Blueprint For Living - Full program

Internationally renowned designer Bethan Laura Wood is building a library like no other; she gives us a tour of Kaleidoscope-o-rama; Nam Le, award winning author of The Boat, takes us to the two places that shaped him as a writer; and Annie Smithers cooks Elizabeth David's courgettes à la grecque.

Solarpunk's vision for a brighter future, the churn of aesthetic trends online and why we find some foods disgusting.

Besha Rodell casts her gaze back on the food scene that was 2023 and makes her predictions for 2024; Journalist and author Nathan Thrall takes us to the city he calls the most divided in the world – his home city of Jerusalem.

Exposed brick, smashed avocado, hanging Edison bulbs, the patina of industry and reclaimed wood furniture – this is the algorithmic aesthetic writer and critic, Kyle Chayka investigates in his new book, Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. Also, the history of Neturaface, dubbed the gentrification font; and a conversation with Grand Designs Transformations host, Anthony Burke about the relationship between architecture, economic insecurity and home renovation.

Kevin McCloud on the definition of good design, why Grand Designs is such a compelling proposition; Yanis Varoufakis reflects on growing up in the shadow of the Parthenon, on his idyllic childhood and its contrast to the brutal political reality against which it was set; and a new series in which Annie Smithers cooks her way through Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking. 

Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen reflects on the contradictions, conflicts and the disordered and divided appetites of the modern individual and Colin Bisset gives a design history of the comfortable chair. 

This week, a haunted edition of Blueprint: a meditation, through food, cooking and place, on loss and the insistence of the past.

The settler-colonial project involved the imposition of European conceptions of natural landscape on the one hand, and the built world on the other. Jack Pascoe, Owen Hatherley and Michael-Shawn Fletcher consider the legacy of colonialism - its persistent myths and enduring imprint on the Australian landscape.

From the landlord special - beige-grey laminate, vast empty spaces, and colourless walls - to the neutral-coloured knitwear favoured by todays wealthy elite, we discuss aesthetic conformity and homogeneity in the worlds of fashion, architecture and design.

Professor Laleh Khalili discusses the movement of cargo, capital and cruiseliners across the globe and the human economy and exploitative labour practices upon which it relies.

The polite world of urban planning has become the latest target of conspiracy theorists. In recent weeks, the 15-minute city concept — where neighbourhoods provide life's essentials in 15 minutes by foot or bike — has become a harbinger of big brother in conspiracy-land.

Tamar Adler explains how to use the Marcella Hazan tomato sauce onion and how to talk about no-waste cooking without moralism; Tom Wilkinson discusses the ideological and political context of the contemporary architectural fetish for decay.

Rummage through the essential cultural ingredients - design, architecture, food, travel and fashion.

Iconic food writer, Rachel Roddy, talks pasta, literary influence, Roman food culture, and writing about Italian food as an outsider; and Brent Toderian discusses Reykjavik’s urban development plan competition, the problem of car dependency and the populist backlash to the 15 minute city. 

A survey of the history and legacy of Australian built university campuses; fashion in the age of AIDS; Chef Annie Smithers on what to do with your broad bean leaves and design writer, Colin Bisset on Tokyo's Yoyogi gymnasium

A tour of an iconic designer's city with Garry Emery, a design history of the sneaker and Paul Bangay on his life in gardens.

Filmmaker and architect, Liam Young gives us a tour of his radically re-imagined city of the future; Jack Pascoe explains why recognition of cultural significance is required for ecological protection and Colin Bisset on the design history of the mason jar.

Its arguably one of the most universally reviled features of the plant world but pollen has proven invaluable to detectives in solving crimes, from revelations of war crimes to the identification of murderers.

Critic Jill Dupleix on the ubiquity of kingfish crudo and burrata and Carlos Moreno, inventor of the 15 minute city and target of conspiracy theorists on why proximity should be at the heart of urban planning.

The question of what should follow in the wake of the decision t. o end native forest logging in Victoria has exposed deep divisions over how best to manage Australian forests. Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher discusses.