Big Ideas

A workforce we rarely hear about, lives in limbo, and stories from the coalface. From economic gains and cultural exchanges to exploitation and absconding,  what are the successes and problems of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme? Who picks and processes those yummy strawberries you're about to put in your shopping trolley, or the crisp veggies you might stir-fry tonight? Did you know it could be a nurse or a police officer from a Pacific Island or Timor Leste on a temporary seasonal visa? Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for this event organised by Griffith University and the Australian National University, and held at the ANU.Original broadcast on June 4, 2025.SpeakersDr Kaya BarryCultural Geographer, artist, senior lecturer, DECRA Research FellowCentre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversityNunes CosbarMusician, photographer, horticultural employee in Australia on a PALM visa. Band member with Lian Husi TimorKen DachiCoordinator, Welcoming Workplaces with Welcoming AustraliaEma VuetiPresident, Pacific Islands Council of Queensland (PICQ)Thanks also to James Lees (Griffith University), Dr Matt Withers (ANU South Asia Research Institute), and Dr Kirstie Petrou (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra)Further informationTimorese abattoir workers perform at Port Fairy Folk Festival after call for musos (ABC Australia short film)

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 act, and those who were identified as collaborators were shunned, humiliated or worse. This talk explores how people justify their involvement in wrongdoing, and how, when collaboration devolves into conformity, it risks silencing dissent.This event was recorded at the Bundanon Art Museum.Original broadcast on July 28, 2025.SpeakerDr Simon Longstaff — Executive Director, The Ethics Centre

Your personal safety is big business, so much so that it’s given rise to “security capitalism”, a phenomenon where attempts to buy personal safety shape the world around us. As security becomes just another status symbol, do these gadgets make us safer or do they create a whole new list of anxieties – a self-fulfilling prophecy of perceived threat and risk aversion? This conversation 'Trapped: Does the security industry make us less safe?' was recorded at the CUNY Graduate Centre. Original broadcast on May 29, 2025.SpeakersMark MaguireProfessor of anthropology at Maynooth University, co-author, Trapped: Life Under Security Capitalism and How to Escape ItSetha LowProfessor of psychology, anthropology, earth and environmental sciences, and women's and gender studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, co-author, Trapped: Life Under Security Capitalism and How to Escape ItAlex Vitale (host)Professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center

 "Homeric struggle", a desperate night-ballet, an ethical training ground for boys and men. Aussie Rules is a multimillion-dollar industry, but at its heart, to thousands of people, it's much more than that. Including to Australian literary great, Helen Garner.This event was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 20 February 2025.Original broadcast March 6, 2025.SpeakersHelen GarnerAuthor, The Season, Monkey Grip, The Children's Bach, The First Stone, Joe Cinque's Consolation, The Spare Room, This House of Grief and moreBeejay Silcox (host)Critic, writer, outgoing Artistic Director, Canberra Writers Festival

We’re past the brink of civilisational collapse. And many environmentalists are pushing a “fake green fairytale”. Jem Bendell’s arguments have inspired the Extinction Rebellion movement’s civil disobedience pushing for climate change action. But Jem doesn’t think protest is enough now. Find out why the self-confessed eco-libertarian and author of Breaking Together: A freedom-loving response to collapse thinks we should break together not apart. Jem joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2024 Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI)Original broadcast on February 19, 2025.SpeakerJem Bendell Author, Breaking Together: A freedom-loving response to collapse (2023)Author, Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy (2018, 2020)Co-founder of Bekandze Farm - Regenerative Training CentreFounder, the Deep Adaptation ForumBand member, the Barefoot StarsEmeritus Professor of Sustainability Leadership, University of CumbriaSenior Distinguished Fellow, Schumacher Institute