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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

ABC Australia

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

We love hearing from you about the show or events you are planning. Get in touch!
Email: Bigideas@abc.net.au
SMS line for ABC Radio National: 0418 226 576

Airs Monday to Thursday 8pm, repeated Tuesday to Friday 12pm, on ABC Radio National.

Big Ideas

The ocean sustains all life on Earth, yet we know remarkably little about it. Now, because of technological advances, we could be on the cusp of a new age of exploration. But the ocean is in trouble.

As National Geographic's Chief Science and Exploration Officer and deputy administrator for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Terry Garcia has seen the worst humans can inflict on the environment, working on responses to major disasters the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He says that in order to save the ocean, we need to understand it, and in order to understand it, we need to explore it.

The 2026 Talbot Oration was recorded at the Australian Museum on 4 June.

Speakers:

Terry GarciaPresident of Exploration VentureFormer Executive Vice President and Chief Science and Exploration Officer for the National Geographic SocietyFormer Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Kim McKay (host)Director and Chief Executive of the Australian Museum

Could the 21st century be the greatest age of exploration in the history of humankind? Ocean explorer Terry Garcia thinks so

It's the greatest power you all have as human beings — a healing power: to make others feel safe and welcome. It's so powerful because it puts a stop to their fears. The way to do this is learning to regulate your own fear responses. It's crucial to any relationship, but nowhere more so than in the therapy room. Fear makes or breaks successful therapy.

Recorded at the York Festival of Ideas and presented by the Complex Trauma Institute. The festival is led by the University of York, UK.

Speaker

Michael GuildingAuthor of Fear in the Therapy Room. A survival guide for working with complex traumaRetired counsellor and clinical psychotherapist

On how fear destroys your relationships — and why love can heal fear

Is it too late to escape the rage bait machine? And why are its roots ancient and evolutionary? Leading strategist Ed Coper has used all the tricks of the trade to change hearts and minds. He's run some of Australia's and the world's most effective campaigns, advised change-makers like Sir Richard Branson, Shakira, Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and other Nobel Laureates. Now Ed is ringing an alarm bell in a new book called Angertainment: How Social Media Outrage Ruined Everything.

This event was held at The Wheeler Centre, Australia's first dedicated centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, and was supported by RMIT University. Explore more discussions like this one on The Wheeler Centre podcast — available wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow @wheelercentre on the socials for updates.

Speakers:

Ed CoperCommunications strategistCEO, PopularesAuthor, Angertainment: How Social Media Outrage Ruined Everything (2026), Facts and Other Lies: Welcome to the Disinformation Age (2022)

Sushi Das (host)Journalist, lecturer, and former Chief of Staff of RMIT Fact Check, RMIT University

Angertainment — is it too late to escape the rage bait machine, and why are its roots ancient and evolutionary? With Ed Coper

Globalisation has powered the extraordinary economic rise of Asia. But the same components that built this success — open trade, deep supply chains, interdependence — are now fuelling the rivalries threatening to pull the region apart. Globalisation and geopolitics are now moving in different directions, and it will define the future of Asia and the role Australia plays in the region. 

Speakers 

Professor Nick Bisley Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University Author of the book Asian Crucible, Globalization, Geopolitics and the Contest for the Future

Dr Michael Green (host) CEO United States Studies Centre

Globalisation and geopolitics – the forces that will make or break Asia

From Robodebt to the banks, KPMG to the NDIS, whistleblowers have exposed egregious cases of corruption and misconduct. But it's often come at great personal cost, including risks to personal safety, liberty, relationships and reputations. So how could Australia's whistleblower protections be strengthened so that more people speak up when they witness wrongdoing?

This event was recorded at the Centre for Ideas at the University of New South Wales on 16 June 2026.

Speakers:

Kieran PenderAssociate Legal Director of the Human Rights Law CentreFounder, The Whistleblower Project

Gabriel ShiptonFilm maker, storyteller, human rights advocate, co-leader of the campaign to free WikiLeaks founder Julian AssangeFounder, The Information Rights Project

Lenore Taylor (host)Former editor, Guardian Australia

Calling out wrongdoing can come at a cost — here's how Australia can strengthen its whistleblowing laws

The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants AI in Australia's interests, and has announced steps to regulate the technology. So can Australia get the balance right between the opportunities offered by AI, and the risks? Australia's former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel, a serial tech entrepreneur, has some ideas — and argues governments have been asleep at the wheel on AI regulation.

