Panellists: Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, Kathy Lette, Australian author, commentator and self-confessed "demented mother"; Glenn Carle, former CIA interrogator and analyst; Masha Gessen, Russian journalist and Putin biographer; and Greg Sheridan, Foreign Affairs Editor, The Australian.

Sydney Writers' Festival

Tony Jones

Barry Humphries joins Q&A

Morals and Politics

Joining Tony Jones on the panel are: News Limited columnist and blogger, Joe Hildebrand; Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey; economist and businesswoman, Judith Sloan; and founder of the left-wing think tank CPD, Miriam Lyons.

Q&A Returns

Panellists: Jenny McAllister, ALP National President; Helen Kroger, Liberal Senator; Mikey Robins, comedian; Robert Manne, writer and academic; and Tim Wilson, Institute of Public Affairs.

Celebrities, Leaders and the Speaker

Panellists: Julie Bishop, Eva Cox, Annabel Crabb, Daniel Hannan.

The Labor Leadership

Panellists: Government Leader in the Senate, Chris Evans; the Nationals' Senator, Barnaby Joyce; former Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie; Deputy Leader of the Greens, Christine Milne; Kevin Rudd's former advisor, Lachlan Harris; and opinion columnist for The Australian, Janet Albrechtsen.

After the Ballot

Panellists: Amanda Vanstone, former Howard Government Minister; Mark Steyn, conservative commentator and writer; Natasha Stott Despoja, one-time Democrats leader; Jianying Zha, writer and adviser to US President Barack Obama; and Paul Grabowsky, Director, 2012 Adelaide Festival.

Live from Adelaide

Panellists: Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek; Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull; former Farmer of the Year, Michael O'Brien; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda; and Feminist writer and broadcaster, Clementine Ford.

Katter, Kony and the Climate

Panellists Germaine Greer, celebrated Australian intellectual; Toby Ralph, marketing and political strategist; Benjamin Law, writer and journalist; Christa Hughes, cabaret artist; and Craig Gross, America's contentious porn pastor.

Politics and Porn in a Post-Feminist World

Panellists: Craig Emerson, Trade Minister; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Larissa Waters, Queensland Greens Senator; Grahame Morris, political strategist; Liberty Sanger, labor lawyer.

The Qld Election

Panellists: former Violent Femme, Brian Ritchie, now director of Hobart's MONA Festival of Music and Art; The Minister for Community Services, Julie Collins; Liberal Senate Leader, Eric Abetz; Outspoken Independent and anti-gambling MP, Andrew Wilkie; author and academic, Natasha Cica; and CEO of the Forest Industry Association, Terry Edwards.

Live from Hobart

Panellists: Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and British atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

Religion and Atheism

Panellists: Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon; shadow education minister, Christopher Pyne; humanist philosopher, A.C. Grayling; human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson and Middle East analyst, Lydia Khalil.

Philosophy and the World

Panellist: Bob Brown, outgoing leader of the Australian Greens.

Bob Brown joins Q&A

Panellists: Social researcher and writer, Rebecca Huntley; former Liberal Minister, Nick Minchin; founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose; mining magnate, Clive Palmer; Chief Executive of the CSIRO, Dr Megan Clark.

Q&A Climate Debate

Panellists: Mark Dreyfus, Cabinet Secretary and local Labor MP; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Victor Victor, Sudanese youth leader; Ged Kearney, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions; Peter Reith, former Howard Government Minister; and Diana Nguyen, actor and comedian.

Live from Dandenong

Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal MP; Mark Bouris, leading Australian businessman; and Kate Miller-Heidke, singer songwriter.

Show Me the Money...

Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Joe Hockey, Shadow Treasurer; Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia; Judith Sloan, economist and businesswoman; and Stephen Mayne, Crikey founder and shareholder activist.

Panellists: Barry Humphries, celebrated Australian writer, satirist and actor; Miriam Margolyes, star of Harry Potter and champion of English novelist Charles Dickens; Jacki Weaver, Academy Award nominated actress; David Marr, journalist and commentator; and John Hewson, former leader of the Liberal Party.

Panellists: Simon Crean, Federal Minister for Regional Australia and the Arts; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Senator and Shadow Federal Minister for Regional Development; Christine Milne, Leader of the Greens; Georgie Somerset, Kingaroy farmer and President of the Queensland Rural Women's Network and Jeremy Marou, Torres Strait Islands musician and grand nephew of Eddie Mabo.

Live from Toowoomba

Panellists: Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard joins Q&A

Joining Tony Jones on the panel are: NSW Minister for Community Services, Pru Goward; English comedian, Lenny Henry; News Limited columnist and blogger, Joe Hildebrand; Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan; and academic and writer, Professor Brian Schmidt.

Life, the Universe and Everything

Panellists: Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport and Multicultural Affairs; Tim Freedman, lead singer of The Whitlams; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Dr John Lee, foreign policy academic and China expert; and Louise Adler, CEO of Melbourne University Publishing.

The Great Boat Debacle

Panellists: Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Simon Sheikh, National Director of GetUp; Lenore Taylor, National Affairs Correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald; and Grahame Morris, political strategist.

