Big Ideas (Video)
363 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 10 years ago - ★★★★ - 22 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.
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Episodes
Robert Adams on the novel Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry.
September 07, 2013 04:30 - 361 MB VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the novel Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry.
Christopher Hitchens on The Three New Commandments
August 24, 2013 04:30 - 225 MB VideoChristopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, on The Three New Commandments.
Robert Adams on the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
August 10, 2013 04:30 VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Hazel Carby on Belonging to Britain
July 27, 2013 04:30 - 216 MB VideoHazel Carby looks at the historic relationship between England and Jamaica, including the history of the slave trade in Bristol and the complex question of identity for those of mixed British and West Indian heritage.
Robert Adams on Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
July 13, 2013 04:30 - 338 MB VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.
Thomas Merritt on genetics, talents and aptitudes
July 03, 2013 19:00 - 175 MB VideoThomas Merritt, Canada Research Chair in Genomics and Bio-informatics at Laurentian University 19s department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, on the extent to which our genetic makeup is responsible for our talents and aptitudes.
Michael Shermer on Why People Believe Weird Things.
June 29, 2013 04:30 - 219 MB VideoThe editor of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer, delivers a lecture on his book Why People Believe Weird Things.
Michael Fullan on Schools in Need of Re-Education
June 22, 2013 04:30 - 189 MB VideoMichael Fullan of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education delivers a lecture entitled Schools in Need of Re-Education
Christopher Hitchens on Freedom of Speech
June 15, 2013 04:30 - 170 MB VideoChristopher Hitchens voices his opinion on the subject of the Hart House Debating Club debate: Be it resolved: Freedom of speech includes the freedom to hate.
Michael Ruse on Is Darwinism Past its Sell-by Date?
June 01, 2013 04:30 - 195 MB VideoMichael Ruse is professor of the philosophy of biology at Florida State University. In this lecture he addresses the question Is Darwinism Past its Sell-by Date?
Robert Adams on Herzog by Saul Bellow.
May 18, 2013 04:30 - 349 MB VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the 1964 novel Herzog by Saul Bellow.
Daniel Gottesman on Quantum Computing
May 18, 2013 04:30 - 222 MB VideoDaniel Gottesman of the Perimeter Institute discusses quantum computing and the cryptographic protocols that use quantum physics, and that one day will protect all that which we would want to stay secret.
Jeffrey Rosenthal on The Curious World of Probabilities
May 04, 2013 04:30 - 182 MB VideoThe author of Struck by Lightning - and the statistician who crunched the numbers to reveal that a statistically improbable number of lottery retailers were winning major prizes in Ontario - Jeffrey Rosenthal guides us through the maze of numbers and percentages to show us to how calculate correct probabilities.
Simon Winchester on A Crack in the Edge of the World
April 27, 2013 04:30 - 226 MB VideoSimon Winchester on his book A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906.
Robert Adams on the novel No Great Mischief
April 20, 2013 04:30 - 357 MB VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the novel No Great Mischief by Alastair MacLeod.
Janna Levin on her book Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
April 20, 2013 04:30 - 190 MB VideoJanna Levin on her book Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, the story of two great mathematicians, Kurt Godel and Alan Turing. They were men who had the capacity to think about the most abstract of mathematical truths but had very limited abilities when it came to confronting the mundane aspects of life. Both committed suicide.
Kevin Dutton on The Wisdom of Psychopaths
April 13, 2013 04:30 - 136 MB VideoKevin Dutton on his book The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success.
Nima Arkani-Hamed on the Large Hadron Collider
April 06, 2013 04:30 - 223 MB VideoNima Arkani-Hamed on the Large Hadron Collider and the Future of Fundamental Physics. Located on the Swiss-French border, the Large Hadron Collider is a circular tunnel 27 km in circumference. It will allow physicists to probe the constituent parts of the proton, looking for new forms of matter and insights into the formation of the universe.
Robert Adams on the novel The Corrections
April 06, 2013 04:30 - 337 MB VideoRobert Adams, author of A Love of Reading, discusses the novel The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
William Rees on Environmental Economics
March 23, 2013 04:30 - 221 MB VideoEcological footprint is an idea originated by William Rees, an environmental economist from the University of British Columbia. If you need a primer in environmental economics, this lecture is for you.
Salmon Akhtar on The Trauma of Geographical Dislocation
March 23, 2013 04:30 - 213 MB VideoSalmon Akhtar on The Trauma of Geographical Dislocation, how immigration can affect a person's mental health.
Steven Pinker on The Blank Slate
March 16, 2013 04:30 - 243 MB VideoHarvard University psychology professor, Steven Pinker, dicusses his book The Blank Slate.
Marc Abrahams, editor of The Annals of Improbably Research
March 09, 2013 04:30 - 139 MB VideoMarc Abrahams, editor of The Annals of Improbably Research and one of the organizers of the annual Ig-Nobel Prize ceremonies at Harvard University, discusses the work of scientists and academics that, "first makes you laugh, and then makes you think".
Maude Barlow on Water: The Most Pressing Women's Issue
March 02, 2013 04:30 - 207 MB VideoMaude Barlow, National Chair of the citizens' advocacy organization The Council of Canadians, on Water: The Most Pressing Women's Issue of All.
Ken Cramer on Alfred Adler
February 23, 2013 04:30 - 165 MB VideoKen Cramer - Psychology, University of Windsor -on Alfred Adler: The Most Famous Personality Theorist You Likely Never Heard Of
Kwame McKenzie on Immigration Sickness
February 23, 2013 04:30 - 232 MB VideoKwame McKenzie on Immigration Sickness. What psychological and social attributes help us predict who will be a good at being an immigrant?
Nick Mount on T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
February 16, 2013 04:30 - 188 MB VideoUniversity of Toronto English professor, Nick Mount, explores T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
Susannah Varmuza on the evolving field of Epigenetics
February 09, 2013 04:30 - 89.8 MB VideoUniversity 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.
Jordan Peterson on Slaying the Dragon Within Us
February 02, 2013 04:30 - 230 MB VideoJordan Peterson on Slaying the Dragon Within Us. Peterson, a University of Toronto professor of psychology, talks about fear of the unknown and fear of dealing with problems.
Clare Hasenkampf on Chromosomes Dividing
January 26, 2013 04:35 - 181 MB VideoClare Hasenkampf of the Biology Department at University of Toronto Scarborough presents her lecture Chromosomes Dividing: How It Is Done and Why It Matters.
Clare Hasenkampf profile - plant biology research
January 26, 2013 04:30 - 34.1 MB VideoClare Hasenkampf from the Biology Department at University of Toronto Scarborough is profiled. Hasenkampf's plant biology research and her passion for New Orleans cooking are featured.
Lt. General (ret.) Andrew Leslie on Lessons From Afghanistan
January 26, 2013 04:30 - 202 MB VideoLieutenant 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.
Oliver Sacks on Musicophilia
January 19, 2013 04:30 - 184 MB VideoNeurologist and best-selling author, Oliver Sacks, discusses his book Musicophilia. and the ways our brains interact with and understand music.
Noam Chomsky on The Imperial Presidency
January 12, 2013 04:30 - 326 MB VideoAmerican 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.
Harvey Brown on the Concepts of Time and Motion
January 12, 2013 04:30 - 202 MB VideoFocusing on the work of Galileo, Newton, Descartes and Einstein, Harvey Brown examines the evolution of thinking about the surprisingly difficult concepts of time and motion.
Philip Ball on How Science Became Interested in Everything
January 05, 2013 04:30 - 194 MB VideoScience 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.
Philip Ball Q and A following his lecture on Curiosity
January 05, 2013 04:25 - 36.4 MB VideoPhilip Ball - Question and Answer session following the lecture based on his book, Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything
Samantha Nutt - interviewed by Carol Off
December 29, 2012 04:30 - 117 MB VideoSamantha Nutt, Founder and Executive Director of War Child, is interviewed by Carol Off following her talk at the Grandest Challenge symposium.
Stephen Lewis - interviewed by Gillian Findlay
December 29, 2012 04:30 - 94.1 MB VideoStephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, is interviewed by Gillian Findlay following his talk at the Grandest Challenge symposium.
Jordan Peterson on Music and the Patterns of the Mind and W.
December 29, 2012 04:00 - 192 MB VideoJordan 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.
Jill Tarter on the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
December 27, 2012 04:00 - 230 MB VideoDr. 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.
Stephen Lewis on Climate Change
December 22, 2012 04:30 - 209 MB VideoStephen Lewis, social sciences scholar in residence at McMaster University, delivers a talk entitled, Climate Change; the New Big Thing.
Samantha Nutt, Founder and Executive Director of War Child
December 15, 2012 04:30 - 106 MB VideoSamantha Nutt, Founder and Executive Director of War Child Canada, and author of the book Damned Nations speaks at The Grandest Challenge Symposium.
Jordan Peterson on Redemption and Psychology in Christianity
December 15, 2012 04:30 - 184 MB VideoUniversity 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.
Stephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law
December 15, 2012 04:30 - 106 MB VideoStephen Lewis of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, and author of Race Against Time speaks at The Grandest Challenge Symposium.
Rupinder Brar profile - Astronomy and political aspirations
December 15, 2012 04:00 - 31.2 MB VideoRupinder Brar (Physics - University of Ontario Institute of Technology) is profiled, focusing on his interest in astronomy, his desire to be an astronaut and his political aspirations.
Rupinder Brar on Relativity, Einstein, and How to Stay Young
December 15, 2012 04:00 - 181 MB VideoRupinder Brar lectures on the topic of Einstein's special relativity theory and it's explanation of time dilation and simultaneity. The lecture is entitled Relativity, Einstein, the Speed of Light and How to Stay Young.
Julian Barbour on Does Time Exist?
December 08, 2012 04:30 - 214 MB VideoJulian Barbour, visiting professor at the University of Oxford and the author of The End of Time, addresses the question, Does Time Exist? Barbour explores the history of scientific thought on the concept of time and presents his own interpretations of what time is.
Margaret Atwood: Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth
December 08, 2012 04:00 - 231 MB VideoPreeminent author, Margaret Atwood, delivers the 2008 Massey Lecture, "Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth".
Tyler Cowen and Andrew Coyne on The Great Stagnation
December 01, 2012 04:30 - 217 MB VideoTyler Cowen discusses his book The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick and Will (Eventually) Feel Better. Andrew Coyne (National Post) presents a rebuttal and the pair discuss Cowen's thesis focusing on issues of productivity, innovation and government policy (moderated by Wendy Dobson).