Conversations: Our Evolving World
In this collection of episodes from ABC's Conversations podcast, Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski interview great minds about our fast-changing world. Guests include Cheng Lei, Jonathan Haidt and Brolga Barns, who discuss lived experiences and concepts like society, technology, democracy, war, survival, adaptive skills, generational differences, science, and justice. The episodes are curated from the rich archive of the long-running Australian interview program.
Episodes
Nuking the moon and mirrors in space—man's wildest attempts to control the weather
Nuking the moon, putting mirrors in space and blowing up the Polar ice caps are just some of history's hairbrained schemes to control the weather, an obsession man has had since the dawn of time.As a major heatwave tears through Europe, millions of people are frantically trying to stay cool, or praying for some relief. Their desperation is not new.For thousands of years, human ci
Jimmy Wales says it is possible to have a collaborative, trusting world online
The Wikipedia co-founder has developed seven rules for building trust to create a better world, both on the internet and IRL.Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, Jimmy was enamoured with his family's Encyclopaedia Britannica.The city was home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre, and the energy of the place gave a young Jimmy a robust enthusiasm for technology and the future.As a
How a teen father used the local skate park to change the world
Jayden Sheridan was just 17 years old when he found out he was going to be a father, and immediately Jayden knew he needed to give his son better opportunities than he ever had growing up in regional Victoria. (R)In Seymour, which is one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Australia, Jayden experienced homelessness, substance abuse, violence and a general lack of direction. He
Animal Behaviouralist: Talking magpies, grieving tawny frogmouths and canny galahs
Gisela Kaplan fell under the spell of birds when hand-rearing a magpie nestling. After it learned to speak, she was so intrigued she switched careers and began her research into avian behaviour. Her many books on Australian native birds have been ground-breaking.Many assumptions about the nature of birds and their behaviour are completely wrong when applied to Australian birds.Gi
Artificial Intelligence — a moral future
Professor Toby Walsh is a world leader in AI research. He asks questions like, 'can we train machines to be fair?' and 'how do we resist the spread of lethal autonomous weapons?' His job is making sure the future of AI is for better, not worse.Artificial intelligence has become an essential part of our lives — it helps us to navigate and communicate, and is responsible for incred
Part ONE: Locked up in China — Cheng Lei on state paranoia and staying sane in isolation
When journalist Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese state security agents, she thought would be freed within the week. Instead, she was held on absurd espionage charges for more than three years, much of that time spent in isolation.When Cheng Lei moved back to the country of her birth after the dramatic opening up of China to the world, she was a part of something exciting and his
Part TWO: Locked up in China — Cheng Lei on cell mates, singing and survival
Cheng Lei's years in detention in China, on trumped-up espionage charges, go from cruel and isolating, to absurd and romantic when she gets moved into a cell with three other women.The Chinese-Australian journalist was held in detention in China for more than three years, accused of selling state secrets to foreign people and powers.In episode one of this two-part series, Lei exp
Epic sharks — the ancient origins of the monsters of the sea
From sharks with wheels of teeth, to gargantuan sharks like the megalodon, palaeontologist John Long has traced the long and storied history of these oceanic hunters.Sharks and humans have a complicated relationship.We have long considered them monsters and super predators that should be eliminated for our own safety.But sharks are much more than scary and fearsome.The history of
The delicate and deadly world of jellyfish: from Bazinga to Shiraz
Lisa-Ann Gershwin discovered a new species of deadly Irukandji jellyfish. Lisa-Ann Gershwin was in her late 20s when she visited a small aquarium in Los Angeles. There she found white moon jellyfish in a tank, hanging 'like clouds in the sky'.They were the most beautiful, mesmerising creatures Lisa had ever seen, and that day set her life's work in motion.She's now one of the wor
Aunty Ruth Hegarty’s life of defiance
The hardship, cruelty and loneliness of the mission system during the Great Depression didn't crush Aunty Ruth Hegarty's spirit. She found her voice, God and her family.In 1929 during the Great Depression, Ruth Hegarty travelled with her mother and grandparents to Barambah, later known as Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission. After being told someone there would help them find a new home
Bill Hayes' unexpected later-in-life love story, set in New York City
Bill Hayes moved to New York at 48. He took up photography, and fell in love with his neighbour, Dr Oliver SacksDoctor Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, a naturalist and a university professor. He became famous for writing case histories of his patients in books including, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, and An Anthropologist on Mars.But Oliver had never been in a relations
The Natural Horseman
People travel from all over the world to learn about horses from Ken Faulkner. But after a life-threatening riding accident on his favourite horse, Smoke, Ken had to learn to walk and ride again, rediscovering himself in the process
Fascinating fungi — the intelligent kingdom
Biologist Merlin Sheldrake's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveriesEnglish biologist Merlin Sheldrake, son of Rupert Sheldrake, became fascinated by fungi when he was a boy.He grew mushrooms in his cupboard and brewed bog myrtle beer under his bed.He went on to study fungi at Cambridge Un
Henry Reynolds and the truth
One of the foremost historians of black and white Australia, Henry says now is the time to acknowledge how the country was founded. Frontier violence, the myth of peaceful settlement, and the failure of the British to make treaties with the First Nations have led to consequences we still live with today (CW: material might be distressing to ATSI listeners)When Henry moved to Town
Tim Flannery reflects on his youthful adventures in the South Pacific
Broadcast date: Tuesday 17 January 2012
Scientist Tany Letty's lessons from slime mould - a brainless blob
Tanya Latty is an insect scientist with a quirky taste in pets, and a keen eye for detail. But it's the lessons from her brainless pet slime mould that she's most fascinated about.Scientist, Tanya Latty, studies the behaviour of ants and bees. She's particularly interested in their ability to work effectively as a team to achieve a common goal.But her pet project is focused on a
A daring escape from Vietnam, and a brilliant career
Anh Nguyen Austen's family fled Vietnam by sea in 1982, on a wooden boat bound for the Philippines. When a once-in-a-century storm struck in South China Sea, they thought all hope was lost. Anh is an academic and community volunteer. She grew up in Vietnam in a Catholic family.Anh's childhood was idyllic, with a big extended family and a close friendship with her cousin named Joe
I was a political prisoner in Myanmar — and I could never hate the Burmese
Following the coup of 2021, Australian economist Sean Turnell received an email from a "secret friend", warning him he was being watched by Myanmar's military. Moments later, the police closed in on him.Sean Turnell is an Australian economist with longstanding connections to Myanmar, the nation formerly known as Burma.In 2016, Sean was appointed as senior economic advisor to the
Mass murder, cannibalism and insanity — inside Mao's cultural revolution
China's cultural revolution was murderously violent and culturally devastating; millions of people, artefacts and ideas went up in smoke. So what's fuelling today's Neo-Maoist movement and nostalgia for that period?In 1966, the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong went to war against his own government.What followed was ten years of murderous violence and utter insanity, until
The caving time lord
Dr Kira Westaway is a geochronologist who places modern and ancient humans in context by dating things found in caves. For Kira, how we understand ourselves now, is tied up in the past
David Wengrow: everything we know about the human story is wrong
Archaeologist David Wengrow has discovered an entirely new way to think about the history of humanity, from the origins of farming, cities, democracy and slavery to civilisation itself.What sort of world could we create if we stopped believing that inequality is the price of progress?More than a decade ago, archaeologist David Wengrow started exploring this question with his frie
Ken Wyatt - the Noongar boy who made history
Ken Wyatt was born at Roelands Mission in outback WA, where his mother had been taken as a small girl, after she was stolen from her family. More than 60 years later, he became Australia's first Indigenous Minister for Indigenous AustraliansKen Wyatt was born at Roelands Mission in outback WA, where his mother had been taken as a small girl, after she was stolen from her family.
How Brolga Barns became a 'kangaroo mum'
Saving the orphaned kangaroo joeys of Central Australia
Kylie Moore-Gilbert's freedom fight
Kylie Moore-Gilbert spent two years inside the Iranian prison system, secretly communicating with fellow women prisoners while she waited for news from Australia
Could you live forever? The neuroscience behind brain preservation, consciousness and death
Would you want to live for longer? Forever? Have your mind preserved and uploaded into something non-human? And is it even possible? Neuroscientist Dr Ariel Zeleznikow explores challenging ideas about life and death.From adding a few decades onto a life span, to suspending the aging process altogether, and more radically, uploading a preserved brain and consciousness into an enti
Brian Greene: helping the world make sense of String Theory
The mind-bending physics of String Theory, decoded
Living to 120 and beyond
Biologist David Sinclair believes aging is a disease, and we can find a cure for it
Becoming Zenith
Zenith Virago married at 17, and had two children. Then she left her young family to create a life of her own on the other side of the world
Bringing the dead back home
Jenny Briscoe-Hough is helping Port Kembla locals take back control at the end of life
How Bri Lee became an incendiary
Bri Lee on the brutal series of events which began her life as a writer tackling injustice in our courts, the beauty industry, and in our schools (CW: description of legal processes relating to sexual assault)
Jonathan Haidt on 'attention fracking' and how to stop tech companies from stealing your child's focus
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says it is time to reinstate the play-based childhood to bring our kids back from life online and into the real world, away from their increasing obsession with devices. It’s a fact of modern life that children who are given smart phones are able to access pornography, real images of violence and harmful comparisons with their friends and also i
The unexpected plot twist: The tech nerd who changed course to help the homeless
