Generator Toronto 2020 with Chris Hadfield

My wife saw this event last year and got tickets for both of us for this year’s version.  Although main draw, headliner Chris Hadfield only had three appearances, the variety, depth and quality of the other presenters and artists was top notch.  From leading edge science, maths comedy and societal commentary, there was so much I enjoyed.  The venue was the still awesome Roy Thompson Hall, the setting was casual and quirky, but the content was delivered with a strong level of integrity and relevance.

Accompanied by the techno groove of TWRP, Chris’ son Evan Hadfield started off the evening and relayed the themes of positivity, scientific integrity and the value of honest dialogue (I didn’t take notes, but that’s what I took from his opening and the presentations). Rob Ince was the fast-paced humourous Brit host and kept the series of speakers and artists moving along nicely.

It wasn’t all serious science, and Second City (with some sing-a-long), Aaron Chen (from Australia) and Matt Parker (loved the math laughs and now recall I’ve seen him on YouTube previously) interjected a good amount of comedic material and even Jae Rhim Lee (of mushroom death suit fame) and Shari Forbes (with an explanation of a body farm) lightened the heavy topics of mortality and human remains.  Some of the presenters had appeared on Ted Talks, including Adrian Owen and Brendan Frey who enlightened the audience with their important and innovative advances in health sciences.  The night concluded with Simone Giertz adding youthful fun with personal seriousness in a conversation with Chris Hadfield.

But it was Chris Hadfield that we all came to see and he didn’t disappoint.  He delivered a nice acoustic rendition of The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun after the break, but his main contribution was on the topic of map history and science.  His is one (rare) of those people that can make any topic interesting in his passion, delivery, humour and intellect.  Those few minutes were worth the price of admission alone.