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Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.

Big Ideas

Australian Indigenous art is celebrated around the world – but how much is understood about its pivotal role in Indigenous culture, country, politics and law? 

For the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land, art is more than just aesthetic, it is a means of cultural diplomacy, and a respectful assertion of power in its diverse forms, from sovereignty to influence, authority and control, to energy, strength and pride.

This episode brings together two significant exhibitions of Indigenous art on now, Yolngu Power: the art of Yirrkala, and 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art.

This conversation was recorded at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 30 July 2025. 

Speakers

Marcia Langton Co-curator (with Judith Ryan) of the exhibition 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (until 22 November 2025) Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies, Associate Provost and Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne 

Clare Wright Author, Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy and more Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University 

Anna Clark (host) Author, Making Australian History, Private Lives, Public History, the History Wars Professor of history, Australian Centre for Public History, University of Technology Sydney 

Further information:

Yolngu power: the art of Yirrkala Art Gallery of New South Wales (until 6 October 2025)

65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (until 22 November 2025)

Yolngu power — art, culture, country, law — with Marcia Langton and Clare Wright

Join a full house at the Sydney Opera House with Nobel winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and Big Ideas' presenter Natasha Mitchell to discuss the huge social, ethical, and scientific implications of the CRISPR gene editing revolution her groundbreaking discovery with Emmanuelle Charpentier and colleagues kicked off. From curative therapies to gene edited babies - will we use it to hack our own evolution - are we already? 

This event was presented in 2024 by the Sydney Opera House, Big Questions Institute (BQI), Sydney Writers’ Festival, UNSW Sydney.

Original publication: 24 July 2024

Speaker:

Professor Jennifer Doudna2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry co-winner Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s ChairProfessor, Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell BiologyFounder, Innovative Genomics InstituteUniversity of California, BerkeleyInvestigator, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteSenior investigator, Gladstone Institutes

Further information and listens:

Doudna Lab

Jennifer Doudna in conversation with Natasha Mitchell at an event in 2018

World's first CRISPR gene edited babies born - are we ready?(2018 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)

The CRISPR gene-edited babies and the doctor who made them - what really happened? (2019 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)

Out of jail, is the CRISPR-baby scandal scientist at it again? (2023 Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)

Feral science or solution? Unleashing gene drives (Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)

Making happier animals? Gene editing in the farmyard (Science Friction episode with Natasha Mitchell)

Hear Natasha Mitchell learn how to do CRISPR gene editing in 2016 (as part of a 4-part Earshot series The Hidden History of Eugenics, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

The science and ethics of genome editing with Jennifer Doudna and Kevin Esvelt (video of event hosted by Natasha Mitchell in 2018)

Natasha Mitchell's review of Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Gene: An Intimate History

Nobel scientist Jennifer Doudna with Natasha Mitchell — the gene editing revolution, radical ethics, and what's next? [Archive episode]

Stories help us to understand what is happening in the world and how it impacts us. Stories help us to relate to the experience of 'the Other' and their suffering building an emotional understanding. Journalist and academic Helen Vatiskopoulos describes the power of stories to share information to the masses and the problems that arise when the narrative is distorted. What is the responsibility of the media? How does media and social media impact on whose stories are being told and whose are being left out?

What's the Story? Migration, Memories and the Importance of Controlling the Narrative, the Inaugural Oration for the 50th anniversary of the Multicultural Council of South Australia

Speaker

Dr. Helen VatsikopoulosWalkley Award-Winning Journalist; Industry Professional Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney

Helen Vatsikopoulos — when the stories of migrants in Australia are silenced it's bad for all of us

For 85 years, Meanjin has published the essays of Australian writers. The magazine's founding editor, Clem Christesen, wanted Meanjin's writers 'to reveal and clarify our life by showing it to us though a vision different from ours and deeper." In the wake of the news the magazine is closing, Big Ideas explores and celebrates the essay in all its forms.

This conversation was recorded at the Words on the Waves Festival on 28 May 2025.

Speakers

David Marr Presenter, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National, author, My Country: Stories, essays and speeches and more

Esther Anatolitis Out-going editor, Meanjin, editor, Essays that Changed Australia, Meanjin 1940 to Today, and author, When Australia Became a Republic, (out in October through Monash University Publishing's In the National Interest series)

Brooke Boland Author, Gulp Swallow

Ashleigh Wilson (host) Author, Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, A Year with Wendy Whiteley, and Transcendence: 50 Years of Unforgettable Moments at the Sydney Opera House

The power of essays

It's water and fireproof, versatile, warm and tough wearing. Wool not only expanded the British Empire, and created prosperity in the colonies, it also changed the nature of war and warfare. But wool's fortunes didn't last forever. This is the story of the rise and fall of wool.

