Big Ideas

Australians love a holiday in Southeast Asia. But our proximity to this region also makes it key to our national security and prosperity. Yet Australia has hitched its security and foreign policy wagon to an increasingly unpredictable United States, while China asserts in dominance in our own backyard. So are we taking Southeast Asia for granted?
This conversation was recorded at Readings Bookshop on 23 March 2026.
Speakers
Michael WesleyProfessor of International Relations and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Global Culture and Engagement, University of MelbourneFormer head of the Lowy Institute, former dean of ANU's College of Asia and the PacificAuthor, Blind spot: Southeast Asia and Australia's Future (Quarterly Essay # 101) and more
Geoff RabyFormer Australian diplomat to China 2007 — 2011Author, Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy and more

Artificial intelligence has been defined as a cluster of technologies of and for the future. But like most humans, AI is built using what has happened in the past — scraping behaviours, experiences and other data to shape its outputs. In this sense, AI is a new kind of historian — but operating without guardrails, ethics, or any sense of doubt.
This annual lecture for the History Council of Victoria, Can I Help You? Recognising and Improving Artificial Intelligence as History Maker was recorded on 16 October 2025.
Speakers
Marnie Hughes-WarringtonBradley Distinguished Professor at the University of AdelaideCo-editor, History from Loss and The Routledge Companion to History and the Moving Image

It's Team 'Aliens Alive' versus Team 'Earthlings United'. Get out of this world, hear the arguments, and you decide. Was the X-Files really a documentary, or was Mulder deluded? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell from the stage of the 2026 World Science Festival Brisbane for an hilarious hour of science and comedy.
TEAM ALIENS ALIVE
Dr Joel Gilmore (Team Captain)Energy specialist, physicist, science communicator, improv theatre buff, dancer
Dr Sara WebbAstrophysicist, author, and science communicatorAuthor of The Little Book of Cosmic CatastrophesSwinburne University
Georgina HumphriesComedian, two time Raw Comedy finalistGeorgina's show Rogue at the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
TEAM EARTHLINGS UNITED
Professor Tamara Davis (Team Captain)AstrophysicistPrincipal Investigator, OzDES (Dark Energy Survey)ABC TV documentary presenter, ultimate Frisbee and triathlon competitorUniversity of Queensland
Nate ByrneMeteorologist, oceanographer. science communicatorABC TV Breakfast host and weatherman
Sean ChoolburraComedian, dancer, actor
Thanks to the event producers Dr Rob Bell, Jane O'Hara, Bec Redsell and the whole World Science Festival Brisbane team.

Former BBC presenter and host of the hit podcast The News Agents, Emily Maitlis, gives a fearless assessment of modern news coverage, public broadcasting, and the royal family's handling of Andrew Mountbatten-Windor's arrest. 
The event No Spin, No Compromise was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for the 2026 All About Women festival.
Speakers
Emily MaitlisCo-host, The News Agents and The News Agents USA podcastsAuthor, Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making NewsFormer BBC journalist and longtime anchor of BBC Newsnight
Janine Perrett (host)Finance and foreign affairs journalist and presenter, The Australian, Channel 9, Sky News, ABC
Further information:
Emily Maitlis full interview with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, BBC Newsnight, 2019

Todd Ley exposes a high-pressure world where talent is everything, but protection is rare; where overzealous parents, manipulative coaches, hungry sponsors and indifferent associations can push young athletes to their breaking point. It's not just a story about tennis, it's about what happens when a child's identity is consumed by a dream that may not be their own and the long road back to self-worth after the cheering stops.
Presented at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival
Speakers
Todd LeyFormer world's top Junior tennis playerAuthor of SMASHED: Prodigies, parents and parasites
Anna FeatherstoneAuthor; non-fiction advisor to the Alliance Independent Authors, publishing consultant for the Australian Society of Authors