Big Ideas

The ideals behind the concept of human rights — such as the sacredness of life, reciprocity, justice and fairness — have millennia-old histories. After the carnage of the Second World War and the Holocaust, these ideas took a new legal form. In his second Massey Lecture, Alex Neve considers six dizzying years that laid out a blueprint for a new world.
Lecture two of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series: Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World
Speaker
Alex NeveSecretary-General of Amnesty International Canada (2000 to 2020); adjunct Professor in international human rights, University of Ottawa, Human rights lawyerAuthor of Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World

Human rights are universal, right? For everyone, everywhere, without exception. That promise, born out of the Holocaust and World War II, has been broken repeatedly. But in a time of fear and fracture,  can we renew it? World-renowned Canadian human rights activist and lawyer Alex Neve has seen the best and worse of humanity. He's worked in war zones in Darfur and Eastern Chad, with detainees in Guantánamo Bay, on reconciliation for Indigenous communities in Canada, and beyond. In this special series, his stirring words will cut deep, bring clarity, shine a spotlight on the past, and offer hope for troubled times.
Don't miss this first lecture "Renewing the promise of human rights" in his 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series: Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World
Lecture one of the 2025 CBC Massey Lecture series: Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World
Speaker
Alex NeveSecretary-General of Amnesty International Canada (2000 to 2020); adjunct Professor in international human rights, University of Ottawa, Human rights lawyerAuthor of Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World

This episode explores the past and present expectations and experiences of Australian fathers, in the workforce, domestic duties, and child-rearing, and examines how their roles have also shaped the lives of mothers, children, and society.
These conversations were recorded at the launch of the book Fathering: An Australian History at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
Speakers
Fathering and Mothering:
Professor Jacqui McDonaldConvenor of the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium, Deakin University
Associate Professor Richard FletcherFathers and Families Research Program at the University of NewcastlePrincipal Investigator with the SMS4dads & SMS4DeadlyDads support lines
Emeritus Professor Alistair ThomsonMonash UniversityCo-author, Fathering: An Australian History
Dr Johnny BellMonash UniversityCo-author, Fathering: An Australian History
Professor Michelle Arrow (host)President of the Australian Historical Association
Fathering and Work:
Belinda ProbertSocial scientist, academic and author, Bill's Secrets: Love, War and Ambition
Professor Sean ScalmerUniversity of MelbourneAuthor, A Fair Day's Work: The Quest to Win Back Time
Emeritus Professor John MurphyUniversity of MelbourneCo-author, Fathering: An Australian History

Dive into the world of heroin chic and Girl Power to make sense of the mixed messages Millennial women experienced as they came of age. Before social media warped our sense of self, other aggressive forces were at work, hellbent on exploiting feminism for profit, and taking women down while they did. Sophie Gilbert, a Pulitizer-nominated culture writer with The Atlantic, investigates the impacts in her eye-opening book Girl on Girl: How pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves.
This event was hosted and produced by The Wheeler Centre in Naarm/Melbourne. Check out its full event schedule.
Speakers
Sophie GilbertStaff writer, The AtlanticAuthor, Girl on Girl: How pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves (2025)
Kate Jinx (host)Writer, critic, film curatorSenior programmer, Melbourne International Film Festival

She's attracted controversy and cancellation, but Palestinian Australian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah has not been deterred from speaking out about the plight of Palestinians in the war on Gaza, and the experience of Muslim Australians since 9/11. At this event organised in the wake of the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week, she joins that festival's former Director Louise Adler, to talk about her latest novel, Discipline, and the experience of art imitating life.
This conversation was recorded at the Adelaide Town Hall as part of the Constellations: Not Writers' Week festival on 1 March 2026.
Speakers
Dr Randa Abdel-FattahAuthor, Discipline (winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2026 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards), Does My Head Look Big in This? and Coming of Age in the War on TerrorFuture Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University
Louise Adler (host) Former Director, Adelaide Writers' WeekFormer CEO, Melbourne University PressFormer editor-at-large, Hachette Australia