Ideas from CBC Radio (Highlights)

We tend to view philosophy as a formal endeavour. Not so, says Lewis Gordon. Yes, he's an academic but he argues that confining thinking to the academy has resulted in people forgetting that philosophy “has something important to say.” The thinker and musician sees pubs and kitchens as great places to spur thinking and philosophical conversation. At a well-known pub in St. John's, Newfoundland called the Ship's Inn, Gordon makes the case for the everyday relevance of thinking, and reflected on the vital place of food, drink, and conversation in the making of thought. *This episode originally aired on May 26, 2023.

Educators are wired for hope, according to English professor Jessica Riddell. She believes in the importance of slowing down in urgent times and urges educators to teach hope, share it, and to imagine a better future. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 27, 2024.

Universities have always been places of protest and dissent, but University of Toronto English professor Randy Boyagoda argues that it should be something more — a place for productive discourse. He says we must check the assumption that our lived experience, well-formed arguments, or even knee-jerk responses are all there is to any given matter. That means staying open to the possibility of being wrong.In January 2024, he became the university's Advisor on Civil Discourse, the first position of its kind in Canada, prompted in part by campus convulsions since October 7th. Boyagoda explores the question: what are universities for? *This episode originally aired on Oct. 7, 2024.

In 2023, about 1 in 10 Canadian doctors considered attempting suicide in 2023. That's why Winnipeg doctor Jillian Horton is advocating for the emotional well-being of doctors in our healthcare system. She's helping doctors understand that in order to care better for their patients, they must care better for themselvesIn her book, We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine, and Healing, Dr. Horton shares her personal story of burnout and calls for the development of a compassionate healthcare system, one that fosters a balanced understanding of what it means to heal and be healed. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 18, 2024.

Canadian scholar and philosopher Charles Taylor insists poetry persuades us through the experience of connection. His book, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment, traces how poets, beginning in the Romantic period, found a new avenue to pursue meaning in life. He argues that while poetry can often be incomplete and enigmatic, its insight is too moving — and true — to be ignored. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 7, 2025.

When Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk wrote Sanaaq in 1984, it was the first novel written in Inuktitut in Canada. She wanted to prevent the language from no longer existing. Nappaaluk who died in 2007, helped develop the Inuktitut language curriculum in Nunavik and wrote more than 20 books — most of them designed to teach Inuktitut to children. She was also a teacher, an artist and a thinker with profound ideas about justice and community. *This is the third episode in our four-part series called Another Country: Change and Resilience in Nunavik. It originally aired on June 28, 2023.

After more than four decades of activism and advocacy, David Suzuki is one of the most renowned and respected voices in the environmental movement. So when he says it's too late to stop climate change, people take notice. And that's now exactly what he's saying.He's delivering this message as Prime Minister Mark Carney's government focuses on fast-tracking major projects it deems to be of national interest, which could include a new pipeline for fossil fuels from Alberta. Suzuki says that, despite his understanding of the climate crisis, Carney — like all of us — is trapped by the economic and political systems we've created. And for Suzuki, our only hope for survival is to scrap those systems entirely.In this special episode from our colleagues at Front Burner, David Suzuki joins host Jayme Poisson on the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion from what a world of irreversible climate change looks like to what he describes as the "madness" of continued investment in fossil fuels to the lessons environmentalists of the future can take from the past. More episodes of Front Burner can be found here: https://link.mgln.ai/fb-ideas

“The future doesn't exist. The only thing that exists is now and our memory of what happened in the past. But because we invented the idea of a future, we're the only animal that realized we can affect the future by what we do today," says David Suzuki. For 44 years, the former host of The Nature of Things shared the beauty of the natural world and taught us about our moral responsibility that comes with being alive. In this episode, the award-winning scientist and environmentalist shares his life lessons as a proud elder. *This episode originally aired on June 8, 2023.

