Big Ideas

Feed your mind. Be provoked. One big idea at a time. Your brain will love you for it. Grab your front row seat to the best live forums and festivals with Natasha Mitchell.

Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza — with Peter Beinart and Sarah Schwartz
Jun 5, 2025 – 0:55:06
We asked for workers and got people — inside the temporary visa scheme putting food on your plate
Jun 4, 2025 – 1:06:04
The unbearable intimacy of voicing someone’s words — with Forced Entertainment
Jun 3, 2025 – 1:00:01
Gina Chick on what dark nights of the soul can teach us about life and living
Jun 2, 2025 – 0:55:06
Safe at home – who profits when you’re afraid of your neighbours?
May 29, 2025 – 0:54:04
The ghosts are here — Tasma Walton, Darren Rix, Craig Cormick, Anthony Sharwood with Natasha Mitchell
May 28, 2025 – 0:56:43
Words to sing the world alive — waking up First Nations languages
May 27, 2025 – 0:54:05
From vulture bone flutes to ‘organised sound’— Andrew Ford's short history of music
May 26, 2025 – 0:52:45
If it bleeds it leads – Bruce Shapiro on documenting the violence of modern life
May 22, 2025 – 0:54:39
Live to 150? David Sinclair on why we age — and why he thinks we don't have to
May 21, 2025 – 1:07:03
Australia and the spectre of war — from Vietnam to today
May 20, 2025 – 1:00:04
Australia votes — what message should we take from this election result?
May 19, 2025 – 0:54:57
What are you wearing? Why we aren’t buying Australian made fashion
May 15, 2025 – 0:54:11
Mark Zuckerberg claims corporations are culturally neutered — are they? Men, women, work, and the manosphere
May 14, 2025 – 0:54:03
History lessons — historians Orlando Figes, Bettany Hughes, Matthew Longo and Dava Sobel with Annabelle Quince
May 13, 2025 – 0:55:53
Chatting with 2025 Grammy winner Ruthie Foster
May 12, 2025 – 0:53:49
Vladimir Putin’s Russia — with exiled journalist and author Mikhail Zygar
May 8, 2025 – 0:52:17
Rituals, rats, and reeded vertebrae! The mysteries of Machu Picchu and Ancient Peru revealed
May 7, 2025 – 0:53:24
Mental ill-health and the power of words
May 6, 2025 – 0:53:28
Worried about the future? A mosquito could help you to live in the present
May 5, 2025 – 0:54:05
Australia votes— are our political parties on the nose?
May 1, 2025 – 0:54:05
Has the world lost the plot? John Lyons, Greg Sheridan, Emma Shortis, Josh Taylor with Natasha Mitchell
Apr 30, 2025 – 0:56:11
The painting that changed Australia — the story of Blue Poles
Apr 29, 2025 – 0:56:03
Are Donald Trump and US politics bringing global health to its knees?
Apr 28, 2025 – 0:54:04
Sir Simon Schama — On antisemitism
Apr 24, 2025 – 0:49:51
How do we make cancer treatment worth it, work better, and less harmful?
Apr 23, 2025 – 0:57:41
Pankaj Mishra — the world after Gaza
Apr 22, 2025 – 0:53:35
Uncovering Pompeii — 300 years of archaeology
Apr 21, 2025 – 0:54:05
When women resist authoritarianism — what's happening in Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar right now?
Apr 17, 2025 – 0:54:06
A season of death — with Raimond Gaita and Michelle Lesh
Apr 17, 2025 – 0:44:16
Where is the soul in science? Natasha Mitchell and guests on a humanity defining battle (Archive)
Apr 16, 2025 – 0:54:03
When the Tech Bros come to town — with Kara Swisher and Marc Fennell
Apr 15, 2025 – 0:54:05
The biggest threat to the planet is a story — an eye-opening insider account of Australian environmentalism
Apr 14, 2025 – 0:54:05
Supporting teenagers to thrive online
Apr 3, 2025 – 0:54:14
Can storytellers change the world? Tim Winton and Rachel Perkins join Natasha Mitchell
Apr 2, 2025 – 0:53:31
Populist rage in America — history, causes and impacts
Apr 1, 2025 – 0:54:07
Good conversations — with writer and poet Ian WIlliams (CBC Massey Lecture 5)
Mar 31, 2025 – 0:58:22
Who can speak for whom to whom about what? — with writer and poet Ian Williams (CBC Massey Lecture 4)
Mar 27, 2025 – 0:53:00
Personal conversations — with writer and poet Ian Williams (CBC Massey Lecture 3)
Mar 26, 2025 – 0:53:07
Public conversations — with writer and poet Ian Williams (CBC Massey Lecture 2)
Mar 25, 2025 – 0:52:12
Why we need to have a conversation about conversations — with writer and poet Ian Williams (CBC Massey Lecture 1)
Mar 24, 2025 – 0:52:27
Australians – the ‘aristocrats’ of Asia? The Lucky Country 60 years on
Mar 20, 2025 – 0:55:36
Choices created Australia's housing mess, what choices will fix it? Natasha Mitchell and guests
Mar 19, 2025 – 0:58:09
Free your attention — meditation and mindfulness in the digital age
Mar 18, 2025 – 0:54:05
Today YOU can choose your family
Mar 17, 2025 – 0:54:40
Riverhood — oral histories in the Murray Darling Basin
Mar 13, 2025 – 0:53:53
Vested interests vs public interest? How the fossil fuel industry captures Australian governments
Mar 12, 2025 – 0:54:06
France — a paradoxical country
Mar 11, 2025 – 0:54:05
Can the International Criminal Court deliver justice?
Mar 10, 2025 – 0:54:11
Helen Garner on footy, boys, and growing old
Mar 6, 2025 – 0:54:05

Recent Reviews

rromarrio

Great Podcast

Great topics. Mind provoking. Always insightful. I enjoy it daily…
Ogilbeats

Deep dive into Woke ideology

There are some scientifically rigorous and interesting talks, but most speakers chosen are aimed at getting all the brownie points from the far left identity politics movement. How we must now focus on “age-ist discrimination” has been the straw that’s broken the camels back for me.
Cozzum

Eclectic, Cosmopolitan yet very Aussie

A true treasure from down under to help fill in some of the gaps in my understanding of how the world works. Somehow life got very complex along the way and keeping up with the barrage of changes is a monumental chore at times. I never dreamed that discussions, lectures, debates and so on, from half way around the world, would help keep me oriented towards a realistic perspective on the world's events and issues. Recommended for anyone who craves something more from somewhere else. Many Thanks to all the staff who make this program possible. To speak in the parlance of the zeitgeist "You're Awesome!"
ABC Radiio USA Fan

Big Ideas

Excellent as always Paul Barclay and his team are thoughtful, careful investigators who listen and ask good questions bringing important truths to Australian listeners Thank goodness for the ABC Truly wonderful
mircrez

Excellence in podcasting

I can’t believe how good this podcast is. It’s intelligent, thought-provoking, insightful, and interesting. I wish we had a podcast this good here in the U.S. covering similar topics.
Jack_McCoy

Always Interesting

Great show that features lectures, forums, and debate that you’d probably never know about/hear otherwise. Each new episode is one hundred percent different than the last one. This is a show for people who love to learn. It’s one of my absolute favorites.
elmalimuzik

Thank you!

I hope your laws of physics will one day teach itunes developers to develop a kind of UI that wouldnt stop the podcast while i was trying to rate and write a comment for the podcast...