Big Ideas

The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960's and, to this day, new generations continue to fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship. Ian Leslie uses the songs they wrote to trace the shared journey of these two compelling men before, during, and after The Beatles.This talk is provided by the York Festival of Ideas. The Festival is led by the University of York, UKSpeakerIan LeslieAuthor of John and Paul: A love story in songs (Faber, 2025)John Robinson (host)Emeritus Professor in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York

The world feels more dangerous and unpredictable, but with Australia wedged between our traditional ally, America, and our biggest trading partner, China, does our most expensive ever defence project make us more secure, or less?The 2025 Laurie Carmichael Lecture, Australian Sovereignty and the Path to Peace, was recorded on Wednesday 10 September 2025, with thanks to the Australia Institute's Carmichael Centre for Future Work and RMIT University.SpeakersDoug Cameron ALP Senator for New South Wales, 2007 to 2019, trade unionist

A frank and impassioned plea for peace by Gareth Evans. As Australia's former Foreign Minister and former president of the International Crisis Group, he's spent most of his career forging real paths to peace globally. From Sudan to Gaza, Myanmar to Ukraine - who can we rely on to stop "forever" wars and genocides?  Does Australia have a unique role to play? And what about the UN in its 80th year? It was created after the horror of World War 2 to keep the peace. Has it lost its way? The 2025 Brisbane Peace Lecture is presented by the United Nations Association of Australia, Brisbane -  and includes responses by two key leaders from the Sudanese and Palestinian communities.SpeakersProfessor the Hon Gareth EvansHonorary Professor at the Australian National University; Australia's former minister of Foreign Affairs and cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments.Dr Yassmin KhadraBrisbane-based physician, Doctors for Palestine, and Palestinian human rights advocateBishop Daniel AbotSouth Sudanese Anglican bishop

Primatologist Jane Goodall once said: "It actually doesn't take much to be a difficult woman. That's why there are so many of us." She spoke up. For all the species who go unheard, or unnoticed by humans. She was a giant in the global environmental movement. She first walked into the wild forests of Tanzania as a young woman with no science training and embarked on what is now the longest-running study of chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Her trailblazing fieldwork changed our understanding of other primates and the threat we pose to their continuing existence. It changed her. And it changed the world. At 91, she was still travelling the world right up until her last breath, to help give all other species theirs. She was deeply compassionate, and her campaigns deeply connected with people. Dr Jane Goodall joined Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to discuss hope in action the 2022 WOMADelaide Festival. This conversation was originally broadcast on ABC Radio National's Science Friction in May 2022.GuestDr Jane GoodallPrimatologist, environmentalist, naturalistFounder, Jane Goodall InstituteFurther info:The Book of Hope: A survival guide for an endangered planetJane Goodall and Douglas Abrams (Penguin, 2021)Jane Goodall Institute AustraliaRoots and Shoots AustraliaThe Jane Goodall HopecastThanks to the 2022 WOMADelaide Festival.

AI is an incredible tool, but is AI also a new coloniser? Is there actually anything new or artificial about artificial intelligence? Join Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 Now or Never Festival to meet two big thinkers building a bridge between First Nations and Western knowledge to disrupt and reimagine the who, what, and why of AI?This conversation was recorded on 26 August 2025, in partnership with The Wheeler Centre and Now or Never Festival. Discover more talks and bold conversations by following The Wheeler Centre wherever you get your podcasts or at wheelercentre.comSpeakersJessica Russ-SmithWiradyuri Wambuul womanAssociate Professor of Social Work in the School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University.Michelle LazarusProfessor and Director, Centre for Human Anatomy EducationDeputy Director, Centre for Scholarship in Health Education Monash University.Coauthors of the open-access book THE AI (R)EVOLUTION: Valuing Country, Culture and Community in a World of Algorithms (Monash University Publishing, 2024).Get the book here:https://publishing.monash.edu/product/ai-revolution/

Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice assesses the break-up of globalisation and the world order. The way in which countries such as the United States or Germany focus on sovereign goals is part of the problem. And that's likely not to stop any time soon. But she also comes up with practical ideas for creating a common economic and security future to address the issues that are too big for any single nation to tackle alone.What Comes Next? Imagining a New Economic and Security Commons was presented by the American Academy in BerlinSpeakersCondoleezza Rice66th Secretary of State of the United States (2005-09)Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public PolicyPhilip ZelikowBotha-Chan Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; 2009 Fellow, American Academy in BerlinDaniel Benjamin (host)President American Academy in Berlin

American music journalist Liz Pelly interrogates the ways Spotify and other streaming giants are reshaping music, not just for listeners, but also for the people who make it.This conversation was recorded on 28 August 2025 in partnership with The Wheeler Centre and Now or Never Festival. Discover more talks and bold conversations by following The Wheeler Centre wherever you get your podcasts or at wheelercentre.com.SpeakersLiz Pelly Music critic, author, Mood machine: The rise of Spotify and the costs of the perfect playlistLauren Taylor Senior programs and podcasts manager at The Wheeler Centre, and host of Breaking and Entering on community radio Triple R

