Talks & Ideas presented by Sydney Opera House

Ideas to challenge, inform and inspire

The Sydney Opera House’s Talks and Ideas program seeks to match the boldness of the building itself, to ensure the iconic venue continues to be a place of ideas and imaginative thinking. It features annual festivals that take over all the venues in the House and one-off events throughout the year – from panel discussions and conversations on pressing issues in the community to large-scale events featuring celebrated writers, thinkers and social commentators.

All About Women fills all our venues with buzzy, inspiring and agenda-setting conversations about the issues of pressing concern to women and gender diverse people today. From hard-hitting issues around sexism to social trends and cultural changes that fascinate us to the writers whose work we want to know more about.

Curious is a festival of the ideas demanding our attention in media, popular culture, politics, science and technology and – fittingly for the House – creativity and imagination. A place where ideas and culture meet, and where curious minds can learn more about themselves, the world, and how they fit into it.

And our year-round programming has featured some of the most exciting names in current affairs and contemporary culture, including David Sedaris, Zadie Smith, Jacinda Ardern, M Gessen, Jamie Oliver, RF Kuang, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Kara Swisher, Fran Lebowitz, Kathleen Hanna and many others.

Programming highlights

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  • A woman interviewing three women on the stage.
    All About Women: Matriachies and Movement, March 2023, Blue Mountains Theatre, Image: Cassandra Hannagan
  • A man standing on a podium, speaking into the mic.
    David Sedaris, February 2023, Sydney Opera House, Image:
  • A woman interviewing three authors on the stage.
    Fran Lebowitz at All About Women in 2018. Image: Prudence Upton
  • A man interviewing a famous chef.
    Keeping cooking simple with Yotam Ottolenghi, April 2020, Concert Hall, Image:
  • A woman on the stage interviewing a woman through a live stream.
    Caitlin Moran: More than a Woman, March 2021, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Image:

Stream, read & listen

Ideas at the House

Talks and conversations from the Sydney Opera House featuring the world’s greatest minds and culture creators

  • Listen
  • Talks & Ideas

iran: woman, life, freedom: all about women 2023

Iranian-Australian women give an inside look at the woman-led revolution in Iran, the power of protest, and how Australians can be allies at this incredible moment in history.

  • Livestream
An animation of a bunch of hairs on fire.

Chip RolleyHead of Talks & Ideas

Chip Rolley joined the Sydney Opera House as Head of Talks & Ideas in September 2021.

Rolley has curated festivals in Sydney and New York City, first as artistic director of Sydney Writers’ Festival, and most recently in New York as director of PEN America’s World Voices Festival, one of America’s most diverse writers’ festivals. He also oversaw the prestigious PEN Literary Awards and a slate of literary programs that engaged traditionally under-served participants and audiences.

He has edited the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s opinion and news analysis website, The Drum. His writing has covered a very wide range of subjects from politics to poetry, with a particular focus on literature and Chinese politics and culture. His writing has appeared in The Guardian (US), Wall Street Journal, Griffith Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Bulletin, Vogue, Rolling Stone and he has translated essays and poetry from Chinese to English. 

 

 

Chip Rolley wearing a grey suit jacket and light blue shirt.
Chip Rolley, Head of Talks & Ideas. Image credit: Kate McAuley