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For most of its modern history, Australia has sheltered under the wing of a great and powerful friend – first the UK, then the USA.     But the rules-based order we've relied on is now unraveling. America is no longer the reliable ally it once was.  So where does that leave us? Is a middle power ever truly sovereign? Ex-politicians Bob Carr and Malcom Turnbull discuss with Simon Longstaff whether Australia can learn to dance with elephants, without being trampled in the process. This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. The Hon Bob Carr was Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, during which his government created 350 new national parks, introduced the world's first carbon trading scheme, and hosted the 2000 Olympics. He later served as Australia's Foreign Minister under the Gillard and Rudd governments. Since leaving politics, Carr has built a distinguished career as author, academic and defacto diplomat.  Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Prior to entering politics he enjoyed successful careers as a lawyer, investment banker and journalist. As a lawyer, together with his wife Lucy, he successfully defended former MI5 agent Peter Wright against the British Government in the "Spycatcher" trial. He led the campaign to make Australia a republic. He has been, and remains, a venture capitalist having co-founded, among other companies OzEmail Ltd, the first Australian tech company to list on the NASDAQ in 1996. As Prime Minister from 2015–18, his government, among other achievements, legalised same-sex marriage, reformed schools funding as well as income tax, and commenced the construction of both Snowy Hydro 2.0 and Western Sydney Airport.

What happens when the institutions designed to protect human dignity come under strain? In the frontline human rights battles across the US, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, China and beyond, the future of freedom may depends less on superpowers and more on whether democracies and civil society can reinvent the right for rights before it's too late.  Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Philippe Bolopion and Australian Director at Human Rights Watch, Daniela Gavshon discuss how this is a moment to resist, not retreat. This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. Philippe Bolopion is the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. He was formerly the United Nations Director of Human Rights Watch and has held several leadership positions. Bolopion has extensive experience in designing and implementing Human Rights Watch's advocacy strategies worldwide and in overseeing the organisation's advocacy response to crises. He has traveled extensively to conflict zones, including in Myanmar, Burundi, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Mali. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch in 2010, he spent five years working with the French daily Le Monde as the UN correspondent in New York. He has also worked as a journalist for France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI). Daniela Gavshon is the Australia director at Human Rights Watch, leading the organisation's engagement with the Australian government on foreign and domestic policy. Prior to this, she spent ten years at the Justice and Equity Centre (formerly Public Interest Advocacy Centre), where she founded the Truth and Accountability program, led human rights and war crimes investigations, and led a landmark project mapping laws and policies affecting First Nations people in Australia. She also serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of New South Wales, is the co-chair of the War Crimes Committee of the International Bar Association, and holds degrees in law and arts from the University of Sydney, and a master's in international humanitarian law from the Geneva Academy.

History's response to heretics has been consistent – to silence, shame and ultimately, burn them. Booker Prize-winning Australian novelist Richard Flanagan presents a new essay inspired by his book, Heresies. This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. Richard Flanagan is an Australian writer who has been described by the Washington Post as 'one of our greatest living novelists' and as 'among the most versatile writers in the English language' by the New York Review of Books. He is the first and only author to have ever won both the Booker and the Baillie Gifford prizes.

Australia has spent years building new ways to recognise suffering and combat discrimination. From dedicated envoys to public reckonings – but are these approaches deepening division rather than healing it?  Professors Ghassan Hage and Marcia Langton, and journalist David Leser, in conversation with Simon Longstaff, ask the question nobody wants to ask: is empathy killing our nation? This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. Ghassan Hage is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and a fellow of both the Australian and the British Academies of the Social Sciences. He has held prestigious visiting professorship all over the world including at Harvard and the Collège de France in Paris. He is currently a Distinguished Research Fellow at Zhejiang University in China. He is internationally renown for his work on the anthropology of racism and nationalism. Marcia Langton holds the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne and is an anthropologist and geographer who has made extensive contributions to Indigenous knowledge and advocacy for Indigenous rights. She is a descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara peoples. She is Director of the Indigenous Studies Unit of Onemda at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Her research subjects include alcohol-related family and domestic violence, Indigenous alcohol management plans, racism, and Indigenous culture and art. David Leser is a two-time Walkley award-winning journalist and author of seven books, including his memoir To Begin to Know, shortlisted for the 2015 National Biography award, and Women, Men & the Whole Damn Thing, his 2019 study of the history of patriarchy and misogyny in the age of #MeToo. A former Middle East and Washington correspondent, David is a former staff writer and regular contributor to Good Weekend magazine and columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.

