Ideas at the House

Content disclaimer: this podcast contains content that is explicit in nature.

For All About Women 2023, the Sydney Opera House partnered with Western Sydney-based literacy movement Sweatshop on an emerging writers mentorship program for women and non-binary First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse writers.

The recipients worked on short fiction pieces, responding to Tarana Burke’s #MeToo movement and those left behind as it evolved, under the guidance of Sweatshop judges and mentors Winnie Dunn and Sarah Ayoub.

Hear from 2023 winners Margretta Sowah and Uppma Virdi and highly commended writer Helen Nguyen, including readings of their stories.

This is the fifth and final episode of a five-part season which showcases recent events from the Sydney Opera House, and was recorded in studio June 2023.

Capturing global attention through recipes so popular they became viral hashtags (#TheCookies, #ThePasta, #TheDip), Alison Roman wowed Sydney audiences in May 2023 in her quest for us all to ditch “domestic goddess” perfection and embrace a no-fuss, no-nonsense approach to cooking at home.

Roman spoke to fellow cook and Australian television presenter Adam Liaw about all the things that took her from early life as a pastry chef in California to the stage of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

In a year when everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, we need to talk about the human kind. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be conscious of your existence, your thoughts, your dreams? As machines develop, what might be left that is uniquely human? Our pursuit of pleasure and its rewards? Our ability to love? 

AI expert Toby Walsh and evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks joined journalist Rae Johnston to tackle the fundamental questions we should be asking amid the advent of super intelligent machines.

This is the second episode of a five-part season which showcases recent events from the Sydney Opera House, and was recorded live in October 2023.

We kick off a new five-part season with a debate from our 50th Birthday Festival, discussing whether or not the Sydney Opera House would be built today. It's an iconic building that inspires imagination and sparks conversations, but do we still have what it takes to bring such a bold vision to fruition?

Arguing for the motion are: Osman Faruqi, Rebecca Huntley, and Benjamin Law and arguing against are: Wendy Harmer, Helen Pitt, and Yumi Stynes.

Hosted by Julia Zemiro, this event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in October 2023.

Unsure about parenthood? You're not alone.

There's a lot to consider when it comes to reproductive choice, evolving social norms mean that women don't have to follow a one-way path to motherhood. Either flying solo or coupled, hetero or queer, when it comes to taking control of fertility there's IVF, egg freezing, and more. And the decision to have children only leads to more questions - about careers, relationships, AND the state of the world.

At All About Women 2023, our panellists share their research and lived experiences about biological clocks, and the latest in fertility science. Journalists Brooke Boney, Gina Rushton, and Dr Natasha Andreadis explore the minefield of baby-making in the modern world with host Sana Qadar.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

Independent single women are a threat to the status quo. So, it comes as no surprise that the demonisation of single women is not new. From the European witch trials to the formation of the western legal system and its impact on survivors today, the patriarchy has gone to diabolical lengths in order to keep women under its watch.

In this invigorating All About Women 2023 session, Clementine Ford’s eye-opening and hilarious walk through history explored why unmarried spinsters strike fear in the heart of powerful men. 

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

Reality tv has always been a contentious category of television especially when it comes to authenticity and finding true love. Many of us love the drama, the tropes and stereotyping, even if we’re just poking fun at it.  

This session at All About Women 2023 explored Brooke Blurton’s time on The Bachelorette and Rosie Waterland’s satirical take on dating shows. Hosted by Nakkiah Lui, they delve into what it’s like to participate in traditionally heteronormative dating shows as a queer person, trying to find a genuine connection on tv and what this voyeuristic search for romance reveals about Australian culture.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

From repressed women in Iran to the rollback of abortion rights in the US, alongside the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the continuing fight for rights for First Nations people and justice for victims of sexual assault, there appears to be a global war against women.

Women around the world are speaking up and there has been a ferocious backlash. Karen Iles, Mona Eltahawy, Fatima Bhutto, and Chelsea Watego spoke at All About Women 2023 with host Sam Mostyn about women’s rights at this moment, and what women must do to gain – or retain – their freedom.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

Being a girlboss meant that you could have it all, a renlentlessly demanding job, the side hustle that swallowed your downtime, and a phone that never stops pinging.

This session explored questions such as: Is burnout the only path to modern career success? Will all the girl bossing in the world win a pay rise for those women stuck in the underpaid and undervalued care economy? And can Gen Z remake the game, for the better?

