Big Ideas

In late 2019, 19 year old Aboriginal man, Kumunjayi Walker, was shot and killed by Northern Territory police constable, Zachary Rolfe, in the remote community of Yuendumu. Rolfe was charged with murder and two alternative offences of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act. In March, Zachary Rolfe was acquitted of all charges. Writer, Anna Krien has been following the story.

After two years of daily updates on Covid cases , deaths and hospitalisation we’re now in a new stage of the pandemic called ‘living with Covid’. But what exactly does that mean? Since the beginning of the year we’ve had a steep rise in cases and deaths . The Omicron variant isn’t as benign as we like to believe. But who would support a return to masks and home-isolation?

A good night's sleep is anything but quiet: a myriad of processes occupy our brains, crucial for every aspect of our waking lives. Our increased understanding of the neuroscience of sleep sheds light on why so many of us struggle to simply drift off.

Weather patterns aren’t following historical trends and we’re seeing record floods and bushfires.  A weather forecaster and a storm chaser talk about the science of forecasting and intense weather systems. And making the transition to renewables while protecting the electricity grid and protecting the workers mining lithium for batteries.

Ten years have passed since the landmark Gonski Review found the performance of Australian students had declined, across the board, compared to international benchmarks.

What has happened since Gonski? What makes for a good & equitable education system? Why are so many teachers demoralised and leaving the profession? Paul Barclay spoke to a Finnish education expert, and a former primary school teacher.

"A battle for Hong Kong's very soul" - what led to the explosion of protest, what events proved to be the tipping point? More importantly, what's next?

The Lismore community is rebuilding physically and psychologically since the catastrophic floods and the prospect of these events happening with greater frequency due to climate change. We also hear from a former refugee about rebuilding her life after a childhood scarred by war and the opportunity of Covid lockdowns to find inner peace.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from their addiction to opioid drugs. The epidemic has being driven by both illegal and prescribed drugs. Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe traces the history of one of the prescription drugs which got America hooked. And are we in the age of political capitalism ? Businesses are taking political positions on everything from closing down sweatshops to sanctions against Russia.

If you’ve snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef you’ll be amazed at the colour of the corals and fish of all kinds. Unless of course you’re snorkelling where climate change is causing coral bleaching. Scientists are racing to classify species and breed climate resilient corals. And how weeds can inspire us to adapt to environmental change.

Ex CIA spy Glenn Carle—'the interrogator'—talks to Paul Barclay about a top secret operation that went dreadfully wrong. An alleged al Qaeda kingpin terrorist was incarcerated for eight years, and subjected to what most of us would call torture, then released without charge, without apology, his life in ruins. All along, without success, Carle tried to convince the CIA they had the wrong man.