Big Ideas

Close relationships with family and friends are the best way of buffering yourself against the stresses that life puts you under. In fact, it turns out that friendships have a bigger effect on your quality of life and your ability to resist and recover from illness, than almost any conventional medicine. Robin Dunbar explains the secrets behind a good friendship: how it starts and how it lasts.

The right to vote is likely the most important right and means for change in a democracy. But the electoral process in the US puts up obstacles that make it hard for minority groups to cast their vote: increased paperwork and cost or absurd ID requirements. Stacey Abrams calls for robust voter protections in the US, an elevation of identity politics and engagement in the census.

Joe Biden has wasted no time in implementing his agenda for change, rejoining WHO, the Paris Climate Agreement and listening to public health experts on the best way to tackle Covid. Biden’s biographer describes how Biden’s life and personality has shaped his approach to politics. And reducing the risk of another pandemic by shutting down the illegal wildlife trade.

Don Watson is an historian who left academe to write satire for comedians such as Max Gilles. He has subsequently written many books, as well as Prime Ministerial speeches, screenplays, travel writing, biography, and a musical production of Manning Clark's 'History of Australia'.  He is fascinated by America and its people, politics, and presidents. Don speaks to Paul Barclay

Dr Joelle Gergis and her team spent ten years investigating the history of Australia’s climate using every piece of data they could find : official records, tree rings, ice cores, corals, indigenous stories and computer models. She reveals how the pattern of natural variability has been altered by climate change.And we look into the geology of ancient reefs for clues as to how ancient life forms survived climate extremes like the Ice Age.

Australia needs to reduce the growing inequality in our country. Many economists agree on that. Not only for the sake of ‘a fair go’ and social welfare, but also for the good of the economy. Extreme inequality slows economic growth. A panel of economists talk about measures that governments can take to close the divide between very rich and very poor.

Classical physics goes some of the way to explaining physical reality but the rules change when you get down to the smallest particles -the quantum world of atoms. And that’s the world of Michelle Simmons , Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of New South Wales.

Michelle and her team have already built the first single atom transistor and are now trying to build a silicon quantum computer. That's a computer at warp speed, able to solve a complex problem in minutes which would take years on a conventional computer.

Last year, national and state elections were held in both America and Australia, against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic. You might think that is where any similarity ends.  But, aside from obvious differences, the polity of both countries faces some similar issues: the dissemination of political mistruths, the influence of money and donations over politicians and decision making, and challenges around the conduct of free and fair elections.

The negative implications of social media are increasingly acknowledged and well documented. But what to do about them is a different matter. Ron Deibert suggests that restrain is the way forward and the solution to construct a viable communications ecosystem that supports civil society and contributes to the betterment of the human condition - instead of the opposite.

Due to copyright reasons there is no podcast or stream for these lectures on the Big Ideas website. Please head to the CBC Massey Lecture website.

The fifth CBC Massey Lecture describes the ecological myth of the digital age, wherein "the grimy, exhaust-filled industrial era would be overtaken by digital technologies that are clean, infinitely reusable, and virtual." But Ron Deibert calculates that sending 65 emails is roughly equivalent to driving one kilometre in a car.

Due to copyright reasons there is no podcast or stream for these lectures on the Big Ideas website. Please head to the CBC Massey Lecture website.