Australian Indigenous art is celebrated around the world – but how much is understood about its pivotal role in Indigenous culture, country, politics and law? For the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land, art is more than just aesthetic, it is a means of cultural diplomacy, and a respectful assertion of power in its diverse forms, from sovereignty to influence, authority and control, to energy, strength and pride.This episode brings together two significant exhibitions of Indigenous art on now, Yolngu Power: the art of Yirrkala, and 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art.This conversation was recorded at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 30 July 2025. SpeakersMarcia Langton Co-curator (with Judith Ryan) of the exhibition 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (until 22 November 2025) Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies, Associate Provost and Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne   Clare Wright Author, Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy and more Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University Anna Clark (host) Author, Making Australian History, Private Lives, Public History, the History Wars  Professor of history, Australian Centre for Public History, University of Technology Sydney Further information:Yolngu power: the art of Yirrkala Art Gallery of New South Wales (until 6 October 2025)65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (until 22 November 2025) 

Join a full house at the Sydney Opera House with Nobel winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and Big Ideas' presenter Natasha Mitchell to discuss the huge social, ethical, and scientific implications of the CRISPR gene editing revolution her groundbreaking discovery with Emmanuelle Charpentier and colleagues kicked off. From curative therapies to gene edited babies - will we use it to hack our own evolution - are we already? This event was presented in 2024 by the Sydney Opera House, Big Questions Institute (BQI), Sydney Writers’ Festival, UNSW Sydney.Original publication: 24 July 2024Speaker:Professor Jennifer Doudna2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry co-winner Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s ChairProfessor, Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell BiologyFounder, Innovative Genomics InstituteUniversity of California, BerkeleyInvestigator, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteSenior investigator, Gladstone InstitutesFurther information and listens:Doudna LabJennifer Doudna in conversation with Natasha Mitchell at an event in 2018World's first CRISPR gene edited babies born - are we ready?(2018 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)The CRISPR gene-edited babies and the doctor who made them - what really happened? (2019 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)Out of jail, is the CRISPR-baby scandal scientist at it again? (2023 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)Feral science or solution? Unleashing gene drives (Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)Making happier animals? Gene editing in the farmyard (Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)Hear Natasha Mitchell learn how to do CRISPR gene editing in 2016 (as part of a 4-part Earshot series The Hidden History of Eugenics, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)The science and ethics of genome editing with Jennifer Doudna and Kevin Esvelt (video of event hosted by Natasha Mitchell in 2018)Natasha Mitchell's review of Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Gene: An Intimate History

Stories help us to understand what is happening in the world and how it impacts us. Stories help us to relate to the experience of 'the Other' and their suffering building an emotional understanding. Journalist and academic Helen Vatiskopoulos describes the power of stories to share information to the masses and the problems that arise when the narrative is distorted. What is the responsibility of the media? How does media and social media impact on whose stories are being told and whose are being left out?What's the Story? Migration, Memories and the Importance of Controlling the Narrative, the Inaugural Oration for the 50th anniversary of the Multicultural Council of South AustraliaSpeakerDr. Helen VatsikopoulosWalkley Award-Winning Journalist; Industry Professional Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney

For 85 years, Meanjin has published the essays of Australian writers. The magazine's founding editor, Clem Christesen, wanted Meanjin's writers 'to reveal and clarify our life by showing it to us though a vision different from ours and deeper." In the wake of the news the magazine is closing, Big Ideas explores and celebrates the essay in all its forms.This conversation was recorded at the Words on the Waves Festival on 28 May 2025.SpeakersDavid Marr Presenter, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National, author, My Country: Stories, essays and speeches and moreEsther Anatolitis Out-going editor, Meanjin, editor, Essays that Changed Australia, Meanjin 1940 to Today, and author, When Australia Became a Republic, (out in October through Monash University Publishing's In the National Interest series)Brooke Boland Author, Gulp SwallowAshleigh Wilson (host) Author, Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, A Year with Wendy Whiteley, and Transcendence: 50 Years of Unforgettable Moments at the Sydney Opera House

It's water and fireproof, versatile, warm and tough wearing. Wool not only expanded the British Empire, and created prosperity in the colonies, it also changed the nature of war and warfare. But wool's fortunes didn't last forever. This is the story of the rise and fall of wool.This conversation was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 31 July 2025.SpeakersTrish Fitzsimons Documentary film maker, exhibition curator, adjunct professor with Griffith Film School (Griffith University)Co-author of Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and WarMadelyn Shaw Exhibition curator and co-author of Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and WarAnnabelle Quince (host) Host, Rear Vision, ABC Radio National

Has your doctor ever told you to go on a diet? Does that conversation put you off going to them in the first place, even if you need treatment for something not related to your weight? Has being in a larger body ever meant you can't access surgery or IVF? Some are pushing for a weight-inclusive approach to healthcare, which de-centres obesity, and focuses on 'health-at-every-size'. But what does that really mean, and why does it matter?This event was held at the 11th Annual Weight Stigma Conference at Griffith University.SpeakersAna Ximena Torres, clinical psychologist and founder of the practice, Elemental Collective.Dr Fiona WillerDietitian, bioethicist, President of Dietitians AustraliaLecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Queensland University of TechnologyFounder, Health, Not Diets consultancyHost, Unpacking Weight Science podcast.Tracy Taylor-BeckManager, Strategy and Health Promotion (interim CEO at the time of this event)Women's Health in the North, a women's health promotion and advocacy organisation in Melbourne's North.Thanks to Dr Lily O'Hara from Griffith University, convenor of the conference.

In a world where rules are increasingly being broken, what role should business play in upholding human rights, international and domestic law, and environmental protection? And what are the rules and responsibilities of business to ensure supply chains, hiring practices, workplace safety, environment and social governance practices abide by global human rights standards?This event was recorded at the inaugural UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand on 26 August 2025.SpeakersRobert McCorquodale Professor of International Law and Human Rights, UN working group on business and human rightsHelen Clark Head of the UN Development Programme, Co-Chair of the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, former Prime Minister of New ZealandSharan Burrow Former general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, fellow with the London School of EconomicsLinda Kromjong President, amforiPeggy O'Neal Vice Chancellor RMIT University, former president Richmond Football Club

Rock star and maverick Jimmy Barnes celebrates heritage, family, friends, music and the adventure of a grand life on stage. Get up close to the lead singer of Cold Chisel, author of Working Class Man and Working Class Boy. Learn how terrible experiences of family violence, but also a close bond to his brother shaped him into the performer he is now. Get a look behind the scenes of his music world, with wild characters and the occasional tall tale.This conversation was recorded live at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival.Listen to Big Ideas – Writers who rockSpeakersJimmy BarnesAustralian rock singer, solo performer and lead vocalist with Cold ChiselAuthor of Highways and Byways, Working Class Boy, Working Class ManBrian Nankervis (host)Co-host of the music quiz show RocKwiz, Saturday Breakfast on ABC Radio MelbourneWriter, actor and comedian

Thirteen years ago, US political journalist Hanna Roisin wrote a book called The End of Men: and the Rise of Women. Since then, there's been President Donald Trump x 2, the manosphere, the broligarchy, and more. So what happened?This event was recorded at the 2025 Women in Media Conference on 15 August 2025.SpeakersHanna Rosin — Senior Editor, The Atlantic, host Radio Atlantic, author, The End of Men: and the Rise of WomenEdwina Bartholomew — Host, Sunrise, Channel 7

Nuclear power is banned in Australia, and has been for decades, whilst some countries tilt towards nuclear energy again. Should or could Australia? The politics and power play over nuclear in the Sunburnt country, why the Coalition failed with the nuclear card at the last federal election, and what next? Join Big Ideas host and science journalist Natasha Mitchell and guests Simon Holmes à Court, Geoff Cousins, and Royce Kurmelovs at the Byron Writers Festival. Guess the nuclear nerd in this discussion. You might be surprised. SpeakersSimon Holmes à CourtEnergy analyst, clean tech investor, climate philanthropist, and founder of Climate200Geoff CousinsBusinessman, board member, environmentalist, former president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, former consultant to former prime minister John Howard.Royce KurmelovsJournalist and author of Slick: Australia's Toxic Relationship with Big OilThank you to Festival artistic director Jessica Alice and team at the Byron Writers Festival.

Meet two men on a lifelong mission. They've ruffled a lot of feathers along the way. Some revere them, others revile them. John Wamsley set up Australia's first wildlife sanctuary, but he's perhaps best known as the "cat-hat-man" (sorry, cat lovers!). World renowned forest ecologist David Lindenmeyer has copped heat from Australia's forestry industry for his science. But these two trailblazing environmentalists aren't afraid of their critics - to them it's a case of life-or-death for Australia's extraordinary species. Join them with oral historian Greg Borschmann as part of his Heartlands Conversations series presented at the Blue Mountains Music Festival.SpeakersJohn WamsleyEnvironmentalistDavid LindenmayerDistinguished Professor of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Australian National UniversityAuthor of The Forest Wars: The ugly truth about what's happening in our tall forestsGregg Borschmann (host)Writer, radio producer and oral historian for the National Library of Australia

It's estimated that one third of Australian school children can't read proficiently, and debates about the best way to teach reading have raged for years. Now, for the first time, explicit instruction is official policy in all states and territories - so can it turn things around?This speech was recorded at the Advancing Effective Education Summit hosted by Multilit on 30 May 2025. SpeakersJenny Donovan CEO, Australian Education Research Organisation

Students are dropping out, academics are burning out, so is enough being done to save higher education? It's a multibillion-dollar sector, employing and educating millions, with expectations it can deliver the solutions and the workers Australia needs. But Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner says universities are in serious trouble.This conversation was recorded at Readings Books on 15 July 2025.SpeakersGraeme Turner Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of QueenslandAuthor of 30 books including Broken: Universities, politics and the public good (From Monash University Publishing's In the National Interest series)Dr Ben Eltham (host) Lecturer in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash UniversityNTEU delegate, journalist and commentatorFrom the Big Ideas archive:Higher education for everyone in Australia — is it doable? - Big Ideas, ABC Radio National, 18 June 2024