What on Earth is Going on?

Farzana Doctor's new novel, Seven, juggles family, history, culture, and the incredible weight of those forces on women today. It's a detective story and travel novel, and a powerful insight into a woman struggling with sex, identity, her past, and her vast network of relatives. But the overarching issue throughout the book is female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice still common around the world. Farzana joins Ben to talk about the book, FGM, her writing process, and much more. About the Guest Farzana Doctor is a writer, activist, and psychotherapist. Her ancestry is Indian, and she was born in Zambia while her family was based there for five years, before immigrating to Canada in 1971. She became interested in community organizing as a teen (primarily environmental issues, gender violence and LGBTTTIQ rights). From 2009-18, she curated the Brockton Writers Series and has been a volunteer with The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Writers’ Trust. She currently volunteers with WeSpeakOut, a global group that is working to ban female genital cutting in her Dawoodi Bohra community. She studied social work in the early nineties and has been a social worker ever since. She worked in a variety of community agencies and a hospital before starting part-time private practice, where she sees individuals and couples. She has been writing all of her life but it became a more regular practice around 2000, when she began writing her first novel, Stealing Nasreen, which was published by Inanna in 2007. Her second novel, Six Metres of Pavement, won a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and was short-listed for the 2012 Toronto Book Award. In 2017 it was voted the One Book One Brampton 2017 winner. Her third novel, All Inclusive was a Kobo 2015 and National Post Best Book of the Year. While all her books are distinct from one another, some common themes include loss, relationships, community, healing, racism, LGBT rights, diasporic identity and feminism. She seamlessly blends strong stories with social justice issues. Her genre so far has been contemporary literary fiction, but here is usually a hint of magic realism in her stories. She's just completed a novel, Seven (August 2020, Dundurn), and a poetry collection. You Still Look the Same. She is currently at work on a YA novel. Farzana was recently named one of CBC Books’ “100 Writers in Canada You Need To Know Now". She is represented by Rachel Letofsky of CookeMcDermid. She’s an amateur Tarot card reader and has a love of spirituality, energy psychology, hypnosis and neuroscience. She lives with her partner and dog near the lake in Etobicoke, the traditional territory of the Haudenosauneega, Anishinabek and Huron-Wendat peoples. Mentioned in this Episode Female genital mutilation (FGM), also called female genital mutilation. Read this WHO fact sheet about the practice that affects millions of women and girls worldwide. The Dawoodi Bohra community Farzana's advice column, Dear Maasi Hussonally Abdoolally Nasirudin Dholkawalla, an Indian entrepreneur on whom a key character in the book is based The book, Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity among the Daudi Bohras by Jonah Blank The 2020 Vice documentary, Meghan Markle Escaping the Crown The Quote of the Week We are human beings. We make the traditions so we should have the right to change those traditions. - Malala Yousafzai

It's been over two years since host Ben Charland kicked off this podcast in a basement in Kingston, Ontario. After nearly 100 fascinating conversations about everything from the mafia to the water supply, from science to philosophy, we're revisiting some of the best moments. Author, science broadcaster and previous guest Ziya Tong (Episode 85) interviews Ben with questions from listeners about what on earth is going on behind the scenes. Enjoy this very special centennial episode! About the Guest Host Award-winning host Ziya Tong has been sharing her passion for science, nature and technology for almost two decades. Best known as the co-host of Daily Planet, Discovery Canada’s flagship science program, she brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the stage. Tong speaks on leadership, how to shift perspective, and the role of science and technology in society in her riveting and eye-opening talks. Before co-hosting Daily Planet, Tong served as host and field producer for PBS’ national primetime series, Wired Science, produced in conjunction with Wired magazine. In Canada, Tong hosted CBC’s Emmy-nominated series ZeD, a pioneer of open source television, for which she was nominated for a Gemini Viewer’s Choice Award. Tong also served as host, writer, and director for the Canadian science series, The Leading Edge and as a correspondent for NOVA scienceNOW alongside Neil deGrasse Tyson on PBS. In the spring of 2019, she participated in CBC’s annual “battle of the books.” After a national four-day debate, she won Canada Reads. In May 2019, Tong released her bestselling book The Reality Bubble. Called “ground-breaking” and “wonder-filled”, the book has been compared to The Matrix. It takes readers on a journey through the hidden things that shape our lives in unexpected and sometimes dangerous ways. Tong received her Masters degree in communications from McGill University, where she graduated on the Dean’s Honour List. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund and is the founder of Black Sheep. Learn more about Ziya or follow her on Twitter (@ziyatong). Mentioned in this Conversation Episode 85: The Reality Bubble with Ziya Tong Episode 1: Populism with Keith Banting Episode 52: Science with Bob McDonald Episode 56: Men and Gender Equality with Michael Kaufman Episode 38: The Mafia with Antonio Nicaso Episode 93: Politics and its Future with Kent Hehr Episode 2: The Digital Age with Carlos Prado Episode 25: Water with Pascale Champagne Episode 52: Science with Bob McDonald Episode 42: Live Performance in the Digital Age with Colleen Renihan, Craig Walker and Michael Wheeler Episode 66: Acting and Storytelling with Andy Curtis Jake Adelstein, a US journalist with a focus on crime reporting in Japan Eric Hobsbawm, a British historian The Ezra Klein Show, a podcast In Our Time, a BBC radio program and podcast

The one thing that doesn't change about cities is the fact that they are constantly changing. Most people now live in cities, transforming them with their consumer behaviour, their culture, their ideas and their advocacy. City planners have to balance the natural development of these vast social organisms with complex, long-term plans. How do they do it? Ben chats with veteran urban planner Teresa Goldstein. . Follow Teresa on Twitter (@teresagoldstein). Mentioned in this Episode The People's Republic of Walmart: How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism, a book by Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski Episode 45 of this podcast, featuring broadcaster Terry O'Reilly on counterintuitive ideas and more "Where Libraries are the Tourist Attractions", article in the New York Times featuring Calgary's new Central Library Article in the Guardian discussing the Mayor of Paris's plans for a 15-minute city The Quote of the Week By far the greatest and most admirable form of wisdom is that needed to plan and beautify cities and human communities. - Socrates

The coronavirus pandemic is altering our lives in ways we cannot yet comprehend, and in decades we will marvel at this transformative time. COVID-19 is not just accelerating trends that were in place beforehand, but it is creating new realities. How are artists coping? How about our politics and ideologies? Alex Green's podcast, Stereo Embers, addresses the current creative moment of the artist. He joins Ben remotely from San Francisco for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. About the Guest A native of California, Alex Green is the author of four books: The Heart Goes Boom (Wrecking Ball, UK), Emergency Anthems (Brooklyn Arts Press), Let The West Coast Be Settled (Tall Lighthouse) and The Stone Roses (Bloomsbury Academic). Alex is a known live moderator, interviewing authors, musicians and artists for the Bay Area Book Festival, LitQuake, A Great Good Place For Books and Green Apple Books. Over the course of his career, he's interviewed David Bowie, Maira Kalman, R.E.M., Kristin Hersh, Joshua Mohr, Stephan Pastis, Sherman Alexie, Janice Cooke Newman, and Alison Moyet. ​ He's the host of Stereo Embers: The Podcast, a weekly long-form interview program that focuses on the creative life and the artist's commitment to their craft. The program is already one of the fastest growing podcasts on iTunes. ​ Alex is also the host of the weekly radio show "The Heart Goes Boom," which focuses on new music coming out of the UK and beyond. ​ Alex is the Editor of the daily entertainment site Stereo Embers Magazine (www.stereoembersmagazine.com) and he currently teaches in the English Department at St. Mary's College of California. Learn more about Alex or follow him on Twitter (@EMBERSEDITOR). Mentioned in this Conversation Whiskey Sour Happy Hour featuring Ed Helms For Emma, Forever Ago, debut album from Bon Iver "Studio Notes on Your Rom-Com, for the Coronavirus Era", a short in the New Yorker, 29 June 2020 Dune, a classic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert The Coddling of the American Mind, a book by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, a book by Michael Kimmel Episode 26 of this podcast, featuring Professor Sulaimon Giwa discussing racism Here are some of the writers, artists and musicians we discussed: Jon Bon Jovi, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, DH Lawrence, Gord Downie, Green Day ("American Idiot"), Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan, Dead Kennedys The Quote of the Week "He was trapped in a haircut he no longer believed in." - Billy Bragg

