Podcasts
The Minefield

The Minefield

ABC Australia 1081 - Live from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Does longevity threaten the future?

In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

Volume

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No episode description available.

Published 03 Sep 2026

Duration 54:36

Episodes

1081-

Live from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Does longevity threaten the future?

Listened

03 Sep 2026

1080-

What response does Jason Arday’s life, and death, morally demand?

Listened

27 Aug 2026

1079-

Is opposition to data centres good news for democracy?

Listened

20 Aug 2026

1078-

Should fat from cadavers be used for cosmetic procedures?

Listened

13 Aug 2026

1077-

How to protect democratic politics from the malign influence of money?

Listened

06 Aug 2026

1076-

What happens to our moral lives when we stop reading books?

Listened

30 Jul 2026

1075-

Do prediction markets enhance our understanding of the world or corrupt it?

Listened

23 Jul 2026

1074-

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ — high fashion or vision of hell?

Listened

16 Jul 2026

1073-

Copyright theft is AI’s original sin — are we doomed to repeat it?

Listened

09 Jul 2026

1072-

Last Words: ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ — Martin Luther King, Jr in Memphis

Listened

02 Jul 2026

1071-

Why the anxieties over multiculturalism? What’s the appeal of a monocultural society?

Listened

25 Jun 2026

1070-

One Nation is on the rise — but do we know what it means?

Listened

18 Jun 2026

1069-

The ethics of ‘longtermism’ — what are our obligations to the future?

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11 Jun 2026

1068-

Last Words: The ‘Farewell Sermon’ of the Prophet Muhammad

Listened

04 Jun 2026

1067-

The Problem of Nationalism, with David Moscrop — Live at the Sydney Writers’ Festival

Listened

28 May 2026

1066-

What is the moral of Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’?

Listened

21 May 2026

1065-

Does the budget have a coherent underlying philosophy?

Listened

14 May 2026

1064-

Are ‘reaction videos’ dulling our ability to be genuinely responsive?

Listened

07 May 2026

1063-

NDIS reforms may be necessary, but they’re also morally fraught

Listened

30 Apr 2026

1062-

Smart glasses — a new frontier of foreseeable digital harm?

Listened

23 Apr 2026

1061-

The price of sovereignty: Are we prepared to pay more for less vulnerability?

Listened

16 Apr 2026

1060-

Social cohesion is straining — can citizens’ assemblies help?

Listened

09 Apr 2026

1059-

Why do democracies seem so fragile in the face of shortages?

Listened

02 Apr 2026

1058-

Why Autocracy Needs Spectacle — with M Gessen

Listened

27 Mar 2026

1057-

Can illegal wars still be legitimate wars?

Listened

19 Mar 2026

1056-

Ramadan: Politics Straight from the Heart — with Christos Tsiolkas

Listened

12 Mar 2026

1055-

Ramadan: ‘Do Not Harden Your Heart’ — with Avril Alba

Listened

05 Mar 2026

1054-

Ramadan: Having a ‘Change of Heart’ — with Claire Zorn

Listened

26 Feb 2026

1053-

Ramadan: The Heart and the Moral Life — with Stephen Darwall

Listened

19 Feb 2026

1052-

What can headcoverings teach us about individuality, dignity and modesty?

Listened

12 Feb 2026

1051-

Can political moderation survive in an age of grievance?

Listened

05 Feb 2026

1038-

From Venezuela to Greenland — how to respond to Trump’s territorial ambitions?

Listened

29 Jan 2026

1037-

What does hate speech do — and why is it so hard to legislate against?

Listened

22 Jan 2026

1036-

Anna Funder on the ethical and aesthetic problem of monstrous artists

Listened

15 Jan 2026

1035-

"There's a horse loose in a hospital": Is John Mulaney a comedic genius?

Listened

08 Jan 2026

1033-

The importance of letting someone 'save face'

Listened

01 Jan 2026

1032-

How do recommendation algorithms affect our sense of taste?

Listened

25 Dec 2025

1031-

AI and the cost to human life — with Karen Hao

Listened

18 Dec 2025

1030-

What can we learn about politics from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s ‘Good and Bad Government’?

Listened

11 Dec 2025

1029-

The ethics of life-writing: Memoirs may be popular, but can they be truthful?

Listened

04 Dec 2025

1028-

What will we lose if translation becomes wholly automated?

Listened

27 Nov 2025

1027-

‘Adult time for violent crime’? What commitments should guide society’s response to youth crime?

Listened

20 Nov 2025

1026-

Will weight loss drugs entrench cultural expectations about body size?

Listened

13 Nov 2025

1025-

Is the experience of beauty slipping away in an age of frictionlessness, speed and AI slop?

Listened

06 Nov 2025

1024-

Protests are a democratic right that can go wrong — how much should they be restricted?

Listened

30 Oct 2025

1023-

When democracy abandons decency — with George Packer

Listened

23 Oct 2025

1022-

Learning to inhabit silence — with Stan Grant

Listened

16 Oct 2025

1021-

What role should emotion play in the fraught politics of immigration?

Listened

09 Oct 2025

1020-

The ‘fascism’ paradox — with Jason Stanley

Listened

02 Oct 2025

1019-

Mailbag — we answer your questions

Listened

25 Sep 2025