Boyer Lectures
Episodes
05 | James Curran: Trump’s gift
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In our fifth and final Boyer Lecture for 2025, James Curran, professor of modern history at the University of Sydney, analyses our partnership with t...
04 | Amelia Lester: AI on Australia’s terms
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the fourth Boyer Lecture for 2025, Amelia Lester, deputy editor at Foreign Policy Magazine in Washington, explores why it is so difficult to have ...
03 | Larissa Behrendt: Justice, ideas, inclusion
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Larissa Behrendt, AO a Euahleyai/Gamillaroi woman and Distinguished Professor of Law and Inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at the University of ...
02 | Hon John Anderson AC: Our civilisational moment
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the second Boyer Lecture for 2025, the Hon John Anderson, AC, farmer, grazier and former deputy prime minister of Australia, takes a sweeping lo...
01 | Professor Justin Wolfers: Australia is freaking amazing
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Keynote Boyer Lecturer for 2025 is Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Policy from the University of Michigan and visiting Professo...
04 | Lyn Williams: The Artistry of Children
23 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Whilst our new Australian choral music began in a classical context, artistic collaborations have extended our musical realm to a point where it no ...
03 | Iain Grandage: Beyond the Boundaries
16 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Iain Grandage is a composer, a cellist, a pianist, a festival director, and a career collaborator. In his Boyer Lecture, he asks whether classical ...
02 | Aaron Wyatt: Our Shared Humanity
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“There is much to be gained by tapping into the tens of thousands of years of culture that we have available to us in this country. Exposing more p...
01 | Anna Goldsworthy: Kairos
02 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"There is a continuity to the inner experience of what it is to be human. And it is this inner experience that this music addresses directly."Profess...
Q&A with Professor Michelle Simmons
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What will a quantum computer look like? Will quantum computing supercharge AI? Can it save us from the climate crisis? Professor Michelle Simmons has...
04 | The Importance of Doubt
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doubt is often seen as a something to be overcome — a failing, or even a sign of incompetence. But in her fourth and final lecture, Professor Mic...
03 | Imagination and Mindset
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her third Boyer lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons maps how science has changed from 1927 to now — moving from the theoretical to the applicab...
02 | The Quantum Promise
28 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her second Boyer lecture, Professor Michelle Simmons details the international race underway to build the first error-corrected quantum computer.
01 | The Atomic Revolution
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Computing machinery that used to fill an entire room has now shrunk to the size of individual atoms. In her first lecture, Professor Michelle Simmon...
05 | We The Australian People
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his fifth and final Boyer lecture Noel Pearson looks at the question of identity, Australian identity, and he argues that our extraordinary divers...
04 | Transformational School education
26 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his fourth lecture, Noel Pearson addresses the educational barriers facing young Indigenous people, and the critical need to raise literacy and nu...
03 | A Job Guarantee For The Bottom Million
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his third lecture Noel Pearson argues that Indigenous Australians have become trapped in the 'bottom million' of the nation when it comes to econo...
02 | A Rightful But Not Separate Place
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his second lecture, Noel Pearson reflects on the words of 1968 Boyer lecturer W.E.H. Stanner who said that Aboriginal people seek, 'a decent unio...
01 | Who we were, who we are, and who we can be
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Noel Pearson argues the case for why a Voice to parliament, enshrined in the constitution, is so important to Indigenous people, ‘to be afforded ou...
04 | Soul of the Age - Imaginary Forces with John Bell
27 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this fourth and final lecture, John Bell discusses how William Shakespeare imagined a different world and encouraged his audience to do the same.
03 | Soul of the Age — Shakespeare's Women with John Bell
20 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this third lecture of the Boyer series, John Bell discusses Shakespeare's Women and how through his female characters he imagined a better world.
02 | Soul of the Age - Order vs Chaos with John Bell
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this second lecture of the Boyer series, John Bell discusses what Shakespeare can teach us about governance, about politics and power.
01 | Soul of the Age — Life lessons from Shakespeare with John Bell
06 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the first lecture of the 2021 Boyer series, John Bell opens our eyes and our ears to how relevant William Shakespeare is in today's world and what...
