Big Ideas

Is President Trump a new Nero, or a contemporary Caligula? The Roman Empire was full of merchants of chaos, power-hungry emperors, epic wars, backstabbing, betrayals — the whole horror show. And it was a time of civilisational scale change. As we grapple with a rewriting of the world order,  does Ancient Rome have lessons for us today — about the building and breaking of empires, or the rise and fall of autocrats? Or are these sorts of comparisons with the past fraught with complication? 
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests at this Melbourne Museum event to coincide with the opening of the ROME: Empire, Power, People exhibition.
Speakers
Rhiannon EvansCo-host of the Emperors of Rome podcastAuthor, Utopia Antiqua: Readings of the Golden Age and decline at Rome (Routledge, 2007)Adjunct Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient HistoryLa Trobe University 
Nick BisleyAuthor, Asian Crucible: Globalization, Geopolitics and the Contest for the Future (Bristol University Press, 2026); The Belt and Road Initiative and the Future of Regional Order in the Indo-Pacific (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020), Issues in 21st Century World Politics, 3rd Edition (Palgrave, 2017) and Great Powers in the Changing International Order (Lynne Rienner, 2012)Professor of International RelationsPro Vice-Chancellor ResearchLa Trobe University 
Thanks to event producer Jennifer Brookings, Nick Marchand (Director of Global Engagement at Museums Victoria), and team the Melbourne Museum.

What happens to a community when it punishes its most vulnerable instead of protecting them Drawing on her own story of addiction, imprisonment, and recovery, as well as her frontline work supporting women behind bars and post-release, Tahlia Issac challenges the "tough on crime" narrative. The typical incarcerated woman in Australia is First Nations, a mother, a survivor of violence, and imprisoned for a low-level offence. Locking her up doesn't make communities safer — it makes them more fragile.
This is the 2025 International Women's Day Address at the National Press Club of Australia.
Speakers
Tahlia IsaacFounder and CEO of Project: herself with lived experience as a woman in prison
Emma MacdonaldAssociate Editor or Her Canberra, an online media company, magazine, and community hub tailored specifically for women, and Canberra Convenor of Women in Media

Australians love a holiday in Southeast Asia. But our proximity to this region also makes it key to our national security and prosperity. Yet Australia has hitched its security and foreign policy wagon to an increasingly unpredictable United States, while China asserts in dominance in our own backyard. So are we taking Southeast Asia for granted?
This conversation was recorded at Readings Bookshop on 23 March 2026.
Speakers
Michael WesleyProfessor of International Relations and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Global Culture and Engagement, University of MelbourneFormer head of the Lowy Institute, former dean of ANU's College of Asia and the PacificAuthor, Blind spot: Southeast Asia and Australia's Future (Quarterly Essay # 101) and more
Geoff RabyFormer Australian diplomat to China 2007 — 2011Author, Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy and more

Artificial intelligence has been defined as a cluster of technologies of and for the future. But like most humans, AI is built using what has happened in the past — scraping behaviours, experiences and other data to shape its outputs. In this sense, AI is a new kind of historian — but operating without guardrails, ethics, or any sense of doubt.
This annual lecture for the History Council of Victoria, Can I Help You? Recognising and Improving Artificial Intelligence as History Maker was recorded on 16 October 2025.
Speakers
Marnie Hughes-WarringtonBradley Distinguished Professor at the University of AdelaideCo-editor, History from Loss and The Routledge Companion to History and the Moving Image

It's Team 'Aliens Alive' versus Team 'Earthlings United'. Get out of this world, hear the arguments, and you decide. Was the X-Files really a documentary, or was Mulder deluded? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell from the stage of the 2026 World Science Festival Brisbane for an hilarious hour of science and comedy.
TEAM ALIENS ALIVE
Dr Joel Gilmore (Team Captain)Energy specialist, physicist, science communicator, improv theatre buff, dancer
Dr Sara WebbAstrophysicist, author, and science communicatorAuthor of The Little Book of Cosmic CatastrophesSwinburne University
Georgina HumphriesComedian, two time Raw Comedy finalistGeorgina's show Rogue at the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
TEAM EARTHLINGS UNITED
Professor Tamara Davis (Team Captain)AstrophysicistPrincipal Investigator, OzDES (Dark Energy Survey)ABC TV documentary presenter, ultimate Frisbee and triathlon competitorUniversity of Queensland
Nate ByrneMeteorologist, oceanographer. science communicatorABC TV Breakfast host and weatherman
Sean ChoolburraComedian, dancer, actor
Thanks to the event producers Dr Rob Bell, Jane O'Hara, Bec Redsell and the whole World Science Festival Brisbane team.