Author and historian Conrad Black discusses the Canadian political identity of Canada and the history of our great nation.

Are we conditioned by the media to be pessimists? In this talk author Peter Nowak discusses how the media is using technology to condition us and why we should embrace and not fear the future. AND Announcing at the beginning that his main goal of this talks is for you to go out and smash your smart phone, Nicholas Carr tells the audience exactly how the internet is affecting our memory and why this may not be a positive thing.

Joining us for the first time since his release from prison Marc Emery has joined us once again at ideacity along with his wife and fellow marijuana activist Jodie Emery. In their moving talk, Jodie discusses her struggle from the outside and dealing with the prison system, while Marc discusses his struggles from the inside and how supported he felt from his wife Jodie.

Author Kevin Bales ventures into areas with active slavery in the modern world. In his talk he discusses how slaves are being used to damage the environment.

Author Andrew Keen tells us that we should worry about what “the network” is changing and why we should be angry about the growing inequality and weaker social bonds.

Garlic is deeply rooted in history for both health purposes as well as mythical purposes. Watch author and garlic expert Liz Primeau as she discusses why we have an obsession with garlic and how this odours bulb has changed over the ages.

We all know icicles but what mysteries lie beneath them? Scientist Stephen ‘Dr. Freeze’ Morris tells the audience about his research on icicles and discusses his icicle database.

Author Tim Clark discusses how they develop The Old Farmer’s Almanac and explains some of the myths and wisdom which are inserted into the book come from.

Author and letter expert Simon Garfield imparts on the audience the importance of letter writing in our current technology driven era. Drawing from his most recent book, he unpacks famous love letters and why they are important historically.

Developer of the Glycemic Index Dr. David Jenkins became a vegetarian when his mother tried to feed him his pet chicken as a teen. In his talk he discusses how various diets can change both your health and the environment, and why we believe certain foods are ‘healthy’ when in reality they may be harmful.

Dr. Amy Lehman describes herself as a contrarian. Watch her empowering talk discussing some of the problems surrounding the aid and development sector.

Naked archeologist Simcha Jacobovici unpacks his theories about Mary Magdalene, Jesus and what has been named ‘The Lost Gospel.’

In this inspiring talk Rick Hansen discusses with the audience how he learned to view his wheelchair as a vehicle for freedom and encourages others to do so as well. He goes on to discuss barriers to success and how to overcome these barriers and liberate society.

In her talk Dr. Olga Kovalchuk discusses her work in epigenetics and how we need to work towards a customized treatment for cancer depending on individuals genetics.

Former ballet dancer Miranda Esmonde-White and founder of essentrics. In her talk she discusses how we can reverse aging with her program and how you can actually become stronger, more energetic, pain free and fit by simply moving.

At the age of 14 David Steinberg published his first crossword in the New York Times. In his talk, he discusses his venture into crossword building and his puzzling world.

In his daily work in genetics Josef Penninger plays on the piano of life from studying everything from curing the common cold to helping develop a cure for osteoporosis. In this talk Josef updates the audience on his most recent breakthroughs and calls for medicine and art to work together to form a beautiful tree of life.

Hot off the heels of his 2015 Nobel Prize win in Physics Art McDonald from the Sudbury SNO lab returned for his second ideacity talk on the mysterious world of Neutrinos. In his talk Art breaks down exactly what a neutrino is and why it is so important for us to lean about them. Make sure not to miss this talk and learn all about the basic building blocks of the world of physics.

Ric Bienstock has been making investigative documentaries for about 20 years. She is drawn to "the dark side", topics like porn, Ebola, sex trafficking and the human organ trade. Listen, as she takes us through the documentaries she's produced and shares some of the most revealing moments from those she's interviewed.

“For the same reasons we need to profoundly change to save our planet, we need to profoundly change to save our businesses.” These are the words of advice from long time ideacity friend and alum Jim Harris. Jim, who is one of North America’s foremost thinkers on disruptive innovation, change, leadership and sustainability joined us this year to discuss business and how many industries need to re-think their business model before they become out of date. In this thought provoking talk Jim discusses disruptive innovation and why being on the forefront of technology is only the beginning of it.