As a place that is part litmus test for change at the world’s extremities and part canary in the climate coalmine, the vast, dry continent of Antarctica drives much of Earth’s weather. Griffith Review 77: Real Cool World explores Antarctica as the site of human endeavour – from glaciology and marine biology to geopolitics, international law, big ships and more – and as a canvas for the imagination.

Paul Barclay, host of Big Ideas on ABC Radio National, will be in conversation with Australian Antarctic Division Chief Scientist Nicole Webster, Program Leader Tas van Ommen and Walkley Award-winning journalist Jo Chandler to discuss this collection.

This event will be recorded for future broadcast on Big Ideas, ABC Radio National.

About the panel

Nicole Webster is the Chief Scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division. Over the past two decades she has worked as Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and professor at the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics at the University of Queensland.

Tas van Ommen is the Program Leader for Antarctic Climate at the Australian Antarctic Division.

Jo Chandler is an award-winning journalist, author and journalism educator at the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne.  

Paul Barclay is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and broadcaster with an appetite for ideas and in-depth analysis and discussion. He has produced countless stories over more than twenty years for an array of programs on virtually all ABC radio networks. He is currently the host of Big Ideas on ABC RN.