Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Steve Fieldhouse
Program: AI, art, and staying human - is creativity at a crossroad? Evelyn Araluen, Steve Tolz, Kirra Pendergast
In a world where AI rules, what will it mean to be creative? First Nations poet and author Evelyn Araluen (The Rot, Dropbear) is already self-censoring because of AI theft. The characters in Steve Tolz's new novel A Rising of the Lights find weird ways to sabotage the robots amongst them. Digital safety expert and educator Kirra Pendergast is seeing AI reshape childhood - for better or worse - with an important warning for parents, carers, and educators.
Program: Bones, CSI, X-Files step aside — here come the real forensic scientists
Forensics has gripped pop culture for decades. But what’s the reality of this job? From the crime scene to the laboratory, our expert panel examines the evidence, explains the science and reveals how the truth gets uncovered. In the real world, by people who do this work for a living. Forensics: The Science of Blood, Body Bags and Biohazards was presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane. The UQ Impact Series is presented in partnership with The University of Queensland.
Program: Roman Krznaric on why the history of human solidarity offers us radical hope, even now
Philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity, The Good Ancestor, and founder of the Empathy Museum has been looking backwards to help us all find a way forward. What he discovered in the global history of human solidarity and social movements was a wellspring of brilliant solutions to current challenges — democracy, fossil fuels, hyper-consumerism, water, AI, racism, even rage bait on social media, and more.
Program: Blast off! Exploring our solar system and beyond
We're going extraterrestrial with a panel of super star space scientists who are exploring the solar system and beyond. Will they find life out there? Which is the universe's best planet? And what's Matt Damon got to do with it? Incredible tales from Mars, Jupiter, and more. This event was recorded at the World Science Festival Brisbane on 29 March 2026.
Program: CENSORED! CANCELLED! BOYCOTT! The future of artistic freedom and democracy in Australia
How free should artists be to make risky work, to provoke, to get political? Who gets to decide if a work of art is deemed too risky, too dangerous, too difficult? Cancellations. Censorship. Controversy. Political pressure. Mass boycotts. The collapse of festivals. The Australian arts community has seen it all recently, in part triggered by the devastation in the Middle East. But is there more going on too?
Program: Aliens exist (and the truth is out there)!? Science Smackdown at World Science Festival Brisbane 2026
It's Team 'Aliens Alive' versus Team 'Earthlings United'. Get out of this world, hear the arguments, and you decide. Was the X-Files really a documentary, or was Mulder deluded? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell from the stage of the 2026 World Science Festival Brisbane for an hilarious hour of science and comedy.
Program: Tennis prodigy Todd Ley on the underbelly of elite junior sport
Todd Ley exposes a high-pressure world where talent is everything, but protection is rare; where overzealous parents, manipulative coaches, hungry sponsors and indifferent associations can push young athletes to their breaking point. It's not just a story about tennis, it's about what happens when a child's identity is consumed by a dream that may not be their own and the long road back to self-worth after the cheering stops.
Program: The science of SEX! Natasha Mitchell and guests at World Science Festival Brisbane
Get bonkers on bonking with Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2026 World Science Festival Brisbane. It’s a sexy, fun, and educational – what's not to love! Sex historian Dr Esmé Louise James is creator of the viral Kinky History TikTok series and does a Sextistics show with her mathematician mother. The complexity of the human clitoris can no longer be ignored by science, thanks to the world-changing work of urologist and surgeon Professor Helen O’Connell.
Meet Australia’s next woman prime minister? Four changemakers here to WOW - ABC listen
At 20, Monique “Mermaid” Murphy’s had a catastrophic accident. Two years later she won Silver at the Paralympics. At 21, Larisha Jerome turned homelessness into buying her first home. Now she advocates for financial justice for other First Nations people. At 14, Nasteho Mukhtar arrived in Australia with her mother and siblings as a refugee from Somalia. Now the social enterprise founder, poet, and Muay Thai fighter helps other women find their power.
Understand your microbiome - ABC listen
Are fermented foods really good for us? Do antibiotics destroy our gut flora? And have you heard about poo transplants? Our gut is teeming with trillions of microbial cells, and we are learning more all the time about how this affects everything from our digestion, to immunity, to mental health. So crack open your kombucha, because these leading researchers will cut through the noise with some hard facts and pioneering science about the microbiome.
