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All Seasons

Season 2001

Season 2002

Season 2003

Season 2004

Season 2005

Season 2006

Season 2007

  • S2007E01 Roger Scruton

    • January 6, 2007

    The conservative British philosopher and public intellectual addresses the role of a democratic government in regulating moral issues such as individual sexual conduct, gay marriage and children's rights. This is followed by a heated question and answer session.

  • S2007E02 Christopher Hitchens on Freedom of Speech

    • January 7, 2007

    Christopher Hitchens is invited by the University of Toronto's Hart House Debating Club to voice his opinion on the subject of the evening's debate: Be it resolved: Freedom of speech includes the freedom to hate.

  • S2007E03 Jacalyn Duffin

    • January 13, 2007

    The Best Lecturer Jury (Tony Keller, Camilla Gibb, Margaret Wente) comment on Jacalyn Duffin's lecture submission. Duffin's profile features her playing her antique pump organ. Duffin lectures on The History of the Stethoscope.

  • S2007E04 Steve Joordens

    • January 13, 2007

    Lecture by Steve Joordens The Best Lecturer Jury comment on Steve Joorden's lecture submission. Joorden's profile features him playing bass in his rock band. Joordens lectures on the Ethics of Animal Testing.

  • S2007E05 Keith Bartlett

    • January 20, 2007

    Kenneth Bartlett of the University of Toronto lectures on Francesco Petrarca, a poet he claims is the father of humanism. Also featured are the Best Lecturer jury's assessment of Bartlett's lecturing style and a profile of the professor that highlights his passion for collecting paintings and porcelain.

  • S2007E06 Michael Persinger

    • January 20, 2007

    Michael Persinger of Laurentian University in Sudbury lectures on psychotropic drugs and their effects on the human brain. Also featured are the Best Lecturer jury's assessment of Persinger's lecturing style and a profile of the professor that focuses on his desire to understand mystical and religious experiences in scientific terms.

  • S2007E07 Nick Mount - University of Toronto

    • January 27, 2007

    The best lecturer jury comments on the submission tape for Nick Mount. Mount is profiled, focusing on his use of pop music in his lectures and his love of graphic novels. Mount lectures on the topic of Nabokov's Lolita, commenting on how the book fits into Canada's current legislation on pornography.

  • S2007E08 Rupinder Brar - UOIT

    • January 27, 2007

    The best lecturer jury comments on the submission tape for Ruprinder Brar. Brar is profiled, focusing on his interest in space, astronomy, his desire to be an astronaut and his political aspirations. Brar lectures on the topic of Einstein's special relativity theory and it's explanation of time dilation and simultaneity.

  • S2007E09 Bryan Karney

    • February 3, 2007

    The best lecturer jury comments on the submission tape for Bryan Karney

  • S2007E10 Allan Hutchinson

    • February 10, 2007

    Allan Hutchinson of the York University's Osgoode Hall Law School lectures on why he feels we do not need the Cnadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms due to some critical flaws in it. Also featured: the Best lecturerer Jury's assessment of Hutchinson's lecturing sytle and a profile of the professor that highlights his love of soccer, his teaching style and why he feels too many of his students end up in private law practice.

  • S2007E11 Maydianne Andrade

    • February 10, 2007

    Maydianne Andrade of the University of Toronto Scarborough lectures on Sexual Dimorphism, and how the differences between the sexes fits with Darwin's theories of evolution. Also featured are the Best Lecturer jury's assessment of Andrade's lecturing style and a profile of the professor that focusses on her fascination with Black Widow spiders and their mating habits.

  • S2007E12 Michael Persinger - Laurentian University - Best Lecturer

    • February 17, 2007

    A profile of Michael Persinger focusing on his research into brain stimulation to recreate drug experiences. The winning lecture on Psychotropic Drugs is also featured.

  • S2007E13 Harvey Brown on the Concepts of Time and Motion

    • February 18, 2007

    Focusing 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.

  • S2007E14 Martin Gilbert

    • February 24, 2007

    Was the 20th century a century of intolerance? What were the forces fighting intolerance, who mustered them, and - if ever - did they prevail? Are we wiser today, or is history somehow repeating itself? The eminent British historian ponders these questions.

