UNSW Centre for Ideas

The STEMMinist Book Club was founded in 2018 and is dedicated to reading and discussing books related to feminism and STEMM (science, technology, engineering, medicine and maths).  The book club has over 5,000 members from 25 countries. As well as discussing great books, the book club provides a virtual discussion forum and support network for women and non-binary people working in these sectors.  Come along to this special Festival edition of the STEMMinist Book Club to discuss the phenomenon of GPs who write. Hosted by Caroline Ford with guests Jumaana Abdu (Translations), Melanie Cheng (The Burrow) and Sarah Sasson (Tidelines), all of whom are doctors with brilliant new books.  This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Programs like ChatGPT have become ubiquitous with AI, promising to kick start the next industrial evolution. But the scale of resources needed to support AI are staggering, with the cost largely being levied on the marginalised. From energy demands eclipsing whole cities, to labour exploitation in the global south, this behaviour bodes poorly for an equitable future. In Empire of AI, award-winning investigative journalist Karen Hao unpacks the rise of OpenAI and their race for global dominance – prompting the question, what will it take to reign in this laissez-faire approach to growth? Answers are needed and UNSW legal expert Mimi Zou is exploring the possibilities surrounding the regulation of AI, along with UNSW neuroscientist Joel Pearson who is scrutinising the human impact of AI at an individual and societal level. Hear Chief Scientist of UNSW AI Toby Walsh in conversation with Karen Hao and then Mimi Zou and Joel Pearson on what it will take to usher in a sustainable, equitable AI revolution.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Parthenon Marbles. The Benin Bronzes. Grandma's jewellery that she smuggled in her clothes, never to return. What if taking an object is the best way to keep a community's culture alive? Legal experts Sherine Al Shallah and Lucas Lixinski engage with old and new arguments about cultural objects. Bringing together perspectives from decolonisation and refugee practices, Sherine and Lucas dare us to think beyond our preconceived notions, showing that ‘whether’ to return can be an even more complicated question than we thought.If we think about cultural objects not as objects, but as conduits for human connection and identity, they argue, then we may have a chance of solving these complex ethical problems. This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ministry of Time landed on multiple bestseller lists thanks to its highly original, genre-defying story, which combines elements of time travel, romance and spy thriller.  Described by Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton as “outrageously brilliant”, Kaliane Bradley’s debut challenges the boundaries of literary and genre fiction as the past meets the future when a disaffected civil servant accepts a job at a mysterious new government ministry specialising in ‘historical expats’.  Join Kaliane and host, Spectrum editor Melanie Kembrey, to unpack the triumph of Kaliane’s debut novel and what it means to change the world by defying history. With an introduction from Fiona Morrison. This event was co-presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and UNSW Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since early 2023, MDMA has been authorised for use in Australia to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.   Still, it remains a controversial treatment publicly and among experts. Adam Bayes from the Black Dog Institute and researcher Rebecca Huntley, whose book Sassafras: A memoir of love, loss and MDMA Therapy recounts her experience of using MDMA to treat trauma, discuss the personal and medical cases for (and against) psychedelics.   Learn more about this contentious treatment and hear Adam and Rebecca’s perspectives, in conversation with Norman Swan. This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Black Saturday razed towns, Canada’s Fort McMurray wildfire forced 88,000 people to flee, the LA fires obliterated over 12,000 buildings and Australia’s Black Summer fires scorched 24 million hectares – an area the size of the United Kingdom. Bushfires are no longer seasonal, they’re unrelenting; reshaping landscapes and lives in our rapidly warming world.  In Fire Weather, award-winning Canadian author John Vaillant tells the gripping story of a city consumed by flame – a harbinger of what’s to come in a hotter, drier, more combustible world.  Joined by UNSW bushfire behaviour expert Jason Sharples, listen in on a conversation on the science of fire, the galvanising power of storytelling and how we can survive in a world where the line between our natural and built environment is increasingly blurred – and increasingly flammable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As state and federal governments move to criminalise forms of hate speech, it's time to look at what evidence shows about the effect that laws can have on hate speech and its victims, with legal expert Luke McNamara.  This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not two years after making Australian literary history with My Brilliant Career, Miles Franklin fell into obscurity – and when publishers rejected her subsequent novels, she left Australia for Chicago.  Uncover the mysteries of the legend’s life with Kerrie Davies, whose Miles Franklin Undercover focuses on those lost years. It’s a real-life sequel to the classic Australian novel, using never-before-published material – including intimate correspondence with poet Banjo Paterson – from Miles’s years working as a servant.  This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence, Toby Walsh has been awarded the Humbolt Research Award and elected as a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI. In The Shortest History of AI, Toby outlines the six key ideas for understanding artificial intelligence today.  Hear Toby trace the origins of artificial intelligence in science and culture and predict where the technology is heading in the future.  This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018 Donna Strickland became the first woman in over 50 years to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, and only the third woman in history. Her award-winning work however began decades earlier. While undertaking her PhD Donna developed chirped pulse amplification – a unique way to amplify ultrashort laser pulses. This breakthrough paved not only the way for safer and more precise laser eye surgery but also improved mobile phone technology and is now helping to advance quantum science. Listen to Donna in conversation with the ABC’s Tegan Taylor, as she shares the early curiosity that fuelled her love of physics, the joy of discovery and how she became a ‘laser jock’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.