Ideas-logo

Ideas

CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand

IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.

Location:

Canada, ON

Description:

IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.

Twitter:

@CBCradio

Language:

English

Contact:

Ideas CBC Radio P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6 (416) 205-3700


Episodes

Russian Opposition Activist Garry Kasparov: Winter is Here

3/28/2024
In 2015, Garry Kasparov's book Winter is Coming warned that the West’s hesitant policies towards Russia’s Vladimir Putin encouraged his authoritarian tendencies. Nearly 10 years later, Putin’s army is still fighting in Ukraine, and at home, he’s shut down virtually all dissent. Nahlah Ayed speaks with Garry Kasparov.

Duration:00:54:08

Conflicted: a Ukrainian journalist covers her nation at war

3/27/2024
“We face a continual tension between holding the government to account, and not wanting the enemy to undermine us by exploiting bad news," says Ukrainian journalist Veronika Melkozerova. She delivered this year's Peter Stursberg Foreign Correspondents Lecture, focusing her talk on what Ukrainian journalists confront daily: patriotism versus journalism.

Duration:00:54:08

Kate Beaton: What's lost when working-class voices are not heard

3/26/2024
Kate Beaton and her family have deep roots in hard-working, rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. In her 2024 Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, the popular cartoonist points out what is lost when working-class voices are shut out of opportunities in the worlds of arts, culture, and media.

Duration:00:54:08

CBC Massey Lectures: Audience Q&A with Astra Taylor

3/25/2024
Insecurity has become a "defining feature of our time," says 2023 CBC Massey lecturer Astra Taylor. She explores how rising inequality, declining mental health, and the threat of authoritarianism, originate from a social order built on insecurity. In this episode, Astra Taylor answers audience questions from the cross-Canada tour. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 27, 2023.

Duration:00:54:07

CBC Massey Lectures | #5: Escaping the Burrow

3/18/2024
Human beings will never be totally secure, especially not on a planet that has been destabilized. In Astra Taylor's final Massey Lecture, she offers some 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 — a wisdom that can guide not only our personal lives but also our collective endeavours.

Duration:01:02:08

CBC Massey Lectures | #1: Cura’s Gift

3/18/2024
Insecurity has become a "defining feature of our time," says CBC Massey lecturer Astra Taylor. The Winnipeg-born writer and filmmaker explores how rising inequality, declining mental health, the climate crisis, and the threat of authoritarianism originate from a social order built on insecurity. In her first lecture, she explores the existential insecurity we can’t escape — and the manufactured insecurity imposed on us from above.

Duration:01:00:02

CBC Massey Lectures | #2: Barons or Commoners?

3/18/2024
In Astra Taylor's second Massey Lecture, she argues our social order runs on insecurity. But we’re also guaranteed the right to “security of the person.” The wealthy barons of the past and present have defined what security means for themselves — but the rest of us, ordinary commoners, have fought for something else instead.

Duration:00:58:34

CBC Massey Lectures | #3: Consumed by Curiosity

3/18/2024
It’s a paradox — we live in the most prosperous era in human history, but it’s also an era of profound insecurity. Massey lecturer Astra Taylor suggests that history shows that increased material security helps people be more open-minded, tolerant, and curious. But rising insecurity does the reverse — it drives us apart.

Duration:01:04:07

CBC Massey Lectures | #4: Beyond Human Security

3/18/2024
The burning of fossil fuels causes the past, present and future to collide in destructive ways. In her fourth CBC Massey Lecture, Astra Taylor tells us that as the climate alters, evolved biological clocks erratically speed up or slow down, causing plants and animals to fall out of sync. In a world this out of joint, how could we possibly feel secure? But there is a path forward.

Duration:01:03:39

Astra Taylor: The Hidden Truth of the World

3/15/2024
In conversation with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, the 2023 Massey lecturer Astra Taylor explains how her early years in the unschooling movement shaped her worldview and how Occupy Wall Street taught her that 'thinking' and 'doing' go hand in hand. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 7, 2023.*

Duration:00:54:08

Masseys at 60: Randy Boyagoda on Jean Bethke Elshtain

3/14/2024
Philosopher Jean Bethke Elshtain brought up an important question during the 1993 CBC Massey Lectures: is democracy as we know it in danger? Author and critic Randy Boyagoda and IDEAS producer Sean Foley revisit Elshtain's lectures. This episode is part of a series of conversations with — and about — former Massey Lecturers to mark the 60th anniversary of Massey College, a partner in the CBC Massey Lectures.

Duration:00:54:07

The Hague: City of Peace and Justice

3/13/2024
In a world where peace and justice can be hard to come by, The Hague in The Netherlands projects something special: the city is a base for several world courts, as well as non-governmental organizations, charities and non-profits. It's even earned itself the title of the "City of Peace and Justice." In The Fire Within Us, IDEAS takes a look at why some organizations call The Hague home.

Duration:00:54:08

The Poetry of Why: Chimwemwe Undi

3/12/2024
A conversation with Winnipeg Poet Laureate Chimwemwe Undi about home, belonging, racism, living downtown, and about poetry as a vehicle for life’s big questions — as her first collection of poetry, Scientific Marvel, is set to be published.

Duration:00:54:08

Ian Williams: The Endless Procession of Days

3/11/2024
Some of the most pressing issues of our time are often inspired by ideas expressed in plays. This talk by novelist and poet Ian Williams is as well: He chats about the Crow's Theatre production of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, and how it's a reflection on how we spend our days on work and the records we keep. It's a stark reminder of the relentless march of time. This episode is part of a public lecture series called IDEAS at Crow's Theatre.

Duration:00:54:08

Alanis Obomsawin: The Art of Listening

3/8/2024
Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has witnessed nearly a century of change. At 91 years old she continues to produce documentaries featuring Indigenous stories and voices. The Abenaki artist delivered the 2023 Beatty Lecture at McGill University. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 7, 2023.

Duration:00:54:08

Swinging and Singing: The Violin

3/7/2024
For musician and radio producer, David Schulman, the violin can swing and sing like nothing else. Schulman recently travelled to the north of Italy to try and discover the original trees from which Antonio Stradivari made his masterpieces. It’s a journey of surprise and delight. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 28, 2023.

Duration:00:54:08

Massey at 60: Tanya Talaga

3/6/2024
2018 Massey Lecturer Tanya Talaga reflects on the legacy of cultural genocide, and on how the stories of Indigenous peoples offer lessons for Canada today. This episode is part of a series of conversations with — and about — former Massey Lecturers to mark the 60th anniversary of Massey College, a partner in the CBC Massey Lectures.

Duration:00:54:08

Papyrus: Exploring the Invention of the Book

3/5/2024
The book may well be the greatest invention since the wheel, according to author Irene Vallejo. She traces the history of this miraculous invention with a book of her own, Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World.

Duration:00:54:08

The Way of the Trucker

3/4/2024
An Ontario trucking union predicts a shortage of 30,000 truckers in Canada as old hands retire faster than new ones take on the job. IDEAS producer Tom Howell visits a trucking school in northern Ontario, where recruits consider their options, and the road ahead.

Duration:00:54:08

Herodotus: The Power and Peril of Story

3/1/2024
Herodotus was committed to understanding the human causes of conflict and war. He gathered stories — some believable, others not — to show how different cultures understand themselves. Readings for this documentary by writer Michael Ondaatje. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 16, 2023.

Duration:00:54:09