All the digital spaces we rely on have transformed into giant piles of inescapable shit. The app that used to work, now doesn't. The platform that once connected you, now surveils you. The internet that promised everything, now delivers misogyny, manipulation, conspiracy and fraud. Journalist Cory Doctorow has a word for it, and you've probably already used it – enshittification.   It's a technique that tech giants use to lure users and businesses in. They offer a valuable service with hidden lock-ins, which lets the platforms degrade their services. They then extract value from businesses and users alike, tormenting their captives with impunity.    In a world that's ever-worsening, Doctorow isn't just here to name the rot. He wants to cut it out, question the monopolies, and fight for regulation and our right to privacy. This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of dozens of books, most recently Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (nonfiction); and the novel Picks and Shovels. His latest book is The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, coming in June 2026. Born in Toronto, Canada, he lives in Los Angeles and London.

Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has spent her career on the frontlines of disinformation warfare. But this war isn't fought with bullets, but instead with lies confusion and fear – one digital post at a time. Ressa forces us to confront how journalism, social media and AI is being weaponised to rewrite our reality and redirect our vote. Because once our beliefs are controlled – democracy itself becomes the casualty.  This session was recorded live in Sydney, August 2026. Maria Ressa is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, the Philippines' leading digital news site, and a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate recognised for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. She serves as Co-Chair of the UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and Vice-Chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum. A Professor of Practice at Columbia University's SIPA, she leads the Technology & Democracy Initiative. Her most recent book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Antisemitism is one of the world's oldest hatreds. Adapting to every age, it lies hidden below the surface until the conditions of our world allow it to emerge.     Join professors Ruth Balint and David Slucki, and lawyer Sarah Schwartz, in conversation with Simon Longstaff as they examine how antisemitism mutates across ideologies, why it so often flourishes during moments of social breakdown. This session was recorded live at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026. Ruth Balint is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her research examines the intersections between migration, gender and international law, with a current focus on the Jewish experience.  Sarah Schwartz is a human rights lawyer and founding Executive Director of the Jewish Council of Australia, an organisation committed to fighting antisemitism and supporting Palestinian liberation. David Slucki is Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Loti Smorgon Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life and Culture.  Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.

Perceptions of Islam in the Western world today have been shaped by the actions of terrorists, fear, distortion and ignorance. And as a result, the advanced civilisational legacy produced by Islam has been buried and ignored – not only by the Western world but also by many Muslims themselves.    In conversation with Simon Longstaff, Special envoy Aftab Malik challenges us to radically reframe how we think about Islam, and the resources it offers to support Western civilisation.  This session was recorded at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026. Aftab Malik is Australia's first-ever Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia and a UN Alliance of Civilisations expert on global Muslim affairs. He spent nearly a decade in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, bridging academic insight and policy practice to address hate, misinformation and structural discrimination at a national level. Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.

Festival of Dangerous Ideas is back this August – and bigger than ever. 10 days. 14 iconic Sydney venues. 20 international guests. 115 sessions.   We've gathered the world's most compelling thinkers, artists and provocateurs for ten days of talks, films, art, excursions and world-premiere commissioned works across Sydney this August.   The program is on sale now. Dig deeper and save with a Festival multipack at festivalofdangerousideas.com

We're living in increasingly brittle times. Ideas that once provoked argument, now provoke outrage – and the art of debate has now shattered. What does it mean to think freely about our world when speech itself is treated as a hazard?   Through his experiences, writer Salman Rushdie speaks about the major themes of his writing, freedom of expression, religion, East-West relations and the role of the artist in the contemporary world.   Salman Rushdie is the best-selling author of twenty-two books, including Midnight's Children, which won both the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker; Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor's Last Sigh, and Quichotte, all of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize; East West a collection of stories; Joseph Anton a memoir; The Jaguar Smile a work of reportage; and three collections of essays, including Languages of Truth. His most recent book, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for nonfiction. Rushdie is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. He is a former president of PEN America and the recipient of the PEN Centenary Courage Award. His books have been translated into over forty languages. In 2023, he was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Year, and has received a Queen's knighthood for his 'services to literature'.

Heading into its 13th festival, FODI exists thanks to supporters who don't flinch at difficult topics. Brave minds. Bold hearts. Dangerous conversations. We've built a reputation for dragging the world's sharpest provocateurs and thought leaders to Sydney IRL. From 21–23 August 2026, FODI returns. Our Opening Night event with Salman Rushdie will ignite a jam-packed weekend, where global thought leaders, trail-blazing artists and fearless experts converge upon some of Sydney's most iconic venues. But a festival with global reach doesn't come cheap. To keep tickets accessible and to stay fiercely independent, FODI relies on people like you. Big ideas don't fund themselves. Donate to help us lock in extraordinary speakers and artists for this year's program at festivalofdangerousideas.com.au.

