Big Ideas

Our inherent human rights belong to us from the moment we are born. There is nothing we need to do to earn them, and they are supposed to apply to us until the day we die. But in his third Massey Lecture, Alex Neve argues the powerful have made human rights a ‘club.’
Lecture three 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

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