What makes a book interesting? Beautiful? Provocative? Necessary? Is reading still the best way to get a message across and tell a good story, and how is it changing in our world today? The Kingston WritersFest is one of Canada's premiere literary events, drawing headline international authors as well as big crowds from the bookish Ontario city. Ben chats with the festival's artistic director and alumnus of the podcast, Barbara Bell, about writing, reading, and what goes on in between. About the Guest Barbara Bell is the Artistic Director of Kingston WritersFest. She has extensive experience in programming, management, and event planning and production, including several years as Events Coordinator with Chapters Bookstore. She has produced numerous stage plays, several independent short films, including the award-winning Digging Up Plato, and a feature film. Barbara is also an award-winning actor and playwright and a freelance editor, and for two seasons programmed, produced, and hosted a monthly television book club – Page Turners – for TVCogeco in Kingston. Barbara sits on the Community Arts Advisory Committee for the City of Kingston, as well as on the Arts Advocacy Committee of Kingston Arts Council. Learn more about Barbara. Mentioned in this Episode A quote from William Clifford, 19th century English mathematician and philosopher: "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. ... Inquiry into the evidence of a doctrine is not to be made once for all, and then taken as finally settled." The Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War (1618-48) A quote usually attributed to Thomas Edison: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club, a novel by Megan Gail Coles The Difference, a novel by Marina Endicott The Tragedy of the Commons, a concept that describes how shared resources are depleted due to deep-seated self-interest Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist The Lymond Chronicles, a book series by Dorothy Dunnett A Song of Ice and Fire, a book series by George RR Martin on which the HBO series Game of Thrones is based My Year of Living Spiritually: One Woman’s Secular Search for a More Soulful Life, a book by Anne Bokma Ender's Game, a novel by Orson Scott Card Europe: A History, a book by Norman Davies Barbara's top books from childhood: The Borrowers series by Mary Norton The Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion The books of Enid Blyton The Quote of the Week “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” George R.R. Martin

We will all encounter disability in our lives, either ourselves or someone we know and love. What is our responsibility when that happens? What role should the greater community play to provide care and support? What about government, public policy, and spending? What's changing when it comes to disability and how we care for those who truly need it, and why is this important? Ben has an enlightening conversation with Helen Ries, an Ottawa-based advocate with a powerful story of her and her brother Paul. About the Guest Helen is a strategic thinker and analyst with expertise in stakeholder engagement, planning and program evaluation. Helen uses research to explore issues, develop practices and make changes in a way that is systematic and evidence-based. Helen has a special interest in working with people, groups and organizations who are helping to improve the well-being of under-represented, excluded or vulnerable populations. Helen has been in the non-profit and public sector since 2003 creating and evaluating programs, establishing performance measures, creating plans and strategy, analyzing and revising policy, and supporting people and organizations to build their capacity and effectiveness for better outcomes. Learn more about Helen and follow her on Twitter (@helenries). Mentioned in this Episode Episode 46 of this podcast, featuring Canadian senator Kim Pate about the prison and justice system The Ottawa Adult Autism Initiative "What I Never Knew About My Mother", a blog post by Helen The Sibling Collaborative, an organization co-founded by Helen "Disability, Poverty and #MeToo", an article by Helen Memory, Witness and Hope, an initiative recommended by Helen that brings together French- and English-speaking institutional survivors labelled with intellectual disabilities. "People First of Ontario", a video recommended by Helen about the bond between siblings The Quote of the Week When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. - Helen Keller

What if being a Member of Parliament or Congress had nothing to do with an election, but rather worked like jury duty? What if our officials were seated randomly in a legislature? What if we innovated the very idea of government itself? Dave Meslin says our politics is broken, but instead of repeating this from the sidelines, he's got 100 common-sense fixes. They are all detailed in his fascinating and provocative book, Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up. Ben chats with Dave in Toronto. About the Guest Multi-partisan and fiercely optimistic, Meslin’s presentations focuses on how we can overcome cynicism and create a culture of participation. His unassuming presence, creativity and sense of humour keep audiences enthralled. Meslin encourages those present to find what was important to them and become engaged in the process of promoting change by creative participation. The Toronto Star has described him as “mad scientist”, “a start-up genius” and “a peripatetic public convener”. The Globe and Mail simply calls him a “persuasive rabble rouser”. Dancing between the worlds of mainstream politics and grassroots activism, Meslin has found positive ways to bring them both together and turn energy into action. His TED talk “The Antidote to Apathy” has been viewed over 1.7 million times and translated into 37 languages. A CBC appearance in 2015, involving towers of colourful LEGO, has been watched 2.5 million times on Facebook. Meslin’s resume of non-profit start-ups also includes the Toronto Public Space Committee, the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto, City Idol, Spacing Magazine, Unlock Democracy Canada, the Downtown De-Fence Project, Dazzling Notice Awards, and DandyHorse Magazine. While he feels most comfortable working with small grassroots non-profits, Meslin has also donned a suit and tie and worked as an Executive Assistant at both City Hall and Queen’s Park. Meslin is currently crowd-sourcing 100 Remedies for a Broken Democracy for his next book. Learn more about Dave or follow him on Twitter (@meslin). Mentioned in this Conversation Episode 1 of this podcast, featuring a conversation about populism with political scientist Keith Banting The Magna Carta, literally "great charter, an agreement of rights signed in 1215 by the English monarch and a group of rebel aristocrats. While the charter failed to prevent conflict at the time, it presaged what would come and became a historically vital document for our modern conception of democracy. The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, created by the government of British Columbia in 2004 to investigate changes to the province's electoral system. Data collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union ranks Canada no. 61 (previously 62) in gender representation in government. The Quote of the Week Democracy is never a thing done. Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing. - Archibald MacLeish

Rosemary Sullivan is an acclaimed Canadian poet and biographer. She has written definitive biographies about Elizabeth Smart and Gwendolyn MacEwen as well as a book about the early life of Margaret Atwood. In 2015, Rosemary published Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva to widespread praise. Ben sits down with Rosemary in Toronto to talk about what goes into making a biography (such as calling the CIA first), how she wrote Stalin's Daughter, and much more. About the Guest Biographer and poet Rosemary Sullivan is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. Her 14 books include the critically acclaimed Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape and a House in Marseille and Labyrinth of Desire: Women, Passion and Romantic Obsession. Shadow Maker, her biography of Gwendolyn MacEwen, won the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction. She has been the recipient of Guggenheim, Trudeau, and Jackman Fellowships and was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal by the Royal Society for her contributions to Literature and Culture. In 2012 she became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Learn more about Rosemary. Mentioned in this Episode Video of Christopher Hitchens discussing his idea that religion was humanity's "first attempt" Episode 78 of this podcast, featuring political scientist Jonathan Rose Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein Oscar Wilde, a biography by Richard Ellmann The Writers' Trust Rising Stars program "The Long War Against Slavery", an article in the New Yorker from January 2020 by Casey Cep Video of Howard Stern on how Donald Trump's 2016 run for the presidency was a publicity stunt The Family, a Netflix miniseries documentary about an evangelical Christian group Varian's War, a made-for-television movie about the Holocaust The Death of Stalin, a 2017 satirical comedy directed by Armando Iannucci The Quote of the Week Almost any biographer, if he respects facts, can give us much more than another fact to add to our collection. He can give us the creative fact; the fertile fact; the fact that suggests and engenders. - Virginia Woolf

