Physician and writer Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, crafts a masterly narrative of three generations of a family in Kerala, through the eyes of a young girl, from her arranged marriage at the turn of the 20th century to her emergence as the matriarchal figure, Big Ammachi.

Solving the mystery of a family affliction – in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning – the book brings to life a vanished past and the impact of change on lives and communities. 

Examine the marriage of medicine and literature with Abraham, joined by host Roanna Gonsalves.



Presented by Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Centre for Ideas.

Physician and writer Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, crafts a masterly narrative of three generations of a family in Kerala, through the eyes of a young girl, from her arranged marriage at the turn of the 20th century to her emergence as the matriarchal figure, Big Ammachi. Solving the mystery of a family affliction – in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning – the book brings to life a vanished past and the impact of change on lives and communities.  Examine the marriage of medicine and literature with Abraham, joined by host Roanna Gonsalves. 
Presented by <a href="https://www.swf.org.au/">Sydney Writers' Festival</a> and supported by <a href="https://unswcentreforideas.com/">UNSW Centre for Ideas</a>.

An initiative of UNSW Sydney, the Centre for Ideas is a thought-provoking program of events and digital content from the globe's leading thinkers, authors and artists.

An initiative of UNSW Sydney, the Centre for Ideas is a thought-provoking program of events and digital content from the globe's leading thinkers, authors and artists.

An initiative of UNSW Sydney, the Centre for Idea…

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UNSW Centre for Ideas

Abraham Verghese: The Covenant of Water

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 features former BBC foreign correspondent Nick Bryant (The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict With Itself), UNSW Sydney Professor of Law and constitutional democracy specialist Rosalind Dixon and Senior Fellow of the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre Bruce Wolpe (Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism changed Australia and the shocking consequences for us of a second term).

Unpack the far-reaching ramifications of this relationship across trade, security, foreign policy and beyond.

This event is presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival and supported by UNSW Sydney. 

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 features former BBC foreign correspondent Nick Bryant (The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict With Itself), UNSW Sydney Professor of Law and constitutional democracy specialist Rosalind Dixon and Senior Fellow of the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre Bruce Wolpe (Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism changed Australia and the shocking consequences for us of a second term). Unpack the far-reaching ramifications of this relationship across trade, security, foreign policy and beyond. This event is presented by the <a href="https://www.swf.org.au/">Sydney Writers' Festival</a> and supported by UNSW Sydney.

Fragile Democracy

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 we read, see, and hear will be created by AI. Listen as Toby discusses the urgent need for digital watermarks to authenticate online content, proposing that this technology can help restore trust. However, he cautions that building this infrastructure will take time, leaving us in a precarious situation where truth is increasingly contested.

Presented as part of The Ethics Centre's Festival of Dangerous Ideas, supported by UNSW Sydney.

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 we read, see, and hear will be created by AI. Listen as Toby discusses the urgent need for digital watermarks to authenticate online content, proposing that this technology can help restore trust. However, he cautions that building this infrastructure will take time, leaving us in a precarious situation where truth is increasingly contested.
Presented as part of The Ethics Centre's <a href="https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/">Festival of Dangerous Ideas</a>, supported by UNSW Sydney.

Toby Walsh | Ministry of AI

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 many projects fail to sequester the promised carbon. She emphasises the importance of transparency and accountability in carbon markets, arguing that without criticism and scrutiny, these systems merely perpetuate greenwashing. Listen to the full discussion as Megan urges us to question the status quo and advocate for genuine environmental progress, rather than settling for ineffective measures.

Presented as part of The Ethics Centre's Festival of Dangerous Ideas, supported by UNSW Sydney.

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 many projects fail to sequester the promised carbon. She emphasises the importance of transparency and accountability in carbon markets, arguing that without criticism and scrutiny, these systems merely perpetuate greenwashing. Listen to the full discussion as Megan urges us to question the status quo and advocate for genuine environmental progress, rather than settling for ineffective measures.
Presented as part of The Ethics Centre's Festival of Dangerous Ideas, supported by UNSW Sydney.

Abraham Verghese: The Covenant of Water

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