Drawing from her experience as an author and cultural critic who consistently challenges predictable opinions, Roxane Gay urges us to embrace the danger and discomfort of dissent. But in an age of polarised opinion warfare, this comes at a personal and professional cost. Courage is an essential ingredient in this strategy, but it can only take you so far. When the tide of viral criticism, is both toxic and overwhelming, it can seem rational either to give up on nuance or withdraw. What does it take to stand your ground and fight for complex and difficult ideas?    Roxane Gay's writing appears in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018, Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, Harper's Bazaar, A Public Space, McSweeney's, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times where she also writes the "Work Friend" column. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, The New York Times' bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Bad Feminist and The New York Times' bestselling Hunger: A Memoir of My Body and the nationally bestselling Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business. She is also the author of the Eisner Award winning World of Wakanda for Marvel and the editor of Best American Short Stories 2018. She is currently at work on film and television projects, a book of writing advice, an essay collection about television and culture, and a YA novel entitled The Year I Learned Everything. In 2018, she won a Guggenheim fellowship. She is also the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Humanity has demonstrated, time and again, a horrific tendency to destroy its own kind – often to eliminate difference and impose uniformity of identity. At its worst, this tendency has led to the destruction of whole peoples – the crime against humanity of genocide. However, in our politically charged climate, the term genocide carries a massive moral weight, and we must be cautious about where to apply it. If we're too restrictive, it will make us blind to evil in the world. But if we're too loose, it will desensitise us to its significance.   Philosophers Stan Grant and Simon Longstaff explore what genocide is, and respond to its presence in the world.    Stan Grant is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Yindyamarra Nguluway Trust at Charles Sturt University. He has a Doctorate of Theology and was formerly ABC's Global Affairs and Indigenous Affairs Analyst and host of news program Q+A. He is one of Australia's most respected and awarded journalists, with more than 40 years experience in radio and television news and current affairs.  Simon Longstaff commenced his work as the first Executive Director of The Ethics Centre in 1991. He began his working life on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is proud of his kinship ties to the Anindilyakwa people. After a period studying law in Sydney and teaching in Tasmania, he pursued postgraduate studies as a Member of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." Simon is an Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.

Economist John N. Friedman has made a career researching the causes of inequality and its long-term consequences for children in the US. His findings are grim. Social mobility is in sharp decline. Where you live and go to school increasingly determines your success and future.  Friedman explores how policy can harness schools, neighbourhoods, universities, and social capital to reverse this trend, and revive a fading "American Dream" of progress and social mobility. And what this could mean in a country like Australia.    John N. Friedman is the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs at Brown University, as well as a founding co-Director of Opportunity Insights. His work uses big data to study the causes and consequences of inequality for kids, as well as policies to improve opportunity for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. His work has appeared in top academic journals as well as in major media outlets, has been cited by President Obama in his 2012 State of the Union Address, and has shaped policies at the federal, state, and local level. He worked as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the White House. He is also a Research Associate at NBER and Co-Editor at the flagship journal in the profession, the American Economic Review. He currently serves as Chair of the Brown University Economics Department and is a member of the Treasury Advisory Council on Racial Equity (TACRE).

The concept of success and excellence is fraught with tension between communities within Australia. For non-Indigenous Australians, excellence is almost exclusively an economic concept, founded on stolen and inherited resources and privilege. While for Indigenous people, aspiring to this definition of excellence can involve assimilation and the abandonment of culture and values. With the equality gap widening, the stakes for Indigenous Australians to succeed is higher than ever. Wiradjuri man and academic, Todd Fernando argues we need to forge new narratives to identify achievement. As a growing middle class of Indigenous Australians experience the power of excellence, Fernando raises a critical question: Are we ready to accept it?   Todd Fernando, a descendant of the Kalarie Peoples of the Wiradjuri Nation, identifies as queer and uses he/him pronouns. He holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology from The University of Melbourne and is a global expert in intersectional policy reform across government, private, and public sectors. Recently appointed to the Federal Government's Rapid Review into Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Best Practice Prevention Approaches, Todd has an extensive background as thought leader. As the former Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities, he spearheaded the development and implementation of the Victorian Government's LGBTIQA+ Strategy. Currently, Todd is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.