Kent Hehr is a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and member of parliament for Calgary Centre. As a so-called "recovering politician" with careers on both the federal and provincial levels, Kent has a lot to say about what on earth is going on -- but he’s also got an incredible story. In October 1991 he was with some friends in Calgary when someone in another car opened fire. The bullet went into Kent’s spine, and just like that, he was paralyzed from the chest down as a C5 quadriplegic. About the Guest As a former cabinet minister, Kent has been at the table when big decisions are made. His understanding of how government works and what decision makers are looking for is invaluable for businesses and not-for-profit organizations looking for results. He recently started his own firm with two other partners, Jessie Chahal and Robbie Schuett: HSC and Associates. Kent has over 20 years of comprehensive experience in civic, provincial and federal government work. Kent has an extensive background in dealing with complex problems, systems, and policies. He has a proven track record of managing divergent stakeholders’ interests, collaborating with federal government departments, intergovernmental relations, and chairing committees. Prior to his entry into public service, Kent was a practising lawyer with the prestigious national law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain (now Dentons). Kent has a long history of serving on not-for-profit boards. He is currently on the board of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta. He is married to Deanna Holt. Mentioned in this Episode The discovery of oil in Turner Valley, Alberta, in 1914 started over a century of the province's oil and gas industry BlackRock, a global investment management company based in New York Mad Money with Jim Cramer, a long-running CNBC television program dedicated to stock markets STEM and STEAM education programs Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, a 2016 book by Thomas Friedman. Check out Episode 60 of this podcast for a conversation about the book. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund, a sovereign wealth fund established by the province of Alberta in 1976. Often compared with Norway's far more successful sovereign wealth fund, which is now worth over US$1 trillion. The Quote of the Week Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’, we achieve ‘excellence’ by acting ‘rightly.’ - Plato

Aurora Browne is one of Canada's national treasures. Best known as one of the cast members of the Baroness von Sketch Show and as co-host of the Great Canadian Baking Show, Aurora has been creating daring, funny and original work for theatre, television and film for many years. Ben catches up with Aurora in Toronto to discuss her career as an actor and comedian, as well as her fascinating with the oceans, video games, clowning, and Dungeons & Dragons. Don't miss this wide-ranging conversation! About the Guest Aurora Browne is proud to be one of the co-creators, writers, executive producers and stars of CBC’s sketch comedy series, Baroness von Sketch Show. Browne graduated from York University's theatre program with a BFA in Acting, and has been honing her sketch chops since 2000 when she was hired by Toronto’s Second City Troupe. Since then she has appeared on Comedy Inc, The Gavin Crawford Show, Comedy Now, The Ron James Show, InSecurity, Corner Gas and many others. She recently co-created and starred in Newborn Moms, a web series about new motherhood on ABC Digital. She is also currently in development for season 2 of The Writer’s Block with Frantic Films. Browne has been nominated for numerous Canadian Comedy Awards for her work in Toronto’s red hot live sketch and improv scene, and in 2008 won the CCA for Best Female Improviser. She was also a nominee for the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award. Her son thinks she is hilarious. Learn more about Aurora or follow her on Twitter (@aurorabrowne). Mentioned in this Episode Dungeons & Dragons, a tabletop roleplaying game that was first created in the 1970s and is seeing a resurgence in popular culture as well as among casual gamers. The Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, sometimes called the "clown farm", a performance training centre founded and run by John Turner (one half of the famous Canadian clown duo, Mump & Smoot). Newborn Moms, a CBC TV series. Succession, an HBO TV series. Chernobyl, an HBO miniseries. Zootopia, a 2016 animated film. Come on Eileen, a 1982 song by the Dexys Midnight Runners. The Long Dark, a survival video game developed by Hinterland Games in Vancouver. "How Sid Meier Almost Made Civilization a Real-Time Strategy Game", a YouTube video by Ars Technica featuring Sid Meier discussing his breakthrough original strategy game, Civilization. Starcraft, a real-time strategy game series. Fallout 3, a post-apocalyptic role-playing game. The Lord of the Rings, a classic three-part fantasy series by JRR Tolkien. They Shall Not Grow Old, a 2018 documentary about the First World War produced and directed by Peter Jackson, in which historical footage is drastically enhanced. Tolkien, a 2019 film about fantasy author JRR Tolkien. Sapiens and Homo Deus, two books by historian Yuval Noah Harari. The Quote of the Week Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein

What does it take to write a novel? What about genre? How does marketing define the books we read before we even open the first page? What does it mean to find a space that isn't programmed? And is the old right-left divide being replaced by a new one: the axis of smart-stupid? Ben is in Toronto to chat with award-winning novelist Andrew Pyper about his work, his writing process, and his take on what on earth is going on today. About the Guest Andrew Pyper was born in Stratford, Ontario, in 1968. He received a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from McGill University, as well as a law degree from the University of Toronto. Although called to the bar in 1996, he has never practiced. His most recent novels include The Homecoming (2019), The Only Child (2017), and The Damned (2015). His 2013 novel, The Demonologist, won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel, and was a #1 bestseller in Canada and Brazil. A number of Pyper’s works have been acquired for TV or feature film. The Homecoming is being developed by eOne with Andrew acting as Co-Creator and Executive Producer. Other active projects have not yet been announced. Among the earlier novels, The Guardians was published in Canada (Doubleday Canada) in January 2011, the U.K. (Orion) in February 2011, and following this internationally in various territories. It was selected a Globe and Mail 100 Best Books of the Year. The Killing Circle, Andrew’s fourth novel, was a national bestseller in Canada, and has been published in the U.K. (HarperCollins) and U.S. (St. Martin’s/Minotaur). Translation rights have been sold in Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Japan. Kiss Me, a collection of short stories, was published to acclaim in 1996. Following its publication, Mr. Pyper acted as Writer-in-Residence at Berton House, Dawson City, Yukon, as well as at Champlain College, Trent University. His first novel, Lost Girls, was a national bestseller in Canada and a Globe and Mail Notable Book selection in 1999 as well as a Notable Book selection in the New York Times Book Review (2000) and the London Evening Standard (2000). The novel won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel and is an Otto Penzler pick on Amazon.com. Lost Girls has been published in the U.S. (Delacorte Press) and U.K. (Macmillan) in 2000, and has also been translated into Italian, Dutch, German and Japanese. Andrew’s second novel, The Trade Mission, was published in Canada, the U.K., U.S., the Netherlands and Germany. It was selected by The Toronto Star as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year. Andrew’s third novel, The Wildfire Season, was a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year and has been published to acclaim in the U.K., Canada, U.S. and Holland. Andrew’s creative writing teaching experience includes terms at Trent University, the University of Toronto, and, currently, Colorado College. He lives in Toronto. Learn more about Andrew and follow him on Twitter (@andrewpyper). Mentioned in this Episode The Paris Review, a quarterly English-language publication that often features long-form interviews with writers. Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian writer known for his clock-work approach to writing plays This is Horror Podcast episode 38, featuring Andrew Pyper A quote from German composer Gustav Mahler: "A symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything." The definition of the word "catholic" (not to be confused with the Catholic church): "Including a wide variety of things; all-embracing." The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a 1956 film The Quote of the Week Sometimes people close a door because they’re trying to figure out a way to get you to knock. - From The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