For nearly 70 years, filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin's storytelling and documentary work have served as a mirror for Canada, reflecting Indigenous experiences and providing a space for all Canadians to witness perspectives that have otherwise been ignored. At 92, the Abenaki artist is not slowing down. "I never, never get tired of hearing people telling me about their life stories," she tells Nahlah Ayed. All 60 of her films are available to stream at the National Film Board of Canada website. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 7, 2023.

Bioethicist Arthur Schafer has thought a lot about life and death. He has helped shape policy on medically assisted death (MAID) in Canada. The philosophy professor argues that an ideal end-of-life legislation would be respectful of individual choice and the wishes of individuals to die according to their own values. "The best ethical argument is that patient autonomy is a fundamental value," Schafer told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed. He discusses the role of philosophy in addressing complex ethical dilemmas confronting individuals, and society as a whole.

Adam Smith may be known as 'The Father of Economics,' but 400 years before him, Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun was putting forward economic theories that are now taken for granted. IDEAS explores Ibn Khaldun's famous book, Muqaddimah and the lessons it has for us on the philosophy of history, economics, biology, sociology, and political theory. *This episode originally aired on June 24, 2021.

English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that life would be "nasty, brutish and short" without a strong government. IDEAS explores how a new take on Hobbes that includes his writing on the topic of anxiety offers a surprising perspective on the recent American election and democracy. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 13, 2025.

The great divide in politics is all around us. Sometimes the best way to engage in a difference of opinion is to 'pass it by.' Political theorist Shalini Satkunanandan suggests we take that lesson from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. Yeah, that guy — the one most known for his wrestling with nihilism. Satkunanandan argues that the constant need to engage and correct, refute or criticize "is making partisan divides even more pronounced." She views Nietzsche's method as a valuable way to navigate the highly polarized discourse of today. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 20, 2025.

For years, people have made the journey to Algonquin Park to see the landscapes that inspired Tom Thomson's famous paintings. IDEAS producer Sean Foley was one of them, exploring the great Canadian artist's muse 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 in a two-part exploration of the Canadian painter. It originally aired on Dec. 18, 2018.

Tom Thomson is one of the most mythologized Canadian painters of his time — and ours. Over 100 years ago, the artist died suddenly on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park, when he was at the peak of his powers. IDEAS producer Sean Foley delves into what we think we know about Tom Thomson and examines the tales that have evolved over the past century. *This episode originally aired Nov. 9, 2018.Guests in this episode:Gregory Klages, historian and author of The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction.Sherrill Grace, Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia and the author of Inventing Tom Thomson Ian Dejardin, art historian and the former executive director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.Pete Telford, chairman of the Friends of Leith Church, Leith, Ontario.

The outrage over threats by the U.S. to become a 51st state indicates Canadian nationalism is very much alive. IDEAS shares this 1992 award-winning documentary, which includes music compositions inspired by Glenn Gould. Composer Christos Hatzis discusses the meaning and enduring relevance of The Idea of Canada, saying, "Canada allows you to be patriotic and not to be nationalist."Credits:Composer Christos HatzisProducer Steve WadhamsAudio engineers Laurence Stevenson and Rod Crocker.

During the Communist era in Bulgaria, anyone who opposed the government could be arrested, sent to the Gulag. For 20 years, Lilia Topouzova has been collecting the stories of those who survived. She recreated a Bulgarian room where her conversations with survivors can be heard, a space about the absence of memory and what that does to a people.

Joan Jonas, now 88, has been a celebrated artist since the late 1960s. But it wasn't until 2024 that she received her crowning recognition in the U.S., when New York's Museum of Modern Art organized a major retrospective of her work. The arts icon splits her time between a Soho loft in NYC, and the "magical landscape" of Cape Breton, where she can be by her muse: the ocean. As she tells IDEAS producer Mary Lynk, "We come from the sea. It's not a memory. It's a feeling. It's in our DNA."Part of Jonas' MoMA retrospective called Moving Off the Land II has been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The exhibit will tour across Canada this summer, beginning in Cape Breton.

