Big Ideas

When the Berlin Wall came down we all breathed a sigh of relief. It signalled the end of the Cold War. But is there a new Cold War on the horizon? Conflict between China and the United States is escalating in the Asia-Pacific and allies like Australia could be collateral damage. Australia's relationship with China is also being tested on many fronts as we attempt to navigate our way between our economic and strategic interests.

Six non-violent activists faced the prospect of jail time after entering the Pine Gap military base, in an act of protest.  Was their trial political? What do we know about the operations of Pine Gap?

Six non-violent activists faced the prospect of jail time after entering the Pine Gap military base, in an act of protest.  Was their trial political? What do we know about the operations of Pine Gap?

Will it be Donald Trump or Joe Biden? The choice that Americans make will be felt around the world. So what are Americans thinking? In the Trump White House it's rule by Twitter , a high turnover of advisors and a disregard for political conventions and institutions. Has the last four years changed the political landscape forever? To find out, Kerry O'Brien speaks to former US ambassador Jeff Bleich.

Capitalism has failed. If we maintain our current capitalist system, we will ensure the collapse of our natural environment and of human civilisation, argues business management professor Paul Adler. Democratic socialism is the solution - with public ownership of our most important recourses. To overcome the current crisis, he says, we need to assert democratic control over the management of both individual enterprises and the entire national economy.

Have you spent the pandemic binge-watching movies, going through your music collection or attending virtual concerts and galleries? Workers in arts and culture aren’t defined as essential yet their work has been essential for pandemic mental health.But will they survive Covid? What's the outlook for the hard-hit sector as the economy recovers from the pandemic?

Climate change policy in Australia has split political parties and brought down Prime Ministers and governments. In the shadows has been the "carbon club" - a group of business leaders, politicians, and climate change sceptics. They have collectively stymied action on climate change, and undermined climate science.  So says investigative journalist, Marian Wilkinson

Nearly a decade after the promised prospect of EU membership, many countries of the Western Balkans are still waiting to join. Meanwhile Russia and China have become active players in the region. A region that still struggles with territorial and ethnical tensions. History showed again and again that an unstable Balkans threatens the stability of Europe - and therefore has a global impact.

Covid has exposed gaps in the health, disability and aged care system. These sectors were already strain before the pandemic. We hear from the UK about ways to revitalize the care sector and value the essential work of caring . And we also hear strategies to build connection in a socially-distanced world. Is economist and author Noreena Hertz right when she describes loneliness as the defining condition of the twenty-first century?

The pandemic places new restrictions on our work and lifestyle but those constraints can spark creative solutions and innovations. In lockdown at home people learn new skills and hobbies and join virtual workteams. Businesses meanwhile have reinvented themselves online and home delivery services are more popular than ever. Necessity is proving to be the mother of invention.