The hard fought for gains of one generation can pave the way for the next, but the road to equality is never straight. After meaningful progress for LGBTQIA+ people in recent years, that same community is now faced with some setbacks, and a rising hostility,  So why are the human rights of LGBTIQA+ people being challenged, curtailed and politicised right now? 

The 2025 Higinbotham Lecture at RMIT University was recorded on 15 October 2025.

Speakers

Joe BallVictorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities

Dr Shelley Marshall (host) Professor of Law, and Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation) of the School of Law at RMIT University

What is it really like to be an astronaut? How do you even become one? What happens when an argument breaks out on the International Space Station? And why are big fashion brands clamouring to design for space? As NASA prepares to return humans to the moon for the first time in 50 years, we hear from a panel of superstar astronauts about life in space.

This astronauts' forum was recorded at Sydney Science Festival on 2 October 2025, presented by Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.

Speakers

Katherine Bennell-Pegg Director Space Technology, Australian Space Agency, 2026 Australian of the Year

Joseph Acaba NASA's chief astronaut, member of NASA Artemis Mission

Koichi Wakata Chief technology officer, Asia-Pacific region, Axiom Space, first Japanese commander of the International Space Station

Tibor Kapu Astronaut, mechanical engineer, mission specialist for Axiom Mission 4

Rae Johnston (host) Science and technology journalist, presenter, Download This Show ABC Radio National

Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker is a fierce advocate for intellectual and academic freedom — and one of the world’s most prominent and provocative thinkers about human language, the mind, and how societies work. He joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with an 800-strong Melbourne audience to discuss his latest book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage. Steven Pinker doesn’t shy away from controversy — amidst the Trump administration's attacks on his own university he recently penned a NYT piece titled Harvard Derangement Syndrome — challenging the cancellation, character assassination and censorship of scholars who investigate controversial ideas.

This event and Steven Pinker's Australian tour was organised by Thinkable.Events

This event and Steven Pinker's Australian tour was organised by Thinkable.Events

Speaker

Steven PinkerJohnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard UniversityCo-founder, Council on Academic Freedom at HarvardAuthor of 13 books includingWhen Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage (2025).The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature.The Language Instinct.Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress .Rationality: What It Is, Why it Seems Scarce, and Why It Matters.

In its second term, the Albanese Government enjoys a large majority in parliament and an opposition in disarray. But faced with a fragmented, fractious electorate, ever more entrenched inequality at home and volatility abroad, and with an emphasis on a stable and moderate governing style, is this government making the most of its political advantages? Does Labor still have the courage to take on the good fight?

This event was recorded at the Hawke Centre at the University of Adelaide on 4 December 2025.

Speakers

Sean Kelly Journalist, columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, author, Quarterly Essay 100 — The Good Fight: What does Labor stand for? And The Game: A portrait of Scott Morrison

Misha Ketchell (host) Editor-in-Chief, The Conversation

Liberalism is one of the most influential — and contested — political philosophies of the modern age. But what does it actually mean in contemporary Australia? Is it a philosophy of individual freedom and limited government? A cultural attitude toward diversity and change? Or has it become something else entirely? A panel of practitioners and philosophers, current politicians and historical scholars explores liberalism as a set of political and cultural ideas, as a practical governing philosophy and as the ideological foundation of one of Australia's major political parties.

Presented at the Malcolm Fraser Symposium by the Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

Speakers

David KempFormer minister for education in the Howard government, author of The Land of Dreams, a history of liberal and democratic ideas in Australia

Sarah HendersonLiberal Senator for Victoria; former Shadow Minister for Education and Communications

Alexandre LefebvreProfessor of politics and philosophy, University of Sydney. Author of the book Liberalism as a Way of Life

James PatersonLiberal Senator for Victoria and Shadow Minister for Finance, Government Services and the Public Service

Humanity is facing an existential risk posed by unchecked tech and AI. But what if these technologies were used, not to increase the wealth and power of individuals, but to shape a better future — for everyone.

Rutger Bregman's fourth BBC Reith Lecture, Fighting for Humanity in the Age of the Machine, was recorded with a live audience at Standford University in the United States, and first aired on the BBC on 16 December 2025.

Speakers

Rutger Bregman Historian, author, Humankind: a hopeful history, Utopia for Realists (and how we can get there), and Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, 2025 BBC Reith Lecturer

Anita Anand (host) BBC Radio 4 journalist, co-presenter (with William Dalrymple) of Empire: World History podcast, and author, The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary and more

Do you dare to dream of a world that is different? From the Fabians to the Neoliberals, small groups with big ideas, perseverance and long-term vision, have conspired to transform societies, systems and governments. Where are they now?

Rutger Bregman's third BBC Reith Lecture, A conspiracy of decency, was recorded with a live audience in Edinburgh Scotland, and first aired on the BBC on 9 December 2025.

Speakers

Rutger Bregman Historian, author, Humankind: a hopeful history, Utopia for Realists (and how we can get there), and Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, 2025 BBC Reith Lecturer

Anita Anand (host) BBC Radio 4 journalist, co-presenter (with William Dalrymple) of Empire: World History podcast, and author, The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary and more

Do you have the power to change the world? Do you think the world needs changing? In the past, eras of corruption gave birth to transformative movements, such as the 19th Century campaign to abolish slavery. A look at history shows us that small, committed groups can, and have, sparked moral revolutions.

Rutger Bregman's second BBC Reith Lecture, How to start a moral revolution, was recorded with a live audience in Liverpool and first aired on the BBC on 2 December 2025.

Speakers

Rutger Bregman Historian, author, Humankind: a hopeful history, Utopia for Realists (and how we can get there), and Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, 2025 BBC Reith Lecturer

Anita Anand (host) BBC Radio 4 journalist, co-presenter (with William Dalrymple) of Empire: World History podcast, and author, The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary and more

Rutger Bregman believes we are living in a time of moral decay, in a world governed by un-serious elites. But history shows us that we have been here before, and just like in past times, we can overcome it again.

Rutger Bregman's first BBC Reith Lecture, A Time of Monsters, was recorded with an audience in London and first aired on BBC Radio 4 on 25 November 2025.

Speakers

Rutger Bregman Historian, author, Humankind: a hopeful history, Utopia for Realists (and how we can get there), and Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, 2025 BBC Reith Lecturer

Anita Anand (host) BBC Radio 4 journalist, co-presenter (with William Dalrymple) of Empire: World History podcast, and author, The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary and more

Further information:

Historian berates billionaires at Davos over tax avoidance - The Guardian, 30 January 2019

BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith lecture - The Guardian 28 November 2025

It makes the world go round, but it's also the root of all evil. It hasn't always had a great rap, yet most of us would like more of it. From clay tablets to coins, credit cards to crypto, for 5000 years, money has shaped our world.

This podcast episode was originally recorded on 8 October 2025 at The Wheeler Centre. Discover more talks and bold conversations by following The Wheeler Centre wherever you get your podcasts or at wheelercentre.com.

Speakers

David McWilliams Economist, author, The History of Money: A story of humanity, host, The David McWilliams Podcast, and co-founder of the world's only economics and stand-up comedy festival Kilkenomics

Jacinta Parsons (host) Co-host (with Brian Nankervis), The Friday Revue, ABC Radio Melbourne, author, A Wisdom Of Age: Lessons on living from our wise elder women and more