Big Ideas

He was there at the birth of a movement. He's been a champion for the rights of gay people both in Australia and abroad ever since. The son of Jewish refugees, he's also been forced to reckon with other parts of his identity, especially since 7 October 2023. Dennis Altman looks back at 50 years of activism, writing, and social change.
This event was recorded at the Williamstown Literary Festival on 13 June 2026.
Speakers:
Professor Dennis AltmanAuthor, Righting My World: Essays from the past half century, and many moreVice Chancellors Fellow at LaTrobe UniversityFormer President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the PacificPatron of the Australian Queer ArchivesPatron, the Pride Foundation
Sam Elkin (host)Author, Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal SagaHost, Queer View Mirror Triple R community radio stationFormer lawyer

Think of a history textbook you had at school. Could you relate to the characters inside its pages? These women are proving Australian history contains multitudes. You just have to go looking for the version of Australia that never made it into the textbooks.
Meet four women reshaping how and whose history is told. Hidden histories with a Wiradjuri woman and nurse turned oral historian, a South Indian finance student turned storyteller, a Zambian born film-maker and author, and the founder of She Shapes History. 
This event was hosted at the National Library of Australia in partnership with She Shapes History.
Speakers
Sita SargeantSocial entrepreneur, author, founder and CEO of She Shapes History2026 ACT Young Australian of the Year
Santilla ChingaipeZambian-born filmmaker, historian and author of Black Convicts - how slavery shaped AustraliaHost of the SBS documentary Our African RootsHost of monthly literary and listening events in Melbourne. Find more information at firstchapterpresents
Jacinta MackayWiradjuri woman, nurse, researcher and oral historian completing her PhDLecturer, University of Sydney School of Nursing2024 National Library Scholar
Harini RangarajanChennai-born, Canberra-raised storyteller, archivist and musicianACT Greens candidate
Further information:
Relevant reading notes and tips for this event if you're interested to discover more.

The conversation around men's mental health, identity and emotional lives is changing. Literature is one of the places where that shift is happening. On the page, writers are exploring what it costs men to conform, to hide, to perform strength they don't always feel.
Masculinity and Mental Health was presented at the Newcastle Writers Festival.
Listen to Big Ideas: The radicalisation of boys — Jess Hill, George Megalogenis, Thomas Mayo with Natasha Mitchell at Byron Writers Festival
Speakers
Tyree BarnetteAuthor of Stolen Man on Stolen Land: Being African-American in Australia
Brandon JackFormer AFL player and author of Pissants and 28: A memoir of football, addiction, art, masculinity and love
Andrew PipposAuthor of The Transformations and Lucky's
Michael Williams (host)Editor of The Monthly

The ocean sustains all life on Earth, yet we know remarkably little about it. Now, because of technological advances, we could be on the cusp of a new age of exploration. But the ocean is in trouble.
As National Geographic's Chief Science and Exploration Officer and deputy administrator for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Terry Garcia has seen the worst humans can inflict on the environment, working on responses to major disasters the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He says that in order to save the ocean, we need to understand it, and in order to understand it, we need to explore it.
The 2026 Talbot Oration was recorded at the Australian Museum on 4 June.
Speakers:
Terry GarciaPresident of Exploration VentureFormer Executive Vice President and Chief Science and Exploration Officer for the National Geographic SocietyFormer Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Kim McKay (host)Director and Chief Executive of the Australian Museum

It's the greatest power you all have as human beings — a healing power: to make others feel safe and welcome. It's so powerful because it puts a stop to their fears. The way to do this is learning to regulate your own fear responses. It's crucial to any relationship, but nowhere more so than in the therapy room. Fear makes or breaks successful therapy.
Recorded at the York Festival of Ideas and presented by the Complex Trauma Institute. The festival is led by the University of York, UK.
Speaker
Michael GuildingAuthor of  Fear in the Therapy Room. A survival guide for working with complex traumaRetired counsellor and clinical psychotherapist