Ms Natasha Mitchell

Ms Natasha Mitchell is a multi-award-winning journalist, radio presenter, podcaster and documentary maker.

She is host of the ABC Radio's flagship live events program and podcast Big Ideas, and was founding host and producer of the blockbuster radio show and one of the ABC's first podcasts, All in the Mind (2002 to 2012). She hosted ABC Radio National's flagship daily morning show Life Matters for four years, and was founding host and producer of Science Friction (2017 to 2023), which won best science and medicine podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards.

Ms Mitchell has served as a board member and vice president of the World Federation of Science Journalists (2009 to 2013); as a founding committee member of the Science Journalists Association of Australia (2019 to 2021); and on the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Advisory Committee (2009 to 2011). She was a recipient of a prestigious Knight Journalism Fellowship based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and a Marine Biological Laboratory Journalism Fellowship at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Ms Mitchell's audio journalism has received accolades internationally, including the overall Grand Prize and four Gold World Medals at the New York Radio Festivals; four Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Broadcast Media Awards; the Yooralla Broadcast Media Award; the Public Health Association of Australia Media Award; the Australasian Association of Philosophy Media Professionals' Award, amongst other awards.

An alumna of Monash University, Ms Mitchell has a Bachelor of Engineering degree with first class honours from Monash University and was dux of her graduating year, and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication from the ANU. She decided to discontinue her doctoral studies to move into journalism. Her first radio show was a punk music program at Monash University's radio station 3MU. She has facilitated high profile public forums at festivals and events across Australia, including four science dialogues with the Dalai Lama and guests.