On Antisemitism (2026) - Ruth Balint, Sarah Schwartz & David Slucki

On Antisemitism (2026) - Ruth Balint, Sarah Schwartz & David Slucki

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas September 2, 2026 Duration: 1:03:44

Antisemitism is one of the world's oldest hatreds. Adapting to every age, it lies hidden below the surface until the conditions of our world allow it to emerge.  
 
Join professors Ruth Balint and David Slucki, and lawyer Sarah Schwartz, in conversation with Simon Longstaff as they examine how antisemitism mutates across ideologies, why it so often flourishes during moments of social breakdown.

This session was recorded live at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026.

Ruth Balint is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her research examines the intersections between migration, gender and international law, with a current focus on the Jewish experience. 

Sarah Schwartz is a human rights lawyer and founding Executive Director of the Jewish Council of Australia, an organisation committed to fighting antisemitism and supporting Palestinian liberation.

David Slucki is Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Loti Smorgon Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life and Culture. 

Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.


 

 


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: 50

Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Podcast Episodes
Coleman Hughes & Josh Szeps (2024) - A Colourblind Society [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:14
Are we too focused on race? Have recent anti-racist movements like Black Lives Matter abandoned the 'colourblind' spirit of the original civil rights movement? In this live FODI edition of Uncomfortable Conversations wit…
Jen Gunter (2024) - Lifting the Curse [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:34
Being open about the female body has always been taboo, risky and dangerous. So, by smashing ancient menstrual taboos, and demolishing dangerous pseudoscience, the Internet's OB-GYN Jen Gunter has long been on a mission…
Speaking Bluntly (2024) - Antoinette Lattouf, Andy Mills & Josh Szeps [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:13
Journalists play a vital role in a democracy, holding power to account. The traditional model of journalism sees journalists as disinterested seekers of the truth, striving for 'objectivity' and suppressing their own opi…
David Runciman (2024) - Votes for 6 year olds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:40
When it comes our most divisive political, economic and social issues there is a fracture between the views of the old and the young. As older generations continue to monopolise wealth and how policy is shaped, younger g…
Jem Bendell (2024) - Breaking Together [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:32
The process of global collapse has begun – driven by the damage we have caused to the Earth's natural systems. And governments and corporations aren't going to save us. So are we going to cling to our old individual ways…