Episodes
What will a quantum computer look like? Will quantum computing supercharge AI? Can it save us from the climate crisis? Professor Michelle Simmons has the answers.
Published 11/11/23
Published 11/11/23
Doubt is often seen as a something to be overcome — a failing, or even a sign of incompetence. But in her fourth and final lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons tells us why doubt is her greatest asset.
Published 11/11/23
In her third Boyer lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons maps how science has changed from 1927 to now — moving from the theoretical to the applicable. 
Published 11/04/23
In her second Boyer lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons details the international race underway to build the first error-corrected quantum computer.
Published 10/28/23
Computing machinery that used to fill an entire room has now shrunk to the size of individual atoms. In her first lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons tells the story of miniaturisation  — and how Australia found itself at the forefront. 
Published 10/19/23
In his fifth and final Boyer lecture Noel Pearson looks at the question of identity, Australian identity, and he argues that our extraordinary diversity and distinctiveness are undermined when we forget the great similarities and commonalities we all share.
Published 12/02/22
In his fourth lecture, Noel Pearson addresses the educational barriers facing young Indigenous people, and the critical need to raise literacy and numeracy rates through transformational school programs.
Published 11/26/22
In his third lecture Noel Pearson argues that Indigenous Australians have become trapped in the 'bottom million' of the nation when it comes to economic development. He describes the ongoing effect of welfare dependency, or 'passive welfare', which he says is not just a problem afflicting Indigenous communities, it's a human problem.
Published 11/18/22
In his second lecture, Noel Pearson reflects on the words of 1968 Boyer lecturer W.E.H. Stanner who said that Aboriginal people seek, 'a decent union of their lives with ours but on terms that let them preserve their own identity'. Pearson traces the long process that led to the final proposal for a Voice to parliament enshrined in the constitution. He identifies a speech by John Howard in 2007, which Pearson says offered 'the core rationale for constitutional recognition', and began...
Published 11/11/22
Noel Pearson argues the case for why a Voice to parliament, enshrined in the constitution, is so important to Indigenous people, ‘to be afforded our rightful place’.
Published 11/04/22
In this fourth and final lecture, John Bell discusses how William Shakespeare imagined a different world and encouraged his audience to do the same.
Published 11/27/21
In this third lecture of the Boyer series, John Bell discusses Shakespeare's Women and how through his female characters he imagined a better world.
Published 11/20/21
In this second lecture of the Boyer series, John Bell discusses what Shakespeare can teach us about governance, about politics and power.
Published 11/13/21
In the first lecture of the 2021 Boyer series, John Bell opens our eyes and our ears to how relevant William Shakespeare is in today's world and what he can teach us through his own observations from four hundred years ago.
Published 11/06/21
In the third Boyer lecture, Dr Andrew Forrest discusses how inequality manifests in our modern capitalist system — through intergenerational dependence on welfare, lack of access to finance, a lack of policy focus on early childhood development in vulnerable communities and through modern slavery.
Published 02/07/21
In the third Boyer lecture, Dr Andrew Forrest discusses how inequality manifests in our modern capitalist system — through intergenerational dependence on welfare, lack of access to finance, a lack of policy focus on early childhood development in vulnerable communities and through modern slavery.
Published 02/07/21
In the second of his 2020 Boyer Lectures, Andrew Forrest mounts a passionate defence of our oceans. Dr Forrest argues the key issues facing our oceans — deoxygenation, overfishing and plastic pollution — are our fault, and it's us who must fix them. He says it's philanthropic and government interventions, at a scale not yet seen, that will save our seas.
Published 01/31/21
In the second of his 2020 Boyer Lectures, Andrew Forrest mounts a passionate defence of our oceans. Dr Forrest argues the key issues facing our oceans — deoxygenation, overfishing and plastic pollution — are our fault, and it's us who must fix them. He says it's philanthropic and government interventions, at a scale not yet seen, that will save our seas.
Published 01/31/21
In this first Boyer lecture, leading philanthropist and businessman Andrew Forrest calls for an urgent move to green hydrogen "on a global scale". For Dr Forrest, the question is not whether green hydrogen will become the next global energy form, but who will be the first to mass-produce it?
Published 01/24/21
In this first Boyer lecture, leading philanthropist and businessman Andrew Forrest calls for an urgent move to green hydrogen "on a global scale". For Dr Forrest, the question is not whether green hydrogen will become the next global energy form, but who will be the first to mass-produce it?
Published 01/24/21
In Rachel Perkins final Boyer lecture she details the dual proposal for a Makarrata Commission and a process of truth telling about our nation.
Published 11/30/19
From colonial times to the present, Indigenous people have wanted a say about the laws and policies that affect them. Rachel Perkins discusses what needs to be done to guarantee that the Indigenous voice is heard.
Published 11/23/19