Reframing Rescue with Communities at the Heart with Dr Regina Jefferies | One Big Idea

As natural disasters increase in frequency and severity, we are all at risk of one day having our homes and our lives being in danger from fire or flood. Right now, we are seeing an unprecedented level of people needing rescue in the midst of disaster. But rescue shouldn’t just be after the point o…

Grand Designs for our Oceans' Habitats with Ann Flemming Nielsen | One Big Idea

Our coastal marine habitats are suffering from the man-made degradation of climate change. From coral reefs to seagrass meadows, oyster reefs and kelp forests, these ecosystems are vital nurseries for marine life and natural coastal buffers against storms and we’re losing them at a rapid pace. But …

The Power of Light with Dr Alison Goldingay | One Big Idea

Light has unlocked many technologies over the course of human history. The more we learn about what light is and what it can do, the more applications we find to advance our lives. When we study light at the smallest scale possible, at the atomic level, we can unlock some pretty amazing, pretty wei…

Who's the Man?

Within today's social media landscape, a finely tuned content algorithm is serving up often unhealthy and sometimes extreme views on masculinity. For boys, in particular, the injection of vitriol into playgrounds, classrooms, backyards and wider society has turned the question of what it means to b…

Rewiring AI with Dr Charu Maithani | One Big Idea

Ask any AI image generator to create an image of a garden and you’re likely to receive a very specific type; manicured English or French, colourful plants, geometric forms and a winding pathway made of stone or gravel. Why is this such a big deal? Millions of AI images are generated every week but …

Tailor-Made Childhood Cancer Treatments with Professor Maria Kavallaris AM | One Big Idea

More than 400,000 children and adolescents will be diagnosed with cancer worldwide this year. Many treatments that are meant to save a child can leave them with lifelong side-effects, including heart damage, infertility and cognitive issues. But for the first time, precision medicine is using the t…

SWF Great Debate: True Friends Stab You in the Front

The scintillating chronicler of human weakness, Oscar Wilde, once said, “True friends stab you in the front”.   In this popular event, writer and presenter Annabel Crabb and writer David Marr lead opposing teams in a rollicking debate on the legitimacy of this aphorism about friends who betray eac…

Ivan Coyote: Playlist

Ivan Coyote doesn’t fit neatly into one of two gender boxes, they never have. From an early age in the Canadian Yukon, they can remember discovering a coded but very possible queer future hidden in the music coming out of the AM radio in the kitchen, lurking in their parent’s record collection, and…

Nila Ibrahimi: Song of Rebellion

When Nila Ibrahimi posted a video of herself online, singing proudly in protest of the ban on girls over 12 singing in public, she hoped the music would inspire young girls to continue their education. It was 2021 and the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan had come down swiftly on women's freedom. The…

The Business of Beauty

Women’s bodies are a battleground for beauty capitalism with a constant pressure to reach unachievable beauty standards.  Writer, presenter and entertainer Lucinda Price (aka Froomes) spent 30 years striving to fulfil those standards, which she unpacks in her debut memoir, All I Ever Wanted Was To…