UNSW Centre for Ideas cover image

UNSW Centre for Ideas

Latest episodes

undefined
Aug 23, 2024 • 34min

Preppers Episode 2: The End of the World As We Know It

The Earth is cracking under the weight of our expectations, with growth held up as the economic north star. Meanwhile, wildlife populations are collapsing, the ocean is acidifying, and carbon emissions are still increasing. Despite everything we know about what’s wrong and what to do about it, we cling to our current way of life. Civilizations have collapsed before. Could it be happening again? And if it is, what can we be doing to prepare for it? This episode features:  Richard Kingsford – Professor of Ecology and Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Science Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering Mark Diesendorf – Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, UNSW Sydney Jem Bendell – Emeritus Professor of Sustainability Leadership, University of Cumbria Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Aug 15, 2024 • 33min

Preppers Episode 1: Ready Or Not

In the popular imagination, preppers are busy hoarding tinned food in their bunkers while they wait for the end of the world. But is this what most prepping looks like? And is climate change as bad as all that?  The bin fire of the last few years has ramped the eco-anxiety up to an 11. But as we go about our lives, studying, feeding our families, paying off our debts and waiting for the next season of The Great British Bake Off, have we all put our heads a little too far into the sand? Sure, we’re all worried, but we can’t be thinking about it all the time, much less heading to the hills to shoot our dinner and drag it back to our underground bunkers. Besides, it won't come to that... will it?  Is there anything we can learn from the prepping mindset as the reality of climate change comes barrelling toward us?  This episode features:  John Scarinci – President, Australian Preppers Survival League Kezia Barker – Senior Lecturer in Geography, Liverpool John Moores University Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering  Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Aug 12, 2024 • 30sec

Trailer: Preppers

Get ready to confront the uncomfortable truths about climate change with investigative humorist and climate action enthusiast Dan Ilic in Preppers, a podcast by the UNSW Centre for Ideas that dives deep into the realities we often avoid.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Aug 8, 2024 • 28min

Joel Pearson on Intuition

Intuition isn’t just hippie-dippie or woo-woo – it saves lives, averts disasters and drives countless innovative business decisions. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, for one, regularly relied on his gut instincts. Leading Australian neuroscientist and psychologist Joel Pearson’s The Intuition Toolkit: The New Science of Knowing What, Without Knowing Why presents five scientifically solid strategies for developing intuition that anyone can learn to harness and trust. Listen to unlock the mysteries of human consciousness as Joel teaches us when it’s safe to rely on intuition in decision-making. Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jul 31, 2024 • 1h 2min

Great Debate: Artificial Intelligence is Better Than the Real Thing

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.  Listen and help us decide once and for all who wins in the battle of man vs. machine with team captains Annabel Crabb and David Marr, as they duke it out alongside teammates Matilda Boseley, Rhys Nicholson, Tracey Spicer and Toby Walsh. Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jul 24, 2024 • 45min

Abraham Verghese: The Covenant of Water

Physician and writer Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, crafts a masterly narrative of three generations of a family in Kerala, through the eyes of a young girl, from her arranged marriage at the turn of the 20th century to her emergence as the matriarchal figure, Big Ammachi.Solving the mystery of a family affliction – in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning – the book brings to life a vanished past and the impact of change on lives and communities. Examine the marriage of medicine and literature with Abraham, joined by host Roanna Gonsalves. Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jul 17, 2024 • 47min

Australia's Place in the World

In the wake of a shift in the global power balance, how can Australia best protect itself?Two of Australia’s most interesting foreign policy thinkers take a fresh look at Australia’s place in the world and come to some surprising conclusions. Clinton Fernandes (Sub-Imperial Power) and Sam Roggeveen (The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace) tackle the big questions about the US alliance, the threat of China, and underneath it all, what kind of country Australia really is.  Listen as Sam and Clinton reshape Australia’s understanding of itself in the international arena, in conversation with Verity Firth AM, Vice-President Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at the University of New South Wales. Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jul 10, 2024 • 29min

Richard Holden on Money in the 21st Century

Money in the 21st century is increasingly cheap, digital and mobile. Looking at the risks and opportunities of low interest rates, cryptocurrencies and the global mobility of money, economist Richard Holden looks at the impact of these forces on our wallets, on the block chain and on major economies. Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jul 3, 2024 • 57min

Literary Legends

Explore the literary histories of Charmian Clift, Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower.Following her biography The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift, Nadia Wheatley contributed the afterword to The End of the Morning, Clift’s final manuscript, which was recently published more than 50 years after her death. Literary scholar Brigitta Olubas (Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life) joins forces with journalist Susan Wyndham to collate Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower: The Letters, which reveals the deep and vexed friendship between two of Australia’s greatest writers.  Learn more about these fabled authors’ work and writing lives with the scribes who are salvaging their stories from the archives. Presented by UNSW Centre for Ideas and Sydney Writer's Festival.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
undefined
Jun 26, 2024 • 1h 14min

Jennifer Doudna: My Life in Science

Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna made not just any scientific breakthrough, but uncovered a tool that promises unparalleled control over DNA - the core of existence teetering on the brink between amazing potential and great danger.  Hear the fascinating discussion between Jennifer Doudna and Merlin Crossley as they discuss the mentors who fuelled her scientific passion, the collaborations that led to her incredible discoveries, her experience as a leading woman in STEM, and how her Innovative Genomics Institute is enabling equitable access to CRISPR technology. Presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and UNSW Science.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode