How can you quiet those nagging voices inside your head; expectations that you should to better; anxiety how to make ends meet with rising costs of living … or trying to cope with abuse, trauma and loss? How can you turn your 'inner wilds' into 'inner calm' and achieve a more peaceful way of being? At the top of the list: Have compassion toward yourself and be kind to yourself — as well as others.

Sometimes an event so big happens that it leaves everyone gasping in its wake. In this case, more than million fish were left gasping too. A stunning story of how one community rallied. At its heart is healing country, art, science, and ancient knowledge. In the Summer of 2018-2019 and again in 2023, mass fish kills left communities along the mighty Baaka / Darling River — one of Australia's most important river systems — devastated. The scenes of floating white carcasses captured attention worldwide. What happened next? And how were lives transformed in the process?

The witch is a figure that has been around for a long time in many cultures, stretching back to ancient times. In the West, witches have re-appeared in stories for centuries: from Macbeth, to Salem, to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

But in the 21st-century, witches — and the practices associated with them — are being re-appraised, both as a form of contemporary spiritual practice, and a frame to study historical crimes against women.  

To write history is to omit. The historical archive is the end-product of a series of choices, and in the wash, particular voices get privileged over others. But around the globe, historians are attempting to identify the gaps in 'official' history, and in so doing, understand how and why they were created.

Santilla Chingaipe is among them. Her recent work has told the stories of the hundreds of convicts of African descent transported to Australia during colonial rule. In her 2023 EW Cole Lecture for the Wheeler Centre, Santilla asks the question: Who gets to write history?

Disinformation is nothing new, but ever increasingly, it is stifling the capacity for governments of all kinds to carry out their day-to-day duties.  

It has acutely been felt at the local government level, where public council hearings, and library rainbow storytime events have either been postponed or cancelled due to security concerns.

So what can cities (and their elected representatives) do to combat a rise in disinformation’s direct impacts, especially when facts don't convince?  

From politicians telling porkies to pork barrelling — many believe there is an accountability crisis at the heart of Australia’s democracy. What will it take to fix? Meet five who have tried with considerable success. Join Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell with Ed Coper, Simon Holmes a Court. Andrea Durbach, Helen Haines MP, Shireen Morris.

For every cancer patient, there's a life story that has influenced diagnosis, treatment, and survival.

A patient in a vulnerable housing or financial position may not be able to participate in treatment fully, while those incarcerated may only be accessing cancer care for the first time. It's this holistic view of patients that clinicians want to better integrate into treatment — in and outside of the hospital.

In this panel discussion from the 2023 NSW Cancer Innovations Conference, learn how experts in Indigenous health, justice, psychiatry, and oncology are getting cancer care to better respond to the social and cultural determinants of health.

To change violent behaviour, regulators and assistance services need compassion for the perpetrators. That's the consent of our panel of psychiatrists, psychologists and women who went through domestic violence themselves. You'll hear about the impact of trauma and what it does to your brain; how abuse destroys your identity; the hurt and healing effect of speaking out and what turns a victim into a survivor.

In a world that's warming faster than ever before, there are some places that are seen as future refuges from the ravages of climate change. New Zealand is high on the list, especially among the ultra-rich.

But for architect and social entrepreneur Indy Johar, that escape can't really exist — the world's too entangled. After all, it takes a planet to make an iPhone. So how would a deeper reckoning with this entanglement inform the way we adapt to climate change, and the machine-learning revolution that's on our doorstep?

Although Elizabeth was only a little girl when her mother Anne was executed, their relationship significantly shaped the later queen's character, religion and reign. Historian Tracy Borman pieces together evidence from original documents and artefacts to show their bond and long-lasting influence; and she tells a story of famous royal women, the significance of symbols and the skills of outsmarting the intrigues of competing male courtiers.d.