Ways to Change the World

Overview

We'd all like to don our superhero capes and go save the day - "change the world", but what exactly should we be saving? And how should we even begin to approach this climate change issue, the global financial situation, poverty - and everything else we're missing? All the while not eating sugar and being nice human beings on a day-in day-out basis.

It's all a little bit overwhelming, really.

Thankfully, there will be a little bit of a multi-speaker rumination between a renowned UK scientist (Philip Ball), a US surgeon (Atul Gawande), a NZ novelist (Charlotte Grimshaw) and a Chinese journalist (Xinran) on the very topic. It doesn't promise to be a conclusive answer to every question, but maybe just a helpful building block in the right direction.

A distinguished science writer, broadcaster and lecturer Philip Ball has written a number of well-received and inspiring science books - including Serving The Reich (2013), and Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen(2014). He also regularly contributes to Nature, New Scientist and Prospect.

Besides being an excellent surgeon, Atul Gawande is also an author of New York Times bestsellers: Complications (2002), Better (2007), The Checklist Manifesto (2009), and his latest, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014). He is also a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Chinese journalist Xinran is an acclaimed journalist, author and women’s issues advocate. She is best known for her book The Good Women of China (2002).