Just Be Evil (2022) | Frances Haugen, Scott Hargreaves, Sam Mostyn & Carl Rhodes

Just Be Evil (2022) | Frances Haugen, Scott Hargreaves, Sam Mostyn & Carl Rhodes

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas July 5, 2023 Duration: 1:08:22

In 1970, Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously said that 'the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits'. And much of western corporate culture has lived by that credo, allowing businesses to ravage the environment and trash the rights of workers. 

However in more recent times, corporations have seemingly grown a political and social conscious. Is woke capitalism the next step towards a better world? Or is it a form of dangerous hypocrisy that threatens democracy? 

 

Frances Haugen holds a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Olin College and an MBA from Harvard. She is a specialist in algorithmic product management, having worked on ranking algorithms at Google, Pinterest, Yelp and Facebook. 

Scott Hargreaves became Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs in 2022, having joined the staff in 2015. Prior to that he worked in a range of private and public organisations, including periods as a political adviser, corporate affairs manager, as a manager of sustainability for a listed company, and managing small businesses.

Carl Rhodes is Dean and Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. Carl writes about the ethical and democratic dimensions of business and work.

Sam Mostyn is a businesswoman and sustainability adviser, with a long history of executive and governance roles across business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy, and NFP sectors. 


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
Claire G. Coleman (2022) | Words are Weapons [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Stories define who we are, our history and they can be weaponised. Stories can erase an entire culture. History is nothing but a story. Noongar woman and author Claire G. Coleman invites you to consider that Australia ha…
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Former Facebook product manager, Frances Haugen did not set out to be a whistleblower, but when it became a question of saving lives, she knew it was time to tell the truth. On top of her concerns about mental health and…
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Duration: 34:28
From Russia and China to America, Turkey and beyond, illiberal leaders have used corruption, machismo, disinformation, propaganda and violence to stay in power and expand their influence for decades. With authoritarianis…