  • S2007E15 Tommie Shelby

    • February 25, 2007

    Tommie Shelby delivers the annual UNESCO World Philosophy Day Lecture to students at the University of Toronto. "Racism, Morality and Social Criticism" is a critique of the definition of racism provided by Lawrence Blum in I'm Not a Racist, But...: The Moral Quandary of Race

  • S2007E16 Thomas Homer-Dixon on The Upside of Down

    • March 3, 2007

    The director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and author of the recently published The Upside of Down, Catastrophe, Creativity and Renewal of Civilization offers a synopsis of forces threatening the already shaky stability of the global order.

  • S2007E17 Salim Mansur

    • March 4, 2007

    Salim Mansur, professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario, gives the first annual Begin-Sadat Lecture. The subject: how Sadat broke ranks with his fellow Arab leaders and what the Quran says about Jews in the Holy Land.

Season 2010

  • S2010E01 Why Did Isaac Newton Believe in Alchemy

    • December 11, 2010

    Through historical documents and experiments that demonstrate alchemical processes, Indiana University professor of History and Philosophy of Science William R. Newman explains why one of the most insightful scientists in history was convinced that alchemical transformations were scientifically plausible.

Season 2011

  • S2011E01 Simon Winchester on The Man Who Loved China

    • January 8, 2011

    Journalist, 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

  • S2011E02 Jordan Peterson on The Necessity of Virtue

    • January 15, 2011

    Author, professor and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson delivers the 2010 Hancock Lecture. He discusses virtue from a contemporary perspective that both encompasses and extends beyond moral and religious contexts.

  • S2011E03 Chris Hedges on The Death of the Liberal Class

    • January 22, 2011

    Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Chris Hedges delivers a lecture on his latest book The Death of the Liberal Class. He argues that American liberalism, a once proud political tradition, is dead, having sold out to corporate interests and abandoned its original principles. The result is a breakdown of the very fabric of democracy.

  • S2011E04 Daniel Dennett: What Should Replace Religions?

    • January 29, 2011

    Noted atheist and secularist Daniel Dennett delivers his lecture "What Should Replace Religions?" Dennett is co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and a University Professor at Tufts University.

  • S2011E05 PZ Myers: Science and Atheism: Natural Allies

    • January 30, 2011

    Biology professor and well-known blogger PZ Myers on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies.

  • S2011E06 Derek Walcott

    • February 5, 2011

    University of Toronto professor Christian Campbell talks to Nobel laureate poet Derek Walcott about his remarkable life and work.

  • S2011E07 Seth Lloyd on Quantum Life

    • February 12, 2011

    Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology on Quantum Life, how organisms have evolved to make use of quantum effects.

  • S2011E08 Richard Wilkinson on The Spirit Level

    • February 19, 2011

    One 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 ground-breaking international bestseller, The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone.

  • S2011E09 Robert Adams on The Elegance of the Hedgehog

    • February 26, 2011

    Author and book reviewer Robert Adams discusses the novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

  • S2011E10 David Sloan Wilson on Religion and Other Meaning Systems

    • March 5, 2011

    Professor David Sloan Wilson examines how the experience of the religious believer differs from the secular thinker and argues that both can be understood in terms of their particular meaning systems. His lecture is entitled, Religion and Other Meaning Systems.

  • S2011E11 Nick Mount on cartoonist Seth

    • March 12, 2011

    University of Toronto English professor Nick Mount on the graphic novel It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken by Seth.

  • S2011E12 Ian Hacking on the Mathematical Animal

    • March 19, 2011

    University of Toronto philosophy professor Ian Hacking presents a lecture on The Mathematical Animal.

  • S2011E13 Hod Lipson on The Robotic Scientist

    • March 26, 2011

    Hod Lipson discusses mining experimental data for scientific laws at a Perimeter Institute lecture

  • S2011E14 Michael Adams on The Boomer Impact

    • April 2, 2011

    Environics 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".

  • S2011E15 Sara Seager on Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds

    • April 9, 2011

    Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology delivers a lecture on Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds.

  • S2011E16 Rupinder Brar on The Impact of Astronomy

    • April 16, 2011

    2010 Best Lecturer Competition winner Rupinder Brar delivers a new lecture entitled, The Impact of Astronomy on Humankind's Perception of the Universe,

  • S2011E17 Robert Adams on The Forgotten

    • April 17, 2011

    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.

  • S2011E18 Rod Carley on Theatre in the 21st Century: Touchstone to Humanity

    • April 23, 2011

    Rod Carley, winner of the 2009 Best Lecturer Competition, delivers a new lecture entitled, Theatre in the 21st Century: Touchstone to Humanity.

