Big Ideas

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  Buying and Selling the Poor at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas — Rick Morton, Mark Considine, Emily Roy with Natasha Mitchell 16.09.2026 57мин

  Being poor has become big business in Australia, but not for people who need work. Billions spent. Millions of profits. But who's getting them?  Why do unemployment and poverty continue to be stigmatised? And does the legacy of the Robodebt scandal live on? The Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research concluded in a new excoriating report Who’s rorting who? The failure of outsourced job services that the system is "filling the pockets of private equity and millionaires" while leaving job-seekers without work. Three people close to the coalface join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to weigh in. This event was held at the 2026 Festival of Dangerous Ideas on Gadigal Country in Sydney.  Speaker  Rick Morton  Investigative journalist  Multi-award-winning author, Mean Streak, My Year of Living Vulnerably, On Money, and One Hundred Years of Dirt.  Mark Considine  Political scientist and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor  Co-Director of the Australian Welfare and Work Lab, University of Melbourne  Author, The Careless State  Co-author, Buying and Selling the Poor: Inside Australia's privatised welfare-to-work market  Emily Roy  Chief Executive Officer Not-for-profit employment services provider JobLink Plus  Thanks to Danielle Harvey, Lauren Bennett, and the whole Festival of Dangerous Ideas team. Further reading   Report: Who's rorting who? The failure of outsourced job services (Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, 2026)  Australia's jobseeker system fails workers and enriches millionaires, report says   The Shaping the future of employment services Discussion Paper  (Australian Government, 2026)  Senate Committee Report: Rebuilding Employment Services (2023)   
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  Helen Garner reflects on five decades of writing — an ABC Radio National Top 100 Books countdown special 15.09.2026 1ч 15мин

  Helen Garner is one of Australia's most significant and renowned writers, known for her precise and observational writing style, disarming honesty and piercing curiosity about her fellow human beings. Here, she reflects on a lifetime of writing, from her groundbreaking 1977 debut Monkey Grip, to her work in the courtroom covering some of Australia's most shocking crimes, to her keen observations of daily life in her collections of letters and diaries. To celebrate ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown we bring you this celebration of Garner's immense contribution to Australian letters and life across five decades. "I'm terribly interested in working out what happens between people." The first event in the Body of Work series presented by Federation Square and the Melbourne Arts Precinct was recorded Thursday 6 August 2026 Speakers: Helen Garner  Author, Monkey Grip, The Children's Bach, Cosmo Cosmolino, Joe Cinque's Consolation, How to End a Story: The Collected Diaries 1978-1998 (winner the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction), This House of Grief, The Season, The Mushroom Tapes (with Sarah Krasnostein and Chloe Hooper) and more Michael Williams (host) Editor, The Monthly, former artistic director of Sydney Writers Festival, former director of The Wheeler Centre, former host, ABC Radio National
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  Why Diego Bonetto wants you to eat weeds 14.09.2026 54мин

  Foraging and eating wild food is nothing new in Australia. First Nations people have done it for over 50,000 years. Even your grandparents often still used to search for eatable weeds, mushrooms and nuts at the edge of their fields and in the woods. This knowledge is lost today. But attitudes to weeds have also changed. We don’t see weeds as a valuable resource anymore, only as a pest to get rid of. Is it time to change that and to rediscover the traditional knowledge of foraging? And what would that mean for how we manage our farmland in the future? Presented at the Lyrebird Festival Speakers Diego Bonetto  Edible weeds advocate, forager and author of EAT WEEDS, A field guide to foraging Gregg Borschmann (host) Writer, radio producer and oral historian for the National Library of Australia
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  Feminist trailblazer Gloria Steinem with Natasha Mitchell and guests on travels that transformed them 10.09.2026 54мин

