Technology & Innovation — March 3, 2009

Miles Nadal in the Big Think Studio

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

The advertising industry is in the midst of a massive realignment. And that’s just the way Miles Nadal likes it.

Nadal is the chairman and chief executive officer of MDC Partners, the Toronto-based marketing and advertising conglomerate known for its hyper-creativity and network of talent. A serial entrepreneur, Nadal launched his first company, Action Photographic, in 1980 with a $500 advance on a credit card. Now MDC the ninth largest marketing communications firm in the world. Big Think wants to ask Nadal about the future of advertising, how to thrive in a recession, and what it’s like to be a wealthy philanthropist during the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.

Do you have questions for Miles Nadal? Email me at [email protected]

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Collage of geopolitical symbols, featuring a close-up of a man's bald head, China's flag, a globe highlighting Taiwan, and circuit patterns.

The Present

Why the USSR and China fell behind the US in the Chip Cold War

Both nations made missteps, but China still has a chance to make up lost ground.

Person examining a petri dish with tweezers, holding small colored objects, against a dark background.

Health

Are microplastics really destroying our health?

They’re in our brains, hearts, and blood — but what are they doing to us?

A statue of a thoughtful, seated philosopher on the right seems to be contemplating a calling, while a standing figure holding a lyre on the left adds harmony against the textured background.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Can you have a “calling” without a caller?

If you’re an atheist with a vocation, who laid that path for you?

Close-up image of a human iris featuring vibrant blue and yellow hues with a dark pupil in the center.

The mystery at the heart of consciousness

“Is it possible that consciousness is a much more basic phenomenon in nature and is essentially pervading everything?”

▸

10 min

—

with

Annaka Harris

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Does the CMB really “prove” the Big Bang?

Since the mid-1960s, the CMB has been identified with the Big Bang’s leftover glow. Could any alternative explanations still work?

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Is Gordon Brown’s ‘Global New Deal’ Just a Bailout of Britain?

Gordon Brown is in America this week meeting with Barack Obama and the L.A. Times says the embattled British Prime Minister is using the trip to “present a united front […]