Natasha Mitchell (she/her)

Natasha Mitchell (she/her)

@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Australian journo. NOW: host of ABC Radio National's BIG IDEAS, THEN: Founding presenter/creator of All in the Mind & Science Friction podcasts, host of Life Matters, MIT Knight fellow, World Federation of Science Journalists board. Owned by a wolfhound-x.

2.2K followers3.1K following79 posts

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Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna joined me at a big Sydney Opera House event on BIG social, scientific implications of the CRISPR gene editing revolution. From curative therapies to gene edited babies, will we use it to hack our own evolution? Listen on BIG IDEAS www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.auNobel scientist Jennifer Doudna with Natasha Mitchell at Sydney Opera House — the gene editing revolution, ethics, and what's next? - ABC listenJoin a full house at the Sydney Opera House with Nobel winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and Big Ideas' host Natasha Mitchell to discuss the huge social, ethical, and scientific implications of the CR...
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

The annual #TOP100BOOKS Countdown is live on ABC Radio National & ABC Listen right now and across the weekend! 1pm-6pm AEDT across Australia & beyond This year it's your favourite Australian books of all time as voted by you! Text us while you listen 0418 226 576 is the Radio National text line.

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Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

The annual #TOP100BOOKS Countdown is live on ABC Radio National & ABC Listen right now and across the weekend! 1pm-6pm AEDT across Australia & beyond This year it's your favourite Australian books of all time as voted by you! Text us while you listen 0418 226 576 is the Radio National text line.

Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

ALERT: Sc*mmers are targeting authors pretending to be ABC presenters & producers (including from Big Ideas). This is a widespread scam. More info & guidance: help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/art... E.g NatashaMitchellPresenter@gmail.com is NOT an email from me It has been reported to Google fwiw

help.abc.net.auHow can I tell if an email or ad claiming to be from the ABC is a scam?The ABC is aware of scam emails and social media ads that falsely claim to be from ABC presenters, producers, staff or programs. These emails may offer an interview, appearance, editorial opportuni...
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Be aware that the sc*mmers are convincing, persistent, & use fake marketing materials including photos of you & ABC presenters. They may even go as far as to book & conduct a Zoom 'interview' with you. Do NOT engage. Do NOT pay them. Report. Then Block. help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/art...

help.abc.net.auHow can I tell if an email or ad claiming to be from the ABC is a scam?The ABC is aware of scam emails and social media ads that falsely claim to be from ABC presenters, producers, staff or programs. These emails may offer an interview, appearance, editorial opportuni...

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

Jo Dyer
@instanterudite.bsky.social

BREAKING: 3 members of the Adelaide Festival Board have resigned after it refused to reverse its decision to rescind Dr Abdel-Fattah's invitation. No statement has been issued but their names have been quietly removed from the website. Four people are now responsible for the ongoing crisis.

Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Love and light, and stay off social media if the imagery, footage, grief, shock, and comments sections, are all too much right now (as they are). All we have is our shared humanity. Words matter. Choose them carefully and with sensitivity. Connect with loved ones. Reach across.

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

UWA Institute of Advanced Studies
@iasuwa.bsky.social

Podcast Alert: The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge We recently marked our 25th Anniversary at UWA with a conversation about the value of enquiry for its own sake. 📻 You can listen to this discussion on ABC Radio National’s Big Ideas with @natashamitchell.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.auWhat are universities for today? The usefulness of "useless" knowledge - ABC listenAre our universities facing an existential crisis by trying to be too many things? Places for learning, research, the production of new knowledge, the production of job-ready graduates, and profit-mak...

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

Katie Purvis
@katiemelb.bsky.social

Head spinning (in a good way) after seeing playwright Suzie Miller in conversation with ABC journo @natashamitchell.bsky.social at a Monash Alumni event tonight. What a smart, compassionate, engaged and engaging woman Miller is. Her play Prima Facie destroyed me, and I loved ‘meeting’ its creator

Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

This is a must listen on ABC Radio National's BIG IDEAS wherever you pick up your favourite podcasts. Thanks Simon, and welcome back to Australia.

Simon Adams@simonadams.bsky.social

Universities and other antidotes to authoritarianism. (Where I ask the question, what would George Orwell or Hannah Arendt expect of us?) Thanks @natashamitchell.bsky.social ‬⁩from Big Ideas at ⁦‪@RadioNational in Australia for broadcasting this. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.auUniversities and other antidotes to authoritarianism - ABC listenThe United States has long been famous for its world leading universities. But in the face of research funding cuts, government attacks on free speech, DEI and the right to protest, and the persecutio...
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Oh my gosh the late great science journalist Sharon Begley wrote an obit about Watson. Logging into STAT....