  • S2011E19 Piergiorgio Odifreddi: What Can the Arts Do for Mathematics?

    • April 21, 2011

    In an illustrated talk, Italian mathematician Dr. Piergiorgio Odifreddi examines the deep and close relationships between the objects of mathematics and of the arts.

  • S2011E20 Christopher W. diCarlo on The New Ethics

    • April 30, 2011

    Christopher diCarlo, winner of the 2008 Best Lecturer Competition, delivers a new lecture entitled The New Ethics: A Synthetic Approach to Understanding Good and Evil.

  • S2011E21 Cory Doctorow: Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers

    • May 1, 2011

    Science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist Cory Doctorow delivers a lecture entitled Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers the Way We Regulate Radios, Guns, Uranium and Other Special-Purpose Tools.

  • S2011E22 Michael Persinger: No More Secrets

    • May 7, 2011

    2007 Best Lecturer winner Michael Persinger of Laurentian University in Sudbury delivers a lecture entitled "Just Suppose You Could Know What Others are Thinking: No More Secrets".

  • S2011E23 Armine Yalnizyan on Economics, Equality and Democracy

    • May 8, 2011

    The senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives discusses how too much power in too few hands is having an impact on our democracy.

  • S2011E24 Arne Kislenko on Southeast Asia and the Cold War

    • May 14, 2011

    Arne Kislenko, winner of the 2005 Best Lecturer Competition, on Triumph and Tragedy: Southeast Asia and the Cold War.

  • S2011E25 Charles Foran: Mordecai Richler and the Challenge to Nationalism

    • May 15, 2011

    Novelist and critic Charles Foran recently won the 2011 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for his book "Mordecai: The Life & Times".

  • S2011E26 Noam Chomsky on Academic Freedom

    • May 21, 2011

    Noam Chomsky, one of America's leading scholars and intellectuals, delivers a lecture on academic freedom and the corporatization of universities.

  • S2011E27 Can We Live Without the Sacred?

    • May 26, 2011

    Psychologist Jordan Peterson and philosopher Ronald de Sousa go head-to-head in a lively debate over the question: Can we live without the sacred?

  • S2011E28 Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas

  • S2011E29 David Keith on Technology, Energy and Nature

    • November 24, 2011

    David 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 at the University of Calgary.

  • S2011E30 Jeff Melanson on the Evolving Role of the Arts in Canada

    • October 1, 2011

    Jeff Melanson is the executive director of Canada's National Ballet School and recently accepted the position of President and CEO of The Banff Centre. This lecture was recorded at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto on May 24, 2011.

  • S2011E31 Freeman Dyson on Living Through Four Revolutions

    • October 8, 2011

    Freeman 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.

  • S2011E32 John Gray: The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death

    • October 15, 2011

    In the late nineteenth century and as a consequence of Darwinism, many thinkers turned to science to solve the riddle of death. Philosopher and author John Gray explores humankind's dangerous striving toward a scientific version of immortality.

  • S2011E33 Thomas Homer-Dixon: Civilization Far from Equilibrium: Energy, Complexity & Human Survival

    • October 22, 2011

    Thomas Homer-Dixon holds the CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo. This lecture, entitled Civilization Far From Equilibrium: Energy, Complexity and Human Survival was delivered at the Equinox Summit: Energy 2030. Human societies use complexity – within their institutions and technologies – to address their various problems, and they need high-quality energy to create and sustain this complexity. But now greater complexity is producing diminishing returns in wellbeing, while the energetic cost of key sources of energy is rising fast. Simultaneously, humankind’s problems are becoming vastly harder, which requires societies to deliver yet more complexity and thus consume yet more energy. Resolving this paradox is the central challenge of the 21st century. Thomas Homer-Dixon holds the CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada, and is a Professor at the University of Waterloo. His research areas include the links between environmental stress and violence in developing nations, global security in the 21st century, and how societies adapt to economic, ecological, and technological change. Presented on June 7, 2011 Originally broadcast on October 22, 2011

  • S2011E34 Noam Chomsky on The State-Corporate Complex

    • October 29, 2011

    Academic, 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 on April 7, 2011.

  • S2011E35 Leonard Susskind: The World as Hologram

    • November 5, 2011

    Leonard 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.

