Festival of Dangerous Ideas
This year’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) is setting up at Carriageworks on September 17 and 18 with a series of talks that dissect some of the biggest, and often most controversial, issues facing the world today.
It’s headlined by whistleblower Frances Haugen, who leaked tens of thousands of internal documents from Facebook showing how the company prioritised profit over public safety. And this year’s Hitch Memorial Keynote (named after author and journalist Christopher Hitchens, FODI’s first ever speaker) will be given by Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker, who’ll argue in favour of the ideals of enlightenment and why reason is fundamental.
Other talks by international speakers include British historian and academic Joanna Bourke on the enduring intrigue of bestiality, and American historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat will look at how authoritarian leaders seize – and retain – power, while gender non-conforming artist Alok Vaid-Menon will ask audiences to look beyond gender binaries.
Noongar woman and author Claire G Coleman will host Words Are Weapons – unpacking Australian colonisation and how ongoing untruthful narratives about Australia endanger both settlers and First Nations people. Author Sisonke Msimang digs into pandemic policy-making, and whether the lockdowns, which had a disproportionate impact on Sydney and Melbourne’s multicultural communities, were all in aid of preserving the lives of rich white people.
And senator Jacqui Lambie – certainly no stranger to a dangerous idea – will deliver the festival’s opening keynote, talking about her political career and what’s to come.
Plus, there’s journalists Peter Greste and Nick Bryant, advocate Saxon Mullins, author Jess Hill and Msimang on why rape endures, and “period preacher” Lucy Peach will celebrate the menstrual cycle in her multimedia work My Greatest Period Ever.
In addition to the talks, there’ll be an installation by Wiradjuri artist Brook Andrew depicting a brain whose two halves represent Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. And celebrity tattoo artist Scott Campbell will tattoo audience members for free.
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas runs from September 17–18 at Carriageworks. Tickets are on sale now.
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