Big Ideas

ABC listen

4.4 (1K)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED DAILY

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.

6 HRS AGO

Trees, seeds, and ecotourism — the hidden histories Nature reveals about us

Can a single seed tell the story of a civilisation? What do the scars on the skins of 200-year old whales tell about our ancestors? Can ancient trees reveal hidden histories of human frailty and fabulousness? Can Nature be a timekeeper? Joining Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell are Dave Witty (author of What the Trees See: A Wander through Millennia of Natural History), Fiona McMillan-Webster (author of The Age of Seeds: How Plants Hacked Time and Why Our Future Depends on It) and Satyajit Das (author of Wild Quests: Journeys into Ecotourism and the Future of Animals). This event was hosted by the Brisbane Writers Festival. Speakers Satyajit Das Author, former banker, consultant Dr Fiona McMillan-Webster Science writer and scientist Dave Witty Author

54 min
4 DAYS AGO

The right to discriminate? Religious schools and Australian human rights law

Human rights are meant to be universal, but what happens when those rights conflict with one another? For example, a religious school's right to practice its faith, versus the right of others to be free from discrimination? The 2024 Higinbotham Lecture was recorded at RMIT University on 21 October 2024. Speaker Justice Mordy Bromberg, President, Australian Law Reform Commission Further information Read the full report Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws from the Australian Law Reform Commission

52 min
5 DAYS AGO

Is it still possible for empathy to trump hate? Here's how. Rhonda Magee and Mariam Tokhi with Natasha Mitchell

Rhonda Magee grew up in segregated North Carolina in an abusive household. She knows firsthand the deep divides that define America right now. She draws on her life, and her work as a law professor and leading mindfulness meditation teacher in her book The inner work of racial justice: Healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness. Mariam Tokhi is a writer and GP in a refugee and asylum seeker health service in Melbourne. She has created a trailblazing narrative medicine course to help doctors use the power of storytelling to fully see the humanity of their patients and themselves. This event was organised by the Contemplative Studies Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne. Speakers: Rhonda Magee Author, The inner work of racial justice: Healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness (Tarcher, 2019) Professor Emerita of Law Mindfulness meditation educator Founding director, Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics University of San Francisco. Dr Mariam Tokhi GP and writer Utopia refugee and asylum seeker health service Narrative medicine lecturer, University of Melbourne Medical School

1h 1m
6 DAYS AGO

Busting the myths around menstruation and menopause, with Dr Jennifer Gunter

Is menstruation linked to the moon? Do women's periods sync up when they live together? Are girls getting their first period younger? Why don't we talk about menstruation and menopause more? Popular US-based physician and bestselling author Dr Jen Gunter is on a mission to change the conversation about women's health. This event was recorded as part of National Science Week at the University of NSW's Centre for Ideas on 15 August 2024. Speakers Dr Jen Gunter Obstetrician and gynaecologist Author, Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism and more Professor Caroline Ford Lead, Gynaecological Cancer Research Group, University of NSW

53 min
25 NOV

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 30 years on

Back in 1994, it was a pretty wild pitch for a movie: a troupe of drag queens road tripping across the Australian outback, in a lavender bus named Priscilla. But The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, put the Australian film industry on the global map, and these days it's become an icon of Australian cinema. This event was recorded on 11 September, 2024, at the Capitol Theatre, RMIT University, as part of Social Sciences Week. Speakers Rebel Penfold-Russell Executive Producer, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Tim Chappel Costume designer, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Academy Award for best costume along with Lizzy Gardiner) Cerise Howard Program Director, Melbourne Queer Film Festival Kristy Kokegei History Trust of South Australia Stephen Gaunson (host) Senior lecturer in Cinema Studies at RMIT University Further information The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at 30: more important, enjoyable and vital than ever - by Stephen Gaunson, The Conversation, 5 September 2024 Donate to the Save the Queen campaign - History Trust of South Australia

50 min
21 NOV

Together, or together alone? Teens and adults debate social media's good, bad and ugly

The Australian federal government wants to restrict social media to those aged over 16. Would that work? Adult and teen experts mount their arguments for and against social media and its harms and benefits. The Great Debate was presented by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia as part of 2024 Social Sciences Week, recorded at the National Library of Australia on 10 September 2024. Speakers STUDENT DEBATE Featuring Year 7 and 8 students at University of Canberra High School Kaleen Host Ivy Affirmative team Misha, Sienna and Jacob Negative team Umar, Addy and Shreya ADULT DEBATE Lisa Given Professor of Information Sciences, RMIT University Anthony Elliott Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of South Australia Author, Algorithms of Anxiety: Fear in the Digital Age Ginger Gorman (host) Journalist and author of the book Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and Its Human Fallout Host of the Seriously Social podcast

1h 3m
20 NOV

ADHD, autism, depression — is social media causing social contagion? Jean Twenge, Sonny Jane Wise, Alice Dawkins, Sandersan Onie with Natasha Mitchell

Is social media a contagious force harming young minds, a life saver helping people find their neurodiverse tribes and support, or, for better or worse, a bit of both? From the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, join Natasha Mitchell with renowned social psychologist Jean Twenge, neurodiversity advocate Sonny Jane Wise, technology policy campaigner Alice Dawkins, suicide prevention researcher Dr Sandersan Onie. Young people depressed, distressed, and anxious. ADHD and Autism diagnoses on the increase. All at record rates. Is it a renaissance in awareness, enabled by social media, or are people reaching for labels that risk losing meaning? Speakers: Jean Twenge Professor of psychology San Diego State University Author of iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood (2017) Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future (2023) Alice Dawkins Executive Director, Reset.Tech. Au Dr Sanderson Onie Psychologist and suicide prevention researcher Black Dog Institute University of NSW Sonny Jane Wise Neurodiversity advocate Author, We’re All Neurodiverse (2023) and The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills (2022) Thanks to Danielle Harvey, Director of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and the festival team. Further information: Not Just Algorithms: Online Safety, Children and Young People, Data Security, Privacy and Data Protection report (24 March, 2024) Festival of Dangerous Ideas on-demand audio and video archive selected from over a decade of provocative events

54 min
19 NOV

Negotiating peace against the odds can be murky business

Mediation in armed conflicts means sitting down with brutal war lords, hiding your true values and in an open dialogue trying to really understand all sides of the parties involved. In the most pressurised environments, there are nearly always possible pathways to a win-win outcome — but finding the way requires a combination of imagination, goodwill, timing, and street smarts. Reflections on Diplomacy and Peace Mediation was presented at the TheMHS Conference 2024 Speaker Paul Dziatkowiec Director of Mediation and Peace Support, Geneva Centre for Security Policy Listen to Big Ideas - Is making war more humane in fact prolonging the fighting?

44 min

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4.4

out of 5

1,043 Ratings

Unconventional Women

1 Nov

RuthMMcC

Loved the podcast on unconventional women. Rare to hear about the lives of nuns in Australia during such a historic time. Thanks for this insight.
Housing

15 Feb

ferikau

The program on aboriginal housing in NT was brilliant!!!
Great, informative programme

04/06/2023

Regular RN devotee

This is one of my favourite programmes. It is informative, has well-credentialed speakers and covers a wide variety of topical issues.
From the king and I to miss Saigon - how dull, how wome

13/12/2023

LizAnne S

Big Ideas is usually an interesting program. But this episode is full of wild and inaccurate assumptions. How dull. It’d be a no star rating if it was possible to give zero stars.

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.