Sydney Ideas

<p>Great minds don't always think alike</p>

Sydney Ideas

Great minds don't always think alike

Sydney Ideas is the University of Sydney's flagship public talks program.

We believe in the value of ideas that make a difference and have been bringing leading thinkers from around the world to the Sydney community since 2006.

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Explore our talks and ideas

  • Event Name: Katie Mack: The end of everything

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    Summary: Acclaimed astrophysicist Katie Mack presents a lively talk on the five likely ways the universe can die.

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-10T18:30:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-07-10T19:30:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: The Ideas Roundtable: Is Australia alright?

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    Summary: Climate change, gender equality and the rise of AI - join social researcher Rebecca Huntley for a spirited open conversation.

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-29T18:30:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-07-29T20:00:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: Critical minerals

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    Summary: Why are nations around the world racing to secure critical minerals? What’s at stake, and what does it mean for you?

    Event Start Date: 2025-05-20

    Event End Date: 2025-05-20

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    Event Name: The Solutionists live with Alan Rusbridger

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    Summary: British journalist and editor Alan Rusbridger sits down with Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney.

    Event Start Date: 2025-03-26

    Event End Date: 2025-03-26

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    Event Name: Is language power?

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    Summary: Unpack language, culture and power with linguist John McWhorter in a conversation with host Nick Enfield.

    Event Start Date: 2025-03-12

    Event End Date: 2025-03-12

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    Event Name: An evening with Sir Simon Schama

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    Summary: Hear acclaimed historian and writer Sir Simon Schama in-conversation with Professor Avril Alba.

    Event Start Date: 2025-03-05

    Event End Date: 2025-03-05

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    Event Name: Is storytelling essential to innovation?

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    Summary: Defining the elements of a breakthrough, can we engineer the next great discovery in business, science, policy and civic life?

    Event Start Date: 2024-11-26

    Event End Date: 2024-11-26

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    Event Name: Mental wealth forecast

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    Summary: Jo-An Occhipinti, John Buchanan, and Richard Denniss explore mental wealth as a new measure of national wellbeing.

    Event Start Date: 2024-10-24

    Event End Date: 2024-10-24

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    Event Name: Battlers and Billionaires: The updated story of inequality in Australia

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    Summary: Economist and parliamentarian Andrew Leigh discusses his book, Battlers and Billionaires with entrepreneur Cliff Obrecht.

    Event Start Date: 2024-10-23

    Event End Date: 2024-10-23

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    Event Name: Trust and error

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    Summary: Fake research papers are on the rise. Explore what's fuelling this, why it's concerning, and how we can address this issue.

    Event Start Date: 2024-10-22

    Event End Date: 2024-10-22

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    Event Name: The Solutionists live: Liberalism may be the source of your soul

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    Summary: Can liberalism be the basis of a meaningful and fun way of life? Philosopher Alexandre Lefebvre explores this with Mark Scott.

    Event Start Date: 2024-09-19

    Event End Date: 2024-09-19

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    Event Name: Medical moonshots

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    Summary: Can we fast-track cures for diseases? Researchers Michael Bowen, Victoria Cogger, and Chenyu Tim Wang discuss.

    Event Start Date: 2024-08-22

    Event End Date: 2024-08-22

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    Event Name: Music on your mind

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    Summary: Lee-Fay Low, Neal Peres Da Costa, and Helen Mitchell explore whether music participation can prevent dementia.

    Event Start Date: 2024-06-20

    Event End Date: 2024-06-20

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    Event Name: Oceanic narratives: Interweaving past, present and future

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    Summary: Explore the natural world, deep sea, and life through time with Dr. James Bradley, Professor Maria Byrne, and Tishiko King.

    Event Start Date: 2024-04-08

    Event End Date: 2024-04-08

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    Event Name: Art of good health and wellbeing

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    Summary: Explore how the arts are transforming health and education to improve care and wellbeing.

    Event Start Date: 2024-03-21

    Event End Date: 2024-03-21

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    Event Name: Alastair Campbell: Setting the mental health agenda

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    Summary: Alastair Campbell and leading experts discuss what we can do to move the needle on mental health outcomes.

    Event Start Date: 2024-03-04

    Event End Date: 2024-03-04

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    Event Name: Zara Seidler in-conversation with Phoebe Saintilan

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    Summary: Hear from Sydney alumni Zara Seidler and Phoebe Saintilan, two media pioneers reshaping news and storytelling.

    Event Start Date: 2023-09-21

    Event End Date: 2023-09-21

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    Event Name: The loneliness epidemic

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    Summary: Epidemiologist Melody Ding explores loneliness—its trends, causes, and why it’s a major public health issue.

    Event Start Date: 2023-07-27

    Event End Date: 2023-07-27

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    Event Name: Rise of the machines: how worried should we be about AI?

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    Summary: Experts weigh in on AI’s rapid rise and the risks of a superintelligent future—could it lead to an existential threat? 13/07/2023

    Event Start Date: 2023-07-13

    Event End Date: 2023-07-13

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    Event Name: Unlocking the housing crisis

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    Summary: Could a cap on excessive wealth and asset ownership hold the key to addressing the housing crisis in Australia?

    Event Start Date: 2023-04-08T23:00:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2023-04-08T23:00:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: Pacific influence

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    Summary: How can we meaningfully engage with Pacific peoples and regional issues? A conversation hosted by Professor Jioji Ravulo.

    Event Start Date: 2023-03-15

    Event End Date: 2023-03-15

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    Event Name: Voices on the Voice: Marcia Langton

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    Summary: Hear from Professor Marcia Langton on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament at the Voices on the Voice event.