03 | The economics of inequality
07 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the third Boyer lecture, Dr Andrew Forrest discusses how inequality manifests in our modern capitalist system — through intergenerational depend...
02 | Lighting up our ocean
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of his 2020 Boyer Lectures, Andrew Forrest mounts a passionate defence of our oceans. Dr Forrest argues the key issues facing our ocean...
01 | Oil vs Water — Confessions of a carbon emitter
24 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this first Boyer lecture, leading philanthropist and businessman Andrew Forrest calls for an urgent move to green hydrogen "on a global scale". Fo...
03 |The End of Silence: Makarrata
30 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Rachel Perkins final Boyer lecture she details the dual proposal for a Makarrata Commission and a process of truth telling about our nation.
02 |The End of Silence: With the consent of the natives
23 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From colonial times to the present, Indigenous people have wanted a say about the laws and policies that affect them. Rachel Perkins discusses what n...
01 | The End of Silence: The genesis of the Uluru statement
16 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Perkins reminds us of the significance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and why it's the most important message Indigenous people have se...
01 | Back to the future of eugenics
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How advances in genetics and biomedicine have quietly brought eugenics back from exile.
02 | Gene genie
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Human GMOs already walk amongst us and the implications of this are enormous.
03 | Sins of the flesh
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There's a dark side of stem cell research — John Rasko shines a light on the low points and scandals of unproven cell therapies.
04 | Life immortal
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the fields of gene and cell therapies we've already crossed many thresholds — but do we really understand the consequences of what we're doing?
Fast, smart and connected: How to build our digital future
22 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Genevieve Bell outlines her proposal for how Australia should build its digital future. This talk was recorded in front of a live audience ...
Fast, smart and connected: Your hopes and fears for where technology is heading
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We asked what your hopes and fears are for where technology is heading, and here's what you told us.
Fast, smart and connected: All technology has a history (and a country)
04 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Genevieve Bell reveals how new technologies change life, but rarely in the ways we anticipate. How might the origin stories of the typewrit...
Fast, smart and connected: Dealing lightning with both hands
03 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Genevieve Bell looks at how personal computers and the internet have reshaped our lives, and the possibilities we’ve imagined for ourselv...
Fast, smart and connected: Where it all began
02 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Genevieve Bell explains why she’s returned home after decades in Silicon Valley, and explores Australia’s role in building our current ...
Introducing 2017 Boyer Lecturer, Prof Genevieve Bell
04 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be human, and Australian, in a digital world?
Social justice and health: making a difference
12 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are examples from around the world, of community and government actions that make a difference to health inequalities. Creating the conditions ...
Living and working
11 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Unemployment is bad for health, but work can damage health, too. When work is no longer the way out of poverty, health suffers.
Give every child the best start
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Absence of the nurturing and presence of the harmful are important for the whole of life and are strong contributors to inequalities in adult health....
Health inequality and the causes of the causes
09 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are large inequalities in health within and between countries. To explain this we have to look at the social determinants of health—the condi...
Social justice and health: making a difference
24 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are examples from around the world, of community and government actions that make a difference to health inequalities. Creating the conditions ...
Living and working
17 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Unemployment is bad for health, but work can damage health, too. When work is no longer the way out of poverty, health suffers.
Give every child the best start
10 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Absence of the nurturing and presence of the harmful are important for the whole of life and are strong contributors to inequalities in adult health....
Health inequality and the causes of the causes
03 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are large inequalities in health within and between countries. To explain this we have to look at the social determinants of health—the condi...
The Birthplace of the Fortunate
18 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Australia now finds itself on the centre stage. Staying there is the challenge. In the final of the 2015 Boyer Lectures series, Dr Michael Fullilove ...
Foreign policy begins at home
11 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In his third Boyer lecture, Michael Fullilove argues the need for a larger politics and some big thinking on the economy in order to respond to globa...
A three-dimensional foreign policy
04 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In his second Boyer Lecture, Dr Michael Fullilove examines how the dizzying rise of China has pulled Australia onto a new world stage as a key player...
Present at the destruction
27 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this first lecture, delivered at Peking University in Beijing, Dr Michael Fullilove explains the crumbling of world order. As wealth and power sh...