  Trailblazing feminist, political activist, journalist, and founder of Ms Magazine Gloria Steinem died this week at age 92 after a big life changing lives. In her memoir My Life on the Road she recounted how taking to the road fundamentally changed her understanding of the world and who she could be.  Médecins Sans Frontières co-founder, French diplomat and novelist Jean-Christophe Rufin worked in war zones as a doctor and walked the Camino de Santiago as a pilgrim. Acclaimed poet and Yankunytjatjara woman Ali Cobby Eckermann found family, connection, and Country on a different kind of pilgrimage. This well-travelled trio joined Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2016 to explore their love of life on the road, and the bigger consequences of their transformative encounters along the way. Speakers Gloria Steinem American feminist and political activist, journalist, and founder of Ms Magazine Ali Cobby Eckermann Proud Yankunytjatjara woman Multi-award-winning poet and author Jean-Christophe Rufin Author, former diplomat, doctor, co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders This event was held in 2016 (not 2015 as mentioned) and first broadcast in 2017 on ABC Radio National. 
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  Are kid's books too moralistic, worthy, or 'woke'? Andy Griffiths, Hilary Rogers, Tamuz Ellazam for Radio National's Top 100 Books 09.09.2026 55мин

  Blockbuster Australian children's authors Andy Griffiths (The Treehouse series), Hilary Rogers aka Maddy Mara (Dragon Girls) and bookseller Tamuz Ellazam join Natasha Mitchell to share the iconic kid's books they'll be voting for in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books (vote now!) — and weigh in on current controversies in kid's literature.  Have children's books become too moralistic, too obsessed with teaching kids how to behave, or with imparting Very Important Messages? Is there a tension between education and entertainment in kid's literature? And why does all this matter? How to vote in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books. Don't forget you can also nominate books you love that aren't on the list of suggestions. Speakers Andy Griffiths Australian Children's Laureate Popular children's author (The Treehouse series, The Bum Trilogy, the JUST! books, You & Me and The Giant Knucklehead, and more) Hilary Rogers Author, the Girltopia trilogy Co-author (with Meredith Badger as Maddy Mara) of the Dragon Girls, Max Beast, Itty Bitty Kitty series. Former children's publisher of Go Girl, Zac Power, Billie B Brown series Tamuz Ellazam Manager, Readings Kids bookshop in Carlton, Melbourne Researcher into children's literature Thanks to Chris Gordon and the Readings events team, and the Church of All Nations community venue. Further reading Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children (2026), by Mac Barnett A Beloved Children's Book Author Said Most Children's Literature Is "Crud." It Has Not Gone Well. Children's Book Community Responds in Outrage to Mac Barnett Comments Mac Barnett on Make Believe (video) Mac Barnett Responds Amid Continued Backlash SOME FAVOURITE AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK NOMINATIONS Andy Griffiths The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay the pudding  Coles Funny Picture Book by E.W. Cole  Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner   My Place by Nadia Wheatley & Donna Rawlins  My Place in Space by Robin and Sally Hirst, illustrated by Roland Harvey  Bamboozled by David Legge  Unreal by Paul Jennings  Magic Beach by Alison Lester  Sunshine (and Moonlight) by Jan Ormerod All Right, Vegemite! and Far Out, Brussel Sprout! by June Factor  And more!   Hilary Rogers The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky and Andy Joyner  My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart  Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park  And more! Tamuz Ellazam The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek by Jenny Wagner  Possum Magic by Mem Fox and Jenny Vivas  Stay For Dinner by Sandhya Parappukkaran and Michelle Pereira Once I was a Giant by Zeno Sworder  Derek the Dinosaur by Mary Blackwood and Kerry Argent  And more!
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  Inside the life of Elizabeth II with royal biographer Robert Hardman 08.09.2026 54мин

  From the drama of her private world to the diplomacy of her position as queen. From the woman her family knew to the public figure the world saw. With unique access to royal family members, senior staff, and advisers Robert Hardman explores the parallel lives of Elizabeth as daughter, wife, mother and sovereign. Inside the Life of Elizabeth II was presented by the Royal Society of Arts, UK Speakers Robert Hardman British author, journalist and documentary filmmaker Author of Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story. Emily Andrews Journalist and royal commentator
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  Tech activist Cory Doctorow says the internet's been enshittified. So is it too late to save it? 07.09.2026 1ч

