Big Ideas (Audio)
322 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 10 years ago - ★★★★★ - 76 ratingsBig 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.
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Episodes
Alan Middleton on the History of Branding
June 18, 2011 04:30 - 21 MBBig Ideas presents York University professor of Marketing, Alan Middleton, on The History of Branding
Arne Kislenko on Southeast Asia and the Cold War (Part 2)
June 11, 2011 04:30 - 12.5 MBBig Ideas presents Arne Kislenko, winner of the 2005 Best Lecturer Competition, as he delivers part 2 of his lecture on Triumph and Tragedy: Southeast Asia and the Cold War
Cory Doctorow Q and A on computer regulation
June 04, 2011 04:30 - 14 MBCory Doctorow answers questions following his lecture, Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers the Way We Regulate Radios, Guns, Uranium and Other Special-Purpose Tools
Peterson and de Sousa debate Living Without the Sacred
May 28, 2011 04:30 - 17.9 MBPhilosopher Ronald de Sousa and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson debate Living Without the Sacred: Should John Lennon's Imagine Become Our Reality? The debate was hosted by the University of Toronto Secular Alliance, and sponsored by TVO's Big Ideas and the Centre for Inquiry Ontario.
Noam Chomsky on Academic Freedom
May 21, 2011 04:30 - 19.2 MBNoam Chomsky is one of America's leading scholars and intellectuals. He is a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His lecture on Academic Freedom and the Corporatization of Universities was delivered at the University of Toronto Scarborough on April 6, 2011.
Charles Foran on Mordecai Richler and Nationalism
May 14, 2011 04:30 - 18.3 MBNovelist and critic, Charles Foran, delivers a lecture on Mordecai Richler and Canadian Cultural Nationalism. Mr. Foran recently won the 2011 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for his book Mordecai: The Life & Times.
Arne Kislenko on Southeast Asia and the Cold War
May 14, 2011 04:30 - 19 MBBig Ideas presents Arne Kislenko, winner of the 2005 Best Lecturer Competition, on Triumph and Tragedy: Southeast Asia and the Cold War
Michael Persinger on No More Secrets
May 07, 2011 04:30 - 18.9 MBBig Ideas presents Michael Persinger, winner of the 2007 Best Lecturer Competition, on Just Suppose You Could Know What Others Are Thinking: No More Secrets
Armine Yalnizyan on Economics, Equality and Democracy
May 07, 2011 04:30 - 18 MBSenior economist Armine Yalnizyan examines how growing economic inequality and injustice is affecting our democracy. Her lecture, entitled Economics, Equality and Democracy, was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.
Cory Doctorow on Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers
April 30, 2011 04:30 - 19 MBBig Ideas presents Cory Doctorow on Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers the Way We Regulate Radios, Guns, Uranium and Other Special-Purpose Tools
Christopher W. diCarlo on The New Ethics
April 30, 2011 04:30 - 18.9 MBBig Ideas presents Christopher W. diCarlo, winner of the 2008 Best Lecturer Competition, on The New Ethics: A Synthetic Approach to Understanding Good and Evil.
Rod Carley on Theatre in the 21st Century
April 22, 2011 04:30 - 18.8 MBBig Ideas preents Rod Carley, winner of the 2009 Best Lecturer Competition, on Theatre in the 21st Century: Touchstone to Humanity
Rupinder Brar on The Impact of Astronomy
April 16, 2011 04:30 - 19 MBBig Ideas presents 2010 Best Lecturer Competition winner Rupinder Brar on The Impact of Astronomy on Humankind's Perception of the Universe
Robert Adams on Elie Wiesel's The Forgotten
April 16, 2011 04:30 - 16.4 MBPopular Welsh-born storyteller Robert Adams reviews Elie Wiesel's novel, The Forgotten, the profoundly moving story of an ailing Holocaust survivor who lives with disturbing memories and entrusts his son with a mysterious mission. Adams' talk was delivered at the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue on November 2nd, 2010, as part of Holocaust Education Week.
Sara Seager on Exoplanets the Search for Habitable Worlds
April 09, 2011 04:30 - 17.5 MBBig Ideas presents Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discussing Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds
Michael Adams on The Boomer Impact
April 02, 2011 04:30 - 18.3 MBEnvironics co-founder, leading pollster, and author, Michael Adams, delivers a lecture on the Boomer Impact, drawing on the insights and research in his latest book Stayin' Alive: How Canadian Boomers Will Work, Play and Find Meaning in the Second Half of Their Adult Lives. This lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.
Hod Lipson on The Robot Scientist: Mining Experimental Data
March 26, 2011 04:30 - 19.2 MBBig Ideas presents Hod Lipson of Cornell University exploring his work in such areas as evolutionary robotics and programmable self-assembly, Lipson delivers a lecture entitled The Robot Scientist: Mining Experimental Data for Scientific Laws, from Cognitive Robots to Computational Biology.
Ian Hacking on The Mathematical Animal
March 19, 2011 04:30 - 19.1 MBWinner of the prestigious Holberg International Memorial Prize, University of Toronto philosophy professor, Ian Hacking, presents a lecture entitled The Mathematical Animal.
Nick Mount on It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken
March 12, 2011 04:30 - 18.3 MBBig Ideas presents University of Toronto English professor, Nick Mount, on the graphic novel It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken by Seth.
David Sloan Wilson on Religion and Other Meaning Systems
March 05, 2011 04:30 - 17.5 MBProfessor David Sloan Wilson, author of Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society, delivers the annual Wiegand Memorial Foundation lecture entitled Religion and Other Meaning Systems. He examines how the experience of the religious believer differs from the secular thinker and argues that both can be understood in terms their particular meaning systems.
Robert Adams on The Elegance of the Hedgehog
February 26, 2011 04:30 - 25.9 MBBig Ideas presents author and book reviewer Robert Adams as he discusses the novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
Richard Wilkinson on The Age of Unequals
February 19, 2011 04:30 - 18.3 MBOne of Britain's leading social epidemiologists, Richard Wilkinson, looks at what it means to live in a new age of inequality. Wilkinson is the co-author of the groundbreaking, international bestseller The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone.
Seth Lloyd on Quantum Life
February 12, 2011 04:30 - 19.4 MBBig Ideas presents Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology on Quantum Life, how organisms have evolved to make use of quantum effects.
Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott on his life and work
February 05, 2011 04:30 - 17.3 MBEnglish professor, Christian Campbell, interviews Caribbean poet and playwright, Derek Walcott, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Walcott discusses issues of identity, culture, and language in this illuminating conversation, filmed at Hart House Theatre on November 23, 2010.
PZ Myers on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies
January 29, 2011 04:30 - 19.2 MBBiology professor and well-known blogger, PZ Myers, on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies. This lecture was delivered at the Humanist Canada/Atheist Alliance International 2010 Convention in Montreal.
Brian Dalton on Mr. Deity podcasts & the morality of atheism
January 29, 2011 04:30 - 11.5 MBBig Ideas presents Brian Dalton on his Mr. Deity podcasts, the amorality of Christianity and the morality of atheism
Daniel C. Dennett on What Should Replace Religions?
January 29, 2011 04:30 - 13 MBDaniel C. Dennett, Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, on What Should Replace Religions?
Chris Hedges on Death of the Liberal Class
January 22, 2011 04:30 - 19.2 MBJournalist and author Chris Hedges delivers a lecture based on his book Death of the Liberal Class. Hedges argues that there are five pillars of the liberal establishment - the press, liberal religious institutions, labor unions, universities and the Democratic Party - but that these institutions have failed the constituents they purport to represent.
Jordan Peterson on The Necessity of Virtue
January 15, 2011 04:30 - 17.6 MBUniversity of Toronto professor and clinical psychologist, Jordan Peterson, delivers the 2010 Hancock Lecture entitled The Necessity of Virtue. He discusses virtue from a contemporary perspective that both encompasses and extends beyond moral and religious contexts. Through compelling stories and research, Dr. Peterson illustrates the necessity of virtue both for the individual and for society at large.
Simon Winchester on The Man Who Loved China
January 09, 2011 16:30 - 19.8 MBJournalist, broadcaster, and bestselling author, Simon Winchester, tells the remarkable story of Joseph Needham, an eccentric English chemist who wrote a vast book on Chinese science which remains the longest book about China ever written in the English language. Winchester 19s lecture on The Man Who Loved China was delivered at the Royal Ontario Museum on October 14, 2010.
Camille Paglia on The Future of Education
January 05, 2011 17:00 - 11.6 MBEducator and author, Camille Paglia, discusses The Future of Education at the 2010 Globe and Mail Open House Festival in Toronto. The event moderator is broadcaster, Valerie Pringle.
Sean M Carroll on Origin of the Universe & the Arrow of Time
January 01, 2011 04:30 - 19.2 MBSean M. Carroll of CalTech discusses how the direction of the arrow of time was defined by the Big Bang. He also speculates about what might have come before the Big Bang. The lecture is entitled The Origin of the Universe & the Arrow of Time.
Werner Bohleber on The Phenomenon of Adolescent Violence
December 29, 2010 22:00 - 19.9 MBGerman psychoanalyst, Werner Bohleber, on The Phenomenon of Adolescent Violence.
Craig Kaplan on Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians
December 25, 2010 22:00 - 18.7 MBCraig Kaplan discusses origami, tiling patterns and other areas of art where mathematics and computers have had a significant impact. The lecture, entitled Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians, was deliverd at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival.
Art historian Francis Broun on The Art of Sir Edwin Landseer
December 17, 2010 22:00 - 18.2 MBArt historian Francis Broun presents his lecture entitled Genius Denied: The Art of Sir Edwin Landseer. It was recorded at the Women's Art Association in Toronto on May 24th, 2010.
William R. Newman on Why Did Isaac Newton Believe in Alchemy
December 10, 2010 11:00 - 16.7 MBIndiana University professor of History and Philosophy of Science, William R. Newman presents his lecture, entitled Why Did Isaac Newton Believe in Alchemy? Through historical documents and experiments that demonstrate alchemical processes, this lecture explains why one of the most insightful scientists in history was convinced that alchemical transformations were scientifically plausible. It was delivered at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, on October 6th, 2010.
Climate Reality
December 03, 2010 11:00 - 18.6 MBA panel discussion on climate science and climate justice with the world 19s foremost climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, as well as Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, and Clayton Thomas-Muller, the Indigenous Environmental Network's Tar Sands Campaigner. The event moderator is Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux.
James Hansen on Human-Made Climate Change
December 03, 2010 11:00 - 18.5 MBDr. James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute delivers a lecture on Human-Made Climate Change: A Moral, Political, and Legal Issue.
S. James Gates, Jr. on Does Reality Have a Genetic Basis?
November 26, 2010 22:00 - 18.1 MBS. James Gates Jr., Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland, discusses the question "Does Reality Have a Genetic Basis?"
Nick Mount on Sylvia Plath's Ariel
November 19, 2010 11:00 - 16.2 MBAs part of the Literature for Our Time series, University of Toronto English Professor Nick Mount examines Ariel, Sylvia Plath's posthumously published collection of poems
Stewart Brand on his book Whole Earth Discipline
November 12, 2010 11:00 - 19.5 MBStewart Brand delivers a lecture focusing on his book Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto.
Bhikhu Parekh on secularism and the role of religion
November 05, 2010 12:00 - 15 MBLord Bhikhu Parekh is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the Universities of Westminster and Hull and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of several books in political philosophy including Rethinking Multiculturalism and A New Politics of Identity. This lecture on Secularism and the Role of Religion in Public Life was hosted by the Centre for Ethics at the University of Toronto on April 6, 2010.
John Mighton on The Ubiquitous Bell Curve
October 30, 2010 12:00 - 18.7 MBJohn Mighton of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences delivers a lecture on The Ubiquitous Bell Curve: What It Does and Doesn't Tell Us. The talk focuses on JUMP Math and Mighton's work helping teachers learn how to excite students about mathematics.
Robert Adams on The Reluctant Fundamentalist
October 23, 2010 12:00 - 23.6 MBRobert Adams discusses Mohsin Hamid's 2007 novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which was short listed for the Booker Prize.
Terry Eagleton on Marxism as a Theodicy
October 16, 2010 12:00 - 10.9 MBBritish literary and cultural theorist, Terry Eagleton, delivers a lecture at York University entitled Is Marxism a Theodicy?
Terry Eagleton on the metaphysics of terror
October 15, 2010 12:00 - 8.53 MBBig Ideas presents British cultural theorist, Terry Eagleton, on The Metaphysics of Terror. This archival lecture was originally part of a 4-part series and recorded at the University of Toronto in January 2004.
Chris Lintott on The Galaxy Zoo
October 09, 2010 12:00 - 19.2 MBChris Lintott of the University of Oxford discusses The Galaxy Zoo, an internet-based program for enlisting the help of amateur astronomers in cataloguing other galaxies.
Tariq Ramadan
October 04, 2010 12:00 - 17.6 MBThe Swiss-born Muslim philosopher gives a lecture based on his recent book In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad.
Jeff Rubin and Andrew Nikiforuk on the future of oil
October 02, 2010 12:00 - 11.6 MBAuthors Jeff Rubin and Andrew Nikiforuk discuss The Future of the Oil Economy, with moderator Paul Waldie. This panel was part of the 2010 Globe and Mail Open House Festival.
Jeremy Rifkin on The Empathic Civilization
October 02, 2010 12:00 - 19.2 MBJeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation on Economic Trends, and author of The Empathic Civilization, spoke on global environmental issues at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa on May 16, 2010.