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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

What if the way we think about rivers as resources to be allocated, infrastructure to be managed, problems to be solved, is just fundamentally wrong. What if they are in fact living entities with rights? From Indigenous law to ecological soundscapes to frontline water justice, this panel of Indigenous leaders, scientists and artists share stories, sounds and strategies for protecting and changing your relationships with waterways.

River Listening was recorded live at the annual 2026 WOMADelaide festival, produced and presented as part of their Planet Talks program, held on the traditional lands of the Guarna people.

Listen to Big Ideas – Students win fight for climate justice before the world's highest court

Speakers

Dr Dan HikuroaMāori earth systems scientist, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, UNESCO NZ Commissioner for Culture

Grant RigneyNgarrindjeri man, current Deputy Chair and past Chair of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN)

Dr Leah BarclayAward-winning sound artist, researcher and environmental activist

Jo Shulman (host)CEO of the Environmental Defenders Office

If a river is declared a legal “person” — can it talk, remember, feel?

Forget climate change, forget nuclear Armageddon, did you know that the universe is unravelling? It's probably aeons away, but according to physics, dark energy could end us all. Join award winning theoretical physicist Tony Padilla at this Sophia Club live philosophy event, to explore the torrid birth of the early universe, traverse the twisted hearts of black holes, skip through the harmonic vibrations of string theory, and ponder how, according to physics, it all might one day end.

This event was recorded for the Sophia Club live philosophy in London on 21 April 2026.

Speakers:

Tony PadillaProfessor of physics, University of NottinghamAssociate Director of the Nottingham Centre of GravityHost, NumberfileAuthor, Fantastic numbers and where to find them: A Journey to the Edge of Physics

Sally DaviesEditorial lead for the Sophia ClubEditor, AEON magazine

Music by Oliver CoatesCellist, film composer and electronic music producer (Pillion, Aftersun and more)

Is the cosmos unravelling? With theoretical physicist Tony Padilla

Need a mid-Winter pick me up? Well this is the conversation for you! You could call Astrid Jorgensen a choir conductor, but that really doesn’t capture what she does and the global phenomenon she’s created. On any one night, anywhere in the world, you’ll find Astrid on a stage in front of a few thousand people singing their hearts out. She’s the founder, the composer, and the host of Pub Choir — which has been described as the world’s biggest one night stand in song. But for a while there she could have become a nun. Yes, there's so much more to her story, and she joins Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell to tell it.

This event, organised by Northern Books, was held at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Naarm/Melbourne.

This episode was first aired on the 10 December 2025.

Speaker

Astrid JorgensenFounder and conductor of Pub ChoirAuthor, Average At Best (Simon and Schuster Australia, 2025)

Further information

How Astrid Jorgensen turned a suburban pub choir into a worldwide musical phenomenon (Australian Story/ABC News, 2025)

Watch Australian Story episode about Astrid on Youtube (2025)

A song for every feeling? Pub Choir founder Astrid Jorgensen has a big story to tell (REPEAT)

The gambling industry is targeting young people through digital platforms, personalised algorithms and the blurring line between gaming and betting. But also off-line, at the pokies, we see younger faces. We explore the strategies behind this trend, the human costs and what it would actually take to change the culture and the regulation around gambling in Australia.

This conversation is a cooperation with Shaun Micallef's Going for Broke, the new ABC three-part documentary series that you can find on ABC iView.

Speakers

Dr Charles LivingstoneAssociate Professor in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University

Mark KempsterLived Experience Advocate with the Alliance for Gambling Reform

Reverend Stu CameronCEO and Superintendent of Wesley Mission

Dr Sally GainsburyAssociate Professor of Psychology and co-Director of the University of Sydney Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic

Steve Cannane (host)Reporter with the ABC's Investigations UnitABC Four Corners by Steve Cannane – Losing Streak

Further information

National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858

Wesley Mission Gamble Aware

The gambling industry is targeting your children - how, why and what can be done?

The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but not without a whole lot of committed individuals doggedly banging on about it. Even when no one's listening, even when it's boring, even when it takes years or even lifetimes. So in this time of division and fracture, when hearts and minds seem out of reach, is there still value in preaching to the like-minded?

The 2026 Sheila Drummond Memorial Lecture was recorded at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival on 6 June 2026.

Speakers:

David MarrPresent Late Night Live, ABC Radio NationalAuthor, Killing for Country: A Family Story, Patrick White. A Life, Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott (Quarterly Essay) and more

David Marr on preaching to the converted

It is replacing our work, our relationships, even our capacity to think. It's the combined sum of all human knowledge — so how long until artificial intelligence surpasses our own? Are we already there? In her latest Quarterly Essay, Anna Goldsworthy confronts a near future where humans are no longer the most intelligent beings, inviting us to consider what is irreplaceable in us, in what we do, and what we want for our lives.