Jon Owen's mum enrolled him in a computer science degree at University - expecting him to build a flourishing career; which he did. It just wasn't the one that everyone expected. (R)Jon Owen came to Australia as a small child.He survived playground racism at school, and became a high achiever.His family expected him to excel at school and university and go on to a flourishing car
Xanthe Mallett on skeletons, forensics, crime and body farms
Forensic scientist Dr Xanthe Mallett on her work analysing skeletal remains, investigating cases of wrongful conviction and studying the decomposition of the human body (CW: contains references to death and crime) Xanthe is a forensic anthropologist, criminologist and author who works with police to analyse skeletal remains.Xanthe worked for years at Scotland's Centre for Anatomy
Suzie Miller: finder of ways
Suzie Miller with stories from her free range St Kilda childhood, her drama-filled life as a lawyer, and the inspiration behind her play Prima Facie
Unlocking the mystery of Motor Neurone Disease
Dominic Rowe is asking how common degenerative brain diseases begin
Tim Winton on staying alive, in extremis
Australian writer Tim Winton on the stories which inspired his latest novel, 'Juice', a story of determination, survival, and the limits of the human spirit.'Juice' is an astonishing feat of imagination.It takes us to a far-off future on a superheated planet, where people must live like desert frogs in Northwest Australia. They go underground for the murderously hot summer months
Drug bazaars, hitmen and hackers — why Eileen went deep into the dark web
Lawyer turned journalist Eileen Ormsby on her journey deeper and deeper into the internet's 'evil twin', where, under the cloak of anonymity, people sell buy and share anything a person is willing to pay for. Eileen Ormsby had just returned to university to study journalism when her friend told her about a website called The Silk Road.Created by American libertarian, Ross Ulbrich
Undercover hitmen, shady drug deals and covert surveillance — life as a top cop
While working as an undercover cop, Nick Kaldas played a drug baron in the market for vast quantities of hemp oil, tracked a fugitive with a penchant for hair transplants, and posed as a hit man for a spurned lover.Nick was a 21-year-old immigrant lad from Egypt when he decided to join the NSW Police Force.He soon rose up the ranks from working as a junior constable on the beat,
Candice Fox: how to raise a crime writer
Having more than 140 foster siblings was a major influence on one of Australia's best-selling crime writers
The sprawling history of the human soul — part one
In this two-part series, historian Paul Ham traces how our definition and understanding of the human soul has transformed over thousands of years. Humans have been probing their own invisible inner voice since the Stone Age. But where did the concept of the soul even come from? And is it really what separates the living from the dead?
The sprawling history of the human soul — part two
In this two-part series, historian Paul Ham traces how our definition and understanding of the human soul has transformed over thousands of years. Humans have been probing their own invisible inner voice since the Stone Age. But where did the concept of the soul even come from? And is it really what separates the living from the dead?Historian and writer Paul Ham has traced how o
How to spot a psychopath and toxic people
Understanding and managing the psychopaths in our midst at work and at homeDavid Gillespie is a former corporate lawyer and investor and the author of the best-selling book, Sweet Poison.Some years ago, David found himself working alongside a toxic human being, whom he now considers to have been a psychopath.Psychopaths are typically people incapable of human empathy.They tend to
The secret history of the native hibiscus
Botanist and D'harawal elder Fran Bodkin uses western science to explain up to 80,000 years of Indigenous plant knowledge
Putting lipstick on a great white shark
Rodney Fox was torn apart by a great white shark and it took 462 stitches to put him back together again. He was then instrumental in filming Jaws, the most terrifying shark film of all time. But over time, this salty seadog has become the apex predator's fiercest protector
Nerida's nudibranchs, sea dragons and siphonophores
Dr Nerida Wilson spends a lot of her time getting acquainted with the mysterious creatures lurking in the dark depths of the sea
Dr Suzie Sheehy's journey to the basement of reality
Scientists continue to discover the rarer and rarer objects which make up our universe. Why are we so obsessed with the particles around us?
The secret powers of snakes
Dr Christina Zdenek wants to change our minds about Australia’s deadly snakes, not just because their venom holds healing secrets
Wily cockatoos, bin chickens and spangled drongos
Darryl Jones on the dramatic lives of Australia's city-dwelling native birds
Lee Berger & the Cave of Lost Hominids
Lee Berger, the National Geographic Explorer in Residence and real-life Indiana Jones, has found remarkable things underground. His discoveries are revolutionising what we understand about our own origins
Searching for snow leopards
Rodney Jackson's life, tracking and preserving wild snow leopards
Birds, bees and intelligent machines
Mandyam Srinivasan: how the birds and the bees are revolutionising flying and robotics
Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus
Sound designer and naturalist Douglas Quin makes field recordings from everywhere on Earth and uses them to create soundscapes for film and tv, galleries and museums
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Ross Gittins
Conversations is bringing you a summer treat — a collection of Richard's most memorable guests through out the years. Ross Gittins is one of Australia’s most popular newspaper columnists. For five decades, he has explained the inner workings of the Australian economy to readers in plain English through his three weekly columns in the Sydney Morning Herald.Ross Gittins is one of A
