Is there such a thing as evil? Why do we so readily resort to labelling certain crimes and behaviours as evil?   Paul Barclay asks criminal psychologist, Dr Julia Shaw.

Do people get the democracy they deserve? And, is our democracy serving us well, or is it failing us? Do things like a better standard of living indicate democratic success, or are phenomena like our high turnover of Prime Ministers mean democracy is failing?

Do you feel grateful for avoiding smallpox, dyptheria or dying in childbirth? Perhaps these things rarely cross your mind. Hear why we need to pay more heed to public health expertise, with its multi-disciplinary and evidence-based approach touted as the answer to almost everything. Even, how to approach the challenge of climate change.

Climate change, the obesity crisis, plastic pollution in our oceans. Many crucial problems of our time require a change in behaviour – as individuals and as a society. But why is it so difficult to do that? Big Ideas looks at the challenges of behaviour change and how to do it.

Three Australian writers talk to Paul Barclay about poverty, class, race, and social and political change in regional and rural Australia.

Could the flow of information be the fuel that powers life? Astrophysicist Paul Davies says we need a new science which connects quantum physics and biology to answer this fundamental question. He draws on an earlier thought experiment of a mysterious force , dubbed the demon in the machine, which directs the transfer of information.

Historian Simon Schama explores the story of the Jewish people from ancient times to the present day. Without the imprint that Jewish culture has made, he says, our world would be almost unrecognisable, and our sense of modernity would be completely different.

SBS soccer commentator Craig Foster believes that sport has the power to change the world . Craig was part of the successful campaign to rescue refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi. Now he wants to see a human rights code implemented in all aspects of professional sport.

The AFP raids on the ABC and a News Corp journalist brought into focus how national security laws can impede a free media. But there are other dimensions to media freedom and free speech

Dr Michael Mosley is the man behind the 5:2 diet . He argues that a Mediterranean Diet and intermittent fasting will reduce your risk of chronic disease. So why does it work? What is the science telling us?