Even in the name of love, we can justify hatred, even murder, of the other. But why do we hate others? Scholars have identified a list of 10 reasons why one group may hate another group. They also have suggestions on how to break the cycle of hate. Guests in this episode are scholars from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR):Prerna Singh, professor of political science, Brown University, U.S.Victoria Esses, professor of psychology, Western University, London, Ontario Stephen Reicher, professor of social psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Maria Chapdelaine: A Tale of French Canada, written by Louis Hémon in 1913, is one of the most widely read works of fiction ever written in French. Yet today, the book remains far less known in English Canada and the English-speaking world. It is the world's highest-selling French book, and has been translated into over 20 languages. The book has inspired four film versions, several plays, an opera, and even a pop song. Contributor Catherine Annau examines the many lives that Maria Chapdelaine has lived, and continues to live.

Fifty years ago, the movie Jaws put sharks on our radar in a very real way. It broke box office records and tapped into an underlying fear of sharks and the unknown lurking in the ocean. Turns out, sharks were already developing a villainous reputation before Jaws. In this documentary, producer Molly Segal explores the long history people have with the ocean, and our tendency across cultures and times to create 'sea monsters' out of the depths of the ocean.

She's one of Canada's most decorated journalists, having won a Pulitzer Prize, a Peabody and a Columbia-Dupont Prize for her podcast series, Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's. Yet Connie Walker had been reluctant to feature stories about her family in her journalism. Until she realized her family's survival in residential schools embodies the defining reality for virtually all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 2, 2024.

From Greek to Arabic and then to Latin, translators in 8th-century Baghdad eventually brought to Europe the works of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and others who became central pillars of Western thought. IDEAS explores what is known as the Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement.

Some experts are calling loneliness an epidemic in Canada and throughout much of the world. Social isolation is a public health risk with consequences for individuals, communities and for our social systems. A multi-disciplinary panel, hosted at the University of British Columbia, examine loneliness from perspectives of men's and women's health, interpersonal relations, climate change and public policy. Guests in this episode:Dr. Kiffer Card is an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health Sciences. He was the moderator of the panel presentation, All the Lonely People: the Search for Belonging in an Uncertain World.Mandy Lee Catron is from the School of Creative Writing, at UBC.Dr. John Oliffe is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Men's Health Promotion at the School of Nursing, at UBC.Dr. Carrie Jenkins is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at UBC.Dr. Marina Adshade is an assistant professor of teaching at the Vancouver School of Economics, at UBC.

Champion hurdler Perdita Felicien has climbed to the summits of international glory throughout her track career, and endured the excruciating lows of defeat. Those peak experiences inform the talk she gave at Crows Theatre in Toronto, in which she parses the comparison of sport to life, and life to sport. In her words: "It isn't that sport is life exactly. It's that it reveals life. It's the part of life where we play with purpose. Where effort is visible. Where character is tested. Where failure is not final, just part of the arc. It's where we try. Fully. Openly. Without guarantee."

A groundbreaking study conducted in the wake of the Second World War by a group of scholars rocked the academic world when it was published in 1950 — but fell out of favour. Now a new generation of scholars is reviving the lessons of The Authoritarian Personality to understand who is drawn in by fascist propaganda.

There is a growing number of researchers who are 'forcibly displaced' worldwide. Thirty-four Canadian universities and colleges are currently hosting scholars who've left their jobs and homes to find safety. Scholars-in-exile from dozens of countries gathered at Carleton University in Ottawa to discuss ways to support free thinking and research whenever it is threatened.

From planting periwinkles on the graves of slaves, to the blues itself, the colour blue has been core to Black Americans' pursuit of joy in the face of being dehumanized by slavery, argues Harvard professor Imani Perry. In her latest book, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of my People, she unpacks the deep, centuries-long connection between Black people and the colour blue, from the complex history of indigo dye to how the blues became a crowning achievement of Black American culture.

