Big Ideas

Australia is home to some 25,000 plant species. And nine out of 10 Australian plants occur nowhere else on Earth. But many are under threat. So why does that matter? This National Science Week, we meet a plant ecologist with a message.
This conversation was recorded at the Lyrebird Festival in the Blue Mountains of NSW.
Speakers:
Rachael GallagherProfessor in Plant Ecology and Conservation, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
Gregg Borschmann (host)Oral historian, journalist and writer
Further information: 
What is Australia's most amazing wildflower? Vote now - ABC Science Week
The Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Dystopia or utopia? How do you imagine the future? In films and books, the future is often filled with alien invasions, nuclear war or the zombie apocalypse. But a movement of Indigenous storytellers is reshaping traditional science fiction tropes based on their own storytelling cultures and experiences.
This event was recorded at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 10 May 2026.
Speakers:
Chelsea VowelCandian Metis language instructor, public intellectual, writer, and activist educatorAuthor, Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit in Canada and the short-story collection Buffalo is the New BuffaloCo-host, Métis in Space podcast
Mykaela SaundersKoori and Lebanese award-winning writerAuthor of Always Will BePost-doctoral research fellow on First Nations speculative fiction at Macquarie University

We're going extraterrestrial with a panel of super star space scientists who are exploring the solar system and beyond. Will they find life out there? Which is the universe's best planet? And what's Matt Damon got to do with it? Incredible tales from Mars, Jupiter, and more.
This event was recorded at the World Science Festival Brisbane on 29 March 2026.
Speakers:
Tracy DrainChief Engineer with NASA's Europa Clipper Mission to Jupiter
David FlanneryAssociate Professor of astrobiology, Queensland University of Technology
Sara Webb Author, science communicator and astrophysicist, Swinburne University
Brian SchmidtDistinguished Professor of astrophysics, Australian National University, 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics
Tamara Davis (host) Professor of Astrophysics, University of Queensland

Think about the person whose politics you find most baffling, or most infuriating. Now imagine you must make a decision together. Actually negotiate, project forward, find common ground. That's democracy. And it turns out our brains aren't especially well-built for it.
In an era shaped by inequality, environmental crisis and the decline of democratic institutions understanding how we make political decisions might be one of the most urgent questions we face.
Recorded live at the Melbourne Writers Festival as part of the Wheeler Centre's The Fifth Estate series.
Speakers
Dr David MoscropPolitics columnist for The Washington Post, The Walrus, Time Magazine, The Globe, The Guardian and othersAuthor of Too Dumb For Democracy: Why We Make Bad Political Decisions And How We Can Make Better Ones
Dr Sally WarhaftMelbourne based freelance broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. Host of The Wheeler Centre's series The Fifth Estate

It's been called the idiot box, the drug of the nation, the tube. This year marks 100 years of broadcast television. Over its lifetime, TV has adapted to big changes in technology, government policy, culture and media consumption habits. And yet, while its future remains uncertain, for now, it endures. This is the incredible true story of television.
This keynote address was recorded at RMIT University's 100 Years of Broadcast TV Symposium: The impact and future of broadcast TV in Australia.
Speakers:
Professor Jock GivenAdjunct Professor of Media and Communications, Swinburne UniversityAuthor, The Death of Broadcasting: Media's digital future and Turning off the television: broadcasting's uncertain future
Dr Damien O'MearaRMIT Lecturer in Public Relations, RMIT University
Dr Alexa ScarlataLecturer in Digital Communication, RMIT University