In our first episode for 2017, Associate Professor Chris Baumann of our Faculty of Business & Economics and his cohort-in-crime, Associate Professor Hume Winzar, sit down to talk all things competitive. From Australia’s current education standards versus the rest of the world, all the way to brand relativity and Einstein himself, Chris and Hume take us on an entertaining tryst into the business of competition.

This week we speak to Wendy Rogers of Macquarie's Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, where Rogers offers a revealing look at contemporary medical ethics, surgical innovation and the issues of over-diagnosis and organ matching.

What will our cities look like in the future? What are the environmental challenges facing the world's major urban sprawls? How do we better plan sustainable and resilient communities?

In this episode of Pioneering Minds, geography and planning lecturer Dr Donna Houston uses her insights to paint a vivid portrait of life in the not-so-distant future.

Professor John Croucher AM has come full circle. His academic journey began as one of the very first students to study at Macquarie, and he is now a lecturer at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. In this special episode of Pioneering Minds, Professor Croucher talks about the early days of Macquarie, his unexpected career move from sports commentary to teaching, and his latest book about a certain 'Mistress of Science'.

This week on the Pioneering Minds podcast we talk to a trio of folk. Bronwyn Mehan is the publishing extraordinaire behind Spineless Wonders, a Sydney-based small press, and is the brains behind Little Fictions, a monthly live reading event in which performers bring to life stories from the Spineless Wonders cannon.

We also have actors Eleni Schumacher and Felix Johnson to talk all things performance, while Bron delves deep into publishing industries today and what makes storytelling so very vital.

As a lecturer in creative industries, Dr Guy Morrow is a veritable fountain of knowledge on the music industry. In this episode of Pioneering Minds, Morrow talks about his experience working alongside some of Australia’s most well-known performers, the impact of Sydney’s lock-out laws on its local music scene, and what the musical landscape might resemble in the future.

Damien Fitzpatrick, rugby player for the Macquarie University Sydney Rays and the NSW Waratahs, and MBA student, gives us an entertaining look at life beyond the rugby field. In this episode, Fitzpatrick talks about the misconceptions that players face, the responsibilities that come with being a renowned sportsperson and what lead him to pursue an MBA.

This week on the Pioneering Minds podcast, we hear from Adjunct Lecturer Prashan Karunaratne about the challenges of understanding economics and the ways he is using lessons from his own experiences as an economics student to spearhead innovative educational strategies and better prepare students for the real world. To learn more about Prashan's research, click here: http://macq.it/2etv2fX

On this very special episode of Pioneering Minds, we’ll hear from 12 of our brightest PhD students as we present the 2016 finalists of Macquarie’s Three Minute Thesis competition.

Recorded live in the Macquarie theatre on September 19th, the Three Minute Thesis competition forces PhD students to condense their complex research into three minute bite-size summaries that even a layperson can understand, with topics ranging from ice addiction therapy to artificial intelligence and transhumanism to the interplay of colour and emotion.

What are the motivations behind the so-called Islamic State? How will the tension in the South China Seas affect our national security? What is the current state of Australia's border protection? Julian Droogan from Macquarie's Department of Security Studies discusses these issues and more in this week's episode of Pioneering Minds.