People for Science
27 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In the fourth and final lecture Professor Cory highlights the concerning scientific brain drain in this country: "We are losing women from all areas ...
Science for a Healthy Environment
20 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In the third lecture Professor Suzanne Cory reflects on her other great passion, the environment, and warns that 'humankind is fouling the nest' and ...
Science for a Healthy Economy
13 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In the second lecture Professor Cory shows how extraordinarily important scientific research and development is for our economy.
Science for a Healthy People
06 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In this first lecture Professor Cory reflects on where medical science has come from and where it is heading, drawing out implications for health and...
Advance Australia Fair
24 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Looking to the future of Australian Citizenship
Australians at their best
17 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Courage, compassion and resilience in everyday life
Watching the women
10 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The powerful role of Australian Women
Joining the neighbourhood
03 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
A personal story of equal rights advocacy
05 | Counting Our Victories: the end of Garvey-ism and the soft bigotry of low expectation
16 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In her final lecture, Professor Langton reflects on the economic transformation underway in the lives of Aboriginal people -- from increasing Indigen...
04 | The conceit of wilderness ideology
09 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In her fourth lecture, Professor Langton examines how some beliefs within the nature conservation movement in Australia have perpetuated the idea t...
03 | Old barriers and new models. The private sector, government and the economic empowerment of Aboriginal Australians
02 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In her third lecture, Professor Langton illuminates the experiences of two Aboriginal communities who are levering economic advancement through agree...
02 | From Protectionism to Economic Advancement
25 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In her second lecture, Professor Langton examines the confluence of historical, political and social factors which have created entrenched barriers a...
01 | Changing the paradigm: Mining Companies, Native Title and Aboriginal Australians
18 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In this first lecture Professor Langton explores the changing relationship between Aboriginal communities and mining companies since the 1993 Mabo ag...
Lecture 4: A Home in Fiction
11 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
It is my great good luck that the words I use are English words, which means I live in a very old nation of open borders; a rich, deep, multi-layered...
Lecture 3: At Home in the World
04 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
If one definition of the word 'home' is a goal or objective, then I have to be clear that becoming the kind of journalist who covered war was never m...
Lecture 2: A Home on Bland Street
27 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The idea of home is bigger than the floorplan of any given four walls or the mass of any roof line. It cannot be compassed by rote recitations of sub...
Lecture 1: Our Only Home
20 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
In dictionaries, definitions of home are various. It is both 'a place of origin, a starting position' and 'a goal or destination.' It may also be 'an...
Lecture 6: The Republic of Learning
19 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Universities may appear unchanged and enduring, yet the world of the mind is shifting quickly. This is a moment of unparalleled growth, but also of n...
Lecture 5: Fired with Enthusiasm
12 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In the modern university, the new sits awkwardly alongside the ancient — medieval gowns and corporate branding, academic board and a chief financia...
Lecture 4: Becoming a Citizen
05 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Who gets to university will set the pattern for the life to follow — not just in income and profession, but across almost every dimension of health...
Lecture 3: Research! A Mere Excuse for Idleness
28 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Research is not an ancient feature of the university, yet has become central to their identity. To tackle the really big questions, such as containin...
Lecture 2: A Lectern in a Dusty Room
21 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
On Open Day across the nation, the republic of learning is on display. Amid the multitude of courses on offer, the classroom is changing — new tech...
Lecture 1: The Global Moment
14 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
During the Renaissance, a new generation, living for the first time in a world of printing, created a conversation across borders and languages.
Lecture 6: Australia's Future: Paying it Forward
13 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
With climate change, the republic, national security, a bill of rights, and the economy, what kind of future are we creating for our children and the...
Lecture 5: From Nino Cullotta to Hazim El Masri
06 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
How did we get to where we are as a nation? How many mistakes did we make along the way and how many things did we get right? Over General Peter Cosg...
Lecture 4: The Politics of Ordinary Australians
29 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has had its fair share of pivotal political moments over the years, moments that have engaged the interest and opinions of its people. Yet,...
Lecture 3: Leading In Australia
22 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Cosgrove has led the army and then the entire defence force, so he is eminently well placed to talk about leadership. So for him, what makes a ...
