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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Margaret MacMillan on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
18/11/2011 Duration: 07minOxford history professor, Margaret MacMillan, with her 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.
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Ron Levi on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
18/11/2011 Duration: 09minAcademic Director for the Munk School of Global Affairs, Ron Levi, 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.
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Michael Ignatieff on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
17/11/2011 Duration: 07minWriter, teacher, and former politician, Michael Ignatieff, 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.
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Bill Graham on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
17/11/2011 Duration: 06minBill Graham, Chancellor of Trinity College, University of Toronto, 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.
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Ron Deibert on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
16/11/2011 Duration: 07minUniversity of Toronto political scientist Ron Deibert, 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.
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Natalie Zemon Davis on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
16/11/2011 Duration: 07minUniversity of Toronto history professor, Natalie Zemon Davis, with her 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.
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Louis Century on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
15/11/2011 Duration: 06minUniversity of Toronto graduate student, Louis Century, 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.
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Elspeth Brown on 9/11: Reflections after Ten Years
15/11/2011 Duration: 04minUniversity of Toronto history professor Elspeth Brown with her 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.
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Alex Himelfarb on the consequences of tax cuts
12/11/2011 Duration: 54minHow Did Taxes Become a Bad Word? The Former Clerk of the Privy Council, Alex Himelfarb, discusses why we should be investing more, not less, in our future. While today's political leaders exalt the benefits of increased tax-cutting, Himelfarb argues that further tax cuts will come with serious consequences, including cuts to services and deeper inequality. According to Himelfarb, what we need is nothing less than a re-think about what our future is worth. His lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.
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Leonard Susskind on The World As Hologram
05/11/2011 Duration: 55minLeonard Susskind of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics discusses the indestructability of information and the nature of black holes in a lecture entitled The World As Hologram.
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Noam Chomsky on the State-Corporate Complex
29/10/2011 Duration: 55minAcademic, author and political activist, Noam Chomsky, on the State-Corporate Complex: A Threat to Freedom and Survival. Chomsky's lecture was delivered at the Hart House Great Hall at the University of Toronto on April 7, 2011.
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Thomas Homer-Dixon on Civilization Far From Equilibrium
22/10/2011 Duration: 55minThomas Homer-Dixon presents his lecture Civilization Far From Equilibrium: Energy, Complexity and Human Survival at the Equinox Summit - Energy 2030.
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John Gray on The Immortalization Commission
15/10/2011 Duration: 21minPhilosopher and author, John Gray, on The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death. In the late nineteenth century and as a consequence of Darwinism, many thinkers turned to science to solve the riddle of death. Gray explores humankind's dangerous striving toward a scientific version of immortality.
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Freeman Dyson on Living Through Four Revolutions
08/10/2011 Duration: 56minFreeman Dyson, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University delivers a lecture entitled, Living Through Four Revolutions. Dyson discusses Space Technology, Nuclear Energy, the Genome and the Computer Revolution.
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Tariq Ramadan on Western Muslims after Oslo
06/10/2011 Duration: 01h04minTariq Ramadan, the well-known, Swiss-born and controversial Muslim philosopher, offers a critique of the discriminatory nature of popular attitudes towards Muslims living in Europe and North America. His lecture was delivered at the Palais des Congres de Montreal on September 8, 2011.
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Jeff Melanson on The Evolving Role of the Arts in Canada
01/10/2011 Duration: 55minWhat makes our cultural institutions thrive, what new challenges do they face, and how can we best support them? Arts administrator, Jeff Melanson, explores The Evolving Role of the Arts in Canada. His lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada and was recorded at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto on May 24, 2011
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David Keith on Technology, Energy and Nature
24/09/2011 Duration: 56minDavid Keith, speaking at the Equinox Summit, discusses Technology, Energy and Nature - Human Values and Open Choices. Professor Keith holds the Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment.
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Nick Mount interviews novelist Sam Lipsyte
17/09/2011 Duration: 21minUniversity of Toronto English professor, Nick Mount, in conversation with author Sam Lipsyte. The interview was taped following Mount's lecture on Lipsyte's novel Home Land
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Andrei Markovits on European Anti-Americanism
10/09/2011 Duration: 01h01minBig Ideas presents University of Michigan professor, Andrei Markovits, on European Anti-Americanism
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Nick Mount on Sam Lipsyte's novel Home Land
03/09/2011 Duration: 42minEnglish professor, Nick Mount, provides insight into Sam Lipsyte's novel Home Land. The lecture was part of the Literature for Our Time series at the University of Toronto.