Big Ideas (audio)

Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy at McGill University, Charles Taylor, on Religion and Violence.

Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, delivers a lecture entitled Thinking About Our Society: Why Violence Has Declined. Pinker (Psychology - Harvard University) explores the essence of human nature and what lies behind the statistically unmistakable reduction in violence over the past few centuries.

Author and astronomer Ray Jayawardhana discusses Alien Planets and his latest book Strange New Worlds. The lecture focuses on techniques for detecting planets orbiting distant stars.

Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy at McGill University, Charles Taylor and Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Jonathan Sacks discuss The Future of Religion in a Secular Age. The New Atheists, the state of marriage, the dangers of religion in the political sphere and the difference between religious thinking and magical thinking are all discussed.

What will it mean to be human in the future? Uploading consciousness into virtual worlds and prolonging life through biotechnology are already being contemplated. Canada's leading science fiction writer, Robert J. Sawyer, offers his insights in a lecture entitled Humanity 2.0, produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.

Author, teacher and activist, Clay Shirky, discusses the visionary insights of Marshall McLuhan as well as his own ideas about the effects of new media and social networking on our society. Shirky's latest book Cognitive Surplus explores how new technology is unleashing a wave of creative production that he believes is transforming the world. Following the lecture, Shirky sits down for an interview with broadcaster Jesse Hirsh. The event was part of the McLuhan 100 series at the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront Centre.

In a lecture entitled How Success Happens, New York Times columnist and author, David Brooks, draws from the research in his latest book The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement. His lecture was delivered at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

The Canadian Space Agency's Chief Astronaut, Julie Payette delivers a lecture entitled Canadian Space Agency Perspectives from Space: Research and Diplomacy.

Bonus audio - Moderator Mark Kingwell and panelists Michael Ignatieff and Ramin Jahanbegloo discuss Palestine and The Arab Spring as viewed through the writings of political philosopher Isaiah Berlin

Thomas Homer-Dixon answers questions following his lecture entitled Civilization Far From Equilibrium: Energy, Complexity and Human Survival.

Keith Devlin, Executive Director of the H-STAR Institute at Stanford University, discusses Leonardo and Steve: How Fibonacci Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years

Steve Paikin, anchor and senior editor of TVO's series The Agenda with Steve Paikin, delivers the 20th annual Bell lecture entitled, The Personal Price of a Political Life. The lecture was recorded at Carleton University in Ottawa on November 16th, 2011.

John Ibbitson, Ottawa bureau chief for The Globe and Mail, delivers a lecture on The Collapse of the Laurentian Consensus and the Rise of Ontario as a Pacific Province. This lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.

Armine Yalnizyan, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and William Watson, McGill economics professor, debate Inequality: A Threat to Democracy? This is the 2011 Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs, moderated by political scientist Jeffrey Kopstein.

Moderator Mark Kingwell and panelists Michael Ignatieff and Ramin Jahanbegloo discuss the writings of political philosopher Isaiah Berlin as they pertain to Liberty and The Arab Spring

Hungarian philosopher, Gaspar Tamas,on The Failure of Liberal Democracy in Eastern Europe and Everywhere Else. His lecture was delivered at the Munk School of Global Affairs on September 20, 2011. Tamas is a prolific writer of essays with a wide-ranging and distinguished career in academics and government. He was also a leading figure in the East European dissident movements.

Drawing on his experiences with addicted patients from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Dr. Gabor Maté discusses how the medical and legal systems are failing in the so-called war on drugs. He reads from his book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and suggests ways in which our approach to dealing with drugs and drug addicts could be improved.

Hod Lipson of Cornell University discusses the future of 3-D printing in his lecture entitled, Programmable Matter: The Shape of Things to Come

Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, Janice Stein, provides a summary and closing remarks at the event entitled 9/11: Ten Reflections after the Passage of Ten Years: An Opportunity to Contemplate and Remember. It was recorded on September 13, 2011. The event was produced by the Munk School of Global Affairs in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of the United States.

University of Toronto history professor, Ronald Pruessen, with his contribution to 9/11: Ten Reflections after the Passage of Ten Years: An Opportunity to Contemplate and Remember. It was recorded on September 13, 2011. The event was produced by the Munk School of Global Affairs in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of the United States.