What happens to the land after a brutal wildfire? IDEAS visited St'át'imc territory near Lillooet, B.C., to follow land guardians and scientists from the Indigenous Ecology Lab at the University of British Columbia, as they document the effects of wildfires and chart a new future based on Indigenous approaches to healing and balancing an ecosystem. *This is part two of a two-part series.Guests in this series:Chief Justin Kane, elected Chief of Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation Michelle Edwards, Tmicw coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council and the former Chief of the communities of Sekw'el'was and Qu'iqten Sam Copeland, senior land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council Luther Brigman, assistant land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council Travis Peters, heritage supervisor and interim lands manager for Xwísten First Nation Gerald Michel, council member and the Lands Resource Liaison for Xwísten First Nation Denise Antoine, natural resource specialist for the P'egp'ig'lha CouncilDr. Jennifer Grenz, assistant professor in the department of forest resources management at the University of British Columbia. She leads the Indigenous Ecology Lab at UBC, which works entirely in service to Indigenous communities on land-healing and food systems revitalization projects that bring together western and Indigenous knowledge systems and centres culture and resiliency. Virginia Oeggerli, graduate student in the Indigenous Ecology Lab in the faculty of forestry at UBCDr. Sue Senger, biologist working with the Lillooet Tribal CouncilJackie Rasmussen, executive director of the Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society

In 2021, a deadly heat dome produced a devastating wildfire season across British Columbia. While immediate media coverage often focuses on evacuations and the numbers of homes destroyed, many First Nations say what these fires do to the land in their territories — and the cultural lives of their communities — is often overlooked. "These fires are killing our way of life," says a Tmicw coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council. IDEAS visited St'át'imc territory around Lillooet, B.C. to learn how 21st-century wildfires are reshaping the landscape — and their consequences for plants, animals, and humans alike. *This is part one in a two-part series.Guests in this series:Chief Justin Kane, elected Chief of Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation Michelle Edwards, Tmicw coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council and the former Chief of the communities of Sekw'el'was and Qu'iqten Sam Copeland, senior land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council Luther Brigman, assistant land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council Travis Peters, heritage supervisor and interim lands manager for Xwísten First Nation Gerald Michel, council member and the Lands Resource Liaison for Xwísten First Nation Denise Antoine, natural resource specialist for the P'egp'ig'lha CouncilDr. Jennifer Grenz, assistant professor in the department of forest resources management at the University of British Columbia. She leads the Indigenous Ecology Lab at UBC, which works entirely in service to Indigenous communities on land-healing and food systems revitalization projects that bring together western and Indigenous knowledge systems and centres culture and resiliency. Virginia Oeggerli, graduate student in the Indigenous Ecology Lab in the faculty of forestry at UBCDr. Sue Senger, biologist working with the Lillooet Tribal CouncilJackie Rasmussen, executive director of the Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society

For over 200 years, the Dandy has been a provocateur, someone who pushes against the boundaries of culture, masculinity and politics. From Beau Brummell to Oscar Wilde to contemporary Black activists, IDEAS contributor Pedro Mendes tracks the subversive role the Dandy plays in challenging the status quo. *This episode originally aired on April 15, 2021.Guests in this episode:Rose Callahan, photographer and director  André Churchwell, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer for Vanderbilt University Chris Breward, director of National Museums Scotland and the author of The Suit: Form, Function and Style Ian Kelly, writer, actor and historical biographer. His works include Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Dandy Monica Miller, professor of English and Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University and author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity 

In George Grant's famous 1965 essay, Lament for a Nation, the Red Tory philosopher argued that Canadian nationalism had died. He believed that when Canada was tied to the UK, the country was committed to a collective common good. But when it became integrated with the U.S., Grant says Canada abandoned this idea. Sixty years later, our relationship with the U.S. is being tested, igniting a rise in nationalism. PhD student Bryan Heystree finds hope in Grant's work and says there's valuable criticism worthy of our attention in the 21st century.

