Festival of Dangerous Ideas

Jun 25 2024 100 ep. 40 mins 1.6k

Festival of Dangerous Ideas Podcast artwork

Listen to over 10 years of talks presented at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas – Australia's original disruptive ideas festival. FODI brings to light important conversations that push the boundaries of conventional thought, challenging thinking on some of the most persevering and difficult issues of our time. Hear from our festival alumni – the world’s best experts, innovative thinkers and mischief makers – as they share provocative ideas and conversations that encourage debate and critical thinking. It’s time to get uncomfortable…

Society & Culture

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FODI 2024 program out now

Jun 25 2024 1 mins

Are you BOLD, BRAVE and CURIOUS? FODI is back, baby. We’ve gathered the world's best for a weekend of provocation and inspiration. 87 speakers and artists including 16 international guests across 88 sessions at Carriageworks, Sydney for one massive weekend of danger. Presented by The Ethics Centre, FODI is a place to come and be curious together. A sanctuary where all are welcome

Step into a sanctuary at FODI 2024

Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) returns to Carriageworks on 24-25 August 2024. Offering a haven for exploration and a harbour for the curious, FODI 2024's theme, Sanctuary allows audiences to engage with the ideas behind the headlines of the 24 hour news cycle. In a litany of entrenched ideas, shallow information and self-censorship, we desperately need a space where we can eng

Tariq Ali (2015) | The Twilight of Democracy

Apr 30 2024 40 mins

What is the purpose of democracy when it’s become more challenging than ever to tell the left and right apart? Journalist and filmmaker, Tariq Ali says Western democracy has failed and we are now seeing the emergence of an extreme centre, which ensures no challenges to this form of neoliberal politics is permitted. Tariq Ali is a British-Pakistani political commentator and a pr

Dennis Glover (2015) | Winners and Losers

Apr 02 2024 33 mins

In modern Australia, productivity is all that matters, or so our leaders tell us. However the way we have pursued economic growth in the last 30 years has prevented many people from sharing the rewards. We now create wealth via exclusion. Writer Denis Glover argues that an economy is not a society. We desperately need to confront the working conditions, jobs and lives we want

Molly Crabapple (2016) | From the frontline

Feb 25 2024 28 mins

In a time of turmoil, what happens when art and politics collide? From prisons, refugee camps and war zones, artist and journalist Molly Crabapple has documented the astounding courage of people living in the worst possible circumstances. Crabapple wonders whether art is sharp enough to cut through razor wires. Is it time to move art out of galleries and use it as a real agent

Expendable Australians (2022) | Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Peter Greste, Ian Kemish & Sangeetha Pillai

Jan 22 2024 60 mins

We all have assumptions of what citizenship means. However, in recent years we are starting to see the envelop pushed with more common law rights being taken away. From Australia shutting its doors during the pandemic to authoritarian regimes acquiring the habit of turning travellers into political prisoners, where is it becoming too dangerous to go? And if an Australian passport d

Drawing Truth to Power (2022) | Badiucao, Dan Ilic & Cathy Wilcox

Dec 10 2023 60 mins

Drawing truth to power is more dangerous in some parts of the world than others. The combination of satire and anger can make the best political cartoons lethal to politicians, unveiling truths around human rights, leadership and freedom. But where do we draw the line between humour, offence and legality? And for cartoonists trapped between censorship and cancellation, what is the

Steven Pinker (2022) | Enlightenment or Dark Age?

Nov 06 2023 39 mins

Are the ideals of the Enlightenment – reason, science and humanism – and the progress they can deliver being undermined by a cynical desire to burn it all down? Pre-eminent psychologist Steven Pinker explains why problems are inevitable and not a reason to destroy the institutions of modernity, with all the resulting chaos and carnage. The use of knowledge to enhance human flou

Harmful Thoughts (2022) | Jayne Crossling, Emma A. Jane, Georgia Naldrett & Michael Salter

Oct 08 2023 58 mins

Australia is facing a child sexual abuse epidemic. Brought to light by The Royal Commission and stories of high-profile survivors, the numbers are shocking, and the online world is even worse. But this is not a crimewave we can arrest our way out of.  Criminal justice is not enough, and the revulsion child sexual abuse inspires can paralyse more effective responses. However, th

Donate to make FODI happen in 2024

Sep 07 2023 1 mins

Since 2009 the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, or FODI to its fans, has curated thought-provoking topics and new approaches to wicked problems. We bring bold speakers, artists and experiences together in ways that are unexpected, and yes, sometimes a bit uncomfortable, but we are always unerringly authentic. We’ve never shied away from truth. So, here’s our dangerous truth: Festiv