Imagine sitting down with 16 of the world's smartest, most interesting people including Noam Chomsky, Jonas Salk, and Cornel West for conversations on American life. Joined by leading historians, philosophers, scientists, and provocateurs, Bill Moyers engages in far-reaching discussions about weighty topics. What is the state of our society, and how can we improve it? What perils do we face, and what strengths can we draw upon? Moyers has called his work the conversation of democracy, and in this Peabody Award winning PBS series, he sets a standard for discourse that few have equaled. Participants include a Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, three MacArthur Fellows, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and two Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees. Eclectic, engrossing, witty, and profound, a World of Ideas shows how good television can be (San Jose Mercury News).