Ideas

Digital assistants, in your home or on your phone, are usually presented as women. In this documentary, IDEAS traces the history of the feminized, non-threatening machine, from Siri and Alexa to the "women computers" of the 19th century. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 26, 2022.

In an era of rampant commodification of life-saving medicines, healthcare must be secured as a global public good, argues health justice advocate Fatima Hassan. In her Boehm Lecture on Public Health she explores ideas of solidarity and leadership in pandemic, epidemic and war responses.  

Canada’s veterans have a conflicted relationship with Remembrance Day, an idea that may be shifting as older war vets leave us. In a two-part series, IDEAS continues exploring postwar experiences from The Canadian War Museum’s oral history project called In Their Own Voices. *This is part two of a two-part series.

Even when wars end, they go on — transforming the people who fought them, their families, and even society. More than 200 veterans were interviewed for a project by the Canadian War Museum called In Their Own Voices. The initiative explores the profound changes that come after veterans return home. *This is part one of a two-part series.

Doris Lessing addressed Canadian audiences with her CBC Massey Lectures in 1985, warning warn us against groupthink and what she called the intellectual “prisons we choose to live inside." Now, a response from the present day: Professor Miglena Todorova reflects on Lessing’s message and puts it into the context of today’s politics.

More than 2,000 years ago, someone sat down and drafted a list of what they thought were the seven man-made wonders of the ancient world. From the Pyramid of Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, historian Bettany Hughes shares her enthusiasm for the monumental achievements brought into existence by ancient cultures.

Animals — what on earth are they thinking? A panel of scientists explore the notion of animal cognition from what your dog means when it wags its tail, to the incredible problem-solving skills of crows, as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. *This episode originally aired on November 5, 2021.

Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, there are growing fears that American democracy is headed toward a crisis point. In this 2022 episode, IDEAS contributor Melissa Gismondi unpacks the idea that America as we've known it may be ending, while exploring where the country may be headed, and what — if anything — can save it.

Canadian conservatism remains a contested territory, even for those who see themselves firmly entrenched in its ideas and history. IDEAS examines how contemporary conservatism has shifted over the last decades — and how conservatives are wrestling with their own movement's internal pressures, including a sustained call for a return to socially conservative values. 

Award-winning writer Pankaj Mishra argues that self-serving narratives of Western countries have masked agendas of imperialism and exploitation, resulting in widespread suspicion of liberal democracy itself. He is the winner of the 2024 Weston International Award, which he received in September. After delivering a talk, Mishra joined IDEAShost Nahlah Ayed onstage to have a conversation.

For millennia, rats have been portrayed as violent and disgusting. But rats have aided in our self-understanding. IDEAScontributor Moira Donovan investigates the contributions rats have made to humanity and whether co-existing with rats means coming to understand their role in our ecosystem. *This episode originally aired on October 27, 2020.

An ideology that emerged with catastrophic consequences 100 years ago, has become a rising political force globally. With the possible re-election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, some observers believe that if he were to win again, a fascist would be inhabiting the most powerful political post in the world. IDEAS examines the ideology of fascism — and why it poses such a danger now. 

The crisis in journalism has been blamed for the social and political polarization visible the world over. But newer forms of journalism may point a way out of the quagmire that the media itself has dug everyone into. IDEAScontributor Anik See explores how we got here and where we may be heading in a two-part series.

The crisis in journalism has been blamed for the social and political polarization visible the world over. But newer forms of journalism may point a way out of the quagmire that the media itself has dug everyone into.IDEAScontributor Anik See explores how we got here and where we may be heading in a two-part series.

The dominant story in archaeology has long been that humans came to North America around 12,000 years ago. But Indigenous archaeologist Paulette Steeves points to mounting evidence suggesting it was more like 130,000 years ago. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 13, 2022.

They've remained a minority among humans since the dawn of our species, coping with systems and tools arranged for right-handers, and sometimes thriving as a result of their difference. IDEAS explores the history — and latest mysteries — of the 'sinister 10 per cent' to find out what makes a left-hander special.*This episode originally aired on May 2, 2022.

Our relationship with wetlands is nothing if not troubled; swamps, bogs, and marshes have long been cast as wastelands, paved over to make way for agriculture and human development. But with wetlands proving crucial for life, artists, ecologists and activists say we need to rewrite this squelchy story. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 17, 2022.

