Big Ideas (audio)

Somali-born author Ayaan Hirsi Ali delivers the 2010 Donner Canadian Foundation Lecture. Her lecture is based on her book Nomad: From Islam to America, A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations.

Ruth Wisse delivers her lecture entitled Getting Serious about Jewish Humor recorded at Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto, in November, 2004.

Gerard t'Hooft, a Nobel Laureate from Utrecht University, delivers a lecture on Science Fiction and Reality at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario on May 7, 2008

Simon Blackburn discusses his book Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed. The lecture was delivered at the University of Toronto, in May, 2005

Daniel Pink delivers a lecture discussing his book A Whole New Mind at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, in June, 2005.

Stanford University professor, Jonathan Berger, presents a range of compositions, including his piece called Jiyeh, written in response to an ecological disaster arising from an act of war, in this profoundly moving lecture (and accompanying auditory soundscape) reflecting on the idea of socially responsible music.

Ralph Wood delivers a lecture entitled Tolkien and Lewis: Friends and Combatants. It was delivered at Yorkminster Baptist Church in Toronto, in September, 2004.

Irene Khan, former Secretary General of Amnesty International, argues that economics solutions alone cannot end the problems of poverty. She believes that poverty is first and foremost a problem of human rights, and therefore to tackle global poverty we need to focus on the human rights abuses that keep people poor.

Kay Redfield Jamison discusses her book Exuberance: The Passion for Life - 2004

Nick Mount discusses Eden Robinson's debut novel Monkey Beach which was nominated for both the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award.

Author George Steiner, speaking at the Living Literacies Conference (November 2002) at York University in Toronto, delivers a lecture on the history of literacy.

Political philosopher Gerald Cohen presents the 2008 Centre for Ethics Public Lecture (University of Toronto). His topic is "Rescuing Conservatism: A Defence of Existing Value".

Malcolm Gladwell discusses his bestselling book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

Mel Hurtig delivers a lecture based on the findings in his book, The Truth about Canada, which illuminates some of the truths and myths about Canada.

Author Susan Sontag, speaking at the Living Literacies Conference (November 2002) at York University in Toronto, delivers a lecture on modern literacy.

Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University delivers his lecture entitled The Universe from Beginning to End. The lecture explores the geometry and age of the universe to give us a picture of the effects of Dark Energy.

Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University answers questions following his lecture entitled The Universe from Beginning to End

Edward Shorter delivers a lecture discussing the history of sex and his book Written in the Flesh at Hart House at the University of Toronto - September, 2005.

Charles Sabine & Sydney Brenner speak at the Gairdner Symposium on The Personalized Genome in Toronto (October 30, 2009)

Teacher, writer and critic, Robert Adams, reviews Aravind Adiga's Booker prize-winning novel, The White Tiger. Corruption, murder, and a series of letters composed by a former chauffeur allow the novel to explore India's caste system and how it's been affected by the country's economic miracle.