Flex Mami, Jamila Rizvi and host Jan Fran sat down at All About Women 2023 to discuss how the next generation of feminists are putting the girlboss mentality and burnout to bed, and to see if they can remake the game for the better.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

Since time immemorial, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have looked after human, spiritual and ecological wellbeing. Many First Nations women's activism is empowered through continuation of a long history of matriarchs who embody kinship and moral responsibility to community and country. This session will examine how this activism intersects and conflicts with mainstream feminism today.

In this session from All About Women 2023, a multi-generational panel featuring: Jackie Huggins, Teela Reid, Marlene Longbottom and host Courtney Fewquandie, looks at the movements Blak women have mothered and led, alongside fights that could be considered feminist issues - like equal pay and justice, violence and coercive control, leadership and movement building.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

We live in a society that is only just beginning to recognise neurodivergence in women and non-binary people. So how does it feel to be misdiagnosed for years? Does greater public awareness make socialising a little bit simpler? What are some strategies to cope with ableist systems? And what stereotypes do we really need to put in the bin?

In this session at All About Women 2023, host and festival co-curator Dr. Amy Thunig is joined by panellists Chloe Hayden, Grace Tame and Dr. Jac den Houting to share their lived experiences with Autism. Navigating questions about social situations and professional settings, and what terms like masking and mimicry mean. 

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

Legendary punk band Bikini Kill headlined Sydney Opera House’s 2023 All About Women Festival with a reminder of what it was like to perform in a male-dominated music industry in the 90s. They represented anarchist feminist music and encouraged disobedience in young women, emboldening them to publish zines and start bands as acts of cultural resistance.

In this session, Bikini Kill’s lead singer Kathleen Hanna, and bassist Kathi Wilcox, were joined by writer and Bikini Kill mega fan Marieke Hardy to talk about new ways to speak out, the balance between activism, anger, and joy, and how the band's blistering message is once again bringing girls to the front.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in March 2023.

The conduct of many journalists during the 2022 federal election appeared to expose media bias on the campaign trail. Many Australians were dissatisfied with journalists who seemed more concerned with catching politicians out than helping us to understand their vision and priorities for the country. 

At Antidote 2022, journalists Maddison Connaughton, Barrie Cassidy, Osman Faruqi & Janine Perrett came together to ask, “ is there something fundamentally wrong with Australian media?”

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

Knowledge around sex, intimacy and pleasure is regularly dismissed as society has often shrouded the subject in shame and awkwardness. 

At Antidote 2022, psychosexologist Chantelle Otten delves into the many forms of desire, the vulnerability of sexual pleasure, and helps us to build sexual confidence in ourselves and our relationships. Alongside host, Lucinda 'Froomes' Price, they talk about creating a sex-positive frame of mind and give us a sex re-education.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

With growing momentum to enact the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and The Voice to Parliament on the agenda, is a meaningful change for First Nations people finally happening in Australia?

In a First Nations led discussion at Antidote 2022, host Jason Glanville was joined by Nareen Young and Nardi Simpson, to discuss what needs to change in our politics, our society and our culture. And what needs to change in the heart of Australians as individuals, as community and as a nation, to realise goals and walk together as one.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

Can someone else's story change your life? 

Dai Le, Nardi Simpson, Dinesh Palipana, Antoinette Lattouf and host, Steph Tisdell, took the stage at Antidote 2022 to draw back the curtain on their worlds and reveal what happened to them. We hear stories that are tragic, hilarious, engaging, and life changing, and learn how they shaped who they have become.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

In the wake of multiple political crises in the United States, a rich and powerful China increasingly asserts itself. How does Australia navigate this new world order?

China will soon overtake the US as the world’s largest economy and has swiftly become a strategic powerhouse with relationships across the globe. With America’s deep political divisions and diminishing consensus around key democratic norms, it’s hard to argue that China’s rise won’t be accompanied by a greater say in global decisions, impacting countries like Australia.

 Geremie R. Barmé, Linda Jaivin, and Vicky Xu came together at Antidote 2022 to discuss the threats and opportunities for Australia in the midst of these geopolitical changes.

Hosted by Richard McGregor, this talk was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

The Last White Man is the latest novel from internationally bestselling author Mohsin Hamid. The book reimagines Kafka's Metamorphosis and taps into white anxiety about replacement in unique and enlightening ways. 

The British Pakistani novelist of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Booker-Prize-nominated Exit West, talked to Osman Faruqi at Antidote 2022 about whiteness, privilege, prejudice, and the transcendent power of love.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

The 2022 federal election saw Australian voters moving away from the traditional two-party system, with a record number of Independents and Greens candidates elected. How will this change the way our government is formed in the future? Will we stitch coalitions together after elections to assemble government like in many other countries?

At Antidote 2022, Karen Middleton, Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper, sat down with crossbench trendsetters, Cathy McGowan, Adam Bandt and Allegra Spender to examine the new balance of power in the senate and put the new state of affairs under the microscope.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

Would you quit your job to serve others?

These two high-achievers sacrificed successful careers in journalism to take up the rigorous study necessary to become medical doctors. What drives such a sacrifice, and how does it feel to be called to serve?

Lisa Pryor, previously a lawyer and a columnist is now a psychiatry registrar, listening and responding to human stories in a different way. Amy Coopes was a journalist dispatched to meet victims of violent crimes, left the newsroom to pursue medicine in rural areas. At Antidote 2022, they spoke to Norman Swan, who famously switched from medicine to journalism, about what compelled them to abandon successful careers in order to embark on the ultra-demanding profession of medicine and how it gave their lives a bigger sense of purpose.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

Is Covid just the beginning? The climate crisis has created a unique situation that has the potential to breed many more viruses, forcing animals to migrate to new habitats, creating new inter-species infections. This means more and more of the world's viruses could leap from animals to humans. 

Science journalist Ed Yong - who won a Pulitzer Prize for his COVID explanatory articles and Professor Raina MacIntyre - epidemiologist and UNSW Chair of Biosecurity tell host Rebecca Huntley at Antidote 2022 what we can expect in this new era and how we should prepare for it.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

There are over 150 Indigenous languages actively maintained by community groups in Australia, and a growing movement to protect, revitalise and promote Indigenous language.

There are 7000 languages in use worldwide - but many Indigenous languages are falling out of use. What does Australia need to do to preserve, revitalize and promote Indigenous languages? Uncle Gary Williams, Shelley Ware & Kirli Saunders sat down at Antidote 2022 to embark on an agenda-setting conversation. 

Hosted by Daniel Browning, in collaboration with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, this event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

Bodies carry and represent so much, these fragile vessels that we are "stuck in" can dictate privilege or oppression not only within ourselves but in wider society. 

In a talk recorded at our Antidote festival in September 2022, trans and non-binary author, Olivia Laing is joined by host Jessie Tu in a profound discussion about the ideas in Laing's latest book 'Everybody', which draws on figures such as Malcolm X, Andrea Dworkin, Nina Simone and more, exploring the human body and its effect in our world today.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

Should government step in to protect us from Big Social Media?

Conspiracy theories and false news are spread by social media, with real and dangerous consequences for society. Is it time for governments to consider dealing with algorithm bubbles?

At Antidote 2022, journalist Karen Middleton was joined by former PM Malcolm Turnbull AC and Ed Coper, author of Facts and Other Lies, to discuss how false information affects governments delivering services and ask whether social media networks are out of control and posing a threat to democracy.

This event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?

Jarvis Cocker, founder and front man of legendary English band Pulp finally found the time to rummage around his attic crawl space and write a book on the rediscovered hoarded objects and mementos that tell a lifetime of incredible stories. 

In this show and tell with Myf Warhurst as part of Antidote 2022, Cocker explores questions of creativity, music, and the deep significance of everyday objects that most people throw away. 

This talk was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

This episode of Ideas At The House features an Antidote festival event like no other. As a response to the brutal invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine, the event features sombre and beautiful works by Ukrainian poets, musicians, and storytellers Maria Tumarkin, Serhiy Zhadan, Billie Tumarkin, Anatoli Torjinski & Olga Boichak. 

Hosted by Chip Rolley, this event was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022. 

This episode, we begin a season of talks from our Antidote 2022 festival, starting with an in-depth discussion with renowned actor, Brian Cox.

Famed for his portrayal of the media patriarch, Logan Roy, in the television series Succession, Brian Cox has built a brilliant career exploring power, control, and fallibility. Fellow actor David Wenham sits down with Brian Cox to discuss the actor's unmatched ability to fulfil characters that burn with rage and fury.