Elizabeth Hay is a Giller Prize-winning author of novels such as Late Nights on Air, His Whole Life, and Alone in the Classroom. Most recently, she published a memoir about her parents' final years in Ottawa: All Things Consoled. She has been writing since she was fifteen, and also spent ten years working as a radio broadcaster, living in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Toronto and Latin America. Ben sits down with Elizabeth in her Ottawa home to talk about her books, her writing process, and much more. About the Guest I was born in 1951 in a beautiful part of the world. Owen Sound, Ontario, is on the southern shores of Georgian Bay. When I was five, we moved about twenty miles north to Wiarton on the Bruce Peninsula, a small town defined by limestone cliffs, icy water, poison ivy and an abundance of colourful characters. I roamed as freely around Wiarton as I did through books. My otherwise strict parents let me read whatever I wanted to. With Eric Friesen at The Lodge on Amherst Island, April 2008. My father was the high-school principal. My mother painted in her spare time, not that she had much time, since I was one of four children. The public library was almost a second home, a place in which I didn’t have to set the table or do the dishes or cope with being teased. I read good and bad alike. We had no television until I was nine, when we inherited my grandmother’s television set and were allowed to watch it for two hours a week. It stopped working after a few years and was never replaced. Then when I was almost ten, we moved inland and about a hundred miles south to another small town, this one on the edge of Alice Munro country. My five years in flat, agricultural Mitchell were probably the worst in my life—the years of puberty, unpopularity, self-consciousness. When I was fourteen, everything changed. Out of the blue my father moved us to London, England for a year and the world opened up in a thrilling way. I saw places every reader dreams about—the British countryside and famous cities—and I went to plays, ballet, art galleries, to Covent Garden as it used to be. That year I attended Camden School for Girls, where by accident (a random English assignment) I discovered that I could write poetry of a sort. A year later we came back to Canada, settling in Guelph, Ontario, where I finished high school. My years at the University of Toronto convinced me that what I needed was not academia but the real world. At the end of second year, I hitchhiked to Newfoundland, and at the beginning of third year I dropped out for a year and took the train to the west coast, eventually making my way to the Queen Charlotte Islands, now Haida Gwaii. I returned to university at the end of August and completed my third year, but went no further in school. After that, I moved west again, then north to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to join the man who would be my first husband, Craig McInnes. The northern photographs on the website are his. In Yellowknife I began to work in radio. During the ten years I was a broadcaster, I was a writer with a split personality, writing to a formula for radio and writing privately in the notebooks I began to keep. It took me a long time to see that the clarity and economy and directness required to tell a story to a radio audience would serve me well in whatever I wrote. After Yellowknife, I moved to Winnipeg, then Toronto, and then I freelanced in Latin America for a time, basing myself in Mexico. While in Mexico I met Mark Fried and we have been together ever since. We have two children, a daughter and a son. For six years we lived in New York City, where I put together my first books, Crossing the Snow Line and The Only Snow in Havana, and gathered the experiences that I used in Captivity Tales: Canadians in New York. Finally, my homesickness became intolerable and I dragged everyone to Ottawa, where we’ve been since 1992. Small Change, the collection of stories about friendships gone wrong, draws on material from throughout my life and explores the pain we experience in the name of friendship. My neighbourhood is Old Ottawa South, the setting for part of my first novel, A Student of Weather, and for all of my second novel Garbo Laughs. The Rideau Canal is two blocks away, the Rideau River an easy walk in the other direction. The streets look much as they did in the 1950s. It’s a quiet backwater, which suits me. I like to walk, I don’t like to drive and avoid it. The Sunnyside branch of the public library is a ten-minute walk from my house. I use it a lot. Almost directly across the street from the library is the Mayfair movie theatre, in constant use since the 1930s. This is the part of the world, not Ottawa but the Ottawa Valley, where my mother grew up. It has a lot of emotional resonance for me as a result. While I was writing my third novel, Late Nights on Air, I was already making notes for my fourth, Alone in the Classroom, which focuses to a large degree on the Ottawa Valley. His Whole Life, which has the 1995 Quebec referendum woven through it, moves between New York City and a lake in eastern Ontario. All Things Consoled, a daughter’s memoir is about my mother and father at the end of their lives. They both died in Ottawa, in a retirement home a six-minute walk from my house. From the age of fifteen I have been writing. The great struggle has been to believe that I have enough imagination of the necessary kind to write compelling material. I am dogged but self-doubting, and happiest at my desk. Learn more about Elizabeth. Mentioned in this Episode Late Nights on Air, 2007 novel by Elizabeth Hay All Things Consoled, 2018 memoir by Elizabeth Hay A Life in Letters by Anton Chekhov, a collection of letters published in 2004 for the hundredth anniversary of his death Video of the comedian Louis CK saying "everything is amazing and nobody is happy" His Whole Life, 2015 novel by Elizabeth Hay DH Lawrence, English writer (1885-1930) The Only Snow in Havana, 2008 novel by Elizabeth Hay Succession, an HBO television drama The Crown, a Netflix television drama Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragic play by Sophocles Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet and Nobel Laureate Gustav Mahler, renowned 19th century composer Charlie Kaufman, American screenwriter of films such as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind A Moveable Feast, a 1964 memoir by Ernest Hemingway "The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone Reduces Brain Power, Study Shows", article from the University of Texas Margaret Atwood, Canadian writer A quote from American writer Kurt Vonnegut: "Novelists have, on the average, about the same IQs as the cosmetic consultants at Bloomingdale’s department store. Our power is patience. We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anybody can do it. All it takes is time." Franz Kafka (1883-1924), German-speaking writer Beryl Bainbridge (1932-2010), British writer The Quote of the Week You are confusing two notions, "the solution of a problem" and "the correct posing of the question". Only the second is essential for the artist. - Anton Chekhov

Is dividing people up by their generation (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, etc.) unhelpful and even harmful? Is it a form of ageism, along the same lines as racism or sexism? What is the coming crisis of our time, and have we already arrived? And is it ethically justified to have children in this world in flux? Ben is in Kingston for a fascinating conversation about all this and more with philosopher Christine Overall of Queen's University. About the Guest Christine Overall's teaching, supervision, research, and publications are in the areas of feminist philosophy, applied ethics (including bioethics), philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education. She is the editor of four books and the author of six. Her book, Aging, Death, and Human Longevity: A Philosophical Inquiry (University of California Press, 2003), won both the Canadian Philosophical Association’s Book Prize and the Royal Society of Canada’s Abbyann Lynch Medal in Bioethics. Her book, Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate,  was published by MIT Press in 2012.  She also recently edited Dying in Public: Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, by Sue Hendler (Michael Grass House, 2012). Dr. Overall was a weekly columnist for the Kingston Whig-Standard from 1993 to 2006, and also wrote a column for University Affairs/Affaires universitaires from 2008 to 2011. Mentioned in this Episode A quick guide from CareerPlanner.com about generations, by Michael T. Robinson The Pax Americana (Latin for 'American Peace', modeled after the Pax Romana during the Roman Empire), a term for the relative global peace and prosperity in the years following the Second World War The Greatest Generation, a 1998 book by US journalist Tom Brokaw about those who grew up during the Great Depression and went on to fight in the Second World War "Will turning your phone to greyscale really do wonders for your attention?", a 2017 article in The Guardian Samuel Beckett, 20th century Irish writer and author of the famous play, Waiting for Godot Sophocles, ancient Greek playwright and author of the Oedipus Rex The Ethics of Belief, a book by 19th century philosopher and mathematician William Clifford Cui bono, a Latin phrase meaning, 'who benefits?' "The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce", an article in the Smithsonian Magazine The Prisoner's Dilemma "The Case for Not Being Born", an article about philosopher David Benetar in The New Yorker, 2017 Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence by David Benatar, 2006 Philosopher's Index, an online philosophy database 'Turtles all the way down', an expression of the philosophical problem of infinite regress "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it", a quote often ascribed to Aristotle The Quote of the Week "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." - William Clifford (1845-79), mathematician

One of the key features of the democratic process is opinion polling, whether it is leader likability or attitudes on various issues. But do these snapshots of the horserace have an impact on the race itself? How has scientific polling and statistical analysis changed? How will it change in the years to come? And, what happens when the data shows us that the story we think is happening is not the one actually playing out? Ben joins writer and political analyst Eric Grenier at his CBC office in Ottawa. About the Guest Éric Grenier is a senior writer and the CBC's polls analyst. He was the founder of ThreeHundredEight.com and has written for The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post Canada, The Hill Times, Le Devoir, and L’actualité. Mentioned in this Episode FiveThirtyEight, a comprehensive website dedicated to statistics, especially related to politics, founded by Nate Silver Outliers: The Story of Success, a 2008 book by Malcolm Gladwell in which he describes his popular theory of the 10,000 hours needed to master a skill "The Polls Are All Right", a 2018 article written by Nate Silver for FiveThirtyEight Episode 3 of Bob Rae's Political Stripes podcast, featuring an interview with guest Eric Grenier The Quote of the Week "One of the pervasive risks that we face in the information age, as I wrote in the introduction, is that even if the amount of knowledge in the world is increasing, the gap between what we know and what we think we know may be widening." - From The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail (2012) by Nate Silver

