A message from Stephen Fry

A message from Stephen Fry

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas February 24, 2026 Duration: 1:48

Heading into its 13th festival, FODI exists thanks to supporters who don't flinch at difficult topics. Brave minds. Bold hearts. Dangerous conversations. We've built a reputation for dragging the world's sharpest provocateurs and thought leaders to Sydney IRL.

From 21–23 August 2026, FODI returns. Our Opening Night event with Salman Rushdie will ignite a jam-packed weekend, where global thought leaders, trail-blazing artists and fearless experts converge upon some of Sydney's most iconic venues.

But a festival with global reach doesn't come cheap. To keep tickets accessible and to stay fiercely independent, FODI relies on people like you.

Big ideas don't fund themselves. Donate to help us lock in extraordinary speakers and artists for this year's program at festivalofdangerousideas.com.au.


For more than a decade, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas has curated a space where provocative thinking isn't just welcomed, it's the entire point. This podcast is a direct line to that stage, offering an archive of talks that deliberately unsettle comfortable opinions and interrogate the stubborn problems we often agree to ignore. Each episode captures a live conversation from Australia's original disruptive ideas festival, presenting arguments that can be exhilarating, uncomfortable, and vitally important. You’ll hear from a compelling roster of festival alumni-including leading experts, intellectual troublemakers, and visionary authors-who share perspectives that conventional discourse frequently sidelines. The discussions here aren't theoretical exercises; they grapple with the pressing and difficult issues shaping our society and culture right now. Tuning in means granting yourself access to a decade-long tradition of intellectual courage, where the core assumption is that some truths are only reached by first entertaining a dangerous idea. It’s a chance to listen as boundaries are pushed, not for shock value, but for clarity. The result is a consistently challenging and refreshing audio experience that complicates simple narratives and expands what feels possible to talk about.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Podcast Episodes
Little Bad Thing Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06
If you've been enjoying our deep dive festival sessions you might want to check out bite sized conundrums in Little Bad Thing, the new podcast from The Ethics Centre. True stories about the things we wish we hadn't done.…
Helen Joyce (2015) | The Right To Die [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:43
Why is the right to doctor-assisted dying supported by so many and legal for so few? Helen Joyce became international editor of The Economist in January 2014 having previously served as International Education Editor and…
Edward Snowden (2020) | Surveillance States [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:53
Edward Snowden has been condemned as a traitor and celebrated as a patriot. In his mind, he is simply a man of good conscience who has followed in the footsteps of family members who have faithfully served the people and…
Marcia Langton (2020) | Dangerous Fictions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:51
No one has a monopoly on truth when it comes to the past and present lives of Australia's Indigenous peoples. Conservatives tend to deny that Indigenous peoples should have special status in the Constitution. Progressive…
Eric Schlosser (2015) | Nuclear Delusions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:22
Why has humanity still not worked out how to make nuclear weapons safe? As an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser continues to explore subjects ignored by the mainstream media and gives a voice to people at the marg…
Lydia Cacho (2014) | Slavery Is Big Business [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:03
In the West, slavery is often seen as a dark part of the colonial past. Although it's illegal in all countries, it remains alive and well—and is growing dramatically. Impervious to recession, it forms a thriving part of…
Lee Vinsel (2016) | Innovation Fetish [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:05
Is innovation overvalued? It is the dominant ideology of our era. But what if building, maintenance and repair prove much more important to our daily lives than the vast majority of technological innovations? Co-founder…
Sarai Walker (2015) | Radical Fat Acceptance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:09
One of the last bastions of acceptable discrimination is against fat people. Health arguments reinforce the social and cultural pressure to avoid fatness at all costs. But is it possible to imagine things differently and…