This conversation was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 31 July 2025.

Speakers

Trish Fitzsimons Documentary film maker, exhibition curator, adjunct professor with Griffith Film School (Griffith University)Co-author of Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and War

Madelyn Shaw Exhibition curator and co-author of Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and War

Annabelle Quince (host) Host, Rear Vision, ABC Radio National

Fleeced — unravelling the history of wool and war

Has your doctor ever told you to go on a diet? Does that conversation put you off going to them in the first place, even if you need treatment for something not related to your weight? Has being in a larger body ever meant you can't access surgery or IVF? Some are pushing for a weight-inclusive approach to healthcare, which de-centres obesity, and focuses on 'health-at-every-size'. But what does that really mean, and why does it matter?

This event was held at the 11th Annual Weight Stigma Conference at Griffith University.

Speakers

Ana Ximena Torres, clinical psychologist and founder of the practice, Elemental Collective.

Dr Fiona WillerDietitian, bioethicist, President of Dietitians AustraliaLecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Queensland University of TechnologyFounder, Health, Not Diets consultancyHost, Unpacking Weight Science podcast.

Tracy Taylor-BeckManager, Strategy and Health Promotion (interim CEO at the time of this event)Women's Health in the North, a women's health promotion and advocacy organisation in Melbourne's North.

Thanks to Dr Lily O'Hara from Griffith University, convenor of the conference.

What's up with dieting Doc? Rethinking the obesity obsession in healthcare

In a world where rules are increasingly being broken, what role should business play in upholding human rights, international and domestic law, and environmental protection? And what are the rules and responsibilities of business to ensure supply chains, hiring practices, workplace safety, environment and social governance practices abide by global human rights standards?

This event was recorded at the inaugural UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand on 26 August 2025.

Speakers

Robert McCorquodale Professor of International Law and Human Rights, UN working group on business and human rights

Helen Clark Head of the UN Development Programme, Co-Chair of the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, former Prime Minister of New Zealand

Sharan Burrow Former general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, fellow with the London School of Economics

Linda Kromjong President, amfori

Peggy O'Neal Vice Chancellor RMIT University, former president Richmond Football Club

Doing business ethically in turbulent times — with Helen Clark

In a world where rules are increasingly being broken, what role should business play in upholding human rights, international and domestic law, people and the environment? And what are the rules and responsibilities of business to ensure supply chains, hiring practices, workplace safety, environment and social governance practices abide by global human rights standards?

This event was recorded at the inaugural UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand on 26 August 2025.

Speakers

Robert McCorquodale Professor of International Law and Human Rights, UN working group on business and human rights

Helen Clark Head of the UN Development Programme, Co-Chair of the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, former Prime Minister of New Zealand

Sharan Burrow Former general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, fellow with the London School of Economics

Linda Kromjong President, amfori

Peggy O'Neal Vice Chancellor RMIT University, former president Richmond Football Club

Doing business ethically in turbulent times

Rock star and maverick Jimmy Barnes celebrates heritage, family, friends, music and the adventure of a grand life on stage. Get up close to the lead singer of Cold Chisel, author of Working Class Man and Working Class Boy. Learn how terrible experiences of family violence, but also a close bond to his brother shaped him into the performer he is now. Get a look behind the scenes of his music world, with wild characters and the occasional tall tale.

This conversation was recorded live at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival.

Listen to Big Ideas – Writers who rock

Speakers

Jimmy BarnesAustralian rock singer, solo performer and lead vocalist with Cold ChiselAuthor of Highways and Byways, Working Class Boy, Working Class Man

Brian Nankervis (host)Co-host of the music quiz show RocKwiz, Saturday Breakfast on ABC Radio MelbourneWriter, actor and comedian

Jimmy Barnes – tells it all

Thirteen years ago, US political journalist Hanna Roisin wrote a book called The End of Men: and the Rise of Women. Since then, there's been President Donald Trump x 2, the manosphere, the broligarchy, and more. So what happened?

This event was recorded at the 2025 Women in Media Conference on 15 August 2025.

Speakers

Hanna Rosin — Senior Editor, The Atlantic, host Radio Atlantic, author, The End of Men: and the Rise of Women

Edwina Bartholomew — Host, Sunrise, Channel 7

Helen Vatsikopoulos — when the stories of migrants in Australia are silenced it's bad for all of us

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