Big Ideas

Can a single seed tell the story of a civilisation? What do the scars on the skins of 200-year old whales tell about our ancestors? Can ancient trees reveal hidden histories of human frailty and fabulousness? Can Nature be a timekeeper? Joining Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell are Dave Witty (author of What the Trees See: A Wander through Millennia of Natural History), Fiona McMillan-Webster (author of The Age of Seeds: How Plants Hacked Time and Why Our Future Depends on It) and Satyajit Das (author of Wild Quests: Journeys into Ecotourism and the Future of Animals).

This event was hosted by the Brisbane Writers Festival.

Speakers

Satyajit DasAuthor, former banker, consultant

Dr Fiona McMillan-WebsterScience writer and scientistDave WittyAuthor

Human rights are meant to be universal, but what happens when those rights conflict with one another? For example, a religious school's right to practice its faith, versus the right of others to be free from discrimination?

The 2024 Higinbotham Lecture was recorded at RMIT University on 21 October 2024.

Speaker

Justice Mordy Bromberg, President, Australian Law Reform Commission

Further information

Read the full report Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws from the Australian Law Reform Commission

Rhonda Magee grew up in segregated North Carolina in an abusive household. She knows firsthand the deep divides that define America right now.  She draws on her life, and her work as a law professor and leading mindfulness meditation teacher in her book The inner work of racial justice: Healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness. Mariam Tokhi is a writer and GP in a refugee and asylum seeker health service in Melbourne. She has created a trailblazing narrative medicine course to help doctors use the power of storytelling to fully see the humanity of their patients and themselves.

This event was organised by the Contemplative Studies Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne.

Speakers:

Rhonda MageeAuthor, The inner work of racial justice: Healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness (Tarcher, 2019)Professor Emerita of LawMindfulness meditation educatorFounding director, Center for Contemplative Law and EthicsUniversity of San Francisco.Dr Mariam TokhiGP and writer Utopia refugee and asylum seeker health serviceNarrative medicine lecturer,  University of Melbourne Medical School

Is menstruation linked to the moon? Do women's periods sync up when they live together? Are girls getting their first period younger? Why don't we talk about menstruation and menopause more? Popular US-based physician and bestselling author Dr Jen Gunter is on a mission to change the conversation about women's health.

This event was recorded as part of National Science Week at the University of NSW's Centre for Ideas on 15 August 2024.

Speakers

Dr Jen Gunter Obstetrician and gynaecologistAuthor, Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of MenstruationThe Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism and more

Professor Caroline Ford Lead, Gynaecological Cancer Research Group, University of NSW

Back in 1994, it was a pretty wild pitch for a movie: a troupe of drag queens road tripping across the Australian outback, in a lavender bus named Priscilla. But The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, put the Australian film industry on the global map, and these days it's become an icon of Australian cinema.

This event was recorded on 11 September, 2024, at the Capitol Theatre, RMIT University, as part of Social Sciences Week.

Speakers

Rebel Penfold-Russell Executive Producer, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Tim Chappel Costume designer, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Academy Award for best costume along with Lizzy Gardiner)

Cerise Howard Program Director, Melbourne Queer Film Festival

Kristy Kokegei History Trust of South Australia

Stephen Gaunson (host) Senior lecturer in Cinema Studies at RMIT University

Further information

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at 30: more important, enjoyable and vital than ever - by Stephen Gaunson, The Conversation, 5 September 2024

Donate to the Save the Queen campaign - History Trust of South Australia

The Australian federal government wants to restrict social media to those aged over 16. Would that work? Adult and teen experts mount their arguments for and against social media and its harms and benefits.

The Great Debate  was presented by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia as part of 2024 Social Sciences Week, recorded at the National Library of Australia on 10 September 2024.

Speakers

STUDENT DEBATEFeaturing Year 7 and 8 students at University of Canberra High School Kaleen

Host Ivy Affirmative team Misha, Sienna and Jacob

Negative teamUmar, Addy and Shreya

ADULT DEBATE

Lisa Given Professor of Information Sciences, RMIT University

Anthony Elliott Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of South AustraliaAuthor, Algorithms of Anxiety: Fear in the Digital Age

Ginger Gorman (host) Journalist and author of the book Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and Its Human FalloutHost of the Seriously Social podcast

Is social media a contagious force harming young minds, a life saver helping people find their neurodiverse tribes and support, or, for better or worse, a bit of both?

From the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, join Natasha Mitchell with renowned social psychologist Jean Twenge, neurodiversity advocate Sonny Jane Wise, technology policy campaigner Alice Dawkins, suicide prevention researcher Dr Sandersan Onie. 

Young people depressed, distressed, and anxious. ADHD and Autism diagnoses on the increase. All at record rates. Is it a renaissance in awareness, enabled by social media, or are people reaching for labels that risk losing meaning?

Speakers:

Jean TwengeProfessor of psychologySan Diego State UniversityAuthor ofiGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood (2017)Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future (2023)Alice DawkinsExecutive Director, Reset.Tech. Au

Dr Sanderson OniePsychologist and suicide prevention researcherBlack Dog InstituteUniversity of NSW

Sonny Jane WiseNeurodiversity advocateAuthor, We’re All Neurodiverse (2023) and The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills (2022)

Thanks to Danielle Harvey, Director of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and the festival team.

Further information:

Not Just Algorithms: Online Safety, Children and Young People, Data Security, Privacy and Data Protection report (24 March, 2024)

Festival of Dangerous Ideas on-demand audio and video archive selected from over a decade of provocative events

Mediation in armed conflicts means sitting down with brutal war lords, hiding your true values and in an open dialogue trying to really understand  all sides of the parties involved. In the most pressurised environments, there are nearly always possible pathways to a win-win outcome — but finding the way requires a combination of imagination, goodwill, timing, and street smarts.

Reflections on Diplomacy and Peace Mediation was presented at the TheMHS Conference 2024

Speaker

Paul DziatkowiecDirector of Mediation and Peace Support, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

Listen to Big Ideas - Is making war more humane in fact prolonging the fighting?

Pressing a full-time  workload into four days sounds like simply adding more stress to your job – even if you keep your pay. But many people who have tried this model say that one would need to pay them double their salary to make them go back to a standard work week. And businesses enjoy better staff retention and get a completive edge on the job market.

Presented by UQ ChangeMakers

Speakers

Debbie BaileyConsultant Partner, 4 Day Week Global

Shannan QuainChief People Officer, Australian Digital Health Agency

Associate Professor James KirbyClinical Psychologist and the Co-Director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group, University of Queensland

Professor Tyler Okimoto (host)Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, University of Queensland

She was Andy Warhol's muse, she's been sampled by Notorious BIG, and her music was once voted on the ten best songs to dry-hump to. This is the amazing true story of how Indian-born singer Asha Puthli became a music legend.

This event was recorded at Rising Festival on 7 June 2024.

Speakers

Asha Puthli Singer

Adriana Lazaridis (host) DJ