  Leading tech critic Cory Doctorow coined the term "enshittification" to describe the slow decay of the digital platforms most of us are now forced to rely upon to operate in the modern world. So why and how did the internet get bad, and is it too late for people, countries and governments to reclaim technology as a force for humanity and the common good? This episode was recorded on 25 August 2026 at The Wheeler Centre, Australia's first dedicated centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, in partnership with RMIT University for Now or Never festival. Explore more discussions like this one on The Wheeler Centre podcast — available wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow @wheelercentre for updates. Speakers: Cory Doctorow Journalist, technology activist and author, Enshittifcation: Why everything suddenly got worse and what to do about it, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI and more, podcaster, Who broke the internet? (CBC), and blogger craphound.com Lisa Given Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences, RMIT University Director of the Centre for Human AI Information Environments
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  John Brack once painted his children. Now his adult daughter tells her story of life with the famous artist 03.09.2026 54мин

  She's the little girl in some of her father's most famous paintings, but life as the eldest child of artists John Brack and Helen Maudsley wasn't always easy. Clara Brack explores her childhood — and her parents' complex lives and relationship — in her new book The Secret Landscapes on not [pleasing your mother, which took her 20 years to write. This event was recorded at the Willy Lit Fest on 13 June 2026. Speakers: Clara Brack Author, The Secret Landscapes — on not pleasing your mother Gabriella Coslovich Award-winning freelance arts journalist (formerly of The Age), author, Whiteley on Trial
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  Roman Krznaric on why the history of human solidarity offers us radical hope, even now 02.09.2026 59мин

  Philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity, The Good Ancestor, and founder of the Empathy Museum has been looking backwards to help us all find a way forward. What he discovered in the global history of human solidarity and social movements was a wellspring of brilliant solutions to current challenges — democracy, fossil fuels, hyper-consumerism, water, AI, racism, even rage bait on social media, and more.  Join Roman with Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2026 Byron Writers Festival to challenge the 'tyranny of the now' with an exciting view of history as a source of radical hope.   Speaker Dr Roman Krznaric Author, History for Tomorrow (2024), The Good Ancestor (2020), What the Rich Don't Tell The Poor (2022), The Wonder Box (2011), Empathy (2014), How to Find Fulfilling Work (2012) Senior Research Fellow, Oxford University’s Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing Research Fellow, Long Now Foundation Member, Club of Rome Founder, world’s first Empathy Museum. Thanks to Jessica Alice, artistic director and CEO of the Byron Writers Festival, and the festival team.
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  Bob Spitz on the Rolling Stones and why all great music is a threat 01.09.2026 54мин

  From their earliest days as blues-obsessed kids living in freezing squalor, to the first taste of fame and the day they landed in the US and went stratospheric — and all the grit, glamour and gore in between. There are myriad revisions to the conventional narrative which underscore just how in control of their narrative the band has been up to now. But Bob Spitz got unique access to the group's friends and family. And he's sharing the details and examines a creative force whose power shows no signs of fading, over sixty years on. Presented at the Free Library of Philadelphia Speakers Bob Spitz American journalist and author of Rolling Stones, The Biography Dan DeLuca Pop music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer
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  Stephanie Alexander with Adam Liaw on 30 years of The Cook's Companion 31.08.2026 53мин

  Since 1996, The Cooks Companion has been a bible for Australian kitchens, a reliable friend who can tell you how to boil an egg, bake some bread, roast a chook, whip up a lemon delicious pudding — and much, much more. What is it about this book that's made it such an enduring go-to for household cooks for generations? This event was recorded live at the Sydney Writers' Festival at Carriageworks on 21 May 2026. Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books. Speakers: Stephanie Alexander Author of 18 books including The Cooks Companion Founder of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation Chef Adam Liaw (host) Author of Two Asian Kitchens, Asian After Work: Simple Food for Every Day, Adam's Big Pot series, and more Host, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw (SBS) Recipe writer — The Good Weekend Winner, Masterchef (2010) 
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  Mick Herron, Suzie Miller and Benjamin Law on great adaptations — from the page to the stage to the screen, and back again 27.08.2026 58мин

