Big Ideas

Photojournalism can define a moment, a movement, an era or even a whole generation. It can lift a weary spirit, move opinions, or change the way we view the world. Three of Australia's best photojournalists tell the stories behind some of Australia's most iconic photographs, and reflect on the profession's past, present and future.

This event was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 27 May 2025.

Speakers

Lorrie GrahamPhotojournalist

Rick StevensPhotojournalist

Mike Bowers (host)Presenter, Talking Pictures, Insiders, ABC TVPhotographer at large for The New DailyCurator, Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive, National Library of Australia

Further information:

Paul Keating 'Ray Bans' 1993 - by Lorrie Graham

Bob Hawke election campaign launch 1983 - by Lorrie Graham

Gough Whitlam gets a kiss from Dorothy Scott 1972 - by Rick Stevens

Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive at the National Library of Australia until 20 July 2025

Australia faces many big challenges, but is our democracy up to the job of solving these, or are we experiencing a decision deadlock?

One process that could help governments meet the moment is known as citizen jury or assembly, where a cross section of ordinary people deliberate together over a thorny policy issue, then provide advice.

How do these work, are they effective, and should they play a more central role in Australia's democracy?

The session, The Place for Citizens Assemblies in Australia — where do they best fit? was recorded at Policy without Politics conference, hosted by Citizen Assemblies for South Australia, at the Woodville Town Hall in Adelaide on 14 June 2025.

Speakers

Jay WeatherillDirector of Democracy, McKinnonFormer South Australian Premier (2011 to 2018)

Simon BirminghamFormer South Australian Liberal Senator (2007 to 2025)

Emma FletcherCo-CEO, Democracy Co

Elizabeth Farrelly (host)Writer, columnist, critic, academic, broadcasterFormer councillor, City of SydneyDirector, Better Cities InitiativeAuthor, Bubberland; the Dangers of Happiness and Killing Sydney; the fight for a city's soul

We bathe in the amniotic fluid our mother's womb. Our cells are full of water. For Walbanja woman, artist, educator and researcher Dr Jodi Edwards, this ocean-within intimately connects her to the ocean she grew up with on Sea Country. From saving the Sea kin to sensing the Gaia imperative — join Jodi with Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell, and also hear from award-winning author James Bradley and CEO-turned-climate-action advocate Mark Rowland as they explore why the ocean's function is so vital to your own.

This event was hosted by the 2025 Ocean Lovers Festival at Bondi Beach as part of its Ocean Talks program.

Dr Jodi EdwardsCreative arts practitioner, story sharer, educator, researcherAssociate professor and Vice Chancellor Indigenous Research FellowNational Centre for Ocean Resources & SecurityUniversity of Wollongong.

James BradleyAuthor of Deep Water: The World in the Ocean (2024)

Mark RowlandConsultant, systems-thinker, climate-action advocateGAIA Imperative

Thanks to Lorna Parry and Carolyn Grant from the Ocean Lovers Festival.

Further information

Unbroken whispers: the ripples connecting sea kinA project run by Dr Jodi Edwards and Gumbaynggirr woman and ecologist Dr Chels Marshall

The Kurdish poet Behrouz Boochani and the Australian writer Arnold Zable explore the power of friendship as an act of resistance, nourishment and healing.

This event was recorded with the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne 29 April 2025.

Speakers

Behrouz BoochaniKurdish-Iranian writer, journalist, scholar, cultural advocate, filmmaker, and public advocate for human rightsAuthor, No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, and Freedom Only FreedomAdjunct Associate Professor in Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, McGeorge Fellow, University of Melbourne

Arnold ZableAuthor, Jewels and Ashes, Café Scheherazade, The Fig Tree,The Watermill and moreWinner, Australia Council Award for a Lifetime Achievement in Literature, 2021

Nikos Papastergiadis (host)Cultural critic, essayist and author, John Berger and Me: A Migrant's EyeFormer Director of the Research Unit in Public Cultures at the University of Melbourne

In October 2023, Australians voted no to a Voice to Parliament for First Nations people. In this panel from the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, four speakers who saw the campaign up close discuss what went wrong, and even whether the whole endeavour was worth it. Ultimately they’re all trying to answer the question, where do we go from here? 

Speakers 

Thomas MayoKaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait  Islander, author, activist and 'yes' campaigner

Ben AbbatangeloGunaikurnai and Wotjobaluk journalist  

Nardi SimpsonYuwaalaraay artist, musician and author  

Daniel Browning (host)Bundjalung and Kullilli man, Professor of Indigenous Cultural and Creative Industries at University of Sydney and former ABC arts journalist 

What would religion, work, sex or technology look like if we lived in a truly feminist world? In a perfect world would the messy stuff make the cut? Or would stuff that makes us human be left in the real world? Join two big thinkers who unpack it all as they build their own feminist utopia in this episode of Big Ideas. This was a live philosophy event presented in London at the Sophia Club, from the creators of Aeon and Psyche magazines. You can find out more about the series at sophiaclub.co. 

Speakers

Chine McDonaldAuthor of Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood and director of religion and society think tank Theos

Kate DevlinProfessor of artificial intelligence and society at King’s College London and author of Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Sally Davies (host)Writer and contributing editor at Aeon magazine 

Dark tourism is increasingly popular. Sites of suffering like old gaols, asylums, orphanages hold a certain allure. Can we honour their dark heart and histories, whilst also re-imagining their future? Should some 'traumascapes' be left untouched so the scars of the past are never forgotten, or can we turn them into happier settings with sensitivity? How do designers, developers, and historians tread such tricky terrain? 

This event was organised by Open House Melbourne and held in the Old Melbourne Gaol during Melbourne Design Week 2025.

Speakers

Dr Sue HodgesHeritage interpretations specialistManaging director, international consultancy SHP (Sue Hodges Productions Pty Ltd)

Erwin TaalSenior AssociateInternational landscape architect and urban design studio ASPECT Studios

Language is always evolving, and reflecting back to us our society, politics and identity. From profanity, to personal pronouns, to the politics of translation and cultural appropriation, why do we use the words we do?

This event was recorded at the University of Sydney.

Speakers

John McWhorterAssociate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Colombia UniversityAuthor, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America and moreColumnist, New York TimesHost, Lexicon Valley podcast

Nick EnfieldProfessor of Linguistics, University of Sydney

Further information:

How a Plane to Australia Took Me to '90s Oakland - New York Times, 20 March, 2025

Under Donald Trump's second presidency, America's retreat from global leadership has been swift and erratic. With Russia's war in Ukraine still raging on Europe's doorstep, and China and India on the move, how is the international rules based order being reshaped? And how should Australia position itself in this dangerous, volatile, hard new world?

This conversation was recorded at the Australian National University on Tuesday 17 June 2025.

Speakers

Hugh WhiteEmeritus Professor of Strategic Studies, Australian National UniversityAuthor, Quarterly Essay #98, Hard new world: Our Post-American Future, as well as The China Choice, How to Defend Australia, and three previous Quarterly Essays: Power Shift, Without America and Sleepwalk to WarFounding Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Allan BehmSenior Advisor International & Security Affairs Program, the Australia Institute

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.