned writing program at Hunter College in New York City. This gripping coming-of-age story follows a city-born First Nations teenager on an epic quest to figure out who he is. Join Tony and Graham as they discuss First Nations identity, the impact of colonisation and what happens when you take a stand.  This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you thought you knew the backstory of The Teacher's Pet, the gripping whodunnit podcast downloaded by over 80 million listeners, think again. Two-time Gold Walkley Award–winning investigative journalist Hedley Thomas’ book takes readers behind the scenes of the podcast investigation with a blow-by-blow account of one of the most intriguing and enduring murder mysteries of our time. Get the scoop as Hedley reveals to Matthew Condon how fresh leads, old evidence and a groundswell of public attention on a scandalous cold case finally saw justice delivered after nearly four decades. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The past is a foreign country”, L.P. Hartley famously wrote. It is also a place readers can visit via masterful historical fiction. Be transported by esteemed panellists Francesca de Tores (Saltblood), Mirandi Riwoe (Sunbirds) and Abraham Verghese (The Covenant of Water) as they discuss the magic of bringing history to life for contemporary audiences. Learn how these authors conjure the past to make sense of the present and convincingly intertwine fact and fiction in their prose. Hosted by Kate Evans (ABC RN’s The Bookshelf). Abraham Verghese appeared at this event via video link. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine another world with the fantasy writers who are redefining the wildly popular genre. Australian fantasy heavyweight Garth Nix (The Old Kingdom series) takes to the stage with ascending local star Shelley Parker-Chan (The Radiant Emperor duology) and global sensation Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos series) to explain how they create expansive universes for their epic stories, heroes and heroines. This is must-listen episode for YA and fantasy fans alike! Hosted by Aimée Lindorff. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She may be self-absorbed, adrift or unhinged, but the ‘sad girl’ is taking the publishing industry by storm. Debut novelists Nadine J. Cohen (Everyone and Everything), Madeleine Gray (Green Dot) and Jessie Stephens (Something Bad is Going to Happen) have all created unforgettable protagonists who are fallible, at times unlikeable and painfully relatable. Hear from these exciting debut novelists as they discuss making and breaking this emerging genre’s rules, and how they crafted compelling portraits of present-day womanhood. In conversation with The Guardian’s Steph Harmon. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From parched paddocks to sleepy coastal towns, the bodies keep piling up – and Australian readers can’t get enough. This panel brings together some of Australia’s hottest local crime writers, with Sulari Gentill (The Mystery Writer), Dinuka McKenzie (Tipping Point) and Benjamin Stevenson (Everyone on this Train is a Suspect). Dust off your Akubra for a thrilling chat about the outback noir genre and what makes Aussie crime fiction unique, with host Alex Adsett. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:Instagram: @sydwritersfestFacebook: @SydWritersFestX (Twitter): @SydWritersFestTikTok: @sydwritersfestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.