Sydney Ideas

Ageing is the main cause of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Given this inexorable link, can we extend our lifespan without risking our health and quality of life?

For further reading, Professor Luigi Fontana from the Charles Perkins Centre shares his key tips on how your dietary habits can help you to live longer and reduce risk of heart attack. Visit the website to learn more: http://bit.ly/2m1alAF

What does national security, data security and the changing face of legislation mean for free speech and our right to know? Reporter Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, The Chaser's Julian Morrow and political theorist Professor Tim Soutphommasane examine the state of affairs.

As the online world increasingly spills into the real world, urgent questions are being asked about the need to regulate the world’s digital platforms. How do we govern and enforce internet controls? Where is the cyber frontier, and how is it being weaponised? What big data and privacy issues we should be thinking about?

This conversation was recorded on Thursday 15 August, 2019 at a Sydney Ideas event, as part of the ASEAN Forum. Learn more: http://bit.ly/31XAMXm

What is the limit of our brain capacity and how can we translate potential brainpower into powerful discoveries?

Fernando Calamante from Sydney Imaging talks about mapping structural networks in the brain. Neurologist Michael Barnett, from Brain and Mind Centre, follows on to explain how these networks can be affected in disease. Physicist Céline Boehm explores the recent images of black holes and dark matter. Philosopher David Braddon-Mitchell brings these ideas together, and to close, is a performance by sound artist Benjamin Carey.

This conversation was chaired by Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of Sydney.

It was recorded on Tuesday 20 August at a Sydney Ideas event, as part of Innovation Week 2019, which celebrates landmark discoveries and transformative inventions by the University's academics and students. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2Ltpgid

How does our identity determine how we use our time? Economist Daniel Hamermesh will discuss the role of income inequality and how it affects the things we buy and do. He presents a radical proposal to reassess what we value with our time.

This event was recorded on Monday 12 August at the University of Sydney. More details and to check out our reading list: https://bit.ly/2KXpFab

Polar regions are increasingly at the centre of environmental, geo-political and cultural shifts.

Our panel discuss how our relationship with the polar regions has changed in the 21st century and what the polar regions reveal about the broader environmental challenges facing the world today, as we collectively combat climate change and unpack its deeper implications.

Hear from Tim Stephens, Rohan Howitt, Elizabeth Leane, with Glenda Sluga moderating the conversation.

This event was recorded on Tuesday 6 August at the University of Sydney. More details and to check out our reading list: http://bit.ly/33yMaea

As global movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp rapidly gain momentum in exposing systemic sexual assault and abuse, the military appears to have been left behind.

To unpack this issue, and discuss how we might address it, are a panel of world leading experts including:

- Ellen Haring, Service Women's Action Network

- Eda Gunaydin, University of Sydney

- Shannon Sampert, University of Winnipeg

- Antonieta Rico, Women in International Security

- Samantha Crompvets, Rapid Context

- Megan Mackenzie (chair), University of Sydney

This event was recorded on Wednesday 17 July at the University of Sydney. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2GEYH5L.

Hear from one of the greatest astrophysicists and role models of our time. Best known for her discovery of pulsars, Jocelyn Bell Burnell has paved a path for furthering scientific knowledge and education.

This talk was recorded on Tuesday 16 July, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Visit this page for more: https://bit.ly/2JAlj8m

The world has traditionally relied heavily on the 'business as usual model' of industrial food production and supermarket-oriented consumption. However, this system is not sustainable if we’re to secure a healthy future for people and the planet.

Hear from Hilal Elver, UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food;

OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn and Mario Herrero from CSIRO, as they share insights into how we might address food security.

Visit the website for for information including Hilal's slides and further resources: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/food-security.html

Climate change, resource extraction and increasing levels of extinction present unprecedented challenges. How can the humanities and social sciences help us to respond to the biodiversity crisis in a more just way, which transforms how we protect the foundations of life on our planet?

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 19 June 2019 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/biodiversity-and-extinction.html