Dr Karaitiana Taiuru is a leading global voice at the forefront of Māori data sovereignty and AI ethics. His practice draws on tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori to facilitate conversations about the ways emerging technologies must uplift, protect and empower Indigenous knowledge, culture and communities.

Hear him in conversation with Dr Sue Keay, where he explores why protecting Māori knowledge as a living treasure is one of the most exciting and urgent challenges of our tech future.

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Every day, generative AI is pumping millions of new pictures into existence. Researcher and UNSW lecturer Dr Charu Maithani is redefining how we think about the images flooding our world, exposing how they capture only the narrowest sliver of human experience. Her work reveals how reimagining the way AI is trained – what it sees, learns, and absorbs from culture – defines our visual vocabulary and reshapes our collective imagination. Sometimes, what we don’t see is just as important as what we do.

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Richard Holden | Alan Kohler

Australia, a land of sweeping plains, has one of the lowest population densities on the planet. So, how did we end up with a housing shortage? 

In conversation with economist and author Richard Holden, veteran finance journalist Alan Kohler’s new Quarterly Essay, The Great Divide: Australia’s Housing Crisis and How to Fix It, investigates where things went wrong at the start of the 21st century with escalating property prices leading to a rental crisis, a dearth of public housing and a mortgage crunch.  

This event is presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney. 

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Since its 2025 publication, Laurie Woolever’s Care and Feeding was an immediate New York Times bestseller, tracing her path from small-town childhood to working with two of the most powerful men in the food business, chefs Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. The book’s success is no surprise. Laurie doesn't sugarcoat the consequences of a life where desire has been met with opportunity in equal measure. She weaves her story deftly, capturing the essence of New York city during the golden era of the 1990s and 2000s food celebrity without downplaying the darker side of indulgence and the treatment of women in the male-dominated food industry. 

Hear Laurie alongside Good Weekend senior writer and former editor Katrina Strickland as they discuss the love language of food, living life without guardrails and learning to curb her appetites.

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As one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence, Toby Walsh has been awarded the Humbolt Research Award and elected as a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI. In The Shortest History of AI, Toby outlines the six key ideas for understanding artificial intelligence today. 

Hear Toby trace the origins of artificial intelligence in science and culture and predict where the technology is heading in the future. 

This event was presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney.

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Programs like ChatGPT have become ubiquitous with AI, promising to kick start the next industrial evolution. But the scale of resources needed to support AI are staggering, with the cost largely being levied on the marginalised. From energy demands eclipsing whole cities, to labour exploitation in the global south, this behaviour bodes poorly for an equitable future.

In Empire of AI, award-winning investigative journalist Karen Hao unpacks the rise of OpenAI and their race for global dominance – prompting the question, what will it take to reign in this laissez-faire approach to growth? Answers are needed and UNSW legal expert Mimi Zou is exploring the possibilities surrounding the regulation of AI, along with UNSW neuroscientist Joel Pearson who is scrutinising the human impact of AI at an individual and societal level.

Hear Chief Scientist of UNSW AI Toby Walsh in conversation with Karen Hao and then Mimi Zou and Joel Pearson on what it will take to usher in a sustainable, equitable AI revolution.

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Many people would recognise Australian actress Yael Stone from her breakout role as the red-lipped Lorna Morello in TV series Orange is the New Black. But, in 2020 she gave up her green card, and her acting career in the United States, unable to reconcile the carbon emissions of the jet-setting lifestyle with her own climate conscience. Since then, Yael has channelled her focus into a new career path in climate advocacy, going back to university and co-founding the not-for-profit renewables and clean energy organisation, Hi Neighbour.  

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2026, hear actress, entrepreneur and climate advocate Yael Stone alongside writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law as they explore what we have to give up to gain a life living in alignment with our personal values.

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Within today's social media landscape, a finely tuned content algorithm is serving up often unhealthy and sometimes extreme views on masculinity. For boys, in particular, the injection of vitriol into playgrounds, classrooms, backyards and wider society has turned the question of what it means to be a man on its head. This is also having far-reaching consequences for young girls and women. 

So what do we do when influencers co-opt masculinity for clout? Hear ABC presenter Siobhan Marin as she explores this topic with award-winning author, human rights advocate and Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo, former Aussie Rules player and Chief Operating Officer for the AFL, Tom Harley.

Originally recorded on 18 November 2025.

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Hear acclaimed political biographer Troy Bramston in conversation with UNSW’s Verity Firth and delve into his latest book Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New. From Whitlam’s rise through the Labor party to Prime Minister, to his family, upbringing and life after politics, Troy lifts the lid on new revelations behind the man and his polices.

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We’ve come a long way since references to lesbians could potentially land you jail-time and lesbian culture was less visible in literature and the arts, social commentary and public life. From anthemic pop icons Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish to commercially successful flicks like Bottoms and Love Lies Bleeding, lesbian culture is having a moment.  

In the fifty years since the rallying cry “Lesbians are Lovely!” was sprawled across walls, bodies and picket boards in the fight for recognition and liberation, there have been many developments in queer identity and culture. But are we making space for all lesbians and how can we celebrate every part of our community? 

Hosted by Walkley Award-winning journalist, presenter and producer Mon Schafter and featuring a trailblazing lineup of panellist, including Kate Rowe, an activist and advocate ‘78er who marched in the original Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras; Kath Ebbs queer actor, presenter and content creator; and Jackie Turner, trans woman, social justice and climate organiser, and Director of Trans Justice Project. 

This event is co-presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas (in collaboration with Dr Yves Rees) and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

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