Big Ideas

With over 50% of the world's population living in cities, are we still evolving or are we homogenising? What will our cities, languages and cultures look like 100 years from now?

Being shot at, going to prison, have your family threatened — that's the experience of female judges in many countries. Shakila Abawi Shigarf was forced to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban retook power in August 2021. The Australian chapter of the International Association of Women Judges was instrumental in helping 17 Afghan judges escape the danger and secure entry to Australia. Members of the association are now helping the judges settle into their new home. Big Ideas picks up on legal issues on regular basis ... and we would like to point you to this two-part series on The Law Report about extraordinary women judges. This is the first episode of 'women in the law'. To hear the second part look for The Law Report on the ABC Listen app.

Global brands are under pressure to eliminate products produced by the forced labour of China’s Uyghurs .Human rights groups say they're working in factories which manufacture goods for the technology, clothing and automotive sectors. China denies that the Uyghurs are living in detention centres and working under forced labour conditions but the satellite images tell a different story.

What are the lessons from one of the most terrible battles of WW1?

Do you get phone calls warning you that your home computer has a security problem or a text message about a parcel you can’t recall having ordered? Scammers and hackers are using every trick in the book to make the most of digital technology and cyber security is now a growth industry.

When we've spent 95% of our evolutionary past living in small tribal groups, what's prepared us to live and work in vast metropolises with millions of others?

As Australia’s population expands wild places shrink. To protect the remaining patches we want to lock it up and keep people out. But what exactly is wilderness? Is it a place untouched by human hands? An indigenous geographer says that what we call wilderness is not nature left to its own devices but the result of thousands of years of indigenous landcare.

We are aware of the impact racism can have on black, Indigenous, and other racialized people. We condemn white supremacy and hate crimes. But what if the most harm to people of colour is caused by white 'progressives'? What if they are the problem, but they are in denial?

How do you feel about insects? You might love bees because they pollinate food crops but not be a fan of mosquitos or the aphids munching their way through your garden. Love them or hate them insects are a vital part of the ecosystem. They outnumber us on the planet by twenty million to one and they feed an army of animals. How can we protect them from habitat loss, climate change and pesticides?

Why are human societies unique among animals for their ability to accumulate knowledge and technologies? Most of us invent nothing, so how have we achieved this while no other species has?