Big Ideas
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Big Ideas
Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.
Seneste episoder
365 episoder
The life of astronauts — with 2026 Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg
What is it really like to be an astronaut? How do you even become one? What happens when an argument breaks out on the International Space Station? An...
Harvard firebrand on intellectual freedom Steven Pinker with Natasha Mitchell
Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker is a fierce advocate for intellectual and academic freedom — and one of the world’s most pro...
What does Labor stand for? With Sean Kelly and Misha Ketchell
In its second term, the Albanese Government enjoys a large majority in parliament and an opposition in disarray. But faced with a fragmented, fractiou...
What does liberalism mean today?
Liberalism is one of the most influential — and contested — political philosophies of the modern age. But what does it actually mean in contemporary A...
Moral revolution — Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's BBC Reith Lecture 4 — Fighting for humanity in the age of the machine
Humanity is facing an existential risk posed by unchecked tech and AI. But what if these technologies were used, not to increase the wealth and power...
Moral revolution — Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's BBC Reith Lecture 3 — A conspiracy of decency
Do you dare to dream of a world that is different? From the Fabians to the Neoliberals, small groups with big ideas, perseverance and long-term vision...
Moral revolution — Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's BBC Reith Lecture 2 — How to start a moral revolution
Do you have the power to change the world? Do you think the world needs changing? In the past, eras of corruption gave birth to transformative movemen...
Moral revolution — Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's BBC Reith Lecture 1 — A time of monsters
Rutger Bregman believes we are living in a time of moral decay, in a world governed by un-serious elites. But history shows us that we have been here...
The history of money — with Irish economist David McWilliams
It makes the world go round, but it's also the root of all evil. It hasn't always had a great rap, yet most of us would like more of it. From clay tab...
The Australian Wars with Rachel Perkins and Henry Reynolds — a watershed event at the Australia War Memorial
For decades, a debate has been waged over whether the colonial massacre and resistance of First Nations Australians should be recognised and memoriali...
Bob Brown on the role of defiance in the climate crisis — with Gardening Australia's Hannah Moloney
For more than 50 years, Dr Bob Brown has been breaking and making laws to protect the environment. Now aged 81, he is hoping to give strength to new g...
War is changing and the laws meant to protect civilians aren't cutting it anymore
International humanitarian law, the law of armed conflict, was meant to protect civilians from the worst of war. But in today's wars civilians have be...
Stan Grant — when words fail us, reclaiming the language of love
Most of us, in our lives, will witness things we cannot comprehend, when words fail to do justice to the moment. In those moments, to whom or what can...
How conspiracy theories get inside our heads and take hold — Ariel Bogle, Cam Wilson, Gavin Fang, Tracey Kirkland
Conspiracy theories have always been with us, but now they're finding new ways to get inside our heads and take hold — and Australia is seeding some u...
PRESENTS — The Challenger Legacy
Forty years ago this January, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated on its way into orbit. All seven astronauts on board were killed. Dr Karl Kru...
If we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible
Meet Dwayne Fernandes, a man training to be the first double amputee in space. He brings you a powerful perspective based on his lived experience: in...
The Great Debate — that Australia's history unites us
From the world's oldest continuous living culture, to the arrival of Captain Cook, the goldrush to the ANZACs, from Federation to elections to referen...
Jason Stanley, M. Gessen and Anna Funder — Is it fascism yet?
He’s been called a “hypercapitalist”, a “new authoritarian” and a “post fascist”. Twelve months into Donald Trump’s second term as United States Presi...
Meet Australia’s next woman prime minister? Four changemakers here to WOW
Don't miss meeting these four resilient women creating the change they want to see in the world. At 20, Monique “Mermaid” Murphy’s had a catastrophic...
James Bond and Jason Bourne move over – a real spy talks about his workday
He jumped off a plane, exchanged the notorious briefcase on a park bench and got his identity blown by an asset under torture. Sounds like fiction? Bu...
Finding skeletons in the closet — the ethics of DNA testing in family history research
DNA testing has helped family history researchers fill in the blanks in their family trees. While that can be a good thing, it can also lead to unexpe...
Vested interests vs public interest? The relation of Australian governments with the fossil fuel industry
How has the fossil fuel industry wielded influence over Australian governments and their policies? What does it take to make ambitious change in the p...
We asked for workers and got people — life on the controversial visa putting food on your plate
A workforce we rarely hear about, lives in limbo, and stories from the coalface. From economic gains and cultural exchanges to exploitation and abscon...
When thinking together goes wrong — exploring the dark side of collaboration
At face value, collaboration sounds like a good thing: collaboration in the classroom, with colleagues, or between nations. But throughout history, co...
House security systems – who really benefits?
Your personal safety is big business, so much so that it’s given rise to “security capitalism”, a phenomenon where attempts to buy personal safety sha...
Helen Garner on the beauty and grandeur of footy
"Homeric struggle", a desperate night-ballet, an ethical training ground for boys and men. Aussie Rules is a multimillion-dollar industry, but at its...
Jem Bendell, the fake green fairytale, and how to survive civilisational collapse
We’re past the brink of civilisational collapse. And many environmentalists are pushing a “fake green fairytale”. Jem Bendell’s arguments have inspire...
Kara Swisher and Marc Fennell take on the Tech Bros
We know them as Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs. But to Kara Swisher, they're Mark, Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Steve. She was once a Silicon Valley in...
The relationship between brain and machine
Imagine a world where your brain is enhanced through cutting-edge technologies and next-generation AI, blurring the lines between organic and digital...
On the art of music writing — with writers who rcok!
You've got half an hour with Lou Reed/ Nick Cave/ Courtney Love: what do you ask them? Three of Australia's best music writers share their craft, and...
Can storytellers change the world? Tim Winton and Rachel Perkins join Natasha Mitchell
Two of Australia’s most influential and legendary storytellers, author Tim Winton and filmmaker Rachel Perkins, join Natasha Mitchell at WOMADelaide’s...
History of populist rage in America
Populism is part of American political history. It has been and still is the dominant vocabulary of dissent.
But the current resurrection of au...
Meditation and mindfulness in the digital age
How many times have you checked your phone today? How many tabs are open in your web browser? Do you feel in control of your attention?
In the...
The secrets of wildlife documentaries
Satyajit Das presents a provocative examination of the use and abuse of images of wild animals, and how they shape our relationships with the natural...
The Knowledge Gene — an incredible story of the origins of human creativity
Prepare to have your mind blown with a sweeping saga that connects human evolution, brains, genes, art, music, creativity, knowledge, dyslexia, autism...
Sarah Churchwell asks — Will American democracy survive the Dark Enlightenment?
Historian Sarah Churchwell takes you on a gripping and confronting journey into America's recent past to explain its extraordinary present, starting w...
2025 Grammy winner Ruthie Foster talks about her life and music
After five nominations, Ruthie Foster has taken home the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album - affirming her status as an American mus...
Childless on purpose — the fertility crisis and the big decision
When you enter your childbearing years, it can feel like everyone from the treasurer, your mum, and probably your Instagram reels really wants you to...
Surfer Tim Baker and doctor Peter Goldsworthy on living well with cancer
Meet two men who will change the way you think about an experience most of us fear but will be touched by in some way. In Patting the Shark, surfing...
Understand your microbiome
Are fermented foods really good for us? Do antibiotics destroy our gut flora? And have you heard about poo transplants?
Our gut is teeming with...