  When a book becomes a hit TV series, or a play becomes a Hollywood film, what makes it a great adaptation? Meet the creators of these international smash hits as they take you behind the scenes, into the writers' rooms, and inside their creative minds. Suzie Miller's award-winning play Prima Facie has just become a Hollywood film starring Cynthia Erivo, while the sixth season of television's Slow Horses, based on Mick Herron's bestselling spy novels, starts next month.  This event was recorded live at the 2026 Sydney Writers' Festival at Carriageworks. Speakers: Mick Herron Author, Slough House series, Down Cemetary Road series and more Suzie Miller Playwright, novelist and screen writer, Prima Facie, Interalia, Strong is the New Pretty and more Benjamin Law (host) Journalist, columnist, TV screenwriter and author of The Family Law, Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East and Quarterly Essay 67: Moral Panic 101 Creator and co-writer of award-winning SBS TV series The Family Law
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  Should social media be banned for over-16s too!? The 2026 Beaker Street Festival Great Debate 26.08.2026 54мин

  Interesting idea or nanny-state gone way too far? If babies weren't born to doom scroll, why do we think grown-ups are? Don't miss our hilarious annual battle of brains and bravado with two teams and Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell at the Beaker Street Festival: where science meets art. Australia was the first country in the world to ban under-16s from social media. France just struck down a push for the same.  Are adults immune to all the harms of these platforms? Should OVER-16s be banned too!?   TEAM AFFIRMATIVE: "THE VIRAL INFLUENZAS" Dr Esmé Louise James, sex historian Returning debate champion and sex historian, creator of the book and viral TikTok phenomenon Kinky History, co-host with her mathematician mother of two seasons of the Sextistics series on Youtube, and her first novel Becoming Venus is out on September 1, 2026. Saul Eslake, economist Saul has been chief economist at the big end of town with big banks, he now runs his own consultancy, is a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Tasmania, advises Australia's Parliamentary Budget Office, serves on the Council on the Ageing, and is a regular expert chatterbox in the media. Dr Meredith Castles, human-computer interaction researcher and lecturer  Meredith is a science communicator and a lecturer in human-computer interaction at the University of Tasmania's School of Information and Communication Technology. She's interested in ethical, accessible, inclusive, and human-centred technology — and how to design it so it's nice, not nasty. TEAM NEGATIVE: "THE YAPPERS" Professor Barbara Holland, statistician Former reigning Beaker Street debate champion, Barbara is a mathematician in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Tasmania. She fell in love with the power of statistics, made it her life's work, and works with biologists and uses stats to unravel the big biological puzzle that is the evolution of life on Earth. Dr Kirsten Banks You know her as AstroKirsten on the socials, youtube, on screens and stages everywhere. Kirsten is an astrophysicist, science communicator, and proud Wiradjuri woman who mixes science with humour — and her passion for the cosmos — to help us all reach the stars. Dr Tim Nugent Tim is a co-founder of Yarn Spinner, a spin-off of the award-winning Tasmanian grown gaming studio Secret Lab. He and his team build games and narrative tools for games for both indie and major studio releases. He is the co-author of a stack of computery, programmy books, and he did a PhD on mobile human computer interaction and information flow in public spaces. Thanks to Dr Margo Adler, Rosie Pidd, Stevie and the Bunsen Burners, and the whole festival team.
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  Kerry O'Brien on the perfect storm destroying our politics — with Richard Flanagan 25.08.2026 54мин

  Acclaimed journalist Kerry O'Brien has seen it all, but nothing like right now. And he's not mincing his words. On AI, neoliberalism, education, equality, gutless governments, and more. For over 50 years, he covered the world's biggest stories and changemakers, and asked tough questions of power. Hear why he thinks a perfect storm threatens our society and our politics, and what he thinks can be done about it. The 2026 Thea Astley Address was recorded at the Byron Writers Festival on Saturday 15 August 2026. Speakers: Kerry O'Brien Former ABC journalist, host, 7.30 Report, Four Corners, Lateline and more, six-time Walkley award winner Richard Flanagan Man Booker Prize and Baille Gifford award winning author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Heresies, and more
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  Why Oz Harvest's Ronni Kahn wants you to join the "Order of the Teaspoon" to end food insecurity and waste 24.08.2026 54мин

