The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Video)

Chris Hedges on what he sees as the consequences of an uneven distribution of wealth: destruction, violence and revolt. He tells Piya Chattopadhyay what the Occupy movement should be about and how best to deal with these socioeconomic issues in the public discourse.

Chris Hedges calls them "sacrifice zones," huge pockets of impoverished America on the verge of cementing a permanent underclass. The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist has teamed up with cartoonist Joe Sacco in his latest project "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" to shed some light on this issue. He joins Piya Chattopadhyay for more on his warning.

The Third Industrial Revolution will not only radically alter our economy, but also our social and political lives. The engine of the first industrial revolution, the railroad, and the defining feature of the second industrial revolution, fossil fuels, all require centralized management and massive concentrations of capital - the essence of modern capitalism. The third industrial revolution requires less. Author and economist Jeremy Rifkin tells Piya Chattopadhyay how an "energy internet" spread across millions of homes and offices will usher in a new era of decentralized, lateral power.

Every industrial revolution is spurred by a shift in both energy and communication technology. Author and economist Jeremy Rifkin says we are on the precipice of a Third Industrial Revolution combining renewable energy and the internet. He joins Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss the possibility of hundreds of millions of people producing their own green energy in their homes and sharing it with each other in an "energy internet."

From the 1930s to the 1970s, Chinese-owned groceries were located on the street corners of rural and urban Jamaica. Jeanette Kong grew up in a Chinese-owned shop in Kingston and details the complex relationship and social interaction between shop-owners and locals in her new documentary, "The Chiney Shop".

From Shanghai to Seattle, Toronto to Tokyo, our cities are a living embodiment of us. They represent culture, the people that dwell within its concrete confines, and their way of life. But does the relationship stop there? Are our cities a one-way street or do they, in turn, affect us? "Concrete Reveries" author Mark Kingwell sits down with Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss how we shape our cities and how our cities shape us.

In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in urban areas. By 2008, that number had swelled to more than half. Author Mark Kingwell says that despite this, we still do not understand how cities work, and the dynamic relationship between architecture and politics. Mark Kingwell joins Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss his book, "Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City," and how public place and political space cannot be separated.

The most important computer we own is a three-pound, blandly coloured grey chunk of electrified flesh. This marvellous computer, the human brain, regulates our heart beat and allows us to taste ice cream, but it has its glitches or - as neurobiologist Dean Buonomano calls them - brain bugs. These bugs help explain our why we fear those different from us, influencing everything from who we vote for, to whether we go to war. Dean Buonomano, author of "Brain Bugs," sits down with Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss how we can fix these glitches.

The human brain, with its billions of neurons and trillions of connections, may be the greatest piece of technology ever created. However, just like humans, it is not perfect. Its flaws mould and distort our perception of reality, giving rise to false memories, ill-advised financial decisions, and the ease to which advertisers and politicians manipulate our behaviour and beliefs. Neurobiologist and author Dean Buonomano sits down with Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss his book, "Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape Our Lives."

Visit a zoo and you'll meet fish that faint, gorillas that feel blue and grasshoppers that binge on sugar at the sight of a spider. UCLA cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz says we're not so different from our fellow animals. She tells Piya Chattopadhyay about the medical parallels between the human and animal world, and what your doctor can learn from your cat's vet.

Jennifer Baichwal discusses her feature documentary, "Payback", based on Margaret Atwood's 2008 Massey Lecture on debt as a mental construct. How does debt influence relationships, societies, and governing structures?

Debt as a motif and theme is explained, especially in 19th century literature. Canada's premier novelist, Margaret Atwood, joins Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss how our notion of debt can be better understood through literature.

We have a small window of time to get the future right. Ronald Wright joins Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss what contemporary policy makers and economists can do to alleviate the pressures of progress.

Progress or peril? Author Ronald Wright says understanding humanity's patterns of progress and disaster will help us avoid the collapse of civilization as we know it. He joins Piya Chattopadhyay.

Confusion, clothes, boys, puberty, boys, and arguing with Mom. Add to that list, resisting a brutal, repressive dictatorship and you get an idea of the teenage life of Carmen Aguirre. At the age of six, she fled to Canada with her family following the violent coup of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Five years later, she would return to South America and become a secret dissident. She sits down with Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss her book, "Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter."