When Julia Gillard became our first female Prime Minister she fought a war on two fronts One to get her policies through. The other to fend off attacks from the gender warriors. Why are female leaders judged differently to men and how do we change the game? Prominent female leaders shared their personal experience with Julia who's distilled their insights into a new book on women and leadership.

What does not kill you, makes you stronger - so the saying goes. But how much truth is there to this old cliché?  Can a life altering trauma, or crisis, really lead to personal growth?  Psychologist, David Roland, believes it can. Paul Barclay speaks to David and three other individuals who have triumphed over extreme adversity.

Should things go back to the way they were before Covid-19 or is it an opportunity to do things differently? A greater investment in public services and public ownership could be the legacy of this pandemic.

The modern Middle East with the nations we know today is an artificial construct. In 1919, the victorious allies of WWI carved up the region into new countries — shaped by post-war greed and ambition, not based on historic communities.

The result is the violence we see today.

To mark Constitution Day on July 9, Paul Barclay talks to a panel of experts about the COVID-19 pandemic and the constitution. How have state and federal relationships equipped the nation to address this ongoing public health, and economic, crisis?

Jill Stark was wracked by paralysing anxiety and serious depression. She hit rock bottom, her mental health crisis flaring up in the aftermath of a personal triumph: the success of her debut book. She talks to Paul Barclay about the myth of happiness, what her personal struggles have taught her, and the hard, but rewarding, road she’s travelled, rebuilding her life, and her health. Big Ideas is revisiting this discussion as part of Your Mental Health — an ABC-wide initiative to help us navigate through these unusual and trying times.

It’s often said that cats have slaves, not owners. But as part of the ABC’s Your Mental Health week — focussing on how to improve our mental health and wellbeing in these challenging time — Big Ideas returns to these moving personal tales of the pet cats who rescued their owners and gave them courage and resilience at times when life seemed unbearably hard.

Pet ownership has been linked to mental health and wellbeing. So as part of Your Mental Health — an ABC initiative to help us navigate through these unusual and trying times — Big Ideas revisits this discussion about the value of having a canine companion. Dogs are be trained to do all kinds of things and they have emotional intelligence, making them great companions for people with mental health conditions.

How do we reinvent ourselves after the coronavirus? Nothing can go back to being exactly as it was in the way we work, travel or study. Our universities in particular face a budget black hole with the loss of international students and the prospect of more students remote and online. This mirrors the struggle in the broader economy to recover from economic lockdown and the global disruption to the flow of people, goods and services.

Neglect of the elderly is rife in Australia. An ageing population also means an increase in dementia, with many saying they would rather end their life than endure the disease.