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

Kim Mahood is a writer, artist, mapmaker, former H. C. Coombs Creative Fellow at ANU and outstanding Australian Studies scholar. Her new book of essays, Wandering with Intent, takes the reader to remote places and communities where she is engaged in long-established collaborations involving mapping, storytelling, and placemaking.

Celebrated as one of the few writers able to articulate the complexities and tensions that arise in the spaces between Aboriginal and settler Australia, Mahood writes passionately and eloquently about art, country, people, and literature. In this event by the ANU Australian Studies Institute, she is in conversation with Martin Thomas from the ANU School of History.

Listening with Intent: Kim Mahood in conversation with Martin Thomas

Anna Funder was in conversation with the Virginia Haussegger on her new book, Wifedom. Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life, a blazing, genre-bending masterpiece from one of the most inventive writers of our time.

Meet the author - Anna Funder

David Marr was in conversation with Frank Bongiorno on his new book, Killing for Country: A Family Story, a gripping reckoning with the bloody history of Australia's frontier wars

Meet the author - David Marr

Listen to the recording of Trent Dalton who was in conversation with Sally Pryor on Lola in the Mirror, the heartbreaking and inspiring new novel from the award-winning author of Australia's favourite bestsellers.

Mp3 - Trent Dalton MTA 09 - 10

Booker Prize-winning author, Richard Flanagan was in conversation with Virginia Haussegger on his hypnotic and genre-bending new book Question 7. Beginning at a love hotel by Japan’s Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, Question 7, is about the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows.

Meet the author - Richard Flanagan

Incendiary feminist and bestselling author Clementine Ford was in conversation with Amy Remeikis on her new book I Don't, which presents the inarguable case against marriage for the modern woman.

Clementine Ford writes "I want this book to end marriages. But more importantly, I want it to prevent marriages. Women are allowed to aspire to more than what we've been told we should want in order to be happy. Let yourself have a bigger dream than becoming the supporting role in someone else's story. Why, when there is so much evidence of the detrimental, suffocating impact marriage has on women's lives, does the myth of marital bliss still prevail? If the feminist project has been so successful, why do so many women still believe that our value is intrinsically tied to being chosen by a man?"

Clementine Ford exposes the lies used to sell marriage to women to keep them in service to men and male power. From the roots of marriage as a form of property transaction to the wedding industrial complex, Ford explains how capitalist patriarchal structures need women to believe in marriage in order to maintain control over women's agency, ambitions and freedom.

Clementine Ford shows us what a different kind of world could look like for women if women were allowed to be truly free in a provocative, controversial, and above all, compellingly and persuasively argued book.

'A liberating alternative perspective on the happily-ever-after take we are sold our whole lives. I often had to rest the book on my chest, close my eyes and whisper "I knew it!"' -Chrissie Swan

Clementine Ford is a writer, broadcaster and feminist community builder. She is the bestselling author of the feminist manifestos Fight Like A Girl and Boys Will Be Boys, which have also been published to great acclaim in the UK and the US, and her memoir How We Love. In 2017, she won the Matt Richell Award for Best New Writer of the Year at the ABIAs.

Amy Remeikis is the political reporter for The Guardian. She writes on the major political issues in Australia, crime, the courts and the environment and is a regular panellist on the ABC's Insiders program

Virginia Haussegger AM, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra, is an award winning journalist, broadcaster & former ABC News anchor in Canberra.

This event was held in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop.

Meet the author- Clementine Ford

Bryan Brown was in conversation with Alex Sloan on his new novel The Drowning. With sales of over 16,000 copies of his first book, Sweet Jimmy, Bryan Brown's distinctive storytelling voice continues in this cleverly plotted, tension -filled thriller set on the beaches of the north coast of New South Wales

The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble . . . at least, that's what it looks like. Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn't turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn't worried. It happens - backpackers are always on the move. There'll be another one. One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He's found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad? And in the backblocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America.

Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town. With Bryan Brown's characteristic laconic storytelling - humorous, tough and suspenseful - the secrets of this seemingly idyllic town slowly come to the surface in an unflinching, gripping novel.

'A work of rattling and serpentine suspense ... gripping and sinuous and so, so good.' Trent Dalton

Bryan Brown AM, actor and producer, has appeared in over 80 films and television series, including Newsfront, Breaker Morant, Australia and Palm Beach as well as the US mini-series The Thorn Birds , which won him an Emmy. In 2018 Bryan won the prestigious Longford Lyell award recognising his contribution to Australian cinema.

Alex Sloan AM has been a journalist for over 30 years, including as a long-time broadcaster with the ABC. Alex, who was named Canberra Citizen of the Year in 2017, is deputy chair of The Australia Institute, a director of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and deputy chair of The ACT Writers Centre. Alex is a regular conversationalist in the Meet the Author series.

The vote of thanks will be given by Brett Yeats, OAM, sponsorship officer and committee member of the ANU Film group group.

This event was held in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop.

Meet the author- Bryan Brown

Liz Hayes was in conversation with Alex Sloan on her memoir I'm Liz Hayes. Liz has graced our television screens for more than four decades. Millions of Australians kicked off their weeks with Liz co-hosting Channel 9's Today show, and now for over 25 years have settled into their Sunday nights to watch her investigative journalism on 60 Minutes.

From camping in grizzly bear territory to sipping tea with an Afghani warlord in an active warzone, Liz has almost seen it all. She has shared the stories of celebrities and movie stars, leaders and politicians, heroes and villains across the globe, but - after a lifetime of reporting on others - when tragedy struck her own family, Liz discovered that sometimes the hardest story to tell is your own.

Compelling and elegantly written, Liz's long-awaited memoir takes us behind the cameras and back to when Beth Ryan, the dairy farmer's daughter, became seasoned journalist Liz Hayes, and how life in the country gave way to 'controlled' crash-landings on US aircraft carriers.

Synonymous with her iconic 60 Minutes television introduction, I'm Liz Hayes, is a warm and authentic memoir about what's possible, and what it can cost you, when you choose a life of adventure.

Alex Sloan AM has been a journalist for over 30 years, including as a long-time broadcaster with the ABC. Alex, who was named Canberra Citizen of the Year in 2017, is deputy chair of The Australia Institute, a director of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and deputy chair of The ACT Writers Centre. Alex is a regular conversationalist in the Meet the Author series.

This event was in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop.

Meet the author- Liz Hayes

Lisa Millar was in conversation with James Glenday on her new book Muster Dogs. From Pups to Pros, a companion book to the heartwarming TV show now streaming on ABC iview and Netflix.

Meet the author - Lisa Millar

Karen Viggers was in conversation with Alex Sloan on her new novel Sidelines, a fast-paced contemporary novel from the bestselling author of The Orchardist's Daughter.

Meet The Author - Karen Viggers

International best-selling author Dervla McTiernan was in conversation with Chris Hammer on her new book What Happened to Nina, an emotional novel of suspense about two families at war with each other. It also reflects on the power of social media to work both for and against victims of crime and their loved ones.

Meet the author - Dervla McTiernan

Andrew Leigh was in conversation with Genevieve Bell on his new book The Shortest History of Economics, a small book that tells a big story.

From ancient times to the modern world, The Shortest History of Economics unearths the hidden economic forces behind war, innovation and social transformation. It traces how capitalism and the market system emerged, and introduces the key ideas and people who shaped the discipline of economics.

From the agricultural revolution to the warming of our planet, Andrew Leigh tells the story of economics that ranges across centuries and continents, highlighting the diversity of the discipline. He delves into the radical origins of the game of Monopoly, why the invention of the plough worsened gender inequality, how certain diseases shaped the patterns of colonialism, the reasons skyscrapers emerged first in American cities, and much more.

The result is an illuminating, entertaining book about the economic ideas and forces that shape our world. As Andrew writes, 'The secret of economics is that the most powerful insights come from a handful of big ideas that anyone can follow.'

