Festival Podcasts

Silent quitting, climate quitting, goblin mode, human sustainability, leaning out. What are all these terms and what age are we living in? How is language evolving to describe how we live now and what do all those catch-phrases mean? Conversation with Ellen van Neerven, Alison Pennington, Kristine Ziwica and Paul Barclay.

The science has long been there, but it will take imagination to win the world over to climate action. Two authors who have reimagined songs and witchy tales discuss how fiction can spark the energy we need. A conversation with Eliza Henry-Jones, Mark Smith and Nell Schofield.

Stories are passed down through the generations. Expectations are too. Three novelists whose writings reflect their diverse family backgrounds share how the stories they inherited inform their writing. With Shankari Chandran, Shirley Le, Peter Polites and Jemma Birrell.

Speculating about the future, interrogating the past and understanding through storytelling unite three writers. A historian and two novelists describe how their approaches to writing allow them to imagine – and reimagine – past, present and future. With Michelle Arrow, Grace Chan, Shankari Chandran and Phillipa McGuinness.

We are surrounded by death in news, true-crime podcasts and even nursery rhymes. Yet from an early age, we are told that death is to be feared. How can we know what we’re so afraid of, if we don’t examine it? Hayley Campbell in conversation with Kerry Sunderland.

Investigative journalist, Anke Richter, discusses with Zacharey Jane how she immersed herself in the wild world of cults around the globe, exposing the ways they attract, entrap and destroy otherwise ordinary people.

Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here is a luminous, compelling and utterly surprising memoir by Heather Rose. Heartbreaking and beautiful, this is a love story brimming with courage and joy against all odds, one that will bring wonder, light and comfort to all who read it. In conversation with Jill Eddington.

One of Australia’s best-loved broadcasters, Richard Fidler takes us into the world of medieval wanderers who wrote of their travels to the edges of the known world during Islam’s fabled Golden Age. In conversation with Kári Gíslason.

What does it mean to be free? Lea Ypi grew up in Stalinist Albania, one of the most isolated countries on earth and a place where Communist ideals had officially replaced religion. With Monica Attard.

Our housing is in crisis. Ownership is out of reach for many, rents are through the roof and homelessness is on the rise. This panel explores the causes of the problem and possible pathways to a better future. With Alison Page, Alison Pennington, Jess Scully and Mandy Nolan.

Trustworthy news is essential to a healthy democracy but in 2023 misinformation is rife. Monica Attard, Antony Loewenstein, Anke Richter discuss with The Conversation Editor Misha Ketchell how and why misinformation and disinformation derail public debate and what we can do about it.

Media is undergoing rapid change. Four journalists explore how that change can threaten democracy itself and how the Fourth Estate can retain its key tenets, safeguarding its role as the public’s watchdog. With Monica Attard, Osman Faruqi, Paddy Manning and Amy Remeikis.

Marele Day in conversation with Susan Johnson

James Kirby, Hilton Koppe, Robert Waldinger and David Roland

Sandra Thom-Jones in conversation with Mandy Nolan

Susan Johnson, Maggie MacKeller, Peter Polites and Jill Eddington

Trent Dalton in conversation with David Leser

Hannah Kent in conversation with Susan Wyndham

Evelyn Araluen in conversation with Daniel Browning

Bryan Brown in conversation with Chris Hanley

Dylin Hardcastle, Kathryn Heyman and Jess Hill in conversation Gina Rushton

David Leser, Yves Rees, Mariam Veiszadeh in conversation with Jess Hill

Judy Atkinson, Paul Callaghan and Marcia Langton in conversation with Cheryl Leavy

Van Badham, Tim Burrows and Ed Coper in conversation with Margaret Simons

Damon Gameau, Saul Griffith and Tim Hollo in conversation with Sarah Wilson

A.C. Grayling, Mia Thom, Damon Gameau, Anne-Marie Te Whiu and Luka Lesson

Tim Baker and Chloe Hooper in conversation with Nikki Gemmell

Bronwyn Adcock, Joëlle Gergis and Ed Coper in conversation with Gabrielle Chan

Paul Callaghan, Christine Jackman & Indira Naidoo in conversation with Anne Maria Nicholson

Trent Dalton, Nigel Featherstone and Hannah Kent in conversation with Alex Adsett

Matthew Evans and Costa Georgiadis in conversation with Indira Naidoo

Jessie Cole and Nikki Gemmell in conversation with Zacharey Jane

Emily Brugman, Ashley Hay, Christos Tsiolkas in conversation with Jill Eddington

Sarah Armstrong, Bronwyn Brancroft and Isobelle Carmody in conversation with Tristan Bancks

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

Raina MacIntyre, John Rasko and Norman Swan in conversation with Paul Barclay. An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

Recorded live at Lennox Head Cultural Centre

Recorded live at Mullumbimby Civic Centre

Recorded live at Byron Theatre

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration

A Griffith Review Collaboration