Synopsis
Big Ideas offers lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics which range across politics, culture, economics, art history, science.... By nature of its lecture format, pacing and inquisitive approach, it is the antithesis of the prevailing sound-bite television norm. The simple, bold concept is a victory of substance over style. Big Ideas airs Saturdays and Sundays at 5:00 PM EST on TVO - Canada's largest educational broadcaster.
Episodes
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Julia Belluz on social media's impact on health decisions
02/03/2013 Duration: 49minJournalist Julia Belluz looks at the impact of social media on decisions about health in the Annual Hart House Hancock Lecture. Her lecture, entitled Who Lives and Who Dies: Will Social Media Decide?, was delivered at the Hart House Great Hall on October 31, 2012.
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Kwame McKenzie on Immigration Sickness
23/02/2013 Duration: 58minKwame McKenzie, Medical Director of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, on Immigration Sickness. What psychological and social attributes help us predict who will be a good at being an immigrant?
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Ken Cramer on Alfred Adler
23/02/2013 Duration: 40minKen Cramer - Psychology, University of Windsor -on Alfred Adler: The Most Famous Personality Theorist You Likely Never Heard Of
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Nick Mount on T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
16/02/2013 Duration: 48minUniversity of Toronto English professor, Nick Mount, explores T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
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Susannah Varmuza on the evolving field of Epigenetics
09/02/2013 Duration: 22minUniversity of Toronto Zoology researcher, Susannah Varmuza, discusses the evolving field of Epigenetics and what research into such things as mouse coat colour is telling scientists about the age-old "nature versus nurture" debate.
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Clare Hasenkampf on Chromosomes Dividing
26/01/2013 Duration: 44minClare Hasenkampf of the Biology Department at University of Toronto Scarborough presents her lecture Chromosomes Dividing: How It Is Done and Why It Matters.
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Lt. General (ret.) Andrew Leslie on Lessons From Afghanistan
26/01/2013 Duration: 51minLieutenant General (retired) Andrew Leslie, the Former Chief of Transformation for the Canadian Armed Forces, discusses the lessons that can be learned from the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan. He explores how these lessons need to be applied to the Canadian Force's priorities in the face of future budget cuts.
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Oliver Sacks on Musicophilia
19/01/2013 Duration: 45minNeurologist and best-selling author, Oliver Sacks, discusses his book Musicophilia. and the ways our brains interact with and understand music.
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Richard Kearney on Narrative Imagination and Catharsis
19/01/2013 Duration: 43minIn his lecture entitled "Narrative Imagination and Catharsis", philosopher Richard Kearney takes the examples of Joyce's Ulysses, Homer's Odyssey and Shakespeare's Hamlet to illustrate his thesis on the healing power of art. His lecture was part of an event called Imagination's Truths and was recorded at the Isabel Bader Theatre on October 13, 2012.
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Noam Chomsky on The Imperial Presidency
12/01/2013 Duration: 01h20minAmerican author and political activist, Noam Chomsky, speking at a benefit for Canadian Dimension Magazine, delivers a talk entitled The Imperial Presidency. Recorded at University of Toronto on Nov 21/04.
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Jesse Hirsh, Lee Rainie - Is Social Media Good for Democracy
07/01/2013 Duration: 57minThe 2012 Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs, moderated by Steve Paikin and featuring Lee Rainie and Jesse Hirsh. They address the question, Is Social Media Good for Democracy?
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Philip Ball on How Science Became Interested in Everything
05/01/2013 Duration: 49minScience writer Philip Ball on his book Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. Ball explores how the history of science was influenced by the cultural accetance or rejection of human curiosity.
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Stephen Lewis - interviewed by Gillian Findlay
29/12/2012 Duration: 24minStephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, is interviewed by Gillian Findlay following his talk at the Grandest Challenge symposium.
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Samantha Nutt - interviewed by Carol Off
29/12/2012 Duration: 29minSamantha Nutt, Founder and Executive Director of War Child, is interviewed by Carol Off following her talk at the Grandest Challenge symposium.
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Jordan Peterson on Music and the Patterns of the Mind and W.
29/12/2012 Duration: 47minJordan Peterson on Music and the Patterns of the Mind and World. Peterson, a University of Toronto professor of psychology, discusses the way in which music is perceived by humans. He compares the way we respond to visual arts, particularly the paintings of Picasso, to our perceptions of music in an effort to show how our brains respond differently to varied art forms.
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David Weinberger:Knowledge at the End of the Information Age
29/12/2012 Duration: 52minThe author of "Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder", David Weinberger, delivers a lecture entitled "Knowledge at the End of the Information Age".
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Jill Tarter on the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
27/12/2012 Duration: 57minDr. Jill Tarter, Director at the Centre for SETI Research, discusses the ongoing Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and how new tools including the Allen Telescope Array and the Keplar Spacecraft are helping to make the search much more likely to succeed.
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Stephen Lewis on Climate Change
22/12/2012 Duration: 51minStephen Lewis, social sciences scholar in residence at McMaster University, delivers a talk entitled, Climate Change; the New Big Thing.
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Jordan Peterson on Redemption and Psychology in Christianity
15/12/2012 Duration: 46minUniversity of Toronto Psychology Professor, Jordan Peterson, on Redemption and Psychology in Christianity. Dr. Peterson's lecture was the keynote address at the 2012 Meaning Conference held in Toronto.
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Stephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law
15/12/2012 Duration: 26minStephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, and author of Race Against Time speaks at The Grandest Challenge Symposium.