Many people embark on a journey to discover their family's past in order to contextualise their present. But what happens when that journey uncovers something unwelcome?

This was the case for the award-winning Australian writer David Marr. His great great grandfather, Reginald, was an officer of the Queensland Native Police — a force whose task it was to hunt and kill Indigenous people. This discovery has informed David's latest book, Killing for Country: A family story, which traces the structures that supported the violence of Australian settlement. Join David in dialogue with anthropologist and geographer, Marcia Langton, whose ancestors were murdered by the Native Police.

Please note this discussion features distressing discussions of massacres against First Nations Australians. For further assistance, contact the free, 24-hour Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander counselling line 13 YARN (13 92 76).

David Marr's ancestors massacred Indigenous Australians. Marcia Langton's ancestors were among them.

Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.

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Australia's unique biodiversity, a product of almost 50 million years of glorious evolutionary isolation, is in freefall. The threats are not just the rabbits, the cane toads, the cats and foxes – the common culprits. Let's not forget the small but impactful smooth newt or the fierce red fire ants, and the many invasive weeds. Twenty new weeds will establish in the wild in Australia this year – and every year to come … unless things change. But is it possible to stop this ongoing invasion? How do we go about it?

Costa Georgiadis on how to stop Australia's invasion by feral species

Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a robust conversation about forging a shared future between Black and White Australians through deeper understanding. Indigenous curator Margo Neale thought her nickname was "Abo" when she was a little girl. She didn't understand it was racist. Writing on politics and race for decades, David Marr thought he knew a lot — until he unearthed an family story. Thomas Mayo is thinking deeply about what's possible for Black and White Australia after the Voice referendum.

A new future for Black and White Australia —  Thomas Mayo, Margo Neale, David Marr with Natasha Mitchell

For more than half a century, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle allowed and covered up an extensive network of paedophile priests who sexually abused hundreds of children in their care.

Anne Manne - Crimes of the Cross

Through sinister marketing and loose regulation, the tobacco industry has hooked a whole new generation of kids on smoking. How did it come to this, and will the federal government’s new laws to crack down on vaping actually work?

10,000 puffs — how vapes got the next generation hooked on smoking

What lessons can we learn from J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the nuclear bomb? How should we govern and legislate new technologies that have the power to change the world? Like nuclear technology in the mid of last century, now large digital platforms and generative AI are putting humanity at the threshold: progress or possible exploitation and abuse? How can we regulate cutting-edge technology on a global stage?

David Marr's ancestors massacred Indigenous Australians. Marcia Langton's ancestors were among them.

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