Ideas

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The misunderstood Adam Smith gets both credit and blame for modern capitalism

The 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith is often called “the father of economics" and sometimes “the father of capitalism.” In this documentary, IDEAS contributor Matthew Lazin-Ryder examines how Smith’s name has been used and abused to both defend and attack free-market economics since his death.

Download The misunderstood Adam Smith gets both credit and blame for modern capitalism
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The Origins of Specious: Climate Change Denialism

Climate change denialism has been around for years. And it's still here, even after four decades of scientific consensus that humans are causing the climate crisis. But why? Harvard science historian Naomi Oreskes explains in a public talk how denying climate change came to be a personal and political belief.

Download The Origins of Specious: Climate Change Denialism
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Make debate great again: How bad political argument is undermining democracy

There's been a lot of hand-wringing about the threat to liberal democracy from foreign agencies. But much less so about what's undermining democracy from within. American Philosophers Robert Talisse and Scott Aikin believe it is the simulated nature of political argument and disagreement that is eating away at democracy, creating democratic dysfunction. Nahlah Ayed speaks to both about the dynamics of the problem, and how to imagine possible solutions.

Download Make debate great again: How bad political argument is undermining democracy
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What we owe: Revisiting Margaret Atwood's 'Payback'

Margaret Atwood explores cultural and historical ideas around debt and ownership in "Payback" — as relevant and as witty now as in her 2008 CBC Massey Lectures.

Download What we owe: Revisiting Margaret Atwood's 'Payback'
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A legacy of firsts: How mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani transcended boundaries

Mathematics hasn’t been the easiest field for women to conquer but that never stopped Maryam Mirzakhani. Her legacy as the first woman and first Iranian to win the Fields Medal — the Nobel Prize of mathematics — proves that despite their small numbers, women can achieve great things in math.

Download A legacy of firsts: How mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani transcended boundaries
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Killer robots march into uncharted ethical territory

What happens if autonomous weapons fight our wars? What if they select and kill targets without any human intervention? The world is closer to this scenario than ever before. But there's no consensus on whether — or even how — it would ever be ethical. This episode delves into the complex conundrums of robot warfare.

Download Killer robots march into uncharted ethical territory
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Escape options narrowing for world caught in 'progress trap': Ronald Wright

In his 2004 CBC Massey Lectures, Ronald Wright warned us a “progress trap” was closing around our technologically-advanced, but dangerously self-destructive, civilization. Wright tells IDEAS now he’s unsure as to whether there is any wiggle room left.

Download Escape options narrowing for world caught in 'progress trap': Ronald Wright
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Behind the eyes and in the land: What Tom Thomson saw, and what he may have missed

IDEAS contributor Sean Foley explores the landscapes of Algonquin Park which inspired Tom Thomson's work — while also examining Indigenous artists' perspectives of the same landscapes that Thomson and the Group of Seven may have missed. This is the second episode of a two-part exploration into Tom Thomson.

Download Behind the eyes and in the land: What Tom Thomson saw, and what he may have missed
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Jacob wrestling his 'angel' is our own struggle

Jacob, the biblical patriarch, seems far from our time. But his all-night wrestling match with a strange being throws shadows across the ages, and exposes powerful elements of our own humanity. IDEAS producer Sean Foley explains how this ancient story sheds light on perennial aspects of the human condition.

Download Jacob wrestling his 'angel' is our own struggle
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Accepting refugees isn't a gift — it's a human right: Michael Ignatieff

In a time of growing authoritarianism and a decline in democratic institutions, it is a greater challenge to accept that despite the language of “us and them,” we have obligations to strangers both inside and outside our borders. Michael Ignatieff talks to Nahlah Ayed about citizenship, moral values, and what we still owe each other.

Download Accepting refugees isn't a gift — it's a human right: Michael Ignatieff
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How jeans became one of the most polluting garments in the world

Blue jeans evolved from being the uniform of cowboys to a symbol of rebellion, and are now the most popular — and possibly the most polluting — garment in the world. Ideas contributor and fashion expert Pedro Mendes explores the 150-year history of jeans and the 'authenticity' they are supposed to represent.

Download How jeans became one of the most polluting garments in the world
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'Hope is not what we need': UN Rapporteur urges governments to fight for human rights

Human rights lawyer Agnès Callamard investigated the murder of Jamal Khashoggi for the UN. Shocking as it was, the horrific killing speaks of our times — it's also the disturbing but fitting departure point for our discussion with her on human rights in the 21st century, and what the international community can do when they're violated.