This event was recorded at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival on 7 June 2026.

Speakers:

Professor Alan FinkelFounder, Proudly HumanFormer Chief ScientistFormer Chancellor Monash UniversityFounder of biotech and edtech companies Axon Instruments and Stile EducationFormer President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)Co-founder, Cosmos Magazine

Ex-chief scientist Alan Finkel's three laws of Artificial Intelligence

Jack Toohey was flying high. Then he crashed. But from despair came renewal, and a rebellious hope. In 2023, when his social media post about housing affordability attracted over 20 million views — he knew he was onto something. He joins BIG IDEAS host Natasha Mitchell at the Make Good Festival at Bundanon, NSW to talk about the big ideas in his new book Better Things Are Possible: How Rebellious Hope Can Change the World. He wants to help you stop doomscrolling and reclaim the possibilities for creating a more just world.

Speaker

Jack TooheyCreative director, strategist, film-maker, and activistAuthor, Better Things Are Possible: How Rebellious Hope Can Change the World (2026).Jack on SubstackJack on Instagram

Thanks to the Bundanon team and guest curator of the Make Good Festival Danielle Harvey

Could you be a hope punk? Jack Toohey on rebellious hope and why better things are possible

The ocean calms us. It terrifies us. It heals us. Sometimes all at once. We explore the sea's complex hold on your mental health — from the fear of shark attacks and the medicine of a morning swim to how immersive ocean soundscapes work on the nervous system and ocean grief as part of climate change anxiety.

Presented at the Ocean Lovers Festival

Listen to Big Ideas — The shark net controversy — hear the debate at Bondi's Ocean Lovers Festival with Natasha Mitchell

Speakers

Dr Brianna Le BusqueProgram Director of Environmental Sciences and Geospatial Sciences at Adelaide University

Anika CraneyFreediver, ocean guide and citizen science research assistant

Kate MontagueWorking with somatic therapy and performance arts, creator of the Audiocraft podcasts

Kal GlanznigYouth ocean and climate champion, creator of the documentary RISING UP, co-founded Plastic Free Cronulla, and founder of the project Blue Minds

John Ireland (Host)Breath and somatic educator, Founder of Breathwork HQ

Fear, healing and finding calm – how the ocean can change you

We are seeing seismic shifts in our politics, as more people than ever turn away from the major parties. Could public policy failures be to blame? Former politician Dr Susan Close has spent her career in the engine room of democracy, and she believes this trend has been caused by successive government policies that have left people behind, created winners and losers and segregated our community — especially in the way Australia funds its schools.

The 2026 Hugh Stretton Oration was recorded at the University of Adelaide on 2 June 2026.

Speakers:

Dr Susan CloseCEO, McKinnon Institute for Political LeadershipMember of the CSIRO boardFormer Member for Port Adelaide 2013- 2025Former Labor Deputy Premier, Minister for climate science, defence, education and more

Is education policy damaging our democracy?

Palestinians and Israelis are building common ground for peace where most say there is none. Since October 7 and the war in Gaza, the idea of cross-community dialogue seems impossible. But behind the headlines, more than 550 leaders from both communities, across politics, security, business, media, and civil society have come together to shape a peaceful future - for both peoples.

What does a just and peaceful solution actually require? Who is doing the work to get there? And is there a role for Australia to play? 

Presented by the New Israel Fund Australia

Speakers

Hiba Qasas

Founding Executive Director of Principles for Peace, former senior UN official

Dr Gil Murciano

CEO of the “Mitvim Institute", a foreign policy research organisation in Israel

Dr Sally Warhaft (host)

Writer, journalist and host of the Wheeler Centre’s The Fifth Estate series

These Palestinians and Israelis are talking to each other − determined to make peace real in Gaza

Writers have access to endless worlds, perspectives and experiences — both real and imagined. So what should they do with that privilege? Do they have a responsibility to try to change the world? To cultivate empathy and understanding? Or to simply bear witness?

The Melbourne Writers Festival closing night address was recorded on Sunday 10 May 2026.

Speakers:

Professor Tony BirchAuthor, The White Girl, Women and Children, Ghost River, Blood and moreBoisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of MelbourneHistorian, activist, teacher, long distance runner

Michael Williams (host)Editor, The Monthly magazineHost, Read This podcast

What is the role of the writer in troubled times? Tony Birch with Michael Williams on the ethical imagination

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