Ziggy Ramo’s latest project asks what makes us human?
Ziggy Ramo is an award-winning musician and author whose latest book titled Human?: A lie that has been killing us since 1788 weaves song, visual art and personal history to present a new way of looking at this country’s past. Led by Mparntwe and Alice Springs-based poet Laurie May, Ziggy reflects on the project and where it took him at the Byron Writers Festival. Each chapter of Human?
Genocides are everyone's business, not no-one's business
A frank and impassioned plea for peace by Gareth Evans. As Australia's former Foreign Minister and former president of the International Crisis Group, he's spent most of his career forging real paths to peace globally. From Sudan to Gaza, Myanmar to Ukraine - who can we rely on to stop "forever" wars and genocides? Does Australia have a unique role to play? And what about the UN in its 80th year? It was created after the horror of World War 2 to keep the peace. Has it lost its way?
What's up with dieting Doc? Rethinking the obesity obsession in healthcare - ABC listen
Has your doctor ever told you to go on a diet? Does that conversation put you off going to them in the first place, even if you need treatment for something not related to your weight? Has being in a larger body ever meant you can't access surgery or IVF? Some are pushing for a weight-inclusive approach to healthcare, which de-centres obesity, and focuses on 'health-at-every-size'. But what does that really mean, and why does it matter?
Nuked or not — the politics and power play over nuclear energy as a climate fix - ABC listen
Nuclear power is banned in Australia, and has been for decades. But some countries are tilting towards expanding nuclear energy. Should or could Australia? The politics and power play over nuclear in the Sunburnt country, why the Coalition failed with the nuclear card at the last federal election, and what next? Join Big Ideas host and science journalist Natasha Mitchell and guests Simon Holmes à Court, Geoff Cousins, and Royce Kurmelovs at the Byron Writers Festival.
The radicalisation of boys — Jess Hill, George Megalogenis, Thomas Mayo with Natasha Mitchell at Byron Writers Festival - ABC listen
Some boys are being radicalised by misogynist online subcultures like the 'Manosphere' and 'incel' (involuntarily celibate) scene. Parents are anxious and boys are confused. What's happening, why, and what can be done? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival for an insightful exploration with three influential Australians.
Barry Jones and Kerry O'Brien — on complexity, politics and love - ABC listen
Barry Jones and Kerry O'Brien - Two titans of Australian political and social commentary share insights into how to think well, how to act well and how to make sense of politics, history, the fragility of civilisation, science and love. Barry Jones Former science minister, Labor member of the Victorian and Commonwealth parliaments, author
My Sister and Other Lovers — Esther Freud with Natasha Mitchell at Byron Writers Festival - ABC listen
Esther Freud’s first semi-autobiographical novel Hideous Kinky became a film starring Kate Winslet and told thewild story of two little girls living in Morocco with their bohemian mother. More than 30 years on, those girls are back and growing up fast in her sequel, My Sister and Other Lovers. Esther joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the Byron Writers Festival to explore the ties that bind, that tether, and that can traumatise in complicated families.
From devil horns to deep listening — Maxine Beneba Clark, Debra Dank, Damon Young on the power of communication - ABC listen
From finding the right language to connect to Country, making the world a more poetic place for kids, to a Vulcan salute between two lovers — communication makes the world go round. Three brilliantly creative communicators join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival to consider ways we communicate and how we can do it better. With great communication comes deep connection, understanding, meaning and that wonderful feeling of being understood and understanding another.
Wellness influencers will outlive us all! The Science Smackdown Debate at World Science Festival Brisbane
It's Team Wellness Warriors versus Team Medical Miracles. Hear the arguments and you decide! The wellness industry is booming. It's worth billions and its influencers are all over social media spruiking miracle pills and mystery remedies, crystal healing and cancer cures. Some are even steaming their vaginas (hellooooo Gywneth Paltrow!). Have they done the research that mainstream medicine simply refuses to? Is your doctor really the best person to help you be the healthiest you can be? Or ...