Brittany Trang@brittanytrang.com

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫

statnews.comJames Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peersJames Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

WE ASKED FOR WORKERS, WE GOT PEOPLE Hear this timely event I hosted. On BIG IDEAS www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... And read recent related excoriating reportage on PALM visa scheme issues Pregnancies, abuse, discrimination www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06... Slavery www.abc.net.au/pacific/prog...

abc.net.auWe asked for workers and got people — inside the temporary visa scheme putting food on your plate - ABC listenA workforce we rarely hear about, lives in limbo, and stories from the coalface. From economic gains and cultural exchanges to exploitation and absconding,  what are the successes and problems of the ...
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Mark Z*ckerberg claims corporations are being culturally neutered - are they? Joining me: journo #CatherineFox (author, The Boss Bias) & lawyer @joshbornstein.bsky.social (author, Working for the Brand:How Corporations are Destroying Free Speech) We roam far & wide! www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.auMark Zuckerberg claims corporations are culturally neutered — are they? Men, women, work, and the manosphere - ABC listenMeta's Mark Zuckerberg has said “a lot of the corporate world has become culturally neutered” and that it needs more “masculine energy”? Has it and does it? At Meta, he recently shut down initiatives ...

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia
@ausstemcell.bsky.social

Tune in tomorrow and Thursday for ABC Radio National’s broadcast of the ‘Making cancer treatment worth it’ public forum with Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell in conversation with top cancer and stem cell scientists: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... @natashamitchell.bsky.social @asscr.bsky.social

abc.net.auHow do we make cancer treatment worth it, work better, and less harmful? - ABC listenCancer is common and chemo and radiotherapies can save or extend our lives. But sometimes they don't, or they stop working, or they come with disabling long-term side effects. In a state of desperation, some of us seek out unproven alternatives which might even put us at greater risk of cancer. Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell and guests to find out how scientists are attacking the problem of cancer treatment. This event was organised by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research, University of Adelaide, and National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. Speakers Professor Mark Dawson Haematologist and clinician-scientist Associate Director of Research Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the University of Melbourne. Associate Professor David Elliot Stem cell researcher and leader of the Heart Disease group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute Principal investigator, Novo Nordisk Foundation for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW).  Professor Megan Munsie Immediate Past President, Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) Professor of Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells)  Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the University of Melbourne Thank also to Tanya Ha from Science in Public and Dr Luke Isbel from the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute. Further listening How surfing writer Tim Baker and doctor Peter Goldsworthy learnt to live well and laugh with cancer (Big Ideas, 2025)

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

Adam Kucharski
@adamjkucharski.bsky.social

The White House has turned COVID.gov from a public health resource into a politically charged platform promoting the lab-leak theory and attacking specific scientists and the pandemic response in general. Let’s fact check its 5 headline claims… 🧵

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Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

Abrego Garcia's wife: "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. Our children are asking when you will come home ... they miss their dad so much."

Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

How about American women having the SPACE and freedom to determine their own choices about their own bodies on EARTH? Or, how about not requiring a fashion/makeup/hair/dress code (beyond the pragmatics) for women going to space in a giant alloy phallus? Just sayin' 2/2

Natasha Mitchell (she/her) reposted

Carl Zimmer
@carlzimmer.com

“Kennedy’s team requested that Marks turn over data on cases of brain swelling and deaths caused by the measles vaccine—data that Marks said doesn’t exist because there have been no such confirmed cases in the U.S.” www.wsj.com/health/healt...

wsj.comExclusive | Ousted Vaccine Chief Says RFK Jr.’s Team Sought Data to Justify Anti-Science StanceDr. Peter Marks says the new health secretary’s team wants to show vaccines aren’t safe while promoting dangerous and unproven treatments.
Natasha Mitchell (she/her)
@natashamitchell.bsky.social

Australia's housing crisis hasn't always been with us. What policy CHOICES created it... what CHOICES are needed to fix it? Joining me @ #AdelaideWritersWeek #MaiyAzize, @alankohler.bsky.social @amyremeikis.bsky.social @purplepingers.bsky.social Listen to BIG IDEAS www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.auChoices created Australia's housing mess, what choices will fix it? Natasha Mitchell and guests - ABC listenAustralia's housing crisis hasn't always been with us. So what choices created it, and what choices are now needed to fix it?  Buying a house is now out of reach if you're on an average wage, and rent...