Download 'Hope is not what we need': UN Rapporteur urges governments to fight for human rights
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Tom Thomson — 100 years from now

Tom Thomson's is one of the most mythologized Canadian painters of his time — and ours. Now, 102 years after his mysterious death, IDEAS contributor Sean Foley asks one central question: does the mortal and material fascination with Tom Thomson leave us with something enduring — something to carry us through the next century, and beyond?

Download Tom Thomson — 100 years from now
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Just don't say his name: the modern left on Karl Marx's place in politics

Intelligent minds have disagreed, vehemently, ever since Karl Marx wrote his ideas down in the mid-1800s. They disagree some more in this IDEAS episode about Marx and the modern political left, featuring Sheila Copps, Charlie Foran, and Rick Salutin.

Download Just don't say his name: the modern left on Karl Marx's place in politics
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Ireland's Brexit border: the 'most maligned place'

After 20 years of peace, the looming uncertainty of a hard Irish border has sparked fear and rancour in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The tension over the fate of the now invisible border splitting north and south has renewed sectarian tensions. IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed went there to hear what people are saying. ** This episode is part two in our series, Walking the Border: Walls That Divide Us.

Download Ireland's Brexit border: the 'most maligned place'
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5 top researchers granted the 2019 Killam Prize — considered 'Canada's Nobel' award

Meet the five top Canadian scholars who won the 2019 Killam Prize for reaching new heights in their disciplines. Lynne Viola exposes hidden stories of Stalin's Russia. Keith Hipel takes an engineer's approach to fixing the climate change debate. Yoshua Bengio is bringing us computers that learn and think. André Blais investigates what makes democratic elections work better. And Stephen Scherer is helping science read into the human genome.

Download 5 top researchers granted the 2019 Killam Prize — considered 'Canada's Nobel' award
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Rethinking menopause: Authors argue dreaded life change has an upside

Is The Change always “women’s hell?” Is it possible that the negative way we think about menopause has an effect on how women actually experience menopause? Writer Darcey Steinke and historian Susan Mattern reframe an often-dreaded transition and reclaim the power of post-reproductive life.

Download Rethinking menopause: Authors argue dreaded life change has an upside
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How algorithms create a 'digital underclass'

In an episode called Technical Salvation, Ideas host, Nahlah Ayed, talks with Princeton sociologist, Dr. Ruha Benjamin. Together, they explore her argument that technology reproduces the same kind of racial segregation we see in our physical world.

Download How algorithms create a 'digital underclass'
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Just one story: Joseph Campbell and 'The Hero’s Journey'

For 70 years, a book by American academic Joseph Campbell called The Hero With A Thousand Faces has shaped western storytelling, from comics to novels to videogames to movies -- including Star Wars, which was directly inspired by it. In particular, the book outlined the steps of a universal heroic narrative, something he called "The Hero’s Journey." But after seven decades of the book’s massive influence, is it now time to leave the hero’s journey behind? This documentary "Just One Story" probes the appeal and the limits of the story we’ve been telling ourselves for nearly a century.

Download Just one story: Joseph Campbell and 'The Hero’s Journey'
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The peace walls of Belfast: Do they still help keep the peace?

More than 20 years after the Good Friday peace agreement was signed, the so-called peace walls remain in Northern Ireland. Host Nahlah Ayed heads to Belfast to find out if the walls are helping or hindering community reconciliation between Catholic and Protestant, Republican and Unionist. This is the first episode in our series, Walking the Border: Walls That Divide Us.

Download The peace walls of Belfast: Do they still help keep the peace?
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The Audience Talks Back: The 2018 CBC Massey Lectures by Tanya Talaga

On the CBC Massey Lectures tour, each lecture concluded in an audience discussion with Tanya Talaga ⁠— most of which was never broadcast. This episode includes a conversation with IDEAS' Greg Kelly and Tanya Talaga speaking about her experience delivering the Massey Lectures, responding to listener questions, plus the best audience discussions from the tour.

Download The Audience Talks Back: The 2018 CBC Massey Lectures by Tanya Talaga
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Lecture 5: 'We Are Not Going Anywhere' by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)

Prize-winning journalist Tanya Talaga (author of Seven Fallen Feathers) explores the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples — in Canada and elsewhere — in her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures, All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward. This lecture is titled, We Are Not Going Anywhere. Indigenous peoples have been subjected to genocide in many places: Canada, Australia, Brazil, even the Arctic Circle. But Talaga points out that First Peoples have a history of resistance.

