Big Ideas
363 episodes — Page 1 of 8
The ethics of transhumanism
Oct 15, 202658 min
AI, art, and staying human - is creativity at a crossroad? Evelyn Araluen, Steve Tolz, Kirra Pendergast
Oct 14, 202658 min
China's one-child policy and a true tale of abduction, adoption and separated twins
Oct 13, 202654 min
Amitav Ghosh and Luke Kemp on learning from collapsed empires
Oct 12, 202654 min
Students and teachers are already using it — but should AI be in the classroom? With Eddie Woo and Leslie Loble
Oct 8, 202654 min
You Must Take Part in Revolution — journalist Melissa Chan and artist-in-exile Badiucao
Oct 7, 202654 min
Bones, CSI, X-Files step aside — here come the real forensic scientists
Oct 6, 202654 min
George Megalogenis on the three shocks reshaping Australian politics
Oct 5, 202654 min
The legacy of Jane Goodall —from chimp whisperer to changing how science understands primates
Oct 1, 202653 min
The future of ageing — what will growing old be like in 2076?
Sep 30, 202653 min
Can we change the future by reimagining it?
Sep 29, 202653 min
Lyse Doucet —The history of Kabul’s finest hotel tells the history of a nation
Sep 28, 202654 min
It's an ancient Hindu poem, so why does The Ramayana still resonate?
Sep 24, 202654 min
Why literary giants like Margaret Atwood, Nobel laureate Han Kang and Amitav Ghosh wrote books that will never be read in their lifetime
Sep 23, 202654 min
When you trust social media influencers more than your GP — what can only go wrong?
Sep 22, 202654 min
Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem and her conversations with the teenagers who've studied it
Sep 21, 202654 min
ABC National Forum — migration and the kind of country Australia wants to be
Sep 17, 202655 min
Buying and Selling the Poor at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas — Rick Morton, Mark Considine, Emily Roy with Natasha Mitchell
Sep 16, 202657 min
Helen Garner reflects on five decades of writing — an ABC Radio National Top 100 Books countdown special
Sep 15, 20261h 15m
Why Diego Bonetto wants you to eat weeds
Sep 14, 202654 min
Feminist trailblazer Gloria Steinem with Natasha Mitchell and guests on travels that transformed them
Sep 10, 202654 min
Are kid's books too moralistic, worthy, or 'woke'? Andy Griffiths, Hilary Rogers, Tamuz Ellazam for Radio National's Top 100 Books
Sep 9, 202655 min
Inside the life of Elizabeth II with royal biographer Robert Hardman
Sep 8, 202654 min
Tech activist Cory Doctorow says the internet's been enshittified. So is it too late to save it?
Sep 7, 20261h 0m
John Brack once painted his children. Now his adult daughter tells her story of life with the famous artist
Sep 3, 202654 min
Roman Krznaric on why the history of human solidarity offers us radical hope, even now
Sep 2, 202659 min
Bob Spitz on the Rolling Stones and why all great music is a threat
Sep 1, 202654 min
Stephanie Alexander with Adam Liaw on 30 years of The Cook's Companion
Aug 31, 202653 min
Mick Herron, Suzie Miller and Benjamin Law on great adaptations — from the page to the stage to the screen, and back again
Aug 27, 202658 min
Should social media be banned for over-16s too!? The 2026 Beaker Street Festival Great Debate
Aug 26, 202654 min
Kerry O'Brien on the perfect storm destroying our politics — with Richard Flanagan
Aug 25, 202654 min
Why Oz Harvest's Ronni Kahn wants you to join the "Order of the Teaspoon" to end food insecurity and waste
Aug 24, 202654 min
Protecting Australia’s native plants
Aug 20, 202654 min
Indigenous speculative fiction takes on the apocalypse — with Canadian sci-fi Indiginerd Chelsea Vowel
Aug 19, 202654 min
Blast off! Exploring our solar system and beyond
Aug 18, 202654 min
Too Dumb for Democracy? Why your brain struggles with good political decision-making
Aug 17, 202654 min
What makes television? 100 years of tumultuous change
Aug 13, 202655 min
CENSORED! CANCELLED! BOYCOTT! The future of artistic freedom and democracy in Australia
Aug 12, 20261h 0m
Forget The Odyssey. Yann Martel, Nikita Gill, Zoe Terakes have their own mythical retellings
Aug 11, 202657 min
Forget The Odyssey. These authors have their own mythical retellings — with Yann Martel, Nikita Gill and Zoe Terakes
Aug 11, 202657 min
Africa in a shifting world order — can digital technology achieve what aid never could?
Aug 10, 202654 min
How policy decisions today can hurt your kids in the future — are we even trying to get it right?
Aug 6, 202654 min
The PNG environmental defenders taking on Australian mining giants — what is extractive justice and its toll?
Aug 5, 202657 min
Australian war history — the past, present and future of remembrance. With Professor Peter Stanley
Aug 4, 202653 min
What Pacific peoples know about climate justice — and Australia still needs to learn
Aug 3, 202644 min
Gay rights pioneer Dennis Altman on five decades of activism, writing and social change
Jul 30, 202654 min
Why didn't anyone tell me Australian history was ACTUALLY interesting!? Sita Sargeant, Santilla Chingaipe, Jacinta Mackay, Harini Rangarajan
Jul 29, 202654 min
What does 'being a man' look like — today?
Jul 28, 202655 min
Could the 21st century be the greatest age of exploration in the history of humankind? Ocean explorer Terry Garcia thinks so
Jul 27, 202649 min
On how fear destroys your relationships — and why love can heal fear
Jul 23, 202654 min