This talk was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in September 2022.

This episode is the second talk from the Build conversation series, which explores new perspectives from design, architecture, engineering, science and The Arts to reflect on how these disciplines can address the urgent issues of our times. Each of the talks in this series respond to one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sydney Opera House's Joni Taylor, chairs a conversation with two visionary thought leaders, using their exploration of design practices to reflect on our relationship to Life Below Water - Global Goal number 14.

Dr Danièle Hromek is a Budawang woman of the Yuin nation. She works as a spatial and cultural designer and researcher, considering how to Indigenise the built environment. Alex Goad is an industrial designer and founder of Reef Design Lab. Together, Daniele and Alex discuss how we can create non-human centred design to preserve biodiversity, restore and regenerate marine life and waterways. And how seahorses have come back to Sydney harbour!

This talk is supported by the Ove Arup Foundation and was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House Centre for Creativity in September 2022.

The BUILD conversation series is a new series of talks that explore new perspectives from design, architecture, engineering, science and The Arts, to reflect on how these disciplines can address the urgent issues of our times. Each of the talks in this series respond to one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In the first episode of the series, Sydney Opera House's Joni Taylor, chairs a conversation with two visionary thought leaders, Jefa Greenaway and Liane Rossler, using their exploration of design practices to reflect on our relationship to Life on Land. - Global Goal number 15.

Jefa Greenaway is an architect, interior designer, academic, director of Greenaway Architects and co-founder | Chair of Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria, Australia’s only Indigenous design association. He is of Wailwan | Kamilaroi and German heritage. 

Liane Rossler is a designer, artist and curator championing design that balances perspectives of nature, sustainability, creativity and community. She co-founded Sydney’s internationally renowned Dinosaur Designs, and in recent years founded Superlocalstudio– ‘a space that enables the creation of thoughtful practises’

This talk is supported by the Ove Arup Foundation and was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House - Centre for Creativity in May 2022. 

The Pasi Sahlberg conversation series is a 3-part series of urgent discussions about the Australian Education System.

In this final episode of our three-part series, Pasi Sahlberg is joined by Professor Sharon Goldfeld, a paediatrician and director of the Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health and theme director for Population Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Also joining the conversation, is Ann King, parent at Mosman High school and, giving a young person’s perspective, year 12 Mosman high school captain, Will Osborne.

The discussion was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in 2022 and explores the question: “what might schools look like if health and wellbeing were considered one of the basics like numeracy and literacy?”.

In this second episode, Pasi Sahlberg is joined by Ricky Kradolfer, music educator, guitarist and frontman of The City Riots, and Sarah Donnelley, 2020 ARIA Music Teacher of the Year and deputy principal of Wilcannia Central School, to discuss the lack of music education in the Australian school system. From lived experiences, these teachers have seen music inspire engagement and give children a different way of expressing themselves, especially those who struggle with traditional methods of learning.

Pasi Sahlberg and the panel explore the sense of connection music brings and the excitement that children feel coming to school knowing they will partake in musical activities.

This talk was recorded live at Sydney Opera House in 2022.

In this, the first of three episodes, Pasi Sahlberg talks with the acclaimed businessman David Gonski about the impacts of the 2011 Gonski report. Joining them is president of the NSW Teacher’s federation, Angelo Gavrielatos and Principal of Ulladulla High School Denise Lofts as well as year 12 student Mim Macdonell, together they address the various persistent challenges in education, and how the report did and did not address those. 

This talk was recorded live at Sydney Opera House in 2022.

New legislation is making its way through Australian state parliaments, enshrining the concept of "affirmative consent": an explicit, articulated, ongoing agreement to sexual activity.

Bri Lee, Saxon Mullins, and Amy Thunig navigate these recent changes and the implications for sexual freedom. Are changes to the law enough? What should justice look like? And how to get the next generation of people to be different?

Hosted by Lucia Osborne-Crowley, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

Wendy McCarthy is one of Australia's feminist heroes. She shares her remarkable life and achievements, and the lessons she has learned - and taught us all.

In addition to the work, she does that is very much in the public eye – advocating for women’s health, reproductive rights, child care, and women’s self-determination – she is often the woman who is there behind the scenes, strategizing, and counselling women undergoing any number of challenges.