This conversation was recorded on 8 June 2026 at Woodend Winter Arts Festival.

Speakers:

Anna GoldsworthyAuthor, The God we made — the threat and promise of artificial intelligence, Quarterly Essay #102 and many moreClassical pianist, founding member, Seraphim TrioDean of the Elder Conservatorium of Music and School of Performing Arts, Adelaide University, and incoming Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music

Jacqueline OgeilHarpsichordist, conductor, music teacherFounder and director, Woodend Winter Arts Festival

Further information:

Magnifica Humanitas - on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence - Encyclical letter by Pope Leo XIV

The God we made — safeguarding humanity in the age of AI

Is there an art to forgiveness? Join Natasha Mitchell with popular Play School presenter, writer, actor, yoga and meditation teacher Rachael Coopes to explore why it's so hard to forgive people, why it's not what you think it is, and how it can be good for your health to try. Forgiveness may be hard work, but so is hanging on to hurt, hate, or a grudge — that can eat away at you or keep you tethered to the original harm — with consequences for your wellbeing, your relationships and your ability live to your full potential. Rachael Coopes has written a new book The Art of Forgiveness: Let Go, Find Peace. Join her and Natasha for this rich conversation about a complicated act.

This event was held at the 2026 Make Good Festival at Bundanon in NSW, on the traditional lands of the Dharawal and Dhurga people.

Speaker

Rachael CoopesActor, author, presenter of the long-running children's ABC TV show Play SchoolYoga and meditation teacherAuthor, The Art of Forgiveness: Let Go, Find Peace (2025)

Thanks to Make Good Festival guest curator Danielle Harvey and the whole team at Bundanon, NSW.

The art of forgiveness and why it's not what you think it is — with Rachael Coopes and Natasha Mitchell

They say we are what we eat, and in this big, migrant nation, every dish tells a story, about culture, about connection, about identity. But when traditional cuisines become mainstream, does cultural appreciation risk becoming cultural appropriation? Can you own a recipe?

This event was recorded at the Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide.

Speakers:

Durkhanai AyubiAuthor, Parwana: Recipes and stories from an Afghan kitchen and She Who Tastes, Knows

Elana BenjaminAuthor, Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi, and My Mother's Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi

Dr Sukhmani Khorana (host)Associate Professor of media and cultural studies, University of New South WalesCo-Director of the university's Media Futures HubAuthor, The Tastes and Politics of Inter-Cultural Food in Australia and more

Whose recipe is it anyway? A nourishing conversation about food and culture

He is considered the first Hollywood action hero and had a rapid rise to stardom. But Errol Flynn also was on trial for rape and had relationships with underage girls. Behind the Hollywood legend — the sword fights, the swagger, the smouldering screen presence — is a far more complicated and surprising story.

This conversation was part of the Meet the Author series at the Australian National University. 

Listen to Big Ideas – The rise of Australian actors in Hollywood

Speakers

Patricia O’BrienAdjunct Professor in the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown University; Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National UniversityAuthor of Errol Flynn: The True Story of Australia's Hollywood Icon

Frank Bongiorno (host)Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, University of Canberra

Errol Flynn — discover the dark secrets of the Australian Hollywood star

It may be the least worst form of government, but faith in its leaders and its institutions is waning. From the US to the UK to Australia, democracy has also paradoxically delivered representatives who are proudly anti-democratic and openly undermine democratic institutions like electoral systems, the judiciary and a free media. So why do people see the likes of Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Pauline Hanson as the answer?

The Future of Democracy was recorded at the 2026 Sydney Writers Festival in partnership with the Resilient Democracy Lab at the University of New South Wales.

Speakers:

Jon SopelCo-host The News AgentsAuthor, Strangeland: How Britain Stopped Making Sense, UnPresidented: Politics, Pandemics and the Race that Trumped All Others and moreFormer editor, BBC North America

Nick Bryant (co-host)Host, Saturday Extra, ABC Radio NationalAuthor, The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict with Itself and moreFormer BBC Washington Correspondent

Rosalind DixonProfessor of Law, University of New South WalesFounder, Resilient Democracy LabAuthor, A People's Guide to the Australian Constitution

The future of democracy? With Jon Sopel, Nick Bryant and Rosalind Dixon

Australia's 29th Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joins former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to deliver a candid appraisal of the shifting sands of global politics, from Donald Trump to AUKUS to rising right wing populism in liberal democracies.

This conversation was recorded at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University on 16 April 2026.

Speakers:

Malcom TurnbullAustralian Prime Minister, 2015 to 2018President of the International Hydropower Association

Chrystia Freeland (host)Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard UniversityEconomic advisor to the President of UkraineFormer Canadian deputy prime minister and finance minister 2019 to 2024Author, Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, and Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism

When Turnbull met Trump — and what it means for today’s changing world order

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