  • S2011E36 Alex Himelfarb on the Consequences of Tax Cuts

    • November 12, 2011

    How 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.

  • S2011E37 Hod Lipson on Programmable Matter: Shape of Things to Come

    • November 19, 2011

    Hod Lipson of Cornell University discusses the future of 3-D printing in his lecture entitled, Programmable Matter: The Shape of Things to Come. Lipson is an Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and of Computing & Information Science at Cornell. He is also the director of Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab (CCML).

  • S2011E38 Gaspar Tamas on The Failure of Liberal Democracy

    • November 26, 2011

    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.

  • S2011E39 Liberty and the Arab Spring: Exploring Isaiah Berlin's Ideas in a Changing World

    • December 3, 2011

    Senior resident at Massey College, Michael Ignatieff, and University of Toronto political science professor Ramin Jahanbegloo discuss Liberty and the Arab Spring: Exploring Isaiah Berlin's Ideas in a Changing World. Mark Kingwell is the moderator.

  • S2011E40 Armine Yalnizyan and William Watson on economic disparity

    • December 4, 2011

    Senior economist Armine Yalnizyan and economics professor and columnist William Watson debate "Inequality: A Threat to Democracy?" at the 2011 Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs. Jeffrey Kopstein moderates.

  • S2011E41 John Ibbitson: The Collapse of the Laurentian Consensus

    • December 10, 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.

  • S2011E42 Keith Devlin on Leonardo and Steve: How Fibonacci Beat Apple

    • December 17, 2011

    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.

  • S2011E43 Psychologist Jordan Peterson on The Necessity of Virtue

    • December 24, 2011

    University 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.

  • S2011E44 Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas

    • December 31, 2011

    Ivan Semeniuk, Chief of Corespondents for Nature leads a discussion centered on the ideas and thoughts of Stephen Hawking. Neil Turok, Julie Payette, Rebecca Saxe and S. James Gates, Jr. cover topics including unified theory, cosmology and colonization of space.

Season 2012

  • S2012E01 Julie Payette, Canadian Space Agency Perspectives from Space

    • January 7, 2012

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

  • S2012E02 David Brooks on The Social Animal

    • January 14, 2012

    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, University of Toronto.

  • S2012E03 Clay Shirky on Cognitive Surplus

    • January 21, 2012

    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.

  • S2012E04 Ray Jayawardhana on Alien Planets

    • January 28, 2012

    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.

  • S2012E05 Robert J. Sawyer on Humanity 2.0

    • February 4, 2012

    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.

  • S2012E06 Charles Taylor and Jonathan Sacks on The Future of Religion

    • February 11, 2012

    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.

  • S2012E07 Steven Pinker on Thinking About Our Society

    • February 18, 2012

    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.

  • S2012E08 Adam Gopnik on Remembering Winter

    • February 25, 2012

    Bestselling author, essayist and New Yorker contributor, Adam Gopnik, delivers the fifth installment of the 2011 CBC Massey Lectures, Winter: Five Windows on the Season. In this lecture, entitled Remembering Winter, Gopnik offers a delightful meditation and reflection on winter, drawing from his memories of growing up in Montreal as well as from the works of other artists, writers and thinkers who have shaped our ideas about the most memorable of seasons.

  • S2012E09 Graham Farmelo on Paul Dirac and Mathematical Beauty

    • March 3, 2012

    Adjunct Professor of Physics at Northeastern University in Boston, Graham Farmelo, on Paul Dirac and the Religion of Mathematical Beauty. Apart from Einstein, Paul Dirac was probably the greatest theoretical physicist of the 20th century. Dirac, co-inventor of quantum mechanics, is now best known for conceiving of anti-matter and also for his deeply eccentric behavior. For him, the most important attribute of a fundamental theory was its mathematical beauty, an idea that he said was "almost a religion" to him.

  • S2012E10 Sean Martindale on Playful Interventions: Urban Environments

    • March 10, 2012

    Toronto-based public-space artist, Sean Martindale on Playful Interventions: Engaging Our Urban Environments. Martindale discusses public art projects including his Poster Pocket Planters and the extensive use of repurposed materials in such works as his cardboard sculptures.

  • S2012E11 John Duffy on The Emerging Politics of Technology

    • March 17, 2012

    John Duffy, advisor to former Prime Minister Paul Martin and founder of StrategyCorp, tackles the subject of The Emerging Politics of Technology in a lecture produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada. Duffy has spent years pondering the role of technology in our thinking about policy and politics. And he believes that the politics of technology is at the forefront of Canada's public policy debates. But is technology beyond political and democratic control? And if not, how can we ensure that the cost and benefit of new technological developments do not deepen the already growing inequalities in our society?

  • S2012E12 George Dyson on the Origins of the Digital Universe

    • March 24, 2012

    Science historian and author (Darwin Among the Machines) George Dyson on the Origins of the Digital Universe. The talk focuses on the work done at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey by such renowned scientists as John von Neumann and Kurt Godel.

  • S2012E13 Daniel Kahneman on The Machinery of the Mind

    • March 31, 2012

    Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, on The Machinery of the Mind. Kahneman is Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics.

  • S2012E14 Romeo Dallaire and Stephen Lewis on Child Soldiers

    • April 7, 2012

    Drawing on their vast experiences and first-hand knowledge, distinguished humanitarians Senator Romeo Dallaire and Stephen Lewis, enter into a dialogue about the issues that they have committed their lives to: the eradication of the use of child soldiers and stopping the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Their discussion, moderated by journalist Anna Maria Tremonti, was organized by PEN Canada.

  • S2012E15 Philosopher Ian Hacking on The Biosocial Being

    • April 14, 2012

    Philosopher Ian Hacking delivers the 2011 Ioan Davies Memorial Lecture entitled Who Are You? The Biosocial Being. The lecture, which looks at how much of who we are is determined by biology versus our social environment, took place at York University on November 14, 2011.

  • S2012E16 Art historian Francis Broun on Artemisia Gentileschi

    • April 21, 2012

    Art historian Francis Broun discusses the work of the 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Broun explores why Artemisia, who was widely respected in her own time, was forgotten and why she has recently been returned to her rightful place as a groundbreaking painter.

  • S2012E17 Graeme Gibson on Our Human Connection to Nature

    • April 28, 2012

    Graeme Gibson, author of The Bedside Book of Beasts, and recipient of the Order of Canada, explores the many ways that humans relate to the natural world. His lecture, entitled Echoes of a Working Eden, also addresses the damage done to us by our abandonment of Nature. The lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.

  • S2012E18 Dr. Iain McGilchrist on Our Mind at War

    • May 5, 2012

    Renowned British psychiatrist and author, Iain McGilchrist, delivers a lecture entitled Our Mind at War, drawing from research in his latest book, The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.

  • S2012E19 Allen J. Frances on The Overdiagnosis of Mental Illness

    • May 12, 2012

    Psychiatrist and author, Allen J. Frances, believes that mental illnesses are being over-diagnosed. In his lecture, Diagnostic Inflation: Does Everyone Have a Mental Illness?, Dr. Frances outlines why he thinks the DSM-V will lead to millions of people being mislabeled with mental disorders.

  • S2012E20 Lisa Harvey-Smith on the SKA mega-telescope

    • May 19, 2012

    Lisa Harvey-Smith of CSIRO discusses the mega-telescope known as the Square Kilometre Array. CSIRO, the Australian Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation, is part of the continent-spanning next-generation radio telescope project which is due to be completed in 2019.

  • S2012E21 Dr. Marc D. Lewis on Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

    • May 26, 2012

    Dr. Marc D. Lewis discusses the story and the science behind his book Memoirs of an Addicted Brain. Lewis is a professor at the Behavioral Science Institute, part of Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Lewis's book documents the years he spent addicted to drugs including morphine and heroin, and links his first-hand drug experiences to his current behavioral science research into the interaction between drugs and brain chemistry.

  • S2012E22 Andrew Coyne on Post-Economic Politics in Canada

    • November 29, 2012

    National Post columnist, Andrew Coyne, presents a lecture entitled Post-Economic Politics in Canada. In Coyne's opinion, the state of the economy, contrary to popular belief, will not be the defining issue in our public policy debates. His lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada and was delivered at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto on May 14th, 2012.

  • S2012E23 Chris Turner on How to Thrive in the Sustainable Economy

    • September 30, 2012

    Chris Turner discusses his book The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy. Citing German energy policy and business examples such as Walmart, Turner explains how sustainability makes excellent business sense.

