Big Ideas (2001) is a documentary web series in English. On MovieLinkBD: full story, cast, ratings, season & episode guide, official trailer and where to watch Big Ideas online in HD.
Big Ideas — Storyline
Big Ideas is a Canadian television series produced and broadcast by TVOntario, on the air since 2001. The program showcases public intellectual culture. It was conceived by Wodek Szemberg who continues to serve as producer of the program. The show presents public lectures by acclaimed university educators and other distinguished guests. The show is intended for a general audience. The original host, Irshad Manji, was succeeded by Canadian actor/director/playwright Andrew Moodie on 2006-01-07. In September 2011 Piya Chattopadhyay took over as host.
Big Ideas airs on TVOntario on Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM, with repeat airings at 5:00 AM on Sunday and Monday morning.
In 2007, Big Ideas held its Best Lecturer competition for the second time. Dr. Michael Persinger, from Laurentian University, received the best-lecturer award.
Podcasts of the current lectures are available through the Big Ideas website as well as from iTunes.
Cast & Crew
- Created by: Wodek Szemberg
Big Ideas — Series Details
| First Air Date | 2001-12-08 |
| Seasons | 8 |
| Episodes | 62 |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Language | English |
| Network | TVOntario |
| Status | Returning Series |
Big Ideas — Episode Guide
Season 1
- E1: Robert Adams on the novel No Great Mischief (2001-12-08)
Season 2002
- E1: Personal Voices (2002-03-31) — Lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics that range across politics, culture, economics, art history, science. The lecture format, pacing and inquisitive approach,provide
Season 2003
- E1: Show #53 & 91 (2003-01-14) — Part 1 – Lectures – Dr . Steven Pinker . Are we really born a blank slate? Dr. Pinker uses his book – "The Blank Slate" – to explore the idea of human nature and its moral, emotion
- E2: Literacy in a Digital Age 3 (2003-04-20) — John O'Leary is the president of Frontier College, an organization which historically took to the wilds of Canada in order to teach working men and women how to read. In this talk,
- E3: Slaying the Dragon within Us (2003-04-20) — Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto professor of psychology talks about fear of the unknown and fear of dealing with problems.
- E4: Show #65 (2003-05-04) — In this exclusive presentation of Big Ideas, an international team of scholars looks at the persistent problem of anti-semitism. To what extent is the problem endemic? Does it stil
Season 2006
- E1: Show #160 (2006-01-07) — A showcase of ideas; engaging, articulate speakers stand behind lecterns across the province addressing audiences, exposing us to the differing ways of defining what matters and ho
- E2: Show #161 (2006-01-14) — Yossi Klein Halevi lectures on "The View From Israel"
- E3: Show #162 (2006-01-14) — John Ibbitson author of "The Polite Revolution"/Maude Barlow, author of "Too Close for Comfort" disagree about challenges facing Canada
- E4: Show #163 (2006-01-28) — Jeffrey Friedman: Rockfeller University , MD, PHD, a moleculargenetist whose discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight has changed our understanding of
- E5: Show #164
- E6: Show #165
Season 2010
- E68: Why Did Isaac Newton Believe in Alchemy (2010-12-11) — Through historical documents and experiments that demonstrate alchemical processes, Indiana University professor of History and Philosophy of Science William R. Newman explains why
Season 2011
- E1: Simon Winchester on The Man Who Loved China (2011-01-08) — 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
- E2: Jordan Peterson on The Necessity of Virtue (2011-01-15) — Author, professor and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson delivers the 2010 Hancock Lecture. He discusses virtue from a contemporary perspective that both encompasses and extends
- E3: Chris Hedges on The Death of the Liberal Class (2011-01-22) — 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 pol
- E4: Daniel Dennett: What Should Replace Religions? (2011-01-29) — 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
- E5: PZ Myers: Science and Atheism: Natural Allies (2011-01-30) — Biology professor and well-known blogger PZ Myers on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies.
- E6: Derek Walcott (2011-02-05) — University of Toronto professor Christian Campbell talks to Nobel laureate poet Derek Walcott about his remarkable life and work.
- E7: Seth Lloyd on Quantum Life
- E8: Richard Wilkinson on The Spirit Level
- E9: Robert Adams on The Elegance of the Hedgehog
- E10: David Sloan Wilson on Religion and Other Meaning Systems
- E11: Nick Mount on cartoonist Seth
- E12: Ian Hacking on the Mathematical Animal
- E13: Hod Lipson on The Robotic Scientist
- E14: Michael Adams
- E15: Sara Seager on Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds
- E16: Rupinder Brar on The Impact of Astronomy
- E17: Robert Adams on The Forgotten
- E18: Rod Carley on Theatre in the 21st Century: Touchstone to Humanity
- E19: Piergiorgio Odifreddi: What Can the Arts Do for Mathematics?
- E20: Christopher W. diCarlo on The New Ethics
- E21: Cory Doctorow: Why it's a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers
- E22: Michael Persinger: No More Secrets
- E23: Armine Yalnizyan on Economics, Equality and Democracy
- E24: Arne Kislenko on Southeast Asia and the Cold War
- E25: Charles Foran: Mordecai Richler and the Challenge to Nationalism
- E26: Noam Chomsky on Academic Freedom
- E27: Can We Live Without the Sacred?
- E28: Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas
- E29: David Keith on Technology, Energy and Nature
- E30: Jeff Melanson on the Evolving Role of the Arts in Canada
- E31: Freeman Dyson on Living Through Four Revolutions
- E32: John Gray: The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death
- E33: Thomas Homer-Dixon: Civilization Far from Equilibrium: Energy, Complexity & Human Survival
- E34: Noam Chomsky on The State-Corporate Complex
- E35: Leonard Susskind: The World as Hologram
- E36: Alex Himelfarb: How Did Taxes Become a Bad Word?
- E37: Hod Lipson on Programmable Matter: Shape of Things to Come
- E38: G.M. Tamas: The Failure of Liberal Democracy in Eastern Europe and Everywhere Else
- E39: Liberty and the Arab Spring: Exploring Isaiah Berlin's Ideas in a Changing World
- E40: Inequality: A Threat to Democracy?
- E41: John Ibbitson: The Collapse of the Laurentian Consensus
- E42: Keith Devlin: Leonardo and Steve
- E43: Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas (repeat version)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many seasons does Big Ideas have? 8 season(s) with 62 episodes.
Who created Big Ideas? Wodek Szemberg.
Where can I watch Big Ideas? See the Where to Watch section above for current streaming options.
