The crisis in Afghanistan Six months after the withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan, it is clear the embattled country is in the midst of a major humanitarian crisis. Millions are at risk of starvation, the economy is on the verge of collapse, and a mood of despair has taken hold. Is Australia, and the West, doing enough to help struggling Afghans? Speakers: Antony Loewenstein - independent journalist; filmmaker; author. Maryam Zahid - founder and director of Afghan Women on the Move; Afghan refugee.

Big Ideas - Full program podcast

Crisis in Afghanistan and Russia Ukraine tension

When was the last time you visited a museum? Museums are popular with adults and children alike and the multi-media exhibitions make subjects come alive in a unique way. So are museums uniquely suited to communicating complex science and social issues? Could they help us win the war against climate change?

Museums as an agent of change

Australia’s been a member of the OECD for the last fifty years. Former federal politician Mathias Corman is now the Secretary General.  The OECD’s claim to fame is its comparative analysis on economic and social policy. Australian educators, for example, use OECD benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of our education system. Mathias Cormann talks about the OECD agenda for climate change, multinational tax reform and market economies.

OECD Climate change, tax and market economies

Should we criminalise coercive control - an insidious form of domestic violence, used to control, humiliate, and intimidate another person? Women, and older Australians, are often the targets of coercive and controlling behaviour, but it is difficult to prevent and police. Some argue this is because existing laws are inadequate. Would a criminal offence outlawing coercive control make a difference? 

How do we stop coercive control and elder abuse?

India’s struggle to contain the COVID 19 virus made international headlines. ABC South Asia Correspondent James Oaten witnessed the devastating mark the pandemic left on the country firsthand.

COVID in India

The international think tank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has called for a wholesale review of monetary policy in Australia, but what should be up for discussion?

Reviewing Australia's monetary policy

A study examining the safety and security of migrant and refugee women in Australia found one in three of those surveyed experienced some form of domestic and family violence, including coercive and controlling behaviour. This was often exacerbated by insecure visas. Many migrant and refugee women found it difficult to seek help, and there was a lack of trust in the institutions that are meant to assist them

Migrant women and domestic violence

We can recycle to put materials to new uses not just to replace the original product. We hear how textiles and plastics are repurposed to make building tiles and how the fashion industry is trying to reduce, reuse and recycle. Mass produced clothes currently contribute enormous amounts to landfill and generate pollution in the manufacturing process.

Recycling and sustainable fashion

Australia's mental health system is broken and needs to change. On this, psychiatrists, as well as those with a mental illness, agree. But what needs to be done? Are we pathologizing normal human distress, and prescribing too much medication? Could psychedelic drugs, and therapy, be part of the solution?

Improving psychiatry and the treatment of mental illness

International negotiations on climate change and biodiversity often put the scientific case behind economic and political interests. So, people increasingly turn to the courts to get justice for the environment. What makes those court cases successful? And what does a new form of environmental justice that connects nature with economic and social rights looks like? The new way of getting just rights for nature is to fall back on the very old legal tradition of Chthonic law.

Going to court for nature

Love it or hate it, technology rules the world. Our social systems and values are bent out of shape by innovative technology. Ideas we used to hold dear like privacy are suddenly negotiable in the online world and tech companies set the rules with governments struggling to catch up. So is it possible to regain control of your data and can governments control disruptive technology?

Online privacy & technology reshaping society

Joe McCarthy is the figurehead of the anti-communist crusades of the 1950s-era. Thousands of Americans were investigated as alleged communists and Soviet agents during the 'Red Scare'. McCarthyism became the synonym for hysterical intolerance – and some say it’s prevalent again today. Historian Richard Norton Smith explores the rise of Joe McCarthy and the dangerous legacy he left behind.

Joe McCarthy and the politics of fear

What does a brutal murder tell us about our attitudes to land ownership, farming, and the natural environment? There are laws in Australian limiting the clearing of native vegetation. These laws have long been controversial, and many farmers fiercely oppose them. But none have ever gone as far as farmer Ian Turnbull, who shot and killed environmental compliance officer, Glen Turner. Paul Barclay speaks with Kate Holden, who tells the story in her book, The Winter Road

How a dispute over land clearing turned deadly

You first need to understand the mind of a hoarder before you can tackle the clutter. Randy Frost explains the meaning possessions play in our lives and how and why this can go astray.

Understanding the mind of a compulsive hoarder

Psychedelic drugs were a feature of 1960s counter-culture and the subject of serious medical research from the 1940s onwards. Research was halted after psychedelics were declared dangerous and banned but new research is finding them to be powerful medicine. And, with the coronavirus pandemic in full swing, why are there so few drugs to treat viruses?

Mind-altering medicines and antivirals

Big Ideas brings you the best of talks, forums, debates, and festivals held in Australia and around the world, casting light on the major social, cultural, scientific and political issues

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