Big Ideas

ABC Australia

Your front row seat to big thinkers at the best live events, forums, and festivals. Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. We love hearing from you about the show or events you are planning. Get in touch! Email: Bigideas@abc.net.au SMS line for ABC Radio National: 0418 226 576 Airs Monday to Thursday 8pm, repeated Tuesday to Friday 12pm, on ABC Radio National.

  1. -10 H

    Dear Prime Minister Albanese: Where are all the BIG IDEAS?

    A year on from its landslide victory, has Labor used its historic win to deliver big on BIG ideas to set Australia up for the future? Or is Prime Minister Albanese and his cabinet erring on the side of caution in this second term?  What allowed notable reformer prime ministers in the past to prosecute ambitious agendas? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the Sorrento Writers Festival with three seasoned and savvy politics watchers, journalists and authors Paul Kelly, Niki Savva, and Amy Remeikis. A lively conversation not to miss as we head towards the May Federal budget. Speakers Amy RemeikisSenior political analyst, The Australia InstituteContributing editor, The New DailyCommentator as Pyjama PoliticsAuthor, Where it All Went Wrong: The Case Against John Howard (Simon and Schuster Australia, 2026) Niki SavvaPolitical journalist and authorAuthor, Earthquake: the election that shook Australia (Scribe, 2025)Bulldozed: Scott Morrison’s Fall and ANthony Albanese’ Rise (Scribe, 2022) Paul KellyEditor-at-Large, The AustralianAuthor of The Twilight of Exceptionalism: the Liberal and Conservative Era (Melbourne University Publishing,  forthcoming in July 2026) Thank you to Sorrento Writers Festival founder and director Corrie Perkin, Isabel Pinkster, Mark Bollenberg, and the whole festival team.

    1 h 2 min

  2. -1 J

    Martin Luther King III on why DEI initiatives are critical for economic prosperity

    Indigenous participation in the economy is not just a social imperative — it's a strategic economic opportunity crucial to Australia's long-term growth. Corporate Australia has the greatest power to harness Indigenous talent and unlock economic opportunities and pathways for leadership. Martin Luther King III on Indigenous talent and the link to Australian economic prosperity was presented by The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) and CareerTrackers. Speakers Martin Luther King IIICivil Rights Leader and Global Humanitarian Linda BurneyFormer Minister for Indigenous Australians Melinda CilentoChief Executive CEDA Renee Wootton TomlinFounder and CEO New Era Energy Ben WyattFormer WA Treasurer and Non Executive Director of serval companies Adam Davids (host)CEO and Managing Director CareerTrackers

    55 min

  3. -2 J

    How do Royal Commissions work (and are they worth it)? With Betty King, Jack Rush and Jon Faine

    They're Australia's highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance. But they've also become the go-to solution when corruption, misconduct or systems failures are exposed. So are they just a lawyer's picnic? Or a necessary reckoning? The conversation How do Royal Commissions work? And How Do We Assess Their Impact? was recorded at the Sorrento Writers Festival on Friday 24 April 2026. Speakers Betty King QCFormer Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria (2005 - 2015), former County Court judge, former state prosecutor, former criminal barristerChairperson of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board Jack Rush KC Barrister, counsel assisting the Victorian Royal Commission into the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires Jon Faine (host)Former longtime presenter Mornings, ABC Radio MelbourneFormer lawyerVice Chancellors Fellow, University of MelbourneAuthor, Apollo & Thelma

    55 min

  4. -6 J

    Was Malcolm Fraser a conservative warrior or a closet progressive?

    Malcolm Fraser's legacy remains contested territory in Australian politics. Decades after he left office, we still can't quite figure him out. The Prime Minister who came to power in controversy, governed for seven years, then spent the rest of his life surprising everyone with his increasingly progressive views. Whether Fraser was cautious conservative, pragmatic reformer, or something more complex entirely, this discussion seeks to understand both the man and the government he led during a pivotal period in Australian history. Presented at the Malcolm Fraser Symposium by the Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Listen to Big Ideas - The Art of opposition Speakers Troy BramstonSenior writer and columnist with The AustralianAuthor of Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New (2025) Dr Scott PrasserFormer Senior Adviser to three Federal Cabinet Ministers, Academic and independent researcher Georgina Downer (host)Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Menzies Institute

    55 min

  5. 29 AVR.

