Hugh Mackay was in conversation with Alex Sloan on Hugh's new book, The Kindness Revolution. How we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism. Hugh Mackay encourages us to find the best in ourselves and in our society in both good and troubled times.

Revolutions never start at the top. If we dare to dream of a more loving country - kinder, more compassionate, more cooperative, more respectful, more inclusive, more egalitarian, more harmonious, less cynical - there's only one way to start turning that dream into a reality: each of us must live as if this is already that country.

Following the ravages of 2020's bushfires and pandemic on our mental and emotional health and on the economy, Hugh Mackay reflects on the challenges we faced during that year of upheaval and the questions many of us have asked. What really matters to me? Am I living the kind of life I want? What sort of society do I want us to become?

Urging us not to let those questions go, and pointing to our inspiring displays of kindness and consideration, our personal sacrifices for the common good and our heightened appreciation of the value of local neighbourhoods and communities, he asks in turn: 'Could we become renowned as a loving country, rather than simply a "lucky" one?'

Absorbing, wise and inspiring, The Kindness Revolution is a distillation of Hugh Mackay's life's work. Written for our times, this truly remarkable book shows how crises and catastrophes often turn out to be the making of us.

Hugh Mackay AO is a social psychologist, and the author of 22 books, including eight novels. His non-fiction writing covers social analysis, psychology, communication and ethics. He has had a 60-year career in social research, and was also a weekly newspaper columnist for twenty-five years. He is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and the Royal Society of New South Wales, has been awarded honorary doctorates by five Australian universities. Hugh is an Honorary Professor at the ANU Research School of Psychology.

Alex Sloan AM, the 2017 Canberra Citizen of the Year, is a regular conversationalist for ANU Meet the Author events.

Professor Frank Bongiorno AM, Head of the ANU School of History and author of award-winning books The Sex Lives of Australians: A History and The Eighties: The Decade That Transformed Australia, will deliver the vote of thanks.

In conversation with Hugh Mackay

Bri Lee, best-selling and award-winning author of Eggshell Skull, was in conversation with Virginia Haussegger on Bri's new book, Who Gets to Be Smart: Privilege, Power and Knowledge, a forensic and hard-hitting exploration of knowledge, power and privilege.

In 2018 Bri Lee's young friend Damian is awarded a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University. After a tour of Oxford and Rhodes House, Bri begins questioning her belief in a system she has previously revered. She learns the truth behind what Virginia Woolf described almost a century earlier as the 'stream of gold and silver' that flows through elite institutions and dictates decisions about who is be educated there. The question that forms in her mind drives the following two years of conversations and investigations: Who gets to be smart?

Interrogating the adage, 'knowledge is power', and calling institutional prejudice to account, Bri once again dives into her own privilege and presumptions to bring us the stark and confronting results. Far from offering any 'equality of opportunity', Australia's education system exacerbates social stratification. The questions Bri asks of politics and society have their answers laid bare in the responses to the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, COVID-19, and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

'Thoughtful, surprising and exquisitely written. Bri Lee once again challenges us to confront the structures that shape, and restrict, our understanding of the world.' Madison Connaughton. Editor of The Saturday Paper.

Bri Lee is an author and freelance writer. Her first book, Eggshell Skull, won Biography of the Year at the ABIA Awards, the People's Choice Award at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, and was longlisted for the 2019 Stella Prize. Her journalism has appeared in publications such as The Monthly, The Saturday Paper, Guardian Australia and Crikey. Bri, who was the 2020 Copyright Agency UTS Writer-in-Residence, is a non-practicing lawyer who continues to engage in legal research and issues-based advocacy.

Virginia Haussegger AM, a passionate women's advocate and communication specialist, is the former Chair and Founding Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, at the University of Canberra, where she is an Adjunct Professor. The Foundation has a singular focus on improving the representation of women in leadership and key decision making roles across all levels of government and public administration..

Virginia is an award-winning broadcast journalist and social commentator on women, power and the challenges of 21st-century leadership. She anchored the ABC's flagship TV News in Canberra from 2001-2016. She was the 2019 ACT Australian of the Year. In 2020 Virginia launched the popular podcast series BroadTalk, Australia's leading research-based Gender Equality media platform..

Professor Kim Rubenstein, FAAL, FASSA , Co-Director 50/50 by 2030 Foundation , Faculty of Business Governance and Law, University of Canberra, gave the vote of thanks

In conversation with Bri Lee

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In conversation with Bri Lee

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