The Festival of Dangerous Ideas

By Niall Roeder

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas is bringing robots, drug addiction, the right to die, China’s censorship, cyber-sexism, indigenous recognition, capitalism and climate change our way. Sydney Opera House, you diabolical… what are you up to?

FODI returns to the Opera House in September for it’s lucky seventh instalment and with it brings a bill of big topics spruiked by the likes of Jon Ronson, Naomi Klein and Paul Krugman and other wildly intellectual creatures.

The filmmakers, authors, journalists, social activists, economists, entrepreneurs, big mouths, pot stirrers and soap boxers speaking at the FODI are identified by organisers as leading thinkers and culture creators. They are asked to present the important ideas of our time and in doing so create lively discussions and public debate.

“From international affairs to the rise of robots, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas brings some of the world’s most exciting thinkers to the Sydney Opera House stages and online to throw down the gauntlet and challenge pre-conceived ideas about topics as diverse as incarceration, drug addiction, education and democracy. Whether they are ideas that people have been concerned about since the beginning of time, or ideas on the cusp of our consciousness, we’ll be exploring them at the Festival” – Head of Talks and Ideas at the Sydney Opera House and co-curator of Festival of Dangerous Ideas Ann Mossop

Must Sees:

Shame Culture – Jon Ronson: The Welsh journo who wrote The Men Who Stare At Goats, tackles the rise of public shaming in online culture and if it’s here to stay.

Capitalism and the Climate – Naomi Klein: The Canadian social activist and filmmaker delves into whether our market prevents us from properly addressing climate change.

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas runs September 5-6. Whilst visiting the iconic Sydney Opera House for Festival of Dangerous Ideas, stay at the iconic QT Sydney for your own festival of elegant relaxation.