Lecture 2: Australia's Regional Relationships
15 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
If Australia were for sale how would the real estate agent describe it? If a potential buyer asked the neighbours what they thought, what would they ...
Lecture 1: National Security at the Breakfast Table?
08 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
He's spent a lifetime puzzling over national security and in his first lecture, General Peter Cosgrove makes mention of all the wars we've been invol...
Lecture 6: The 21st century: comforting the afflicted. And afflicting the comfortable
07 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The Oxford of Rupert Murdoch's youth was one of the most privileged places on earth. But freedom and information have changed the order of things. On...
Lecture 5: The global middle class roars
30 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Murdoch's recent trips to China and India have convinced him of one thing: there is no alternative to economic growth as a remedy for poverty....
Lecture 4: Fortune favours the smart
23 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
An important theme of the lectures is the pressing need for Australia to develop human capital. But to do this successfully our schools need serious ...
Lecture 3: The future of newspapers: moving beyond dead trees
16 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Murdoch at heart is a traditional newspaperman. But he sees the wood for the trees. Newspapers will thrive in the 21st century if proprietors ...
Lecture 2: Who's afraid of new technology?
09 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Technology has helped transform the world. Some say it has turned it upside down. Rupert Murdoch argues that we must not be prisoners of the past - m...
Lecture 1: Aussie rules: bring back the pioneer
02 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In his first lecture Rupert Murdoch scans the future and beholds a golden era. But will we be part of it? The Australia he sees simply is not prepare...
Lecture 6: Shaping the Future
16 Dec 2007
Contributed by Lukas
In his final lecture, Professor Clark describes the unfolding possibilities of the new discipline of medical bionics. The hope of bionic nerve and sp...
Lecture 5: Brain Plasticity Gives Hope to Children
09 Dec 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Clark describes the realisation of his passionate desire to use the bionic ear to develop spoken language in children and the confrontation...
Lecture 4: Imagination Becomes a Reality
02 Dec 2007
Contributed by Lukas
'It is no exaggeration to say I was gambling my whole professional career on this day.' After twelve years of research Professor Clark describes the ...
Lecture 2: Loss of Contact
18 Nov 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Loss of Contact is a detailed investigation of exactly what it means to lose a sense or senses including hearing, vision or touch. Clark, quoting the...
Lecture 1: Exploring the World Around Us
11 Nov 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Clark expresses his wonder, and inspires ours, at the complexity and continuing mystery of the operation of our senses.
Lecture 6: Challenges for the Future
17 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The evolution of demand management policies, particularly monetary policy, over the past 30 years has largely been an exercise in overcoming conflict...
Lecture 5: The Long Expansion
10 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The 1990 recession returned Australia to low inflation and paved the way for the sort of stability—15 years and counting—that earlier recessions ...
Lecture 4: The Recession of 1990 and its Legacy
03 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Finance excess saw boom turn to bust, and Australia experience its third recession in a quarter of a century. Then-treasurer Paul Keating would infam...
Lecture 3: Reform and Deregulation
26 Nov 2006
Contributed by Lukas
By the 1970s the world's developed economies were stuck in the worst position they had been in since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Lecture 2: From Golden Age to Stagflation
19 Nov 2006
Contributed by Lukas
For the world's developed economies, the end of the second world war was the trigger for almost 30 years of sustained growth.
Lecture 1: The Golden Age
12 Nov 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The end of the second world war ushered in an era of incomparable economic growth. In the era of post-war reconstruction the world's developed countr...
Lecture 6: Punching Above Our Weight?
21 Dec 2003
Contributed by Lukas
Owen Harries summarises the four traditions of American foreign policy as identified by Walter Russell Mead, and conducts a similar overview of Austr...
Lecture 5: Challengers
14 Dec 2003
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, hegemons have been challenged. What challengers is the United States likely to face in coming decades? Owen Harries assesses the ...
Lecture 4: Civilisations and Cultures - Clashing or Merging?
07 Dec 2003
Contributed by Lukas
Until recently cultures and the differences between them have played but a small role in the study of international politics. This is because virtual...