Hosted by Larissa Behrendt, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

The Australian and American troops are gone, the Taliban are back in power. What is life like now for women and girls in Afghanistan and what can we in the rest of the world do to help? Did the Western presence benefit or disrupt Afghan women’s organisations? How do Afghan women and their allies around the world fight for their freedom?

This talk is an essential conversation filled with expert knowledge and personal stories. Hosted by Diana Sayed, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

The tables turn for ABC's 7:30 journalist Laura Tingle, as subject rather than interviewer as she analyses the domestic and political world. 

Combining political insights with personal observations and anecdotes about the players who hold our fate in their hands, rest assured Laura will not let anyone off lightly.

Hosted by Anne Summers, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

What would our world look like if all our current gendered expectations disappeared, and what needs to happen for this to be achieved?

Jinghua Qian, Amao Leota Lu, and Sandy O'Sullivan imagine a world with no gender binary.

Hosted by Dr Yves Rees, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

How do you find the courage to make a major change in your life?

How do you re-set your values? How do you reconnect with your creative self? Designer and host of the long-running and wildly popular podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman explores invention, truth-telling and inspiration, in a fascinating conversation hosted by Yumi Stynes.

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

How can we find justice for friends who can no longer speak for themselves? A friend, a lawyer, and a journalist explore the profound commitment of friendship and collective action.

Moderated by Julia Baird, this is a big conversation about feminism and the law, friendship and power, hope and action.

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

What shapes the way we think about sex?

Consent and power relations, gender justice and the state, pornography and freedom - political philosophy professor Amia Srinivasan refuses to turn away from the hard questions about society and sex.

Hosted by Emma A Jane, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

How do we support those who speak out? How can we support advocates who speak from traumatic lived experiences? When victims of violence move from silence to speech, how do we honour their stories?

Rosie Batty and Grace Tame have built their lives around fighting for justice. Together for the first time, they share their experiences of being Australian of the Year, explore the power of personal testimony, and advocacy's personal cost. These two heroic advocates have a necessary conversation about upholding and protecting vocal survivors.

Hosted by Jamila Rizvi, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

Mothers, daughters, sisters, lovers, femmes and friends. Five incredible LGBTQI+ writers share a personal tale about their relationship to womanhood - intimate considered and, as always, rooted in community. 

Hosted by Maeve Marsden, recorded live at Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

Nothing is off-limits in this conversation between American writer Roxane Gay and screenwriter Nakkiah Lui as these two incredible women whose work challenges us with the hard questions about racism and misogyny today.

Both known for speaking with radical authenticity about their own experiences of racism, misogyny, and trauma, expect razor-sharp commentary on issues such as young women's personal testimonies disclosing violence and sexual assault, the Black Lives Matter movement, and how these issues play out differently for Black women in the US and First Nations and other women of colour in Australia.

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

How do two parents who are blind take their children to the park? How is a mother with dwarfism treated when she walks her child down the street? How do Deaf parents know when their baby cries in the night? Get to know the everyday of disabled parenting. Eliza Hull, Debra Keenahan and Sarah Keenahan gather to share the joy and triumph and the difficulties of their lived experience. Amongst the challenges of microaggression, judgements and discrimination, these brilliant women will honour the incredible, empowering journey of having kids.

Hosted by Lisa Cox, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

Nothing is off-limits in this conversation between American writer Roxane Gay and screenwriter Nakkiah Lui as these two incredible women whose work challenges us with the hard questions about racism and misogyny today.

Both known for speaking with radical authenticity about their own experiences of racism, misogyny, and trauma, expect razor-sharp commentary on issues such as young women's personal testimonies disclosing violence and sexual assault, the Black Lives Matter movement, and how these issues play out differently for Black women in the US and First Nations and other women of colour in Australia.

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.

All About Women partnered with Western Sydney-based literacy movement Sweatshop on an emerging writers mentorship program for women and non-binary First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse writers.

Mentorship recipients, Yeena Kirkbright and Ayeesha Ash read their finished works inspired by the All About Women festival themes of: allyship, friendship, and collective responsibility, in a dialogue with mentors Winnie Dunn and Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Unrequited romance. Deep friendship. Motherhood. Break-ups. Self-love.

Writer, broadcaster and one of Australia's most provocative feminists Clementine Ford explores the manifold ways love makes its home in our hearts. In sermon and song she shows how romantic love might be the least important for us, inviting us to come together and open ourselves up to everything love has to give.

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women 2022.