Jennifer Doudna: The Gene Editing Revolution

Join a full house at the Sydney Opera House with Nobel winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell to discuss the huge social, ethical, and scientific implications of the CRISPR gene editing revolution. From curative therapies to gene edited babies - will we use it to hac…

Democracy Reimagined: New Thinking for the 21st Century

Cooperation is our superpower, and democracy is a foundation of human progress. But we take them for granted at our peril. In some of the strongest democracies, democratic principles are being undermined while many voices are ignored. In this conversation Nobel Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman tells …

Facts, Fictions and Critical Thinking

Facts matter. The scientific process matters. The ability to think critically is essential to navigate our world, to make good decisions and to solve some of the world’s most intractable problems. Nobel Prize laureate Saul Perlmutter believes everyone can learn the skills scientists use to think cr…

The Generation Gulf

Breakneck cultural change means growing up today is a completely different experience from growing up in the 1950s, or the 1980s, or even the 2000s. Psychologist and author of Generations and iGen Jean Twenge, researcher and geriatrician expert on ABC’s Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds and Teenage…

Fragile Democracy

Australia has been a close ally of the United States since 1940, but what does this mean for contemporary politics when democracy is more fragile than ever? Chaired by Festival favourite Barrie Cassidy, one of Australia’s most experienced political correspondents and analysts, this expert panel fe…

Toby Walsh | Ministry of AI

What can we expect from a world of deepfakes where anything you see or hear might be synthetic and the output of AI? Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at UNSW, Toby Walsh unpacks untruths and warns of a future inundated with machine-generated content, predicting that soon, 99% of what w…

Megan Evans | (Don’t) Question the Fake Carbon Forests

Carbon markets have been hailed as key pillars in our climate response but in actuality, have turned out to be largely greenwash. Megan Evans, Senior Lecturer at UNSW’s School of Business highlights the flaws in carbon offsetting and questions the effectiveness of emission offsets, revealing that m…

Michael Richardson | Military AI is Even Worse Than You Think

Associate Professor of Media at UNSW, Michael Richardson examines how technology, culture, and power shape knowledge in war, security and surveillance. He warns that AI’s rapid deployment can lead to catastrophic outcomes in warfare, where algorithms determine lethal targets based on biased data an…

Bronwyn Graham | Women, Your Healthcare is Based on a Man’s Body

In a witty and provocative talk, Professor of Psychology at UNSW, Brownyn Graham addresses the longstanding neglect of the female anatomy in medical research, exemplified by the late mapping of the clitoris. She highlights how centuries of male-centric studies have led to a healthcare system that i…

Writing Letters with Brigitta Olubas and Susan Wyndham

Biographer Brigitta Olubas and journalist Susan Wyndham have edited a collection of the letters of eminent novelists Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower. Reflecting on the correspondence of two important writers, they’ll share what they have learned about the art of writing letters and the rela…