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1 week ago | 
abc.net.au | Simon Rose |David Le May |Claire Slattery |Natasha Mitchell
We know them as Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs. But to Kara Swisher, they're Mark, Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Steve. She was once a Silicon Valley insider, but now she's one of big tech's most vocal critics. This event was recorded at Adelaide Writers Week on Monday 3 March 2025.
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3 weeks ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
What makes a good conversation? And do good conversations have anything in common? Ian Williams studies his daily conversations and explores how our age has left many people in what he calls a "drought of loving voices." In searching for conversations that feel transcendent, not transactional, he argues that in great conversations, the content is less important than the interaction: the sincerity and openness of the engagement.
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4 weeks ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
We're in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself. The term "appropriation" has come to create guardrails around what can be said and by whom. Award-winning Canadian writer Ian Williams considers the role of speech and silence in reallocating power, and what it means to truly listen. The CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time was recorded live across Canada in November 2024.
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4 weeks ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
Bookstores are full of titles that are supposed to help us deal with difficult conversations — about emotions, misunderstandings and hurt feelings. The problem is that difficult conversations are almost always about something other than what they seem to be about. And what we're actually looking for in a conversation isn't always answers — it's communion. The CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our timewas recorded live across Canada in November 2024.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
Public space is important for democracy. This is where we articulate our values, and perhaps change our minds. So how do we open ourselves up to connection with strangers while safeguarding our personal sovereignty and resisting efforts to convert us? And what can we learn from our conversations with strangers and loved ones alike about how to navigate the murky waters of national conversations?
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
Ever felt that no one is really listening? At a time when we're more connected than ever, why does it seem like we can barely talk to each other? Civic and civil discourse have deteriorated, and the air is raw with anger and misunderstanding on all sides. Award-winning Canadian author and poet Ian Williams is reviving the lost art of conversation in his CBC Massey Lecture series What I mean to say — remaking conversation in our time. These lectures were recorded live across Canada in November 2024.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
In his influential 1964 book The Lucky Country, Donald Horne wrote that Australians played an aristocratic role in Asia: "rich, self-centred, frivolous, blind". A lot has changed in 60 years, but does Australia still think it's better than its neighbours? Recorded at the Australian Academy of the Humanities annual symposium, The Ideas and Ideals of Australia — The Lucky Country turns 60, on 13 — 15 November 2024 at the Australian National University.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |Matthew Crawford |David Le May
How many times have you checked your phone today? How many tabs are open in your web browser? Do you feel in control of your attention? In the digital age, attention is now a commodity. Can practices like meditation and mindfulness help us feel more free to focus on what really matters? This event was hosted at the Brunswick Ballroom by the Sophia Club in partnership with the University of Melbourne's Contemplative Studies Centre.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |Matthew Crawford |David Le May
The Murray Darling Basin is the most important river system in Australia, and the most contested. What does it mean to live by those rivers, through the droughts, the floods, and the water politics that shape these communities? A beautiful and evocative history of the Murray Darling Basin, as told by people who live there. This speech was recorded at the History Council of Victoria's annual lecture at the State Library of Victoria on 14 November 2024.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Natasha Mitchell |Claire Slattery |David Le May
A "Homeric struggle", a desperate night-ballet, an ethical training ground for boys and men. Aussie Rules is a multimillion-dollar industry, but at its heart, to thousands of people, it's much more than that. Including to Australian literary great, Helen Garner. This event was recorded at the National Library of Australia on 20 February 2025.