Do our names shape our destiny? What does it mean to live life as Don as opposed to Donald or Donnie? What prejudices do we carry with our names and the names of others, and what about those who change theirs? When we name our children, are we projecting our own battles and biases onto them before they even know the value of a name? Ben is in Toronto to sit down with Mavis Himes, a psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist who wrote The Power of Names: Uncovering the Mystery of What We Are Called. About the Guest Mavis Himes is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with a full-time private practice in Toronto, Canada. She is also clinical consultant at Wellspring, a cancer centre for patients and their families. Himes received her doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto (OISE) and completed her analytic formation in Lacanian psychoanalysis at Apres-Coup Psychoanalytic Association in New York City. She is a member of Apres-Coup Psychoanalytic Association and a guest member of the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society. With over thirty-five years of experience, Himes began her career in child psychology, working in a variety of children’s mental health clinics until she opened her private practice in 1988. Gradually, she shifted the population of her practice from that of children and adolescents to mainly that of adults. Even during the time of her work with children, she pursued her analytic interests and studies, always working with an appreciation of the effect of unconscious processes in the human psyche. During her years of work with children, Himes became involved with Bereaved Families of Ontario (BFO) where she ran the children’s program and was a member of the Professional Advisory Committee. Subsequently Himes became clinical director of Wellspring for a two-year period, developing and running a number of group programs. Now she offers short-term counseling at Wellspring Westerkirk House on Sunnybrook campus. Since 2003, Mavis Himes has been the director of Speaking of Lacan (SOL), a Toronto-based forum dedicated to the study of Lacanian psychoanalysis. SOL has hosted a speakers series and interdisciplinary colloquia on topics related to psychoanalytic thought, in addition to running seminars and reading groups (www.speakingoflacan.com). As part of this work, Himes has organized a series of lectures entitled Psychoanalysis and the Arts: In Conversation that provides an opportunity to explore and exchange commonalities and differences between psychoanalysis and the arts. In this series, she has been in dialogue with a number of prominent dancers, musicians and actors. As a writer, Himes is the author of the current book The Power of Names: Uncovering the Mystery of What We are Called published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2016. The Sacred Body: A Therapist’s Journey, a book about her work with cancer patients, was previously published by Stoddart in 2002. She is also the author of numerous psychoanalytic articles and book chapters that have been published in a variety of journals both in North America and abroad. She has given numerous presentations on psychoanalysis to a variety of audiences. Mentioned in this Episode Jacques Lacan, famous French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Video of George Carlin's comedy skit on boys' names Sigmund Freud, Austrian neuroscientist and founder of psychoanalysis King Lear, a 1606 play by William Shakespeare Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva; see the recent biography of her by Canadian biographer Rosemary Sullivan Selfie, a book by Will Storr; also check out Episode 11 of this podcast, about the book The Quote of the Week "I wish my name was Brian because maybe sometimes people would misspell my name and call me Brain. That's like a free compliment and you don't even gotta be smart to notice it." - Mitch Hedberg, US comedian (1968-2005)

Humans are living longer, delaying disease and decay later and later. It's conceivable that we could eradicate the big killers and attain a certain kind of infinite postponement of death. But what would this mean for our humanity? What does philosophy have to say about this, and about the state of our ongoing social experiment with democracy? Ben sits down to chat about all this and much more with Queen's University political philosopher and National Scholar, Colin Farrelly. About the Guest Colin received his PhD from the University of Bristol in England in 1999. Over his 20 year academic career he has held academic appointments in 10 different departments in Political Science, Philosophy and Public Policy in England, Scotland, the United States and Canada. Previous appointments include Visiting Professor in UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at the University of Manoa in Hawaii, Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University, Visitor in Oxford’s Program on Ethics and the New Biosciences, as well as permanent academic appointments at Waterloo University, Manchester University and the University of Birmingham. For the past 5 years Colin has been involved in teaching philosophy to male inmates. The author and editor of 6 books and approximately 50 journal articles, Colin’s publications include articles in journals in political science, philosophy, feminism, law, science and medicine. He has published on a diverse array of topics, including the health challenges posed by population aging, the creation and evolution of patriarchy, virtue ethics, virtue epistemology, virtue jurisprudence, play and politics, freedom of expression, judicial review, non-ideal theory, gene patents, deliberative democracy, nanotechnology, sex selection, toleration, a citizen’s basic income, enhancing soldiers and economic incentives. Colin’s next major research project explores the idea of the “playful” society as a realistic utopia and draws on empirical insights from evolutionary biology and positive psychology. Learn more about Colin, watch his TED Talk and check out his blog, In Search of Enlightenment. Mentioned in this Episode Colin's TEDxQueensu Talk on global aging and longevity science. An article by Colin about the naked mole rat's resistance to cancer Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari Thomas Hobbes, 17th century English philosopher known for his work, the Leviathan, and its theory of the social contract 'Epistemic virtues' John Dewey (1859-1952), American philosopher and psychologist Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari The Quote of the Week "Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question." - Yuval Noah Harari

Ziya Tong is "one of the world's most engaging science journalists" and after co-hosting Discovery Canada's Daily Planet television program for ten years, she wrote her first book, The Reality Bubble. It's a veil-removing tour-de-force, filled with wonder, rigour and a powerful thesis about our role in the world and how we are often blinded, sometimes by our own choice, from what on earth is really going on. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Ziya about The Reality Bubble and so much more. About the Guest Award-winning host Ziya Tong has been sharing her passion for science, nature and technology for almost two decades. Best known as the co-host of Daily Planet, Discovery Canada’s flagship science program, she brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the stage. Tong speaks on leadership, how to shift perspective, and the role of science and technology in society in her riveting and eye-opening talks. Before co-hosting Daily Planet, Tong served as host and field producer for PBS’ national primetime series, Wired Science, produced in conjunction with Wired magazine. In Canada, Tong hosted CBC’s Emmy-nominated series ZeD, a pioneer of open source television, for which she was nominated for a Gemini Viewer’s Choice Award. Tong also served as host, writer, and director for the Canadian science series, The Leading Edge and as a correspondent for NOVA scienceNOW alongside Neil deGrasse Tyson on PBS. In the spring of 2019, she participated in CBC’s annual “battle of the books.” After a national four-day debate, she won Canada Reads. In May 2019, Tong released her bestselling book The Reality Bubble. Called “ground-breaking” and “wonder-filled”, the book has been compared to The Matrix. It takes readers on a journey through the hidden things that shape our lives in unexpected and sometimes dangerous ways. Tong received her Masters degree in communications from McGill University, where she graduated on the Dean’s Honour List. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund and is the founder of Black Sheep. Learn more about Ziya or follow her on Twitter (@ziyatong). Mentioned in this Conversation Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian writer Lebenswelt, a German word roughly translating to "lifeworld" Tom Robbins, American novelist Extinction Rebellion, a global climate movement Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist Galileo Galilei, Renaissance Italian scientist Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli historian The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt The Animal People, a 2019 documentary The Matrix, a 1999 film The Interpreter, a series and newsletter from The New York Times "Irony poisoning", an emerging social concept Nav Bhatia, the Toronto Rapots "superfan" The "Beer Summit", a 2009 White House meeting arranged by US President Obama between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and the police officer who arrested him, Sgt. James Crowley, allegedly because of racial profiling Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), French stage actress Ghostbusters, a 1984 science fiction comedy film Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British philosopher The Quote of the Week "We have the technological lenses to see into vast distances of outer space, to see the tiniest microscopic organisms, to see right through the human body, to see the very atoms that make up the material world. But there is one fundamental thing that we do not see. When it comes to how our species survives, we are utterly blind." - From The Reality Bubble by Ziya Tong

