Big Ideas

October 7 has become synonymous with the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, in which more than 1200 Jewish people were murdered. What has followed — the hostage crisis, the war in Gaza, and the global response — has reverberated in communities far beyond the Middle East, including here in Australia. For Jewish Australians, it has turned their lives, their careers, their relationships and their identities upside-down. Four Jewish Australian women share their personal experiences of the profound rift they've felt in the wake of that day, and their hopes and attempts to mend it.
This conversation was recorded at Manly Writers' Festival on 22 March 2026.
Speakers
Joanne FedlerAuthor of The Whale's Last Song and more, writing teacher, former lawyer
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert Research Fellow in Security Studies, Macquarie UniversityAuthor, The Uncaged SkyFormer political prisoner in Iran
Elana Benjamin Author of Indian-Jewish Food, Recipes and Stories from the Back Streets of Bondi, and more
Lee KofmanAuthor of The Writer Laid Bare: Mastering Emotional Honesty in a Writer's Art, Craft and Life and more, writing coach and co-editor, Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7
Suellen Dainty (host) Journalist and author, An Invisible Tattoo and more

Through the stories of five women across three generations of his family, the influential Greek economist, author, politician and public intellectual Yanis Varoufakis tells the tumultuous tale of Greece's modern history, and reflects on its parallels with the once again global rising tides of fascism, authoritarianism, and the actions of those who resist.
This conversation was recorded on 6 March 2026 at the Sydney Greek Festival.
Speakers
Yanis VaroufakisEconomist, former Greek Finance Minister (2015), founder and General Secretary MeRA25Author, Raise your soul: A Personal History of Resistance, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism? and more
Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos (host)Journalist, Doctor of Creative Arts University of Technology Sydney

Every scientist dreams of a breakthrough — a new discovery that will change everything. Professor Georgina Long is someone who has done it — as a pioneer of life saving cancer treatments. So what are the ingredients for breakthroughs to occur? And why are the conditions that can lead to new discoveries under threat right now?
The 2026 Ann Moyal lecture When groundbreaking cancer treatments save 50% of patients, what happens to the other half? was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 19 March 2026.
Speakers
Professor Georgina LongMedical Director of the Melanoma Institute of AustraliaChair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research, University of SydneyCo-recipient (with Professor Richard Scolyer) of the 2024 Australian of the Year Award
Further information:
Patient Zero - Richard Scolyer - Australian Story 2024
Dr Richard Scolyer speaks on his fight with brain cancer - ABC 730, 30 October 2025

The explosion of reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not only a story of the past. Right now, nuclear plants are weaponised in the Iran war. It happened in 2022 when Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl exclusion zone. A new way of weaponising nuclear power. What have we learned from the worst nuclear accident in history — and what have we failed to learn?
This conversation was presented by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Ukrainian Institute London.
Speakers
Serhii PlokhyMykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University
Eglė RindzevičiūtėProfessor of Criminology and Sociology at Kingston University London
Jonathon TurnbullAssistant Professor of Human Geography at Durham University
Dr Sasha Dovzhyk (host)Writer, Curator and Head of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange (Lviv, Ukraine). Editor of the London Ukrainian Review

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.