Alyssa Arbuckle MA, on the importance of open-access research, the barriers of entry to post-secondary education, and how the Internet holds potential to change the world of academia for the better.

Political journalist Max Fawcett discusses the economic pitfalls of Canada's most scenic city, compares stability between the boomer and millennial generations, and explains why he's dismayed about the direction of in-depth reporting at a time when it's needed most.

Founder of Talk2Me BC, Graeme Saruk discusses the stigmatization of emotions, the health consequences of loneliness and disconnection, and how seeing someone through tough life events should be cause for glory not shame. 

Co-founder of Bundle Organics Juices and Teas, John Mascari discusses how building a business comes down to perseverance, the shift of influence between big business and smaller startups, and why consumers are helping encourage capital with a focus on long term sustainability.

Medical Sociologist and Professor at UBC's Department of Sociology, Dr. Richard Carpiano discusses the significant impact our social relationships have on our overall health. Describing how others are necessary to meet our material, informational, and emotional needs for long-term wellbeing, he reminds us, "No man is an island".

Faculty Member of the Neufeld Institute, Registered Clinical Counsellor, and Author of Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (Or Anyone Who Acts Like One), Deborah MacNamera, Ph.D, discusses the importance of looking at people not through their actions or behaviour, but through the innate, physiological drivers that influence that behaviour.

Ph.D. student at UBC and author of Foucault and Educational Ethics, Bruce Moghtader M.A., discusses learning philosophy with children, the complexities of morality in education, and how the best educators always allow room for conversation and connection in the classroom.

Host of Forbes' The Failure Factor, Megan Bruneau, M.A. RCC, discusses how our early environments shape our adult lives, highlighting how techniques like mindfulness and somatic experiencing can slow our conditioned reaction to cues and stimulants.

Conflict photographer for Magnum and National Geographic, Michael Christopher Brown discusses his recent book Libyan Sugar, and touches on the motivations behind the country's 2011 uprising. Detailing the importance of next year's election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he also explains the complexities of the mineral trade in Africa and what would have to happen for the Congolese to see change.

Cognitive journalist and author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Maia Szalavitz discusses years of research surrounding the neuroscience of addiction. Explaining the affliction in the context of a biophysical response to stress, loneliness, and rejection, she also highlights addictive behaviour as a malfunctioned form of learning.

Renewable Energy Consultant Karen Raaberg talks about the incredible potential of offshore wind turbines already in practise in Denmark, why she's helping to expand this 'clean technology' to New York State, and how working for passion over profit is always a good business move.

The Guardian columnist, photographer, and former physicist-turned-Wall Street trader, Chris Arnade speaks on the friendships he's made during his 6-year long Faces of Addiction project. Touching on the flaws within the criminal justice system and the alienation of many Americans by 'civil society', he details the reasons behind the revolving doors of Rikers Correctional and Hunts Point in The Bronx, NYC.

Assistant General Manager of New York City's The Musket Room, Anastasia Soldano talks seed-to-table dining, her journey from a large Russian-family dinner table to the halls of culinary arts school, and why she moved from the kitchen to the dining room, bringing her New Orleans style hospitality to this Michelin Award winning Nolita oasis.

Executive Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Don MacPherson talks about reducing the harm of drug use, the history of Prohibition and its roots in Vancouver, Canada, and gives evidence-based incentive for why we need to start looking at decriminalization as a new approach to Drug Policy in Canada and around the world.

Political Science Ph.D candidate and expert in the psychology of political decision making, David Moscrop discusses how institutions built for rational decision making don't fare well when the human brain proves to be more impulsive and irrational than we'd like to think.

Founder of JJA Speakers Agency, Jeff Jacobson talks about the rise in popularity of public speaking events like TED, and how talks always leave you with more than you thought you came for.

Author Michael Pond and Filmmaker Maureen Palmer discuss their journey into discovering how addiction takes place in the brain, why willpower and shame simply do not work, and how seeing fMRI scans proved to them that we need to approach both the criminal justice system and the medical system in a vastly different way.

Associate Executive Director and Manager of Research & Planning at SPARC BC, Scott Graham on his work with First Call developing their annual child poverty report card, and why long-term relationship building is the most effective tool for community justice.

Journalist and editor of the Vancouver Observer and National Observer, Linda Solomon Wood discusses the importance of accessible online media, her life's commitment to in-depth reporting, and how storytelling is a fundamental piece of the human experience.

Am Johal from SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement talks about creating dynamic spaces for public dialogue and how studying under philosophers Alain Badiou and Giorgio Agamben taught him the true meaning of la dolce vita.

Behavioural Specialist and ABA therapist Andree Mellanby on working with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, why attentive parents matter, and why we can learn more from children than we could ever hope to teach them.

Journalist, author, and social justice activist Derrick O'Keefe revisits his initial involvement with the anti-war movement in Vancouver, offers a Liberal government foreign policy flashback, and discusses co-founding Canada's new journalistic voice for the public interest: Ricochet Media.

Acclaimed journalist and VICE contributor, Aaron Maté discusses speaking to people on the ground in Baltimore and Ferguson as a producer and correspondent for Democracy Now!, the power of social movements in creating a more just world, and the importance of delivering the context that's often left out of the picture.

Columnist at Business in Vancouver Magazine, avid cyclist, and food policy advocate, Peter Ladner answers questions on Vancouver's housing crisis, discusses cost-effective bicycle lanes, and explains why cycling matters for a high-functioning city. Holding open the debate on why sourcing food locally changes city life in unexpected ways, he talks about the shift in food culture since penning The Urban Food Revolution. Will he ever run for mayor again? His service to the city of Vancouver still runs at full speed.

Founder of Take Back NYC, Kirsten Theodos on advocating for small business owners in the face of landlord extortion, how the Real Estate Board of New York hides behind council members' rhetoric, and why she's fighting for her East Village neighbourhood. Reopening the discussion on the monopoly of condo developers, megastores, and big banks, she reminds us why the unique community fabric that we all love about New York City is in jeopardy.

Neuroscientist, activist, and professor at Columbia University, Dr. Carl Hart on how drugs and genetics are not the cause of addiction, and why it's easier for society to ignore the true root causes of one of our largest health crises.

Lawyer and former NFL journalist, Cory Sterling discusses bringing Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian youth together through soccer with Mifalot in Tel Aviv, researching past success cases surrounding the Right to Food alongside SPARC BC, and how a crowded family room in Tunisia helped remind him what the human experience is really about.

Archaeologist and ethnobiologist specializing in historical ecology and eco- human dynamics of landscapes in the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes region, Chelsey Armstrong discusses Indigenous-conscious environmental conservation, the futile divide between the social sciences and the natural sciences, and how hegemony is becoming more and more prevalent in Western society.

Founder of The Dzaleka Project and nursing student, Joselyne John on her experience transitioning from a refugee camp to the halls of university, and why she hopes to give voice to others who remain in Malawi by providing a platform that shares all of their individually unique experiences.