'If you read just one book about economics, make it Andrew Leigh's clear, insightful, and remarkable (and short) work. Learn why we are richer, live longer, have healthier children, are monumentally more productive and are happier than our ancestors.' – Claudia Goldin, Nobel Laureate, Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Before being elected in 2010, Andrew was a Professor of Economics at The Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. Andrew is the author or co-author of ten books, on topics including innovation, inequality, community, globalisation and existential risk.

Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell AO FTSE FAHA was appointed the 13th Vice-Chancellor and President of The Australian National University in January 2024, the University’s first female Vice-Chancellor. Genevieve, also a Vice President and a Senior Fellow at Intel Corporation, is best known for her work at the intersection of cultural practice and technology development and for being an important voice in the global debates around artificial intelligence and human society.

The vote of thanks was given by ANU Research School of Economics Associate Professor Martine Mariotti

This event was in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop.

Meet the author - Andrew Leigh

Sarah Bailey was in conversation with Chris Hammer on her new novel Body of Lies, the latest in her award-winning Gemma Woodstock series.

Meet the author - Sarah Bailey

Kathy Lette was in conversation with Karen Hardy on Kathy's new novel The Revenge Club, a subversive, irreverent revenge romp.

Meet the author - Kathy Lette

Julia Baird was in conversation with Virginia Haussegger on her new book Bright Shining. How grace changes everything. From the bestselling author of Phosphorescence comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.

Meet the author - Julia Baird

World-leading forest expert, Professor David Lindenmayer, was in conversation with Alex Sloan on his new book The Forest Wars, which lifts the lid on destruction of native forests by government corporations and logging industry that is making bushfires worse, killing wildlife and costing taxpayers millions, for the sake of woodchips for export.

Meet the author - David Lindenmayer

Award-winning writer and journalist Louise Milligan was in conversation with Amy Remeikis on Pheasants Nest, a gripping, propulsive and brilliantly original debut novel.

Meet the author - Louise Milligan

Paul Tilley was in conversation, moderated by Miranda Stewart, with Ken Henry on Paul's new book Mixed Fortunes. A History of Tax Reform in Australia. Australia's history is sprinkled with attempts at tax reform - some successful, some not. Mixed Fortunes explores these efforts at substantive change in our tax system.

Meet the author - Paul Tilley

Lech Blaine was in conversation with Mark Kenny on his new quarterly essay Bad Cop. Peter Dutton's Strongman Politics. Who is Peter Dutton, and what happened to the Liberal Party? In Bad Cop, Lech Blaine traces the making of a hardman – from Queensland detective to leader of the Opposition, from property investor to minister for Home Affairs. This is a story of ambition, race and power, and a politician with a plan.

Meet the author - Lech Blaine

Science has evolved over thousands of years of human enquiry to provide a rational basis for understanding and predicting what happens in the world around us. 

We rely on science to enhance our standard of living, to keep us healthy and to address the problems and challenges that we face. Science has put men on the moon, probed distant planets, discovered DNA and cured disease. 

And yet, there are many who still question the value and legitimacy of science which raises the question: when and why does science matter?

Four of the world’s most eminent scientists come together at ANU for one night only to discuss and deliberate on the biggest challenges facing the science community today. If you don’t think science matters to you, you may think again. 

Professor Steven Chu was the co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics. He has devoted his recent scientific career to the search for new solutions to our energy and climate challenges. In December 2008 Dr Chu was selected by then President-elect Barack Obama to serve as Secretary of Energy, a position he held until April 2013.

Professor Brian Schmidt AC is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at ANU. Professor Schmidt was jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the accelerating Universe. 

Professor Lawrence Krauss is theoretical physicist and the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. He is an advocate of scientific scepticism, science education and the science of morality. 

Professor Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Her research connects theoretical insights to puzzles in our current understanding of the properties and interactions of matter. Professor Randall was on the list of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" of 2007 and was one of 40 people featured in The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue that year.

Presented by http://physics.anu.edu.au & http://energy.anu.edu.au

When does science matter?

In this animated political discussion some of the University's most renowned public policy experts provide a final analysis of the election campaign prior to polling day.

Panellists

Professor John Hewson
Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy

Adjunct Professor Bob McMullan 
Crawford School of Public Policy

Dr Jill Sheppard 
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods
Star of 'Off the Hill', the University's weekly 2016 election wrap up 

Dr Andrew Hughes
Research School of Management, ANU College of Business of Economics
Star of 'Off the Hill', the University's weekly 2016 election wrap up 

Moderated by Paul Bongiorno AM contributing editor for Ten News.

The Vote: 2016 Federal Election Series is an opportunity to engage with ANU public policy experts during the 2016 Federal Election.

The Vote: 2016 Federal Election Series - Pre-election analysis

Richard Fidler joins ABC 666 Canberra's Alex Sloan in conversation to discuss his new book, Ghost Empire, his popular ABC radio series, Conversations with Richard Fidler, and the Doug Anthony All Stars.

Recorded on 28 July 2016 at University House. 

Richard Fidler in conversation with Alex Sloan

Most contemporary social epistemology takes as its starting point individuals with sophisticated propositional attitudes and considers (i) how those individuals depend on each other to gain (or lose) knowledge through testimony, disagreement, and the like and (ii) if, in addition to individual knowers, it is possible for groups to have knowledge.  

In this podcast, Professor Sally Haslanger argues that social epistemology should be more attentive to the construction of knowers through social and cultural practices: socialization shapes our psychological and practical orientation so that we perform local social practices fluently. 

2016 Jack Smart Memorial Lecture – Cognition as a social skill

Don Watson joins Professor Bates Gill in conversation to discuss his new Quarterly Essay, 'Enemy Within. American Politics in the Time of Trump' which takes the reader on a journey into the heart of the United States in the year 2016. Watson, with characteristic wit and acuity, places Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in a larger frame. He considers the irresistible pull - for Americans - of American exceptionalism, and asks whether this creed is reaching its limit. He explores alternative paths the United States could have taken, and asks where its present course might lead Australia as a dutiful ally.

"The best book by an outsider about America since - forever," David Sedaris, on Don Watson's American Journeys.

Don Watson is a historian, author and public speaker. After writing political satire for Max Gillies and speeches for the Victorian premier John Cain, he became Paul Keating's speechwriter in 1992 and wrote the award winning biography Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul Keating Prime Minister (2002). His Quarterly Essay, Rabbit Syndrome - Australia and America, won the inaugural Alfred Deakin essay prize in the Victorian Premier's literary awards. His other books include Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language, American Journeys and Bendable Learnings: The Wisdom of Modern Management.

Dr Bates Gill is Professor of Asia-Pacific Strategic Studies, Coral Bell School of Asia and Pacific Affairs, ANU. From 2012 to 2015 he was CEO of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and from 2007 to 2012 served as the Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Dr Gill has also led major research programs at US public policy think tanks, Brookings Institution and Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Don Watson - American politics in the time of Trump

Lock up your tubas and your fairy wrens! In partnership with ANU Meet The Authors series, Chat 10 Looks 3 comes to Canberra for a live recording of the beloved podcast's bumper Christmas episode.

Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb discuss their favourite books, TV shows, movies and recipes from 2017. Make a list of what to read in your Christmas holidays! Note ideas for the perfect gifts! Crabb's rider includes a fully stocked bar and the removal of all pianos from the premises while Sales just wants to know if ANU is providing a driver.

Chat 10 Looks 3 LIVE with Leigh Sales & Annabel Crabb

William Dalrymple is in conversation with Meera Ashar on William's new book, The Anarchy. The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. In his most ambitious and riveting book to date, The Anarchy, William Dalrymple tells the timely and cautionary tale of the rise of the East India Company, the first global corporate power. In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish in his richest provinces a new administration run by English merchants who collected taxes through means of a ruthless private army - what we would now call an act of involuntary privatisation. 

The East India Company became something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business. In less than four decades it had trained up a security force of around 200,000 men - twice the size of the British army - and had subdued an entire subcontinent, conquering first Bengal and finally, in 1803, the Mughal capital of Delhi itself. The Company's reach stretched until almost all of India south of the Himalayas was effectively ruled from a boardroom in London.

'Dalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India ... A book of beauty' - Gerard DeGroot, The Times

"[A] rampaging, brilliant, passionate history ... Dalrymple gives us every sword-slash, every scam, every groan and battle cry. He has no rival as a narrative historian of the British in India ... A gripping tale of bloodshed and deceit, of unimaginable opulence and intolerable starvation ... shot through with an unappeasable moral passion" - Wall Street Journal

In conversation with William Dalrymple

The ANU Energy Update is the ECI's annual flagship event - a one-day summit that brings together energy researchers, policymakers, industry and the public to provide an overview of the latest world energy trends.

This day features national and international presenters from government, research and the private sector discussing a range of energy issues including global and regional outlooks, new technologies, energy security, energy access and energy productivity.

Focus session: National Hydrogen Strategy

Solar Oration: Fleur Yaxley

Andrew Leigh is in conversation with Brian Schmidt on Andrew's new book with Joshua Gans, Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator.

Is economic inequality the price we pay for innovation? The amazing technological advances of the last two decades-in such areas as artificial intelligence, genetics, and materials-have benefited society collectively and rewarded innovators handsomely: we get cool smartphones and technology moguls become billionaires. This contributes to a growing wealth gap; in the United States; the wealth controlled by the top 0.1 percent of households equals that of the bottom ninety percent. Is this the inevitable cost of an innovation-driven economy?

Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh make the case that pursuing innovation does not mean giving up on equality-precisely the opposite. In this book, they outline ways that society can become both more entrepreneurial and more egalitarian.

All innovation entails uncertainty; there's no way to predict which new technologies will catch on. Therefore, Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh argue, rather than betting on the future of particular professions, we should consider policies that embrace uncertainty and protect people from unfavourable outcomes. To this end, they suggest policies that promote both innovation and equality.

In Conversation with Andrew Leigh

Ross Garnaut is in conversation on his new book, Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession, in which Garnaut shows how the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia the opportunity to reset its economy and build a successful future - and why the old approaches will not work. Garnaut develops the idea of a renewable superpower, calls for a basic income and explores what the 'decoupling' of China and America will mean for Australia.

In the wake of COVID-19, the world has entered its deepest recession since the 1930s. Shocks of this magnitude throw history from its established course - either for good or evil. In 1942 - in the depths of war - the Australian government established a Department of Post-War Reconstruction to plan a future that not only restored existing strengths but also rebuilt the country for a new and better future. As we strive to overcome the coronavirus challenge, we need new, practical ideas to restore Australia. This book has them.

Ross Garnaut AC is Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia. He was principal economic adviser to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Australian Ambassador to China (1985-88). In 2008, he produced the Garnaut Climate Change Review for the Australian government and a follow-up review in 2011. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Dog Days and Superpower.

Dr Steven Kennedy, Secretary to the Australian Treasury since 2 September 2019, has held numerous senior positions in the public service in a 30 year career. He was the Head of Secretariat of the Garnaut Climate Change Review - Update 2011 and was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2016 for outstanding public service in the area of climate change policy. Dr Kennedy holds a PhD and a Masters in Economics from the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney.

Welcome and introduction delivered by Professor Brian P. Schmidt, ANU Vice-Chancellor.

Vote of thanks given by Professor Helen Sullivan, Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy ANU.

In conversation with Ross Garnaut

The ANU campus is always alive with plenty to see, hear and do.

Listen here to one of the many fascinating talks delivered by the world’s finest thinkers.  

If you’re interested in finding out more about events at ANU then visit us at events.anu.edu.


Popular tracks by Experience ANU