Guy Gavriel Kay is a bestselling, world-renowned author whose works have been translated into over 30 languages. Originally from western Canada, Guy practiced law, developed a radio series with the CBC, and even assisted Christopher Tolkien with the editing of his father JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion, before becoming established as a fantasy writer. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Guy about writing, creativity, the intersection of art and power, and even the vagaries of pricing single malt whiskey. More About the Guest Guy Gavriel Kay is the international bestselling author of many novels and a book of poetry. He has been awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his work in literature of the fantastic and won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008. In 2014, Kay was named to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. His books include Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, Children of Earth and Sky, and most recently, A Brightness Long Ago. Learn more about Guy and his books, or follow him on Twitter (@guygavrielkay). Mentioned in this Episode San Gimignano, a walled Italian town known for its medieval towers, often called the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages" An Interview with John le Carré in the Paris Review, 1997 Edward Greenspan, renowned Canadian defence lawyer Bill Hammond, New Zealand artist (mentioned mistakenly in the conversation as John) "Mr. Tambourine Man", a song written by Bob Dylan, 1965 Andy Patton, Canadian painter, critic and scholar based in Toronto Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes, playwrights in the ancient Greek theatre Lysistrata, an ancient Greek play written by Aristophanes The Irishman, film directed by Martin Scorsese, 2019 Margaret Mead, 20th century anthropologist The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, a book by Philip Fernbach and Steven Sloman. Also check out Episode 24 of this podcast, about the book. The Quote of the Week "How we remember changes how we have lived. Time runs both ways. We make stories of our lives." - From Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Lucy Ellmann's groundbreaking and award-winning novel, "Ducks, Newburyport", consists of a single sentence broken up only by the small bits of a parallel story of a mountain lioness protecting her cubs. It's a powerful, engrossing and genuinely readable piece of literature that challenges how fiction is read as well as our base assumptions of history, women, motherhood and the incredible flux of the 21st century. Ben discusses the book with Barbara Bell, Artistic Director of Kingston WritersFest. About the Book Baking a multitude of tartes tatins for local restaurants, an Ohio housewife contemplates her four kids, husband, cats and chickens. Also, America’s ignoble past, and her own regrets. She is surrounded by dead lakes, fake facts, Open Carry maniacs, and oodles of online advice about survivalism, veil toss duties, and how to be more like Jane Fonda. But what do you do when you keep stepping on your son’s toy tractors, your life depends on stolen land and broken treaties, and nobody helps you when you get a flat tire on the interstate, not even the Abominable Snowman? When are you allowed to start swearing? With a torrent of consciousness and an intoxicating coziness, Ducks, Newburyport lays out a whole world for you to tramp around in, by turns frightening and funny. A heart-rending indictment of America’s barbarity, and a lament for the way we are blundering into environmental disaster, this book is both heresy—and a revolution in the novel. About the Guest Barbara Bell is the Artistic Director of Kingston WritersFest, with which she has been involved since the first meeting in 2009, becoming Artistic Director in 2014. “I love working in the arts,” she says, “and offering writers and readers a place to come together to celebrate literature.” Besides being a brilliant organizer, she is an actor, theatrical and film producer, television host, editor, and writer. Barbara won the Eastern Ontario Drama League’s Award for Best Actress for her ‘courageous’ and ‘riveting’ title role performance in Dacia Maraini’s Mary Stuart. She wrote, produced, and performed the one-woman play, Dreams and Desires in Kingston and at fringe festivals across the western provinces. She co-produced: a 28-minute film, Pretty Pieces, which screened at the Reel Heart International Film Festival, among others; several shorts including the award-winning Digging Up Plato; and a feature — Fault — which debuted at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. A second feature is in post-production. Barbara co-produced and hosted TVCogeco’s Pageturners: Kingston’s Book Club, sparking lively conversations with local authors. Barbara is past-chair of the City of Kingston’s Arts Advisory Committee, sat on the inaugural Mayor’s Arts Awards Nominations Working Group, and also sat on Kingston Arts Council’s Arts Advocacy Committee and the Kingston Writers’ Refugee Committee. Mentioned in this Episode Mrs. Dalloway, a 1925 novel by Virginia Woolf The Gnadenhutten massacre, referenced often in Ducks, Newburyport, occurred in 1782 when US militiamen killed 96 Delaware people James Joyce (1882-1941), an Irish writer The Infinity of Lists, a book by Umberto Eco Lolita, a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov A People's History of the United States, a book by Howard Zinn A clip of featuring comedian Louis CK in which he famously says, "everything is amazing, and nobody is happy" Michel Foucault (1926-84), French philosopher The Quote of the Week "...the fact that we all go on pretending things are fine, hoping everything’s a-okay, even though everything is nowhere near okay and we all know it, no matter how many candlelit vigils you hold..." - From Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Do the problems we face today -- political gridlock, climate change, social upheaval, accelerating economic inequality -- stem from fundamental imbalances in our society and thinking? What role might the plural (or civil) sector play in rejigging our systems? And why should we be ditching 30-year plans to focus on ones just a few weeks out? Ben sits down with world-renowned scholar of management, Henry Mintzberg, about these questions and many others. About the Guest Henry is a writer and educator, mostly about managing originations, developing managers, and rebalancing societies (where his attention is currently focused), also an outdoorsman and collector of beaver sculptures. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal (1961), working in Operational Research for the Canadian National Railways (1961-1963), and doing his masters and PhD at the MIT Sloan School of Management (1965 and 1968), Henry has made his professional home in the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill. He sits in the Cleghorn Chair of Management Studies (half-time since the mid-1980s), and has had extensive visiting professorships at INSEAD in France and the London Business School in England. Henry has authored 20 books, including Managers not MBAs, Simply Managing, Rebalancing Society and Managing the Myths of Health Care, also 180 articles plus numerous commentaries and videos. He now publishes a regular TWOG (TWeet 2 blOG), as “provocative fun in a page or 2 beyond pithy pronouncements in a line or 2” (@mintzberg141 to mintzberg.org/blog). A new collection is being published: Bedtime Stories for Managers. I co-founded and remain active in the International Masters Program for Managers (impm.org) and the International Masters for Health Leadership (imhl.org) as well as a venture CoachingOurselves.com, all novel initiatives for managers to learn together from their own experience, the last in their own workplace. Some consequences of all this have been election to the Order of Canada and l’Ordre national du Quebec as well as to the Royal Society of Canada (the first from a management faculty), two prize- winning Harvard Business Review articles, and twenty honorary degrees from universities around the world. I may spend my professional life dealing with organizations, but I continue to spend my private life escaping from them, especially in the Laurentian wilderness of Canada, usually with my partner and sometimes with my two daughters and three grandchildren. Learn more about Henry and follow him on Twitter (@Mintzberg141). Mentioned in this Episode Democracy in America, book by Alexis de Tocqueville (1835) Episode 35 of this podcast, about public policy featuring Rachel Laforest of Queen's University Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a landmark US Supreme Court ruling that Henry says essentially "legalized bribery" The End of History and the Last Man, book by Francis Fukuyama (1992) "There is no Nobel Prize in Economics...and why that matters", an article by Henry Mintzberg The Yellow Vest (gilets jaunes) movement in France, which started with increasing fuel prices The New Deal, a series of reforms enacted under US President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s The Quote of the Week The capitalist credo is: “greed is good, markets are sufficient, property is sacred, and governments are suspect.” Henry Mintzberg

Do music and poetry share the same roots? How do you write poetry that embraces complexity, history, beauty and atrocity? How can literature confront the self with the past, and the events that seem out of our control with the urgent need for a new language to understand them? What is creativity, and is there some kind of salvation there? Ben joins poet and teacher Canisia Lubrin for a fascinating conversation at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she currently works as writer-in-residence. About the Guest Canisia Lubrin is a writer, editor, critic and teacher. Her work is published widely and has been frequently anthologized, including translations into Italian and Spanish. Lubrin’s debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was named a CBC Best Poetry Book, longlisted for the Gerald Lambert Award, the Pat Lowther Award, and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. She was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award for her fiction contribution to The Unpublished City: Vol 1 and 2019 Writer in Residence at Queen’s University. Lubrin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her upcoming book, The Dyzgraphxst, featuring seven inquiries into selfhood, will be published in 2020. Mentioned in this Episode Lesley Belleau, Anishnaabekwe writer from Ketegaunseebee Garden River First Nation (Ojibwe), near Bawating/Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Kaie Kellough, Canadian poet and novelist based in Montreal Robin Richardson, Canadian poet and founding editor of the Minola Review The Epic of Gilgamesh, a nearly 4000 year-old text from ancient Mesopotamia, widely regarded as one of the earliest surviving pieces of literature "Obama on Call-Out Culture: 'That's Not Activism'", article in the New York Times by Emily S. Rueb and Derrick Bryson Taylor Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes A quote from poet Mary Ruefle: "Someone reading a book is a sign of order in the world" The shooting of Philando Castile, July 2016 Dionne Brand, renowned Canadian poet The Quote of the Week “Books leave gestures in the body; a certain way of moving, of turning, a certain closing of the eyes, a way of leaving, hesitations. Books leave certain sounds, a certain pacing; mostly they leave the elusive, which is all the story. They leave much more than the words.” Dionne Brand

