Podcast Episodes

Not drowning waving, a modern media tale — with Geraldine Doogue

The decline of the mainstream media has forced many outlets to try new things to keep audiences engaged and informed. So what works, and what is the industry's future?

The ABC's 2025 Andrew Olle Lectu…

Published on 1 month ago

From Con the Fruiterer to East West 101 — the changing face of Australian TV

Australia is a multicultural country, but up until recently, when you turned on the telly, you wouldn't know it. So what role has TV played in Australia's diverse communities, on screen, behind the s…

Published on 1 month ago

FAT is not an F-word! The radical practice of fat joy

Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with three women embracing the radical practice of finding joy in big bodies. Fat bodies are often stigmatised, stereotyped, shamed, medicalised, and politicised.…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

How animals use natural medicine to heal themselves

Meet apes that swallow leaves to dislodge worms and sparrows that use cigarette butts to repel parasites. Many animals use medicine to treat themselves — something that for a long time has been thoug…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

The dark side of collaboration — when thinking together goes wrong

At face value, collaboration sounds like a good thing: collaboration in the classroom, with colleagues, or between nations. But throughout history, collaboration was not always considered a virtuous …

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Adam Liaw on what spaghetti bolognese tells us about Australian life

Food is essential to human life, but are we taking it for granted? Popular chef, writer and broadcaster Adam Liaw is an advocate for good food for everyone. He takes us on a journey through the histo…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Mao and Stalin — did they lead the way for tyrannical leaders like Trump?

Books on tyrants, dictators, and authoritarian leaders are suddenly bestsellers again as we all try to make sense of the tilt towards tyrannical leadership around the world, the mass compliance it co…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

One land, two laws, it’s black and white — with Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss

At a time when governments are retreating from promises of progress for First Nations people, what can be achieved through legal and human rights mechanisms?

The 2025 Mabo Oration was recorded at the …

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Doctor Who turns 60 — why the world still loves you

Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change. It's been able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction. Why we are so addicte…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Is AI our modern-day Frankenstein? Jeanette Winterson and Toby Walsh

Acclaimed British author Jeanette Winterson argues that 200 years ago, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, was a message in a bottle, a prophesy, of today's AI revolution.

This conversation was recorded at t…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago