Past Programs
Ethics - 2008
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
The freedom paradox - Clive Hamilton
24/08/2008
We have never been so rich, healthy and free. But discontent is all around. Has something gone awry? Clive Hamilton calls it the freedom paradox. We are certainly liberated, but to what end? The civil and sexual revolution, Hamilton postulates, has been hijacked. Is there any turning back? An unflinching assessment of postmodern times from the man who brought us Growth Fetish and Affluenza. Recorded at Sydney Ideas, at the University of Sydney.
Massey Lectures 2007: The City of Words, Lecture 5,The Screen of Hal
27/04/2008
In his final lecture, Alberto Manguel examines an unfinished novel by Jack London. In The Assassination Bureau, a shady organisation believes it can purify society by killing off 'undesirables'. Manguel compares London's dark creation with our world of interconnected multinational corporations who, he says, hide behind a screen of countless anonymous shareholders, threatening the planet and our very humanity.
For copyright reasons this series is not available as a podcast
The Cosmic Jackpot: Dr Paul Davies
16/03/2008
Could the universe have been other than what it is? For some cosmologists the universe appears a little too geared for life. From the humble carbon atom to the speed of light, everything is tailor made to bring us life as we know it. So, is cosmic bio friendliness just good luck? Or is there someone or something pulling the levers?
One man who has dared to ask this question is internationally acclaimed physicist and cosmologist Dr Paul Davies of Arizona State University. Davies is setting up a pioneering centre for the study of life, the universe, and everything.