After the Carbon Tax

Panellists: Chris Bowen, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; Nahji Chu, one-time refugee now successful restaurateur; Thierry de Duve, internationally acclaimed art theorist and critic; and Liz Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Artistic Politics

Panellists: Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Joel Fitzgibbon, Government Whip; Greg Hunt, Shadow Climate Minister; Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator; Jennifer Hewett, political journalist; and Peter Craven, literary critic.

Random Violence

Panellists: Simon Sheikh, GetUp Director; Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor of Sydney University and Jane Caro, social commentator.

Teachers, Schools and our Education System

Panellists: Shane Gould, Australian swimming legend and triple Olympic gold medal winner; Louise Sauvage, multi gold medallist wheelchair racer; David Pocock, incoming captain of the Australian Wallabies rugby team; John Alexander, tennis champion turned MP for Bennelong; and Michael O'Loughlin, former Sydney Swans' star.

A Q&A of Olympic proportions

Panellists: Katie Noonan, singer-songwriter; Craig Emerson, Minister for Trade; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Bob Katter, political maverick and leader of the Australian Party; and Debbie Kilroy, prisoner rights advocate.

Manners, Mining and the Can-do Attitude

Panellists: Peter Singer, Ethicist and philosopher; Phillip Blond, British political thinker and theologian; Dr Cassandra Goldie, Head of Australian Council of Social Service; Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; and Pru Goward, Member for Goulburn.

Big Ideas and Big Society

Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Doug Cameron, Labor Senator for New South Wales; Janet Albrechtsen, Opinion columnist for The Australian; Simon Birmingham, Liberal Senator for South Australia; and Mandy Nolan, comedian, author and mother-of-five.

Assange, Asylum & Human Bondage

Panellists: Simon Callow, Celebrated British actor and writer; Germaine Greer, Feminist icon and provocateur; Anthony Appiah, Ghanaian-British-American philosopher and novelist; and Sefi Atta, Nigerian Author.

Mutilation and the Media Generation

Panellists: Tony Burke, Minister For Environment and Sustainability; Tara Moss, Author and former model; Angry Anderson, Rock singer and conservative political activist; Fiona Nash, The National's Senator and Nitin Sawhney, British Indian musician and composer.

Trolls and Trawlers

Panellists: Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney; Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education; Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Anna Krien, Journalist and author; and Catherine Deveny, Writer, comedian and social commentator.

Seek and Ye Shall Submit

Panellists: Clover Moore, Newly re-elected Lord Mayor of Sydney; Robyn Davidson, Acclaimed Australian author; Ilan Pappe, Israeli born historian; Irving Wallach, Prominent Australian barrister; and Greg Sheridan, Foreign Affairs editor of The Australian.

Protests and Palestine

Panellists: Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Health; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal Member for Higgins; Mark Carnegie, Venture capitalist and philanthropist; Elliot Perlman, Australian novelist and screenwriter; and Jason Silva, American futurist and film maker.

The Future of The Future

Panellists: Jane Bussmann, 'Bob and Bono - Get Out of Africa!'; Shiv Malik, 'The War of Young against Old'; Jianying Zha, 'China Hearts America'; Jesse Bering, 'We're All Sexual Perverts!'; and Simon Laham, 'The Joy of Sin'.

Sorry, Lust and Free Will

Panellists: Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment Participation; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Lindsay Tanner, Former Finance Minister; Nilaja Sun, American actor and playwright; and Piers Akerman, Political commentator.

Bullying, Education & Purpose

Panellists: Pamela Stephenson, Author and psychotherapist; Bill Shorten, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Charlie Pickering, Comedian and television presenter; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; and Catherine Fox, Deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review's Boss Magazine.

Super, Sexism & Surgery

Panellists: Billy Bragg, Singer-songwriter and activist; Peter Garrett, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth; Amanda Vanstone, Former Howard Government Minister; Scott Morrison, Shadow Immigration Minister; and Julia Baird, author, broadcaster and journalist.

Folk Music, Five Years & Funding

Panellists: Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport and Multicultural Affairs; Eric Abetz, Liberal Senate Leader; Archie Roach, Indigenous singer-songwriter; Sekai Holland, Zimbabwe Minister for National Healing & Reconciliation; and Grahame Morris, Political adviser.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Panellists: Colin Barnett, WA Premier; Bob Brown, Former Leader of the Greens; Alannah MacTiernan, Former Labor Minister; Hannah McGlade, Indigenous human rights lawyer and Bob Cronin, Editor in Chief, The West Australian.

James Price Point and beyond

Panellists: Judith Sloan, Economist and businesswoman; Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; and Heather Ridout, Reserve Bank of Australia board member.

Elephants On Parade

Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Nationals Senator; Jonathan Biggins, Playwright and Satirist; Stella Young, Comedienne and disability activist; and Janet Albrechtsen, Columnist for The Australian.

Happy Endings

Hosted by Hamish Macdonald, Q&A puts punters, pollies and pundits together in the studio to thrash out the hot issues of the week. It's about democracy in action - the audience gets to ask the questions.

Sydney Writers' Festival

Seasons14

Season 5 Episodes43

Cast1

Discussion

Episode Summary