What is the future of technology, and what does it take to be a real lifelong innovator at the ground level? Ben's guest is James Brown, a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and head of Limestone Technologies in Kingston. They have been at the forefront of polygraph and other security technology in Canada for years, and their most recent endeavour might sound unorthodox until you hear the backstory: PLANTChoir, a device that lets you hear the music of plants. About the Guest James Brown is the President of Limestone Technologies in Kingston, Ontario, where he has led the way with electronics, software development, polygraphy, phallometrics, employee screening and much more. From 1986 to 2003 he was a project manager with Queen's University's Psychology Department. James's most recent endeavour is PLANTChoir, a technology that lets you tap into the music of your plants. He  Mentioned in this Episode Cleve Backster, early developer of polygraph technology and experimenter of the same technology on plants Episode of Dragon's Den, where PLANTChoir is pitched by Limestone Technologies The Reality Bubble, a science book by Ziya Tong Avatar, 2009 film directed by James Cameron The Quote of the Week "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Live theatre is one of the oldest art forms, but rather than fade away in the face of easy social media and instant entertainment, it is experiencing a resurgence. What is it about live drama that keeps filling theatres around the world? How are theatre directors keeping the form relevant, accessible and engaging? What are the cultural touchstones of the stage, and what makes it so much fun? Ben is in Edmonton to chat with Daryl Cloran, Artistic Director of the renowned Citadel Theatre. About the Guest Daryl began his tenure with the Citadel in September 2016. He came to Edmonton from his role as Artistic Director of Western Canada Theatre (WCT) in Kamloops, B.C. Past chairman of the Citadel Board of Directors, Sheila Witwicky, has said of Daryl that “he has the special combination of vision, skill, experience and artistry that running a theatre centre like ours requires.” Originally from Ontario, Daryl was at the artistic helm of WCT for six years and, in addition, is a nationally recognized director of productions across the country, including at the Arts Club, Theatre Calgary, National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage and Neptune Theatre. He was the Artistic Director of Theatrefront, Toronto, known for its unique international theatre collaborations in countries such as South Africa and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which played across Canada and internationally to much acclaim. He’s also the co-creator and director of DRUM! a musical celebration of the founding cultures of the Maritimes which features a large cast of dancers and musicians from Celtic, Acadian, African-Canadian, and First Nations origin. Daryl is thrilled to be spending the next chapter of his career in a theatre town like Edmonton. “My passion as a theatre-maker and Artistic Director is community. It will be my job as Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre to become a contributing part of Edmonton’s artistic community and to provide opportunities to local artists and train emerging artists from the region and across the country,” he says. “I believe the Citadel must maintain a high profile leadership role within Edmonton and continue to figure prominently as part of the national theatre scene. As Artistic Director, I will pursue partnerships and opportunities to showcase the Citadel’s work on national stages. I believe a theatre with the profile of the Citadel should be known nationally for its work, and while the Edmonton community will always be our primary audience, audiences across North America should see our fabulous productions.” Growing audiences is a particular focus of Daryl’s. He’s keenly interested in having young people experience the magic of theatre, as well as in the importance of multi-cultural voices on Edmonton’s stages. WCT is a national leader in the creation of First Nations theatre work and the support of First Nations artists. Children of God, a musical co-developed at WCT about the residential school experience in Canada, premiered at the National Arts Centre in June 2017, and will appear on the Shoctor stage at the Citadel March 3 to 24, 2018. Daryl also has a great interest in theatrical experimentation. At WCT, he created the annual High-Wire Festival, which challenged the relationship between artist and audience by exploring different theatre formats (micro-performance, immersive performance, interactive productions). Daryl intends to bring this desire for experimentation and attracting non-traditional audiences to the Citadel. “I value theatre that asks questions important to its community; I value creative risks,” he says. “The Citadel is an incredible theatre company with a history of innovation, high production values and important contributions to the Canadian theatre landscape. I want to build on this success, honour its traditions and also take appropriate risks to lead the Citadel into the next phase of its artistic growth. My wife and I and our two young sons are excited to be calling Edmonton home.” Learn more about Daryl or follow him on Twitter (@DarylCloran). Mentioned in this Episode Western Canada Theatre, a company based in Kamloops, BC Poetics, an ancient work on aesthetics by Aristotle Theatrefront, a theatre company based in Toronto and originally founded by Daryl Cloran Theatre Yes, a theatre company based in Edmonton Highwire Series, a new theatre program produced by the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton Fight Night, a play that was produced at the Citadel Theatre in October 2019 Late Fragment, an interactive film co-written and co-directed by Daryl Cloran Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, an interactive Netflix program Rashomon, a classic 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa Mump and Smoot, a renowned Canadian performance clown duo Prison Dancer, an upcoming Citadel Theatre project inspired by this video The Quote of the Week "I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Rampant and increasing polarization of our politics? The turn to populism as a result of economic inequality? The growing, scarcely regulated political power of social media and Big Data? These are some of the forces that are reshaping our politics in North America, with a minority government in Canada and an impending election (and ongoing impeachment inquiry) in the United States. Ben chats with Queen's University political scientist Jonathan Rose about all this and more. About the Guest Jonathan studied at University of Toronto and Queen's where he received his Ph.D. In addition to Queen's he has taught courses at the International Studies Centre (Herstmonceux, UK), Charles University in Prague, Bratislava, Slovakia and Kwansei Gakuin in Osaka, Japan where he was the Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies. In 2008, Jonathan was a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of Making Pictures in our Heads, Government Advertising in Canada (New York: Praeger Press, 2000). He is also the co-editor of Canada: the State of the Federation, 1998 and is the lead author of First Ministers’ Conference, the Art of Negotiation, a simulation exercise published by Broadview Press and translated into three languages. His most recent book co-written with Patrick Fournier, Henk Van der Kolk and R. Kenneth Carty is When Citizens Decide: Lessons from Citizens' Assemblies on Electoral Reform (Oxford, 2011). Jonathan's teaching is varied. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Canadian politics, political communication, federalism, the mass media, electoral systems, intergovernmental relations and public policy. In 2010 he received the Frank Knox Certificate of Commendation for Excellence in Teaching. In 2011, Jonathan was the recipient of W.J. Barnes Teaching Excellence Award. He has provided advice to the Auditor General of Canada on government advertising and sponsorship, and is a member of the Advertising Review Board for the Auditor General of Ontario, a board that enforces legislation regulating government advertising in Ontario. In 2006, he had the privilege of being the Academic Director of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, the first such body in Ontario and second in the world. Learn more about Jonathan or follow him on Twitter (@JonathanRose). Mentioned in this Episode POLS 101: "What is Going on? Explaining Donald Trump", a course taught by Jonathan at Queen's University UN Speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg (video) Teardown, a book by Dave Meslin Jody Wilson-Raybould, independent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville Path dependence, a concept in the social sciences "Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry Into Its Own Russia Investigation", an article in the New York Times Episode 45 of this podcast, about marketing and human nature, featuring guest Terry O'Reilly Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, a book by Marshall McLuhan (and origin of the quote: "the medium is the message") The Quote of the Week "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." - Marshall McLuhan (1911-80)

