Big Ideas

The director of Doherty Institute for Infectious Diseases was out of office when the first official case of the novel coronavirus was declared. At the time, Sharon Lewin was hiking in remote Patagonia.

Then she got a call.

Her deputy, Mike Catton, confirmed that Doherty scientists were the first outside of China to grow the novel coronavirus in a lab.

This is the inside story of how that was achieved, and the split-second decision making that changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic forever. 

Clem Ford, author of bestselling book Fight Like a Girl, Boys Will be Boys, and How We Love, is back with a firey new read. This time she's taking on an age-old institution that she argues harms women, and has throughout history. She wants marriage abolished. From white weddings to wandering wombs, coverture to capitalism, I DON'T: the case against marriage is full of stories of resistance, rage, and re-imagining. It'll shock and rile some, for others it'll be a case of hard relate. Clem Ford is in conversation with Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell at the Athenaeum Theatre in Naarm / Melbourne.

There is nothing like cheering on your favourite sport team; or seeing our Aussie athletes on the top podium at the Olympic Games. A whole nation celebrates. Strangers are falling into each other's arms. Sport can truly unite us. But then… there are racist smirks, fans getting violent. Even in high school can you get a hard time if you're wearing the wrong club colours. So, does sport in fact divide us?

While it was Mao Zedong who believed power came from the barrel of a gun, philosopher Hannah Arendt saw it differently. Instead, she believed the eruption of violence was less a testament to power, but rather, a stark admission of its absence. These thoughts later culminated in her 1970 essay, On Violence. More than a half century later, can Arendt's insights make sense of our turbulent present?

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.