The Explainer Series: Oil

The Explainer Series is about exploring the questions we’re all asking.

Oil powers our world – from the petrol in our cars to the global economy itself. But as prices rise, conflicts flare, and the push toward renewable energy accelerates, it’s worth asking: how much does oil still control our lives? This Explainer will unpack how oil shapes geopolitics, the cost of living, and the future of energy – and whether we’re really moving beyond it or just learning to depend on it differently.


Meet Your Speakers

Ellen Fanning is an award-winning public affairs broadcaster and journalist. She spent the first ten years of her career at the ABC where she presented both the AM and PM current affairs radio programs. She also served as the ABC’s Washington correspondent. She was later a reporter on the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes and was the last presenter of Nine’s prestigious Sunday program. She has produced award-winning documentaries, and until 2024, hosted ABC TV's The Drum. After years reporting big national and international stories, Ellen joined ABC Radio Brisbane, back in her home city, where she presents the Drive program weekdays. She dreams of learning to upholster and mastering pickle ball.

Professor Christoph Nedopil is a leading expert on the energy transition in the Asia Pacific at The University of Queensland Business School. Outside of wrestling matches with his two children, he unwinds by listening to and playing classical music. At our upcoming Explainer Series event, he’s most excited to discuss why the losers of the energy transition have a lot to gain.


The Explainer Series

The Explainer Series is a space for thoughtful conversations with people who really know their stuff, sharing insights and context so we can better navigate the big and small questions in our lives.

From international law and cryptocurrency to climate change, gut health and space junk, these talks bring ideas, trends and debates into focus, helping us form our own understanding, guided by curiosity and expertise.

There’s no spin and no hype, just experts helping us think more clearly about the world around us.

The Explainer Series is generously supported by Gina Fairfax AC and Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Library Foundation.

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The views expressed by the speakers are their own and the promotion of products/services is not endorsed by State Library.