Download Lecture 5: 'We Are Not Going Anywhere' by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)
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Lecture 4: 'I Breathe for Them' by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)

In her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures series, titled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, prize-winning journalist Tanya Talaga (author of Seven Fallen Feathers) explores the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples. In this lecture, Talaga examines the systemic issues in health care and how intergenerational trauma from colonization is fuelling the crisis of Indigenous youth suicide.

Download Lecture 4: 'I Breathe for Them' by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)
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Internal Hard Drive: What's lost when we forget to remember (Encore Sept. 6, 2018)

We rely on our handy smartphones to remember everything from phone numbers to our friend's birthdays. Those sleek devices serve as a type of 'external hard drive' for our memory. Contributor Jess Shane explores what happens when the art of memorization is lost.

Download Internal Hard Drive: What's lost when we forget to remember (Encore Sept. 6, 2018)
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Lecture 3: The Third Space by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)

Prize-winning journalist Tanya Talaga (author of Seven Fallen Feathers) explores the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples — in Canada and elsewhere — in her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures, All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward.

Download Lecture 3: The Third Space by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)
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Rare interview with Toni Morrison on the importance of reading and writing

In this personal 2002 interview, Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison talks candidly about her life as an African-American writer with IDEAS producer Marilyn Powell.

Download Rare interview with Toni Morrison on the importance of reading and writing
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Lecture 2: "Big Brother's Hunger" by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)

In her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures series, titled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, prize-winning journalist Tanya Talaga (author of Seven Fallen Feathers) explores the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples.

Download Lecture 2: "Big Brother's Hunger" by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)
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Five Freedoms: Freedom from Lies (Encore April 12, 2019)

Freedom of the press is a Holy Grail in Western societies, supposedly giving us the facts about what's happening in the world. But in an era of fake news, post-truth and a 24-hour news cycle, what are journalists to hang onto? A discussion with journalists Susan Ormiston Desmond Cole, and writer Linda McQuaig.

Download Five Freedoms: Freedom from Lies (Encore April 12, 2019)
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Lecture 1: "We Were Always Here" by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)

In her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures series, titled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, prize-winning journalist Tanya Talaga (author of Seven Fallen Feathers) explores the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples.

Download Lecture 1: "We Were Always Here" by Tanya Talaga (2018 CBC Massey Lectures)
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Five Freedoms: Freedom from Want (Encore April 11, 2019)

Poverty has always been a defining issue in the quest to build a better world. How do we go about making things more equitable, making sure that wealth is distributed to those in need and creating opportunity for the weak to become strong? Journalist Sally Armstrong, healthcare activist James Orbinski and former diplomat Paul Heinbecker discuss a thorny issue.

Download Five Freedoms: Freedom from Want (Encore April 11, 2019)
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Ross King on the art of history and architecture (Encore January 21, 2019)

Ross King is one of the most popular historians Canada has ever produced. Yet originally, he wanted to be a novelist. And after researching his doctoral thesis on T. S. Eliot, he published his first book, which fictionalized the story of a castrato singer in 18th century London, as seen through the eyes of an aspiring painter. Then he became fascinated by Italian architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, who designed and built the famous cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence. King says he discovered that it was more fun to write when you didn't need to "make up the facts."

Download Ross King on the art of history and architecture (Encore January 21, 2019)
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Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge: The 2018 Killam Prize (Encore Dec. 19, 2018)

Each year, up to five Killam Prizes of $100 000 each are awarded to Canadian scholars who have made "substantial and significant" contribution to their field of studies in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences or engineering. This year's five recipients come from across Canada. Their areas of study include linguistics to physics, medicine to film. Meet the five brilliant Canadian thinkers who are setting the standard for their fields both in Canada and internationally.

Download Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge: The 2018 Killam Prize (Encore Dec. 19, 2018)
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How the Killam family 'invented' Canadian culture (Encore Dec. 20, 2018)

Once upon a time, Izaak Walton Killam was the richest man in Canada. He died in 1955. His wife Dorothy was even more keen, in the decade after her husband's death, to expand the family wealth. In the end, the Killams basically bankrolled the Canada Council, and created the Killam Trusts. To this day, very few people know much about them.