Dugongs - up close and personal - ABC listen
Their closest relative is the elephant; they eat about 60 kg of sea grass per day; and there are only three dugongs in captivity in the world. One in the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Big Ideas deep dives into the mysterious world of dugongs — with fascinating stories and surprising insights. Presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane in the Queensland Museum. Big Ideas — Turning a third of our oceans into marine parks. A good idea?
FAT is not an F-word! The radical practice of fat joy
Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with three women embracing the radical practice of finding joy in big bodies. Fat bodies are often stigmatised, stereotyped, shamed, medicalised, and politicised. Even the word F.A.T gets denigrated. But there is another way. Reckoning with eating disorders and society's limitations, Dani, Evie, and Kalpana are no longer holding back from the delights of food, fashion, dance, ocean swimming, and more. Hear why, for them, the personal is political.
Love your gut - understanding the microbiome - ABC listen
Are fermented foods really good for us? Do antibiotics destroy our gut flora? And have you heard about poo transplants? Our gut is teeming with trillions of microbial cells, and we are learning more all the time about how this affects everything from our digestion, to immunity, to mental health. So crack open your kombucha, because these leading researchers will cut through the noise with some hard facts and pioneering science about the microbiome.
The second coming of quantum – the next scientific revolution is here - ABC listen
There are some leaps in science and technology that change everything. Scientists say we’re living through the second quantum revolution, so we're going deep into the quantum world with leaders at the forefront of this field. If you think quantum is all about computers think again – like how could this vast science help female athletes reach their peak? Thanks to the World Science Festival for this talk “Welcome to the Second Quantum Revolution”.
Live to 150? David Sinclair on why we age — and why he thinks we don't have to - ABC listen
What if we could turn back time on our biological clock and slow down — even reverse — aging? High profile Harvard scientist David Sinclair is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To. His lab’s work is as ambitious as it is controversial. He wants to radically change the way we live our lives — and push at the boundary of what it means to be human. Professor Sinclair joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 World Science Festival Brisbane.
Today - you choose your family - ABC listen
The structures of families have gotten complex, even messy. Patchwork families are increasingly common. You can a birth mother, a genetic mother and a social mother. People choose friends as kin. How have families and communities changed? Presented at the Byron Writers Festival, supported by the Byron Shire Council.
Animals - US and Them? How does loving animals go together with industrial animal farming? - ABC listen
Humans have a conflicted relationship with animals: We love our pets and admire our wildlife. But we continue the industrial production of dairy, meat and eggs, that often leaves animal suffering in dreadful conditions. We create a division between US and THEM, if it suits us. What does that say about how we value animals in our lives?
I can change the world! How these changemakers found their superpower
Sara Shams had both legs amputated at age six — it became her superpower. 15-year-old Taylor Ladd-Hudson turned a shark experience into something bigger. Amy Parry got subversive after she was told women's stories on screen were too niche. Jody Rallah wanted to make sense of the world and art led the way. And Anisa Nandaula turns it all into performance poetry. Meet these changemakers joining Natasha Mitchell at the Women of the World (WOW) Festival in Brisbane in October 2024.
Why Australia politicians welcomed fascists after the Second World War
Australia resettled fascists, even war criminals after World War II as part of a worldwide program led by the International Refugee Organisation. The background of these immigrants was known to all political parties, but they were regarded as cheap – and white – labour. Historian Jayne Persian explores the impact of these characters on the trajectory of postwar politics — a phenomenon well documented in other parts of the world but with which Australia has barely begun to reckon.
Nicky Winmar and Rhoda Roberts − showing racism in sport the red card
Nicky Winmar's iconic stand against racism was a wakeup call more than 30 years ago. But how much has really changed? Racism on and off the field continues to be an issue across Australia, when we should be celebrating Indigenous sport icons. Presented by the Byron Writers Festival, supported by First Nations Australia Writers Network FNAWN.
Trees, seeds, and ecotourism — the hidden histories Nature reveals about us - ABC listen
Can a single seed tell the story of a civilisation? What do the scars on the skins of 200-year old whales tell about our ancestors? Can ancient trees reveal hidden histories of human frailty and fabulousness? Can Nature be a timekeeper?