  It's estimated that one in three Australian households have experienced food insecurity. At the same time, one third of all food produced in Australia gets thrown out. For more than two decades, Ronni Kahn has been fighting these dual challenges as head of food rescue charity OzHarvest. She argues these ongoing dual challenges show a failure of imagination and of will. The 2026 Kenneth Myer Lecture was recorded at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on 4 August and in Melbourne on 6 August. Speakers: Ronni Kahn Founder, OzHarvest
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  Protecting Australia’s native plants 20.08.2026 54мин

  Australia is home to some 25,000 plant species. And nine out of 10 Australian plants occur nowhere else on Earth. But many are under threat. So why does that matter? This National Science Week, we meet a plant ecologist with a message. This conversation was recorded at the Lyrebird Festival in the Blue Mountains of NSW. Speakers: Rachael Gallagher Professor in Plant Ecology and Conservation, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Gregg Borschmann (host) Oral historian, journalist and writer Further information:  What is Australia's most amazing wildflower? Vote now - ABC Science Week The Australasian Virtual Herbarium
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  Indigenous speculative fiction takes on the apocalypse — with Canadian sci-fi Indiginerd Chelsea Vowel 19.08.2026 54мин

  Dystopia or utopia? How do you imagine the future? In films and books, the future is often filled with alien invasions, nuclear war or the zombie apocalypse. But a movement of Indigenous storytellers is reshaping traditional science fiction tropes based on their own storytelling cultures and experiences. This event was recorded at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 10 May 2026. Speakers: Chelsea Vowel Candian Metis language instructor, public intellectual, writer, and activist educator Author, Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit in Canada and the short-story collection Buffalo is the New Buffalo Co-host, Métis in Space podcast Mykaela Saunders Koori and Lebanese award-winning writer Author of Always Will Be Post-doctoral research fellow on First Nations speculative fiction at Macquarie University
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  Blast off! Exploring our solar system and beyond 18.08.2026 54мин

  We're going extraterrestrial with a panel of super star space scientists who are exploring the solar system and beyond. Will they find life out there? Which is the universe's best planet? And what's Matt Damon got to do with it? Incredible tales from Mars, Jupiter, and more. This event was recorded at the World Science Festival Brisbane on 29 March 2026. Speakers: Tracy Drain Chief Engineer with NASA's Europa Clipper Mission to Jupiter David Flannery Associate Professor of astrobiology, Queensland University of Technology Sara Webb  Author, science communicator and astrophysicist, Swinburne University Brian Schmidt Distinguished Professor of astrophysics, Australian National University, 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics Tamara Davis (host)  Professor of Astrophysics, University of Queensland
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  Too Dumb for Democracy? Why your brain struggles with good political decision-making 17.08.2026 54мин

  Think about the person whose politics you find most baffling, or most infuriating. Now imagine you must make a decision together. Actually negotiate, project forward, find common ground. That's democracy. And it turns out our brains aren't especially well-built for it. In an era shaped by inequality, environmental crisis and the decline of democratic institutions understanding how we make political decisions might be one of the most urgent questions we face. Recorded live at the Melbourne Writers Festival as part of the Wheeler Centre's The Fifth Estate series. Speakers Dr David Moscrop Politics columnist for The Washington Post, The Walrus, Time Magazine, The Globe, The Guardian and others Author of Too Dumb For Democracy: Why We Make Bad Political Decisions And How We Can Make Better Ones Dr Sally Warhaft Melbourne based freelance broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. Host of The Wheeler Centre's series The Fifth Estate
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  What makes television? 100 years of tumultuous change 13.08.2026 55мин

  It's been called the idiot box, the drug of the nation, the tube. This year marks 100 years of broadcast television. Over its lifetime, TV has adapted to big changes in technology, government policy, culture and media consumption habits. And yet, while its future remains uncertain, for now, it endures. This is the incredible true story of television. This keynote address was recorded at RMIT University's 100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium: The impact and future of broadcast TV in Australia. Speakers: Professor Jock Given Adjunct Professor of Media and Communications, Swinburne University Author, The Death of Broadcasting: Media's digital future and Turning off the television: broadcasting's uncertain future Dr Damien O'Meara RMIT Lecturer in Public Relations, RMIT University Dr Alexa Scarlata Lecturer in Digital Communication, RMIT University