Big Ideas

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

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 will outline why he thinks the DSM-V will lead to millions of people being mislabeled with mental disorders. His lecture is part of Mental Health Matters, an initiative of TVO in association with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The lecture is followed by a short Q & A.

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

Dr. Marc D. Lewis discusses the story and the science behind his book Memoirs of an Addicted Brain. Lewis is a professor at the Behavioural 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 behavioural science research into the interaction between drugs and brain chemistry.

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.