World Without Rape (2022) | Joanna Bourke, Jess Hill, Sisonke Msimang, Saxon Mullins & Bronwyn Penrith

World Without Rape (2022) | Joanna Bourke, Jess Hill, Sisonke Msimang, Saxon Mullins & Bronwyn Penrith

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas March 6, 2023 Duration: 58:33

The last few years have seen courageous sexual assault survivors become heroines and heroes, conquering the forces that have silenced them for so long. While laws are changing and we continue to unravel the culture of shame that has protected perpetrators and punished survivors how can we evolve the conversation? Can we ever get to the heart of the matter, and think about a world without rape? Or are our efforts doomed to failure as we tinker at the edges of an eternal crime?

Please note this session contains themes that may be sensitive to some listeners including discussions of rape and sexual assault. 

Joanna Bourke is a historian, academic and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, and a Fellow of the British Academy. 

Jess Hill is a Walkley-award winning investigative journalist who's been reporting on domestic abuse for several years.

Saxon Mullins is Director of Advocacy at Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy. In 2018 Saxon appeared on Four Corner's episode I am that girl where she gave up her anonymity to tell the story of her 2013 sexual assault and the subsequent criminal trials and appeals.

Bronwyn is a Wiradjuri woman who has worked all her life for equality and the recognition of First Nations people and their rights. 

Sisonke Msimang is an award-winning writer whose long-form writing on money, power and sex has appeared in the New York TimesForeign Affairs the Washington PostLapham's Quarterly and a range of other publications. 

 

 


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…