From Sunday, 2nd March at 5pm, Radio National will broadcast a special series based on the ABC’s archive of Boyer Lectures: “Highlights of the Boyer Collection”.

The Boyer Lectures is a series of six talks by a prominent Australian chosen by the ABC Board to present ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues. The lectures have been broadcast on ABC Radio for more than 40 years and have stimulated thought, discussion and debate in Australia on an astonishing range of subjects – great minds examining great issues and values.

The Boyer Collection, an anthology of individual lectures selected by ABC Chairman Donald McDonald AO, was published to mark the 40-year history of the Boyer Lectures in 2001. This collection celebrates the vibrancy of the ideas and debates within the lectures.

“Highlights of the Boyer Collection” will feature a variety of excerpts of past lectures on six broad themes:

· Defining Australia: History and Identity – W.E.H. Stanner, Manning Clark, Inga Clendinnen, Geoffrey Blainey, Noel Pearson and Shirley Hazzard.

· The Law and Human Rights – Chief Justice Murray Gleeson, Justice Michael Kirby, Dame Roma Mitchell and Sir Zelman Cowen.

· A Meaningful Democracy – Professor Walter Duncan, Sir Keith Hancock, Dr Davis McCaughey, Eva Cox and Martin Krygier.

· Population, Migration, Social Change – Professor W.D. Borrie, Dr H.C. Coombes, Professor Dexter Dunphy and Sir Bruce Williams.

· Bioethics and Medical Research – Sir John Eccles, Sir Macfarlane Burnet, Sir Gustav Nossal and Professor Max Charlesworth.

· Aesthetics and Culture – Professor Pierre Ryckmans and David Malouf.

Chairman Donald McDonald introduces and comments upon the excerpts.

Highlights of the Boyer Collection provides a sense of the evolution of Australian ideas during the past forty years. As well, the prescience and contemporary relevance of these lectures offer remarkable insights into many issues that continue to engage Australians today.