To be held at the Sydney Opera House, the weekend of October 1&2. You can see the program and a list of panel participants here. Strangely, there isn't a list of who is sitting on which panel. I'm guessing Clem Bastow and Catherine Lumby might be hosting the topic All Women are Sluts. But I doubt there will be anyone who works with women traded into the sex industry, or victims of abuse. Seeing who is on what panel might give me a clue about what the topic Why are we Poisoning our Children? is actually about. Food additives? Sex and violence in the media? Arsenic? I just don't know.
I'm not sure I'll be going to either. I don't know that I'll be hearing any new ideas or radical suggestions re either topic, and I could spend my $30 an hour on something better elsewhere. And these things are usually recorded and uploaded so I can see the highlights from the comfort of my own home.
There are a few other topics that have caught my eye though. Society is Broken, and The Impossible: Communism and Anyone can make a Revolution. I wouldn't mind hearing Jullian Assange re Wikileaks, and Jonathon Safron Foer re food, but I get the feeling I already know what they're going to say. For$30 an hour, I want some really dangerous ideas. Something exciting. Something that makes me believe change is possible and we present at the discussion can be a part of it. But I won't know unless I go. A bit like a party for grown ups. I won't bother going if it is just a little tea party - I could do that at home - but if it turns into a rave, I don't want to miss it.
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