    "Here I am, here we are" Jewish Australian women reflect on the rupture of October 7 2023

    October 7 has become synonymous with the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, in which more than 1200 Jewish people were murdered. What has followed — the hostage crisis, the war in Gaza, and the global response — has reverberated in communities far beyond the Middle East, including here in Australia. For Jewish Australians, it has turned their lives, their careers, their relationships and their identities upside-down. Four Jewish Australian women share their personal experiences of the profound rift they've felt in the wake of that day, and their hopes and attempts to mend it. This conversation was recorded at Manly Writers' Festival on 22 March 2026. Speakers Joanne FedlerAuthor of The Whale's Last Song and more, writing teacher, former lawyer Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert Research Fellow in Security Studies, Macquarie UniversityAuthor, The Uncaged SkyFormer political prisoner in Iran Elana Benjamin Author of Indian-Jewish Food, Recipes and Stories from the Back Streets of Bondi, and more Lee KofmanAuthor of The Writer Laid Bare: Mastering Emotional Honesty in a Writer's Art, Craft and Life and more, writing coach and co-editor, Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7 Suellen Dainty (host) Journalist and author, An Invisible Tattoo and more

    55 min

  6. 28 AVR.

    Resistance — Yanis Varoufakis with Helen Vatsikopoulos on the people who fought back against fascism

    Through the stories of five women across three generations of his family, the influential Greek economist, author, politician and public intellectual Yanis Varoufakis tells the tumultuous tale of Greece's modern history, and reflects on its parallels with the once again global rising tides of fascism, authoritarianism, and the actions of those who resist. This conversation was recorded on 6 March 2026 at the Sydney Greek Festival. Speakers Yanis VaroufakisEconomist, former Greek Finance Minister (2015), founder and General Secretary MeRA25Author, Raise your soul: A Personal History of Resistance, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism? and more Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos (host)Journalist, Doctor of Creative Arts University of Technology Sydney

    55 min

  7. 27 AVR.

    Immunotherapy trailblazer Georgina Long on the hidden ingredients in cancer medicine

    Every scientist dreams of a breakthrough — a new discovery that will change everything. Professor Georgina Long is someone who has done it — as a pioneer of life saving cancer treatments. So what are the ingredients for breakthroughs to occur? And why are the conditions that can lead to new discoveries under threat right now? The 2026 Ann Moyal lecture When groundbreaking cancer treatments save 50% of patients, what happens to the other half? was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 19 March 2026. Speakers Professor Georgina LongMedical Director of the Melanoma Institute of AustraliaChair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research, University of SydneyCo-recipient (with Professor Richard Scolyer) of the 2024 Australian of the Year Award Further information: Patient Zero - Richard Scolyer - Australian Story 2024 Dr Richard Scolyer speaks on his fight with brain cancer - ABC 730, 30 October 2025

    55 min

  8. 23 AVR.

    40 years after Chernobyl we face a new nuclear risk — this time as a weapon of war

    The explosion of reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not only a story of the past. Right now, nuclear plants are weaponised in the Iran war. It happened in 2022 when Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl exclusion zone. A new way of weaponising nuclear power. What have we learned from the worst nuclear accident in history — and what have we failed to learn? This conversation was presented by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Ukrainian Institute London. Speakers Serhii PlokhyMykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University Eglė RindzevičiūtėProfessor of Criminology and Sociology at Kingston University London Jonathon TurnbullAssistant Professor of Human Geography at Durham University Dr Sasha Dovzhyk (host)Writer, Curator and Head of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange (Lviv, Ukraine). Editor of the London Ukrainian Review

    56 min
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À propos

Your front row seat to big thinkers at the best live events, forums, and festivals. Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. We love hearing from you about the show or events you are planning. Get in touch! Email: Bigideas@abc.net.au SMS line for ABC Radio National: 0418 226 576 Airs Monday to Thursday 8pm, repeated Tuesday to Friday 12pm, on ABC Radio National.

Informations

  • Création
    ABC Australia
  • Années d’activité
    2006 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    1,4 k
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Site web de l’émission
    Big Ideas

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