American arts pioneer Joan Jonas is a central figure in the performance art movement of the late 1960s. This year, New York's Museum of Modern Art organized a major retrospective of her work, which will be on tour in Canada. One of her exhibits is inspired in part by her love for Cape Breton — a 'magical landscape' where she lives in the summer.

Our complicated feelings about life and death are captured in art that uses human remains, says anthropologist Myriam Nafte. Her PhD research looked at how contemporary Western artists incorporate human body parts. This 2014 episode was the first to kick off our decade-long seriesIdeas from the Trenches, featuring groundbreaking work by PhD students across Canada. Nafte is now an associate adjunct professor at McMaster University. 

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election might have been a surprise to some. But to historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez, it was the latest chapter in a long relationship between white American masculinity and evangelical Christianity. As the 2024 election draws near, Du Mez shares how exclusion, patriarchy, and Christian nationalism are the basis for the evangelical church.  

From horror to hope, two expert speakers discuss the stakes and situation facing us now around climate action. Catherine Abreu is a global climate justice advocate, and director of the International Climate Politics Hub. John Valliant is the author of Fire Weather, a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction.

In 1859, an American shot a pig that belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Suddenly the U.S. and British Empire were on the brink of war once again. Over the years, tales about the conflict have been embellished and conspiracy theories were invented. But behind the folklore is a story of peace, diplomacy, and how we make meaning out of history.

Two food security experts imagine what it would take to feed a human colony on Mars in the year 2080 if we colonized the red planet. From greenhouse technologies to nanotechnologies, they figure we could have a well-balanced diet on Mars, and argue there are lessons on how to improve our own battered food systems here on Earth.*This episode originally aired on Oct. 4, 2022.

In 2015, the poet-musician Grzegorz Kwiatkowski made a strange discovery at the site of the former Stutthof concentration camp in Poland — something he calls 'a carpet of abandoned shoes.' But these were more than shoes: they're both artifacts and symbols of the Holocaust — as well as a flashpoint of nationalist denialism and historical amnesia.*This episode originally aired on May 2, 2019.

Choose your country. It’s the first step towards finding the healthy variety of patriotic love. But what sort of ‘choice’ is it?IDEASproducer Tom Howell speaks with exiles, nationalists, dual citizens, and people whose ‘country’ doesn’t officially exist, in a quest for peace on fraught terrain: modern patriotism. 

Renowned author Robert Macfarlane has described his work as being about the relationship between landscape and the human heart. As part of a series on the elements in the Anthropocene, Macfarlane talks about how that relationship with earth and water has changed. Humanity has become a transformative force, altering the very nature of the elements, with grave implications for the planet — and us.

In October 1970, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) sparked a nationwide crisis by kidnapping British diplomat James Cross and Quebec Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte, whom they later murdered. In return for Cross, the FLQ issued seven demands, one of which was to broadcast its manifesto. CBC/Radio-Canada complied. IDEAS examines the impact and legacy of the manifesto, and its relevance today. *This episode originally aired on October 13, 2020.

After the Hamas attack on October 7th, encampments popped up across university campuses, followed by intense scrutiny. Underlying the controversies was a simple question: what is a university for? That question has been around for centuries, and it’s come back in full force. Writer Randy Boyagoda makes the case for universities being a place where we can think out loud together.

Technology is much more than a tool. Physicist Ursula Franklin argued that it’s a system — one so powerful that it can shape our mindset, our society and our politics. Her observations were prescient when she delivered her Massey Lecture in 1989 and they are all the more relevant today. Ursula Franklin’s friend and collaborator Jane Freeman reflects on the power of Franklin’s message. 

"We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust," wrote Albert Camus. In a lecture delivered at Crow's Theatre, lawyer Lex Gill considers how social and cultural movements can nudge the evolution of law and explores how to keep working for justice, regardless of the odds. 

In recent years, the word "woke" has evolved from a catchphrase into a political ideology — and a catch-all pejorative routinely wielded on the right against its left-leaning adherents. But in her book,Left Is Not Woke, moral philosopher Susan Neiman argues that the "woke" ideology represents a fundamental break from traditional leftist ideals. *This episode originally aired on April 12, 2023.