Candice Fox, Matthew Conon, Benjamin Stevenson – on the ethics of crime writing - ABC listen
Literature on crime is huge. Many of you just love to read about a good murder. But do you prefer a soft touch around violent scenes? Or do you want to read it in the drastic, graphic language that shows crime the way it is? Writing crime stories can be a minefield: Do authors have to tell people, if they want to use them in their book? Particularly if they want to paint 'your character' the villain? Can you re-traumatise a victim when you turn their painful experience into a bestseller?
Meet Meena Kandasamy: poet, novelist, rebel
Meena Kandasamy is an Indian born poet, novelist, rebel and activist who's been threatened and harassed for her writing. From the Byron Writers Festival she explains why she keeps going despite the threats. She is also celebrated for her innovative approach to storytelling. Her debut novel The Gypsy Goddess (2015) was about the 1968 massacre of Dalit agricultural workers in India. Her book When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife is about her own experience of domestic violence.
Is bush tucker the future of food security?
Could our continent's ancient past help solve future food security crises? Or even offer new treatments for skin cancer and inflammatory bowel disease? Tasty on your dinner plate, potentially transformative for your health — First Nations experts explore the rich potential of traditional bush foods and Indigenous plant knowledge. Presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane.
Public broadcasting is not as simple as ABC — with Kim Williams and Kerry O’ Brien - ABC listen
New ABC Chair Kim Williams wants to see change at Australia’s national public broadcaster. In a fragmented media landscape and a fractured world, what is the role of public broadcasting, and how can the ABC stay relevant for its listeners, viewers and readers? This event was recorded at the Byron Bay Writers Festival on Saturday 10 August 2024. Speakers Kim Williams ABC Chair Kerry O’Brien (host) Journalist and author Byron Bay, Media Industry, Media, Drama, Arts, Culture and Entertainment
Insects, nature's ultimate superheroes
They not only play a vital role in our ecosystem but have also inspired inventions for the human world. Their bites, their venom, the mechanics of their bodies … it's helped develop medicines, visual tracking and a potential new system for air safety. They might be tiny, but insects have a larger-than-life impact on your lives.
When world news hits home, with Benjamin Law
World conflicts can be overwhelming, or sometimes they feel very remote. But for many Australians, they are deeply personal, raw, and real. So what's it like when world news is not about 'other' people, but about 'your' people? This lively forum was hosted by Benjamin Law for QPAC and Multicultural Australia as part of the Changing the Conversation series on June 25, 2024.
Is Australia fit for the Olympics in 2032?
It's only eight years until the torch will be passed on to Brisbane. The countdown is on: Are we prepared? What are the challenges? What is the politics involved? And how important is children participating in sport to ensure that the games have a future? Presented at the Bond Business Leaders Forum, Bond University.
Black, White, and what next? A case for reconciliation after the Voice Referendum
|
In NAIDOC Week, is reconciliation between Black and White Australians dead, buried, or in need of re-imagining? The fallout of the Voice Referendum has left many jaded, confused, angry or indifferent. Two galvanising reflections on what all Australians can learn from the referendum, with visions for what next. Speakers Professor Tom Calma AO Aboriginal Elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja and Woolwonga tribal groups in the Top End of the NT.
By Natasha Mitchell Verified, Claire Slattery, Anita Barraud, David Le May, Simon Rose, Steve Fieldhouse
|
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Verified
The future of health technology
Only 50 years ago, if you were 60 years old your chance of dying was the same as an 80-year-old's today. Thanks to progress in medical technology, you can live longer than ever before. Quantum technology and quantum screening, modelling with digital twins, harvesting the power of AI and real time monitoring of your molecules – a panel of health experts discusses the new frontiers in the development of drugs and health technology.
Be the change you want to see — Chanel Contos, Isabelle Reinecke, Semara Jose, Sarah Brown - ABC listen
|
Some things feel impossible to change without money and power. Meet four trailblazers who didn't let that stop them. Now way. Fighting corporations. Stopping violence. Transforming talk on sex and consent. Helping men heal from childhood trauma. They join host Natasha Mitchell and an audience of high school students to explore what pushed them to act. This panel was part of a 2023 WOW (Women of the World) Australia event in Brisbane for school students.
By Natasha Mitchell Verified, Steve Fieldhouse
|
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Verified
Nazanin Boniadi — fighting for women's rights in Iran - ABC listen
Women and girls in Iran continue to take to the streets and protest gender oppression and human rights abuses. And too often they risk their lives for this fight. Iranian-born human rights advocate Nazanin Boniadi has used her public profile as an actress to campaign in solidarity with the people of Iran. For that, she's been honoured with the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize.
Gabriel Krauze — a life of violent crime and literature - ABC listen
Finishing your undergraduate assignments in English Literature in breaks between selling drugs … fighting and hurting people and committing crimes while discussing the finer nuances of human morality. Best-selling author Gabriel Krauze speaks openly about his life as a former gang criminal living on a notorious housing estate in South Kilburn in London - with quite different extra-curricular activities than most other English literature students.
How to speak freely about topics no one wants to talk about
Speaking freely isn't only about Freedom of Speech legislation, it's equally about social norms, loving your family and courage. Authors Lea Ypi and Hayley Campbell discuss what's difficult to talk about. Death and what happens your body when you die. And whether Albania has experienced more freedom in communist times – only in very specific circumstances.
It's not as simple as moving house! Meet climate refugees with a (scaly, sticky, furry) difference
Meet some climate refugees of a different kind. From the Western swamp tortoise to honey ants to whales, can they just up-stumps and move house if things get too hot under the collar? From understanding First Nations science to breaking up the siloed western conservation practices, are there better ways to make life possible for every being on a warming planet? This event was recorded on March 24, 2023, as part of the World Science Festival, Brisbane.
Tracey Spicer: How AI and machine design is failing women
Technology's default setting is 'male' — more precisely a white, or at least, light-skinned male. Tracey Spicer exposes how technology and AI has embedded sexism and racism into the future. It's the next frontier of feminism. But who is responsible? Big Tech, refusing to spend money to fix the problem? The world's politicians, who lack the will to legislate? Or should we all be taking a good, hard look at ourselves?
The F Word — is Feminism too white, too middle-class, or a movement for all? - ABC listen
Has feminism be too white and too middle-class for too long? From India to Australia, five trailblazing women spanning generations, geography, and cultures join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell to give their frank and fearless views on the F Word — what it means to them and how it might evolve. Recorded at the WOW Women of the World Australia's Voices Shaping the Future series at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Meanjin / Brisbane in October 2023.
How to shut up your inner critic and anxious thoughts — Brigid Delany, James Kirby and Ahona Guha - ABC listen
How can you quiet those nagging voices inside your head; expectations that you should to better; anxiety how to make ends meet with rising costs of living … or trying to cope with abuse, trauma and loss? How can you turn your 'inner wilds' into 'inner calm' and achieve a more peaceful way of being? At the top of the list: Have compassion toward yourself and be kind to yourself — as well as others. "Inner Wilds: Calming the Storm" was presented at the Byron Writers Festival. August 12, 2023.
Do we need compassion for men who hurt women … to stop them from doing so?
To change violent behaviour, regulators and assistance services need compassion for the perpetrators. That's the consent of our panel of psychiatrists, psychologists and women who went through domestic violence themselves. You'll hear about the impact of trauma and what it does to your brain; how abuse destroys your identity; the hurt and healing effect of speaking out and what turns a victim into a survivor. Content warning: The subject matter of this episode is about gendered violence.
Ladies on the war path — why are women combatants still so disputed? - ABC listen
From the Amazons to the Ukraine conflict, women have always been on the frontline of war. But their role and contribution are still very much disputed. Big Ideas sets the record straight. How has war become an all-make space? And why were women allowed to be astronauts a full thirty years before they were allowed to fight in combat? Forgotten warriors was recorded at the University of Queensland.
Amputating your foot with a stone — best practice in the stone ages - ABC listen
A 31,000-year-old skeleton with a successfully amputated foot has rewritten the medical history books. The extraordinary find in Borneo challenges modern medicine's amputation record, which stretches back a mere 100 years. An expert panel traces the discovery story and describes a pre-historic caring and medically skilled society. Presented at the World Science Festival Brisbane with Griffith University.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Steve
Contact Steve, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack