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Sydney Ideas

Great minds don't always think alike

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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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Stay up to date

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Sign up to the newsletter to hear about new events and talks on demand

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Explore our talks and ideas

  • Event Name: An optimised life, examined

    Event Location:

    Summary: On the ongoing optimisation of everything, everywhere.

    Event Start Date: 2025-12-10T18:30:00.000+11:00

    Event End Date: 2025-12-10T19:30:00.000+11:00

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    Event Name: Sydney Ideas x Parramatta Lanes: The social life of food

    Event Location:

    Summary: Explore the science and stories shaping our food experiences and futures with host Sophie Gee and USYD experts.

    Event Start Date: 2025-10-22T18:30:00.000+11:00

    Event End Date: 2025-10-23T19:30:00.000+11:00

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    Event Name: Slow ageing

    Event Location:

    Summary: How might we all live – and stay – well, for longer, at any stage of life?

    Event Start Date: 2025-09-24T18:30:00.000+10:00

    Event End Date: 2025-09-24T19:30:00.000+10:00

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    Event Name: The Ideas Roundtable: Is Australia alright?

    Event Location:

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

    Event Start Date: 2025-07-29

    Event End Date: 2025-07-29

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    Event Name: Katie Mack: The end of everything

    Event Location:

    Summary: Acclaimed theoretical astrophysicist Katie Mack presents a lively talk on the 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: Critical minerals

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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?

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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

    Event Location:

    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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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: The Nicholas Catchlove Lecture 2025

    Event Location:

    Summary: World-leading researcher Professor Sir O’Rahilly delivers the Charles Perkins Centre capstone The Nicholas Catchlove Lecture 2025.

    Event Start Date: 2025-12-11T18:00:00.000+11:00

    Event End Date: 2025-12-11T19:00:00.000+11:00

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    Event Name: Dharawal Cultural Day at the Museum

    Event Location: Chau Chak Wing Museum

    Summary: Celebrate culture and community with the Gujaga Foundation

    Event Start Date: 2025-12-13T12:00:00.000+11:00

    Event End Date: 2025-12-13T16:00:00.000+11:00

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Follow Sydney Ideas

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Contact

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Email the Sydney Ideas team

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sydney.ideas@sydney.edu.au

For media enquiries about Sydney Ideas guests, please contact the University's Media team.