    Event Start Date: 2023-03-08

    Event End Date: 2023-03-08

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    Event Name: Extreme heat and human health

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    Summary: Experts explore how extreme heat impacts our health and share the latest research on staying cool in a world that's heating up.

    Event Start Date: 2022-12-13

    Event End Date: 2022-12-13

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    Event Name: Gender equity

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    Summary: Female staff, students and alumna discuss leadership in male-dominated fields at a gender equity roundtable.

    Event Start Date: 2022-11-23

    Event End Date: 2022-11-23

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    Event Name: Hostage Diplomacy: who's in control?

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    Summary: Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert explores state hostage-taking and how Australia can better respond to this complex global issue.

    Event Start Date: 2022-09-29

    Event End Date: 2022-09-29

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    Event Name: How do our minds work?

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    Summary: A team of experts share cutting-edge research and explore practical ways to reach peak mind and brain health.

    Event Start Date: 2022-09-27

    Event End Date: 2022-09-27

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    Event Name: Invisible Infrared: Connecting the James Webb Space Telescope & Climate Change

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    Summary: Join Dr Karl and Prof Peter Tuthill for a guided tour of stunning new images from NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope.

    Event Start Date: 2022-09-20

    Event End Date: 2022-09-20

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    Event Name: How AI is changing medical practice

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    Summary: Professor Frank Pasquale joins local experts to explore how AI is reshaping medicine—and the legal and ethical issues it raises.

    Event Start Date: 2022-07-25

    Event End Date: 2022-07-25

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    Event Name: Wild weather, lost land and persistent pollutants

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    Summary: Professor Emma Johnston AO and co-authors discuss key findings from the 2021 report and what’s ahead for our environment.

    Event Start Date: 2022-07-21

    Event End Date: 2022-07-21

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    Event Name: Reconcile what? Why white Australia needs to rectify its wrongs

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    Summary: Teela Reid, Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman and Sydney Uni’s First Nations Practitioner-in-Residence, on democracy’s big questions.

    Event Start Date: 2022-07-20

    Event End Date: 2022-07-20

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    Event Name: Can there be a different kind of politics?

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    Summary: Nick Bryant hosts a panel on the new government’s promises with MPs, legal experts, and political theorist Tim Soutphommasane.

    Event Start Date: 2022-07-20

    Event End Date: 2022-07-20

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    Event Name: Dr Kakenya Ntaiya: Empowering girls and women in education

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    Summary: Hear from global leader Dr Kakenya Ntaiya, activist and founder of a nonprofit empowering girls and ending harmful traditions.

    Event Start Date: 2022-05-19

    Event End Date: 2022-05-19

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    Event Name: 2022 federal election series: Part 1

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    Summary: Fran Kelly leads a panel with ABC’s Antony Green and political experts on key policy issues shaping the upcoming election.

    Event Start Date: 2022-04-28

    Event End Date: 2022-04-28

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    Event Name: A flood of emotions: Climate anxiety and trauma in Australia

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    Summary: After climate disasters like the east-coast floods, how do communities support each other through emotional climate distress?

    Event Start Date: 2022-04-21

    Event End Date: 2022-04-21

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    Event Name: Maths, AI and intuition

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    Summary: Explore how AI can enhance human intuition with Professor Geordie Williamson and MC Adam Spencer.

    Event Start Date: 2022-03-18

    Event End Date: 2022-03-18

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    Event Name: Lights on: bringing the nightlife back to our city

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    Summary: How can we foster the conditions for creativity to thrive? Hear from Michael Rodrigues, Jess Scully, Sara Saleh and more.

    Event Start Date: 2022-03-02

    Event End Date: 2022-03-02

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    Event Name: The shape of things to come

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    Summary: Sydney Ideas kicks off 2022 with bold ideas on what’s ahead, what’s trending, and how we should set the agenda.

    Event Start Date: 2022-02-17

    Event End Date: 2022-02-17

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Our latest conversations

Why are nations around the world racing to secure critical minerals? What’s at stake, and what does it mean for you? Hear insights from Professor Marjorie Valix, the Net Zero Institute’s (NZI) critical minerals pillar lead, global governance expert Professor Susan Park, the founder and managing director of Critical Minerals Association Namali Mackay and Andrew Petersen, the CEO of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia. Professor Deanna D’Alessandro, Director of NZI, hosts this discussion.

Sydney Ideas recommends

Thought-provoking talks and ideas regularly take place across the University beyond the Sydney Ideas program. Here are our recommendations.

  • Event Name: NAIDOC Week at the University of Sydney

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    Summary: NAIDOC Week is an opportunity to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-06T00:01:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-07-13T23:59:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: Meditations on Meditations: Inspiration from a Roman Emperor

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    Summary: Hear composer-violinist Rupert Guenther talk about his composition of his new work inspired by Marcus Aurelius’ 'Meditations'

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-11T12:00:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-07-11T13:00:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: Reading the World: British Practices of Natural History 1760-1820

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    Summary: This presentation by Dr Edwin Rose gives an overview of his new book, 'Reading the World: British Practices of Natural History'.

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-24T18:00:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-07-24T19:00:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: Knots, graphs, and algebra: a story of surprises by Zsuzsanna Dancso

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    Summary: As part of National Science Week, explore how can we use algebra – numbers, operations, and structure – to solve mysteries.

    Event Start Date: 2025-08-15T17:30:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-08-15T19:30:00.000+10:00

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