The 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith is often called “the father of economics,” and sometimes “the father of capitalism.” 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.

When IDEAS contributor Sandra Bourque was diagnosed with ADHD in her early 50s, she was relieved. Finally, everything made sense to her. Bourque became obsessed with learning everything about how her brain worked. What she found was a mountain of information that focused on ADHD deficits and challenges, ways to "fit in better and be more normal." So Bourque became an ADHD coach so she could help others cut through the misinformation, focus on their strengths and learn how their brain actually worked. *This is part two in a two-part series called Myth of Normal.

Imagine a world without Mozart or Michelangelo, Einstein or Edison. Famous for their creativity, a "mysterious force" that psychiatrist and ADHD expert, Ed Hallowell, says is a commonality in neurodiverse people. Neurodiversity is a relatively new term, but the thinking behind it has been going on for a while. There's increasing evidence that what we know today as Autism, ADHD, BipolarDisorder, Schizophrenia, and Dyslexia may have been a way for us to extend our species chances of survival. And yet the thinking around brain variations like ADHD is that it's a deficiency, something that needs to be fixed. Sandra Bourque's two-part series, The Myth of Normal traces the social and cultural response to neurodiversity and whether there's a way back to seeing this way of thinking as an advantage.

If you're someone who thinks reading is therapeutic, you aren't alone. On the surface, bibliotherapy might sound like another personal wellness trend, but it definitely isn't. In fact, it's an approved form of mental health treatment in Canada. And it's been around for at least a century. In this episode, researchers Sara Haslam and Edmund King discuss the World War Ⅰ roots of this practice in the UK. Author Cody Delistraty considers its role in moving him forward in the grieving process. And psychiatrist Martina Scholtens explains why she created an evidence-based reading list online, tailored to a range of mental health diagnoses.

When Darren Hamilton began university, he was shocked to find that there were no Black music courses and Black music professors. He grew up singing spirituals every Sunday in church. Now at the University of Toronto, Hamilton teaches Gospel Choir, U of T's first credit course in Black gospel music. Students of all backgrounds and ages come to learn and sing songs rooted in faith, freedom and joy. He says he started the course because he wanted Black music to be valued in music education, and he wanted Black students to have a music classwhere they "feel they belong." 

Disgust — an emotion that makes us human. It can keep us safe from drinking milk that's gone off, thanks to the revolting smell. And as Charles Darwin suggests, disgust serves as part of our core evolutionary function. But it also has a dark side. Disgust has been co-opted by culture, to religious and political divides. Scholars say we need to reckon with this complicated emotion that has the ability to make the world more dangerous.

For centuries, Western philosophers have contemplated the question: “Who am I?” To get to the answer, 19th-century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel suggests, start by replacing the “I” with “we.” His philosophy looks at why we should care what others think of us because people's perspectives play a huge part in how we see ourselves and how we look at the world. His theory is that traits and habits from the people around us impact what we see in ourselves.

Humans used fire as a tool. Now we fear its destruction. But we're responsible for changing the climate, argues John Vailliant, "in a way that favours fire way more than it favours us." The Vancouver author unpacks how fire made humans who we are — and how humans are changing fire in his award-winning book, Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast.*This episode originally aired on May 29, 2024.

Homosexuality is a crime in more than half of African countries — a crime punishable by prison sentences. Or in some cases: death. New laws in some states make it illegal for anyone to even advocate for LGBTQ rights. These laws bring up questions of foreign influence, neo-colonialism, and the role the international community could and should play in nudging human rights on the continent.

No one likes talking about child sex abuse. But prevention experts say we need to bring pedophilia out of the shadows if we ever want to end abuse. They insist, it is not inevitable. 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. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 23, 2024.