Big Ideas

Nobel Prize winning work often happens in a young scientist's 20s or 30s — early in their careers. Are the conditions right in Australian universities today for young, hungry minds to do what Nobel laureates Brian Schmidt, Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel did in the 1990s and 1970s at the Australian National University in Canberra? The three join Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell and a huge crowd at the ANU to talk curiosity, discovery, the future of science, and more.
This event was organised and hosted by the Australian National University and the Embassy of Switzerland in Australia
Speakers
Professor Peter DohertyImmunologist and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine University of Melbourne
Professor Brian SchmidtAstrophysicist and winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for PhysicsAustralian National University
Professor Rolf Zinkernagel Immunologist and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine University of Zurich, Switzerland
With thanks to Swiss Ambassador His Excellency Mr Nikolas Stürchler, ANU Deputy Vice Chancellor (academic) Professor Joan Leach, and ANU's Jamie Kidston, Dharmesh Panvelkar, and technical team.
Further reading
Brian Schmidt on securing Australia's sovereign research capability, National Press Club, 2025
Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt is ‘scared’ about Australia’s research capacity – this is why (The Conversation, 2025)
Brian P. Schmidt's submission in response to the Australian Universities Accord Discussion Paper
The Knowledge Wars by Peter Doherty (Melbourne University Publishing, 2025)

Presenting a road map to a world with fewer Putins and Kim Jong Uns. Political scientist Marcel Dirsus exposes the precarious reality behind the façade of the dictator's absolute power, and the remarkable ways in which even the most ruthless despots can be felt. Gareth Evans, Geoffrey Robertson, Tobias Buck and Dorcy Rugama take a closer look at crimes against humanity. When is reconciliation possible? Are international courts still useful? How important is truth telling?
How Tyrants rise (and fall) was recorded live at the 2025 Sydney Writers' Festival at Sydney Town Hall.
Speaker
Dr Marcel DirsusPolitical scientist, author of How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations SurviveNon-Resident Fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University (ISPK); member of the Standing Expert Committee Terrorism and Interior Security at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Germany
Crimes against Humanity was presented at Adelaide Writers' Week
Speakers
Tobias BuckManaging Editor of the Financial TimesAuthor of Final Verdict: A Holocaust Trail in the Twenty-first Century
Geoffrey RobertsonAustralian-British barrister, academic, broadcaster and author — among others of Crimes Against Humanity
Dorcy RugambaRwandan writer, playwright, and director.Author of Hewa Rwanda, Letter to the Absent 
Gareth Evans AC (host)Former cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor governments, former president and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group

The inaugural ABC National Forum is a live, televised panel discussion bringing together Jewish Australians to examine their lives in Australia in 2026, amid a sharp rise in antisemitism since October 7, 2023. Moderated by Insiders presenter and National Political Lead David Speers, the forum launches a new series designed to create a space for Australians to confront major national challenges and seek common ground.

The roots of antisemitism run deep. Christians and Muslims have told stories for centuries about Jewish people. Stories that have weaponised the relationships among these world religions.  
In a world of ongoing conflict, how do we recognise, and then bridge, the divide of religious prejudice? 
This is a special episode of Big Ideas, prepared by the ABC's specialist religion and ethics team.The best of talks, forums, debates, and festivals held in Australia and around the world.
Guests
Amy-Jill LevineRabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.Magda Teter Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies and Professor of History at Fordham University. 
Adis Duderija Associate Professor of Islam and Society at Griffith University. 
Geoffrey Levey  Associate Professor of Political Science at University of New South Wales.
Rabbi Zalman KastelFounder of Together for Humanity.

A global pandemic, a foreign war, a failed referendum on Indigenous rights, increasing inequality and a fractured media — these and other forces have been causing deep divisions in Australian society. So how can we instead focus on the ties that bind this country together, to reconcile our differences and foster community? What can be done to strengthen our social cohesion?
The 2026 Menzies Oration was recorded at Federation University with the Menzies Leadership Foundation on 18 February 2026.
Speakers
Hugh de Kretser President, Australian Human Rights Commissioner
Liz Gillies (host) CEO, Menzies Leadership Foundation