Big Ideas

Populism is part of American political history. It has been and still is the dominant vocabulary of dissent. 

But the current resurrection of authoritarian politics in the US is different. While the two parties could absorb populist movements in the past, this time populism has absorbed the party.

Presented at the American Academy in Berlin

Original broadcast on April 1, 2025.

Speaker

Jefferson CowieJames G. Stahlman Professor in American History at Vanderbilt UniversityAmerican Academy in Berlin, Axel Springer Fellow — Class of Spring 2025

How many times have you checked your phone today? How many tabs are open in your web browser? Do you feel in control of your attention? 

In the digital age, attention is now a commodity. Can practices like meditation and mindfulness help us feel more free to focus on what really matters?

This event was hosted at the Brunswick Ballroom by the Sophia Club in partnership with the University of Melbourne's Contemplative Studies Centre.

Original broadcast on March 18, 2025.

Speakers

Jess HuonMeditation trainer, authorised Dharma teacher, writer (The Dark Wet)

Nicholas Van DamDirector of the Contemplative Studies Centre at the University of MelbourneAssociate professor, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne

Brigid Hains (host)Editorial director, Aeon Media

Matthias Schack-Arnott Musician

Satyajit Das presents a provocative examination of the use and abuse of images of wild animals, and how they shape our relationships with the natural world. 

These pictures can create an impression of abundance and untouched ecosystems, and lull us into a false sense of security, at a time when the natural world faces ecological calamity.

The Attenborough Effect — Shaping Our Relationship With Wild Animals was presented by the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Original broadcast on February 20, 2025.

Speaker

Satyajit DasAuthor of Wild Quests. Journeys into Ecotourism and the Future for Animalsformer banker, recognised as one of the world's leading financial thinkers.

Prepare to have your mind blown with a sweeping saga that connects human evolution, brains, genes, art, music, creativity, knowledge, dyslexia, autism, Indigenous memory systems, and more. A big, beautiful and biological saga about how to learn like a human again. Joining Natasha Mitchell are Australian Senior Memory Champion, scientist and author Dr Lynne Kelly with artist Jane Rusden and musician and educator Hilary Blackshaw. 

This event was hosted by the 2024 Mountain Festival in Macedon, Victoria.

Original broadcast January 20, 2025.

Speakers

Dr Lynne KellyScience writerAuthor, The Knowledge Gene: the incredible story of the supergene that gives us human creativity (Allen and Unwin, 2024)Author, The Memory Code (Allen and Unwin, 2016) Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe UniversityHonorary Fellow, School of Physics, University of MelbourneHilary BlackshawMusician and musical educatorBendigo Musical Instrumental Program

Jane RusdenArtist

Historian Sarah Churchwell takes you on a gripping and confronting journey into America's recent past to explain its extraordinary present, starting with dark story at the heart of that American classic Gone with the Wind. Knowledge lies at the heart of a healthy democracy, and its many custodians include libraries, universities, cultural institutions, and a free and independent media. So what happens when these institutions are intimidated, dismantled or destroyed, as is happening in America, under the government of President Donald Trump?

This event was recorded at the University of Technology Sydney's Vice Chancellor's Democracy Forum on 14 May 2025.

Original broadcast on June 17, 2025.

Speakers

Sarah ChurchwellProfessor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of LondonAuthor, The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, and The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America TellsDirector, Being Human festival and Living Literature event seriesJudge, Man Booker Prize

Anna Funder (host)Author, Wifedom, Stasiland and All That I AmLuminary and Ambassador, University of Technology Sydney

Roy Green (host)Emeritus Professor and Special Innovation Advisor at University of Technology SydneyFormer Dean of the UTS Business SchoolChair of the UTS Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub

Further information

From Gatsby to Huck Finn — American literature in an age of polarisation  - Sarah Churchwell on Big Ideas, ABC Radio National 4 November 2024

After five nominations, Ruthie Foster has taken home the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album - affirming her status as an American music legend.  In this intimate conversation, she shares what made her want to be a singer; the roles of her grandmother and mother in her life; why faith is so important to her and why she wants to sing about real people. And much more…

A Heartlands Conservation presented at the Blue Mountains Music Festival.

Original broadcast May 12, 2025.

Speakers

Ruthie FosterAmerican singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. 2025 Grammy Award winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album

Gregg Borschmann (host)Writer, radio producer and oral historian for the National Library of Australia

When you enter your childbearing years, it can feel like everyone from the treasurer, your mum, and probably your Instagram reels really wants you to have a kid. But is it the right decision? Few women escape this conundrum of modern family-making, and unfortunately there is no easy or simple answer. But in this talk presented by the Sydney Opera House at the All About Women Festival 2025, you’ll get the context, prompts and profound reflections to help you think through this decision, whether it’s in your own life or for someone you love.  

Original broadcast on June 26, 2024

Meet two men who will change the way you think about an experience most of us fear but will be touched by in some way.  In Patting the Shark, surfing writer Dr Tim Baker describes his wild ride to reclaim a sense of control and agency after a cancer diagnosis. Celebrated author and GP Peter Goldsworthy’s memoir The Cancer Finishing School started out as a journal but became so much more.They join Natasha Mitchell for intimate an intimate, revelatory, funny, and generous conversation about the Big C and how medicine needs to change. 

This event was hosted by the 2024 Queenscliffe Literary Festival

Original broadcast on January 22, 2025.

Speakers

Dr Tim BakerJournalist, editor, patient advocate, and facilitator of the Peter Mac Book GroupResearch Fellow, Prostate Cancer Research Group, Monash Biomedical Discovery InstituteAuthor, Patting the Shark: A surfer's journey — learning to live well with cancer (Ebury Australia/Penguin, 2022)

Dr Peter GoldsworthyGP, author, librettist, poetAuthor, The Cancer Finishing School —lessons in laughter, love, resilience (Penguin, 2024)

Are fermented foods really good for us? Do antibiotics destroy our gut flora? And have you heard about poo transplants?

Our gut is teeming with trillions of microbial cells, and we are learning more all the time about how this affects everything from our digestion, to immunity, to mental health.

So crack open your kombucha, because these leading researchers will cut through the noise with some hard facts and pioneering science about the microbiome.

This event was recorded at the World Science Festival Brisbane 30 March 2025.

Original broadcast on June 25, 2025.

Speakers

Paul GriffinProfessor of Medicine, Clinical Unit Head and Director of Infectious Diseases, University of Queensland and Mater Hospital

Felice JackaDistinguished Professor in Nutritional PsychiatryFounder and director, Food and Mood Centre Deakin UniversityAuthor, There's a Zoo in my Poo

Gene TysonMicrobial ecologist, bioinformatician, and founder, Centre for Microbiome research, Queensland University of Technology

Dr Norman Swan (host)Presenter, Health Report and What's That Rash? ABC Radio National

Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change. It's been able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction. Why we are so addicted to fiction, and why does this wonderful wandering time traveller mean so much to so many. This talk was provided by the York Festival of Ideas. The Festival is led by the University of York, UK.

Original broadcast on July 21, 2025.

Speaker

John HiggsAuthor of Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2025)