Big Ideas

Regulating end of life intervention is fraught and raises philosophical and moral questions about our approach to death and suffering.

Geological forces drove our evolution in East Africa; mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece; today voting behaviour in the US follows the bed of an ancient sea. The human story is shaped by planet Earth.

A feature of the current wave of populist leaders is the pushback against women's rights and freedoms. Tough-guy politicians, from Russia to South America, use sexual language to put down their female opponents and champion a return to traditional gender roles. The governments they lead chip away at gender equality measures.

Ben Rhodes tells the story of a politician who started from a position of idealism, was confronted by cold realities, and still had to continue to govern.

Cyber trolling is causing serious real world harm and police and social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are not doing enough to combat it.

Can nature, rivers, mountains or animals, have legal rights - just like people? Legal rights will change the relationship we have with nature and that’s crucial to really protect the environment.

On China’s north west border, the province of Xinjiang is home to the Uyghurs , one of China’s Muslim minorities. Human rights groups estimate that a million Uyghurs are now detained in internment camps for re-education. Beijing aims to make them more amenable to Chinese culture and the goals of the Chinese communist party.

Mahatma Gandhi has inspired generations of social justice campaigners. One of our best known, the Reverend Tim Costello, tells us why . Gandhi believed that each of us has the power to make a difference and the moral duty to do so.

Tim Dunlop speaks to Paul Barclay about his bold ideas for reinvigorating democratic government, reclaiming the 'commons', and insisting that tech giants pay us for using our personal data.

Indigenous artist Vernon Ah Kee calls for Indigenous art to be completely dismantled and build up again from scratch – by black fellas. He criticises the way the visual art world works and the ‘whiteness’ within the gallery context.