  • S2012E24 Northrop Frye on An Approach to the Bible

    • October 6, 2012

    Renowned literary theorist, Northrop Frye, delivers the first lecture in his famous course on The Bible and Literature. The lecture is entitled "An Approach to the Bible".

  • S2012E25 Northrop Frye on The Shape of the Bible

    • October 7, 2012

    Renowned literary theorist, Northrop Frye, delivers the second lecture in his famous course on The Bible and Literature. The lecture is entitled "The Shape of the Bible".

  • S2012E26 Rebecca MacKinnon on Internet Freedom and Security

    • October 13, 2012

    Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global Voices, discusses her book Consent of the Networked which examines issues of internet freedom and security. MacKinnon looks at Internet regulation in China, how Social Media affected the Arab Spring and the fight over SOPA.

  • S2012E27 Don Kurtz on Stellar Seismology

    • October 20, 2012

    Don Kurtz, of the University of Central Lancashire, discusses asteroseismology in a lecture entitled Songs of the Stars: The Real Music of the Spheres. He explains how sound waves are helping to locate distant Earth-like planets, study solar storms and explain what happens in the core of stars.

  • S2012E28 Iain McGilchrist on the divided brain's impact on our world

    • October 27, 2012

    Dr. Iain McGilchrist is a renowned psychiatrist and author. Drawing from his book, "The Master and his Emissary", McGilchrist explores how the divided brain is shaping modern civilization. His lecture was delivered at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 7, 2012.

  • S2012E29 Grandest Challenge Symposium Pt1 including James Maskalyk

    • November 3, 2012

    Taking its name from the book The Grandest Challenge: Taking Life-Saving Science from Lab to Village, this symposium includes the book's authors, Dr. Abdallah Daar and Dr. Peter Singer as well as James Maskalyk. Maskalyk is the author of Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-Torn Village.

  • S2012E30 Grandest Challenge Symposium Pt 2 featuring James Orbinski

    • November 4, 2012

    Our second installment of The Grandest Challenge Symposium features James Orbinski, author of An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century. Following Dr. Orbinski's lecture he is joined in conversation by moderator Gillian Findlay.

  • S2012E31 Douglas Thomas on A New Culture of Learning

    • November 10, 2012

    Douglas Thomas, author of A New Culture of Learning, delivers a lecture on the intersections of technology, culture and education. This lecture is part of Learning 2030, TVO's special series on the future of education and was recorded on October 28, 2012.

  • S2012E32 Senator Hugh Segal on Fighting Poverty in Canada

    • November 24, 2012

    In a lecture entitled "Fighting Poverty", Senator Hugh Segal explains why we need a new national approach to tackling poverty arguing that the costs and consequences of poverty are much larger than direct spending on social programs. Segal has been a long-time proponent of establishing a Guaranteed Annual Income. This lecture was produced in collaboration with the Literary Review of Canada.

  • S2012E33 Tyler Cowen and Andrew Coyne on The Great Stagnation

    • December 1, 2012

    Tyler 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).

  • S2012E34 Julian Barbour on Does Time Exist?

    • December 8, 2012

    Julian 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.

  • S2012E35 Jordan Peterson on Redemption and Psychology in Christianity

    • December 15, 2012

    University 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.

  • S2012E36 Grandest Challenge Pt 3 - Samantha Nutt and Stephen Lewis

    • December 22, 2012

    Our third installment of The Grandest Challenge Symposium features Samantha Nutt, Founder and Executive Director of War Child. Also featured is Stephen Lewis, Chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the author of Race Against Time. Both Lewis and Nutt address the challenges of humanitarian intervention in Africa.

Season 2013

  • S2013E01 Lt. General (ret.) Andrew Leslie on Lessons From Afghanistan

    • January 26, 2012

    Lieutenant 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.

  • S2013E02 Kwame McKenzie on Immigration Sickness

    • February 23, 2013

    Kwame McKenzie on Immigration Sickness. What is a good immigrant? Why do some succeed while others fail?

  • S2013E03 Neil Turok on The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos

    • March 30, 2013

    Big Ideas presents physicist Neil Turok with the fifth installment of his 2012 CBC Massey Lectures "The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos". His lecture was delivered at Koerner Hall, Toronto, on October 24th, 2012.

  • S2013E04 Looking Ahead to Learning

    • September 27, 2013

    For the past year, The Agenda has looked toward the future of education in our Learning 2030 series. As we prepare for five broadcasts from the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, we bring you a taste of what to expect.