Educators are wired for hope, according to professor Jessica Riddell. In her lecture delivered at the University of Prince Edward Island, she underscores the importance of slowing down in urgent times, and urges educators to to teach hope, share it, and imagine a better future.

At a time of ever-growing polarization, where people are less and less likely to cross paths with those who don’t agree with them, what does it take to deliberate? IDEAS producer Naheed Mustafa explores whether there’s space for collective decision-making in an era marked by anger and disagreement.

It's been 60 years since French thinker Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Spacemade its English-language debut. It’s a hard-to-define book — part architecture, philosophy, psychoanalysis, memoir. And it continues to feed our ongoing need for purposeful solitude and wide-open fields for our imagination.*This episode originally aired on March 7, 2022.

Experts in the field of child sex abuse prevention argue that we need to bring pedophilia out of the shadows if we ever want to end abuse. CBC producer John Chipman explores an innovative new program in Kitchener, Ontario that has sex offenders and abuse survivors working together to prevent future harm and promote healing.

Bureaucracies were created to get the work done and get it done efficiently, according to 19th-century thinker Max Weber. So why are there more and more meaningless executive jobs that contribute nothing but soak up the pay?IDEASexamines the corporate tendency to "bureaumania.”

The late Lois Wilson didn’t tell you what to believe — she just lived by example. And what an example. She was a minister, Senator, human rights advocate — and inspiration. She lived out her Christian faith in concrete terms, on the ground, in the community. Lois Wilson died on Friday at the age of 97.

A final experiment from a dying musician. A painter whose work finds its cultural moment, posthumously. An aged writer intent on ‘getting to know death.’ From David Bowie to little-known creatives, this documentary looks at the ways that an artist’s mortality gives their work new meaning.

New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin calls himself one-sixth Canadian. For 55 years, he and his family have spent their summers in Nova Scotia — what he calls: The Home Place.IDEAS producer Mary Lynk spoke to the 88-year-old author about everything from Trump to the layered Yiddish word: Meeskite.

Theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham has spent her life captivated by gravity. She has taken up flying airplanes, scuba diving and was even an astronaut candidate. Her book,The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, explores the mysteries of gravity and how it connects us to the universe.  

Brutalist architecture has been celebrated as monumental and derided as ‘concrete monstrosity.' But the people who depend on these buildings are often caught in between.IDEASexplores the implications of Brutalism’s 21st-century hipster aesthetic in a world of housing challenges, environmental crisis, and economic polarization.

Without us, horses would be nowhere, and vice-versa. It was a partnership — our brains and their braun — that truly changed the world. Historian Timothy Winegard, author ofThe Horse, tells Nahlah Ayed how the history of the horse is the history of humankind. 

In the 5th century BCE, Herodotus travelled the ancient world gathering stories from a wide range of sources. One of his many prescient observations was how given the right circumstances a political strongman can emerge and seize control — a forewarning for us today.

If the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were rewritten today, what rights would we add to strive for a more just world? In the final episode of our five-part series, IDEAS looks beyond our fractured present and tries to imagine what new rights we need for our own millennium.

The right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression is especially resonant in our own time. In his novel 1984, Orwell proposed a future of “thought-crime” and in many places that day has arrived. IDEAS continues our series about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in this episode explores the history and future of free expression.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." We also have a right to seek "asylum from persecution" in other countries. At a time when more people are forcibly displaced than at any other point in recorded history, Nahlah Ayed speaks with guests about where the rights to leave, return and seek refuge came from, and what they could mean today.

Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation." It's a right with profound implications for our lives in the 21st century, from digital surveillance to sexuality and autonomy. How can we protect ourselves?

How do we create a better world? In a five-part series, IDEAS explores efforts to imagine new possibilities and make them real by focusing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the first episode, panelists examine what the right to "life, liberty, and security of person" could mean, and how it could transform our world. 

For millennia, human beings along with their domesticated animals have travelled to bring sheep, goats, cattle, and other animals to better grazing areas. The ancient practice, known as transhumance, has been dismissed as an outdated mode of animal husbandry. Yet the practice holds promise for a sustainable future. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 25, 2022.

Unlike humans, cats aren't burdened with questions of love, death and the meaning of life. They have no need for philosophy at all. English philosopher John Gray explores this "unexamined" way of being in his book, Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life. *This episode originally aired on May 6, 2021.

Dogs are lauded as 'man's best friend.' But PhD student Molly Labenski argues that, in America, the real picture is of a dysfunctional, toxic 'friendship' between the human and canine species. She points to a revealing source of cultural attitudes — the use of fictional dogs by authors of 20th-century literature. *This episode originally aired on April 5, 2022.

Our series exploring five years in the 20th century that shaped the world ends with the year 1989. The Berlin Wall comes tumbling down. There are democratic uprisings in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary. A riot in Tiananmen Square in Beijing is met with a fierce crackdown. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 26, 2024.

Despite their admirable qualities, rats have long been reviled as disgusting and aggressive animals. IDEAScontributor Moira Donovan explores how rats have come to occupy a position as cultural villain — and how they’ve shaped human history along the way. *This episode originally aired on October 26, 2020.

For Timothy Garton Ash, Europe is an idea — and an ideal — worth celebrating and preserving, even against all the forces acting against it right now. The historian, who won the 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize, is using his prize money to buy drones for Ukraine in the war against Russia.*This episode originally aired on May 15, 2024.

Lois Wilson has lived many lives during her 96 years as a United Church Minister, a Senator, a human rights advocate, and an inspiration to many. She exhibits a humility that can only be described as steadfast. For the Sake of the Common Good: Essays in Honour of Lois Wilsonis a tribute to the life and work of a remarkable Canadian. *This episode originally aired Feb. 15, 2024.

In Astra Taylor's final Massey Lecture, she offers hope and solutions. Taylor suggests cultivating an ethic of insecurity — one that embraces our existential insecurity. The experience of insecurity, she says, can offer us a path to wisdom that can guide our personal lives and collective endeavours.

In part four of our series exploring five years that shaped the world,IDEAS examines 1973. Augusto Pinochet comes to power in Chile, and dictators rule Portugal, Greece, Uganda and beyond. The OPEC oil embargo sets the world on a new path. The American Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade, 50 years before it would be overturned. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 25, 2024.

Scientists agree that dogs evolved from wolves and were the first domesticated animals. But exactly how that happened is hotly contested.IDEAS contributor Neil Sandell examines the theories and the evolution of the relationship between dogs and humans.*This episode originally aired on March 1, 2021.

Feeling the weight of a world? A lecture on hope might be a much needed balm. Scholar Shannon Murray shares lesson in hope, patience, empathy and 'freudenfreude,' and how Shakespeare’s words have become the narrative soundtrack of her life. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 13, 2023.

Living in modern society is hard and so people often turn to the "mystical marketplace" where Westerners consume Eastern traditions to find some kind of healing balm for the ailments of modernity.*This episode won a Wilbur Award for broadcast excellence on spiritual issues and themes. It originally aired on Jan. 27, 2021.

Our series, looking at pivotal years in recent history, continues as we focus on the year 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a march on Washington, the Pan-African movement ushers in a new era for Africa, President Kennedy is assassinated, and the war in Vietnam heats up. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 24, 2024.

English may have a reputation for being a "linguistic imperialist," pushing local languages into obscurity but linguist Mario Saraceni argues English should be viewed as a global language with multiple versions existing on equal footing. *This episode originally aired on May 19, 2023.

Négritude was a Francophone movement to rethink what it meant to be Black and African. Scholar Merve Fejzula explores the dynamic debates happening in the early-to mid-20th century among Négritude thinkers, how they disseminated their ideas, and how all this changed what it meant to be part of a public. *This episode originally aired on March 8, 2023.

A cotton sack from the time of slavery bears the first names of a mother and her daughter, who was sold at the age of nine. Harvard historian Tiya Miles scours the historical documentary record to discover who these women were and reveals their story of love in her book,All That She Carried— winner of the 2022 Cundill History Prize. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 20, 2023.

Tested is a new podcast series from CBC and NPR that asks the question, who gets to compete?  Since the beginning of women’s sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women’s category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. To understand how we got here, we trace the surprising, 100-year history of sex testing. More episodes of Tested are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/9-HlXVZB

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the greatest gifts of scripture to humanity; just ask Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Leo Tolstoy. But who's making any use of it today? In a time when an eye for an eye still seems to hold sway, IDEAS producer Sean Foley explores the logic of Christian non-violence, beginning with Jesus' counsel to 'turn the other cheek.' *This episode won a Wilbur Award for excellence in communicating spiritual themes. It originally aired on Oct. 14, 2022.

Championship soccer games provide some of the most dramatic moments in all of sports. And when the stakes are high, some people choke. IDEAS contributor Peter Brown looks at why our skills desert us when it matters most, and what can be done to avoid the dreaded performance “choke.”

We have laws against genocide, defined as "the deliberate attempt to erase a national, ethnic, religious or racial group." But how do we make them stick? IDEAShost Nahlah Ayed speaks with scholar William Schabas about the history of the UN Genocide Convention and what needs to change.

In his Massey Lectures, Iranian-Canadian lawyer Payam Akhavan recounts the courage and spirit of his childhood friend, Mona Mahmudnizhad. Mona was executed for defying Iranian authorities and speaking out about religious freedom. Her example compelled Payam to make it his mission to fight for justice for people who have suffered at the hands of human rights abusers.

Human rights lawyer Payam Akhavan gave the 2017 Massey Lectures, calledIn Search of a Better World. As part of the Massey at 60 series, marking six decades of the Massey Lectures, he explains how the themes explored in his lectures have taken on even more relevance in today's divided, conflict-ridden world.

Is there a luxury you would never give up for your ideals? An all-purpose deal-breaker? IDEASproducer Tom Howell investigates how wanting a nice lunch in a restaurant intersects with morals and politics — with the help of a restaurateur, an economist, an anti-poverty campaigner, and a light golden Chablis.  

The future we want has already existed — we just need to recover it, says Jesse Wente. In a talk, the Anishinaabe arts leader explains how the best of this past gives everyone a blueprint for a better future. "We are evidence that cultures can withstand global systems change: adapt, and rebuild." *This episode originally aired on June 21, 2024.

What does it mean to seek belonging in a new place, while also being a good guest on Indigenous lands? Can you ever truly "arrive"? Novelist and immigration and refugee lawyer Jamie Chai Yun Liew explores how to cultivate new forms of belonging. 

David R. Samson argues that political tribalism is an existential threat to humanity. But the evolutionary anthropologist also sees ‘tribe drive’ as an essential instinct that can be channeled for good. His book Our Tribal Future won the 2023 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy award.

Two experts who got financially scammed. Two ex-Fundamentalist Christians who researched the psychology of conspiracy belief. Each describes their experience, and explains why credulity is a universal and persistent human tendency.*This episode originally aired on April 20, 2023.

Artificial intelligence could make some of us rich — but leave some behind. In part two of the BBC Reith Lectures, Oxford professor Ben Ansell argues that AI can increase inequality, while appearing to increase prosperity, leading to skepticism about democracy.

Can Indigenous people dream a better future into being? Anishinaabe scholar Riley Yesno explores Indigenous futurism and the connection between dreams and new realities, inspired by playwright Cliff Cardinal’s Huff. This episode is part of our ongoing series of talks, each inspired by a theme in a play at Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre.

The World Wildlife Fund lists the Wabanaki-Acadian old-growth forest as endangered — with only one percent remaining. The Wabanaki-Acadian forest stretches from parts of the Maritimes and Southern Quebec down into New England states. IDEASexplores the beauty and complexity of this ancient forest.

IDEAS presents the first of the BBC Reith Lectures delivered by Ben Ansell. The Oxford professor and author of Why Politics Failsexamines the threats facing modern democracy, how artificial intelligence can distort its integrity, and how politicians can invest in a democratic future.

The 'culture wars' have been a staple of modern politics for decades now. They are especially entrenched within Christian communities. Philosopher and author James K. A. Smith has a radical prescription to move beyond this: the church needs more mystics. 

The Cultural Revolution is everywhere felt in China today, but rarely if ever talked about openly. But prize-winning historian Tania Branigan tries to fill in the historical silences with voices both past and present in her book, Red Memory.

Smell has been called the 'Cinderella sense,' capable of inspiring profound admiration if we stop turning our noses at it. Producer Annie Bender examines what we lose when we take our powerful — but often misunderstood — sense of smell for granted.

John Vaillant details the terrifying growth and destructive force of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in his award-winning book, Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. He unpacks how fire made humans who we are — and how humans are changing fire. Vaillant says we're changing the climate "in a way that favours fire way more than it favours us."

Eight composers, five instruments, and a world of metal. IDEASexplores a project by the University of British Columbia called The Heavy Metal Suite that conveys the challenges and opportunities of the mining industry, through music. Each composer draws inspiration from their country’s mineral resources in their original pieces. *This episode originally aired on May 28, 2024.

Leonard Moore has long taught popular courses on American history at McGill University. His retirement lecture is full of insight — and worries — about the deep polarization in the United States. He argues history has its lessons, but it’s still an open question whether they’ll be learned.

In his 2009 CBC Massey Lectures, The Wayfinders,anthropologist Wade Davis explored how the modern world can learn from Indigenous peoples. From the navigational skills of Polynesian sailors to the healing properties of plants, there is old knowledge we can all learn from. IDEAS revisits Davis' 5th Massey Lecture. Go to cbc.ca/ideas to listen to the full series.

Anthropologist Wade Davis has spent a lifetime exploring our planet. In his 2009 CBC Massey Lectures, The Wayfinders, he takes the reader and the listener on a journey through the wonders of the natural world, as they are seen and experienced by Indigenous peoples. Davis revisits his lectures in conversation with IDEASproducer Philip Coulter at Massey College.

The Dene fight for self-determination and sovereignty has deep historic ties to liberation efforts around the globe. Yellowknives Dene author and scholar Glen Coulthard traces those influences — and how they shape our current political moment. 

Arthur Schafer taught ethics to medical students in 1972. His 50-year career put the philosopher at the heart of major ethical debates like MAID. Schafer discusses the role of philosophers in addressing the increasingly complex ethical dilemmas confronting individuals and society as a whole. *This episode originally aired on May 16, 2024.

On a cold, autumn night a group of women gather for their regular book club. Over snacks, wine and tea, they discuss Alice Munro's work, and how her stories illuminate some of the deepest issues in their own lives. Munro died on Monday at the age of 92.

Broken violins, cruel love and absent fathers... At the end of the 19th century, Émile Nelligan wrote hundreds of tragic, passionate, sonnets and rondels on these subjects and more. And yet, most English-speaking Canadians seem never to have heard of the Quebec poet. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 9, 2024.

In a time of rapidly changing politics and never-ending crises, what role can solidarity play in confronting political and social problems to create stronger bonds among people? A group of thinkers, writers, and artists tell IDEAS how solidarity is shaping politics and culture.

In 2016 Jennifer Welsh delivered her CBC Massey Lectures, The Return of History — a wake-up call to those of us who may have felt a little too optimistic about the future after the fall of the Berlin Wall. IDEAS revisits the final lecture in her series, The Return of Inequality.

With the end of the Cold War, the struggle for peace, equality, and democracy wasn’t settled — it became more complex. As we mark the 60th anniversary of Massey College, IDEAS executive producer Greg Kelly interviews Jennifer Welsh about her 2016 CBC Massey Lectures, The Return of History— and how eight years on, the struggle continues.

Freedom and Equality — can societies aim for both at the same time? Author Daniel Chandler argues that they can, with some help from the American political theorist, John Rawls. He tellsIDEASwhat a political platform based on Rawls’ books would look like.

Twenty-five years ago, reality TV exploded in popularity, and the media panicked. But could shows like Love Is Blindand their like actually help make us more media literate?IDEAS examines the culture, morality, and philosophy of unscripted television.*This episode originally aired on May 6, 2024.

These are anxious times for journalism and democracy. As part of an event hosted by the Samara Centre for Democracy, former news anchor Lisa LaFlamme tellsIDEASwhat can and must be done to bolster journalism so it can better safeguard democracy. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 15, 2024.

Civility is under threat, authoritarianism and autocrats are on the rise and there's an erosion of institutional trust. Three pre-eminent speakers join IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed to discuss how Canada and other countries can promote respect and protect liberal democracy. 

You can’t pay rent with experimental poetry, so Hilary Peach trained as a welder. Twenty-plus years on, she’s now a boiler inspector, poet, and author of an award-winning memoir, Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister in the Brotherhood. Peach talks about the joys and contradictions of being an outsider inside the trades.*This episode originally aired on May 1, 2024.