Download How the Killam family 'invented' Canadian culture (Encore Dec. 20, 2018)
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Five Freedoms: Freedom from Oppression (Encore April 10, 2019)

Oppression takes many forms. It can be political or cultural, or even social. There's the weight of inherited oppression, and there's the question of how oppression shapes who we are - both individually and collectively. This episode features a discussion with Bhutila Karpoche an Ontario politician of Tibetan heritage, Eloge Butera  a government lawyer and a refugee from Rwanda, and Christina Gray a Dene-Metis lawyer. 

Download Five Freedoms: Freedom from Oppression (Encore April 10, 2019)
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Yuval Harari: Hacking Humanity (Encore Sept. 5, 2018)

Yuval Harari is a global intellectual. And the internationally bestselling author is worried: our brains are getting hacked. Artificial intelligence, biotechnology and ever-sophisticated algorithms are tapping into our values, habits, tastes, desires and the very thought patterns that define us - all to control how we shop, what we read, and whom we vote for. The notion of free will is defunct. And the grand project of liberalism, with its focus on the individual, is worn out. But in this exclusive interview with Paul Kennedy, he explains why he remains cautiously optimistic about humanity's future.

Download Yuval Harari: Hacking Humanity (Encore Sept. 5, 2018)
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Talking with Doctor David Naylor: Winner of the 2018 Friesen Prize (Encore Dec. 6, 2018)

Although he's not yet officially eligible to collect his pension, Dr. David Naylor is already President Emeritus of the University of Toronto - having occupied the office itself for eight turbulent years from 2005 - 2013. Right now, he's interim head of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. David Naylor spoke with Paul Kennedy about his life and work, and about his Friesen Prize Lecture at the University of Ottawa.

Download Talking with Doctor David Naylor: Winner of the 2018 Friesen Prize (Encore Dec. 6, 2018)
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Michael Pollan on the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs (Encore Sept. 25, 2018)

In his book "How to Change Your Mind", Michael Pollan explores how psychedelic drugs have been used to enhance spiritual experiences and treat many conditions from depression to anxiety. He speaks to IDEAS producer, Mary O'Connell.

Download Michael Pollan on the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs (Encore Sept. 25, 2018)
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Five Freedoms: Freedom of Speech (Encore April 9, 2019)

Fanned by the Internet, the war over our right to say anything at all has created silos of intolerance. Fewer people are listening to differing points of view. And with less dialogue, nothing changes. But are there things that should not be said? A discussion with former politician Sheila Copps, human rights lawyer Micheal Vonn and journalist Althia Raj.

Download Five Freedoms: Freedom of Speech (Encore April 9, 2019)
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Mythologizing Empire (Encore January 14, 2019)

For people of Shakespeare's time, the idea of "empire" was something new. As Britain's power spread, the eternal questions remained: what makes a great empire successful, and what pitfalls need to be watched out for? No ancient empire offered more lessons than the Roman Empire - which had, of course, conquered Britain. In his plays set in the Roman Empire, Shakespeare explored themes of leadership, human frailty, political downfall, while at the same time mythologizing the birth of a new Rome in Britain. A discussion from the Stratford Festival, featuring artistic director Antoni Cimolino, theatre critic Robert Cushman, and Royal Ontario Museum researcher Kate Cooper.

Download Mythologizing Empire (Encore January 14, 2019)
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Kent Monkman: Playing tricks with awesome art (Encore February 12, 2019)

It's easy to identify a painting by Kent Monkman. His work is almost always monumental. Some of his canvasses as so big that buildings need to be built around them. Beyond that, Monkman often works with historical subjects ⁠— either quoting famous images from the history of art, or playing with real historical events by situating them in paintings that reflect obvious artistic references. Kent Monkman talks with Paul Kennedy about his life and work, and how to have fun while making serious statements about the world we live in.

Download Kent Monkman: Playing tricks with awesome art (Encore February 12, 2019)
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Michael Crummey on writing and the relationship between fact and fiction (Encore September 7, 2018)

What does a novelist owe to the past? How does a writer walk the tightrope between telling a story and accurately reflecting history and geography? Acclaimed novelist Michael Crummey reflects on these questions in the annual Henry Kreisel Lecture in Edmonton, presented by the Canadian Literature Centre at the University of Alberta.

Download Michael Crummey on writing and the relationship between fact and fiction (Encore September 7, 2018)
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