We can't seem to talk about gambling without reference to its very real, very serious social problems -- whether it's the association with organized crime, the addictiveness, or the ruination of many people's lives. But what if we look at gambling through the lens of everyday life? Where does it come from, what does it say about us, and how should we manage it in our society? Ben is in Edmonton to chat with University of Alberta gambling expert Fiona Nicoll. About the Guest My greatest strength as a researcher is the creation of interdisciplinary conversations about some of the most challenging political issues of our time, from cultural genocide and reconciliation to gambling policy, white nationalist movements and the challenges facing the neoliberal university. I apply this research expertise to facilitate public art and other knowledge transfer projects. In addition to producing a body of art writing for books and catalogues, I have curated, managed and produced media (including websites and film) related to whiteness, reconciliation and Indigenous sovereignties. In 2002 I curated a social history exhibition for the Liverpool Regional Museum on the life of Aunty Nance DeVries, a survivor of the ‘stolen generations’ of Aboriginal children and speaker to the New South Wales Parliament on the occasion of the Government’s apology in 1997. Working with veteran documentary photographer, Mervyn Bishop and videographer, Sandra Peel, I drew upon and exhibited extracts from a large archive of documents about Nancy’s ‘case’, from her birth up to the age of eighteen when she was released from institutions of state care. Titled Ten Hours in a Lifetime (a reference to the time spent with her biological mother), this exhibition was the most popular in the museum’s history, with thousands of school children attending tours while it was on site, before later travelling to the New South Wales Parliament House. In 2014-2015 I delivered a major project for the University of Queensland titled Courting Blakness: Recalibrating Knowledge in the Sandstone University. This project centred on the Great Court as the symbolic and material heart of the University of Queensland. Reflecting the University’s heritage, traditions and prestige, this gathering place and thoroughfare is also a space where images of Aboriginal people prior to, during and after the colonization of Australia are carved in sculptural reliefs. Curated by Fiona Foley, Courting Blakness entered a creative visual dialogue with these carvings. Works by eight Aboriginal artists (Archie Moore, Ryan Presley, r e a, Natalie Harkin, Megan Cope and Michael Cook, Christian Thompson and Karla Dickens) made the Great Court a unique staging platform for discussions about the relationship between Indigenous people and the University; the edited collection of essays published by UQP provides a permanent record of these discussions. While on site, it reached over 25,000 people, including 800 students across fourteen different courses through disciplinary specific frameworks of discussion and assessment tasks. It delivered staff training through public seminars and two university-wide ‘Diversity Discussions’ and provided over 1,000 hours of volunteer activity. The website attracted over 3031 unique users and was a valuable teaching, learning and research resource for the exhibition. It now forms a digital archive for future research on public art and universities. As convenor of the 2017-2018 Political Science Department Speakers’ series, I brought scholars to campus to reflect on some of the most difficult questions raised by the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Speakers included Glen Coulthard, Audra Simpson, Jaskiran Dhillon, Robert Nichols, Jeremy Schmidt and Aileen Moreton-Robinson. I am currently producing a short film titled Afterlives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: What Comes Next? Directed by award winning Métis film-maker, Conor McNally, it will feature provocative research presentations by Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics and interviews with leaders of Prairie Aboriginal communities. The film will be used in classrooms and boardrooms to educate non-Indigenous people about the meaning and ramifications of ‘cultural genocide’ and current aspirations to national reconciliation. Mentioned in this Episode Where the Action Is: Three Essays by Erving Goffman On Liberty by John Stuart Mill Beyond Freedom and Dignity by BF Skinner The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape Our World by Ziya Tong Yuval Noah Harari, popular historian Anzac Day No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein Governmentality, concept invented by French philosopher Michel Foucault The Quote of the Week "Gambling is a principle inherent in human nature." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

What makes an election work? Is it the technology aggregates our preferences? Is it trust that our choices will be fairly counted, that they have an impact? Is it the institutions that manage the voting process? Or is it, ultimately, the people we elect and whether or not they choose to respect the process? What happens to our democracy when these components are stretched and strained? Ben chats with Holly Ann Garnett, political scientist and elections expert at the Royal Military College of Canada. About the Guest Holly Ann Garnett is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, and cross-appointed faculty at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Her research examines how electoral integrity can be strengthened throughout the electoral cycle, including electoral management, registration and voting procedures, election technology and cyber-security, civic literacy and campaign finance. She is a co-convener of the Electoral Management Network, and contributes to the Electoral Integrity Project. Holly Ann was an Endeavour Research Fellow at The Australian National University (2017), a visiting fellow at the Åbo Akademi, Finland (2017), a visiting researcher at the University of Sydney (2014), and a Killam Fellow at Cornell University (2009). She completed her PhD in Political Science at McGill University (2017), where she was a student member of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. She is also a proud alumna of Queen’s University (MA in Political Studies, 2011) and Nipissing University (BA (Hon) in History and Political Science, 2010). Learn more about Holly or follow her on Twitter (@HollyAnnGarnett). Mentioned in this Episode Episode No. 68 of this podcast, about Higher Education with Mark Sollis Episode No. 13 of this podcast, about the division of political power with Anthony Sayers Elections Canada Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, a book by Robert D. Putnam Pippa Norris, comparative political scientists at the Harvard Kennedy School The Electoral Integrity Project, an academic research project based in Harvard and Sydney Universities Episode No. 74 of this podcast, about gamification with David Chandross On Liberty, classic philosophical work by John Stuart Mill Michel Foucault (1926-84), French philosopher Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society, a book by Eric Posner and E. Glen Weyl The Quote of the Week "When people put their ballots in the boxes, they are, by that act, inoculated against the feeling that the government is not theirs. They then accept, in some measure, that its errors are their errors, its aberrations their aberrations, that any revolt will be against them. It's a remarkably shrewd and rather conservative arrangement when one thinks of it." - John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006), Canadian-born economist

Some argue that all of humanity today faces an identity crisis, as we struggle with rapid change and a deteriorating habitat -- and that the solutions may lie in indigenous social technologies, especially the power of the story. This is a wide-ranging discussion covering a lot of ground (reconciliation, diversity, Back to the Future), but one that should be relevant to all. Ben is in Edmonton for an inspiring conversation with Jacquelyn Cardinal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Naheyawin. About the Guest Jacquelyn Cardinal is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Naheyawin, as well as Co-President and Director of Social Awareness Group. Jacquelyn was nominated for Edmonton's Top 40 Under 40 class of 2018, and received an Esquao Award for Achievement in Business and a SHEInnovates Award from the UN Women's Global Innovation Coalition for Change. In early 2019, her first play, Lake of the Strangers, co-written with her brother and co-produced with Fringe Theatre, premiered and received the Sterling Award for Outstanding New Play. When she isn't using ancient tools to solve contemporary problems, she is learning all she can about emergent technologies and exploring her love for film. Mentioned in this Episode The Reality Bubble, a book by Canadian science journalist Ziya Tong Hunter Cardinal, Jacquelyn's brother and Naheyawin's Director of Story The Inconvenient Indian, a book by Thomas King Back to the Future, the 1985 film Wilfred Buck, Cree astronomer mentioned by Jacquelyn Caravaggio, prolific 16th and 17th century Italian painter Episode 70 of this podcast, featuring Fleming Puckett on Power, Colonialism and the San People The Quote of the Week "Everybody has their stories about the sky, because everybody lives under the sky." - Wilfred Buck

We often see video games as a form of consumer entertainment—an escape from reality, not that different from watching TV or reading a book. But the structure of games are perhaps fundamental to what it means to be human. By playing them, we can learn to be and rehearse as doctors, pilots, engineers, lawyers, and more. We might also overcome real conditions, such as depression and addiction. Ben has a powerful and provocative conversation with gaming, gamification and learning expert David Chandross. About the Guest David Chandross holds masters degrees in both cognitive neuroscience and higher education and a doctorate in curriculum design. As one of the founders of the field of gamification he has not only developed numerous games for training in industry and universities, but also participated in broad research projects in this field. His original work was on neuroscience, pharmacology, and the role of attention in the brain. This transformed into an interest in education for the health professions, where he held the rank of Dean, Assistant Dean, and Program Coordinator across sectors like medical technology management, medical education and allied health professions training. He developed an interest in the use of simulations in medical education which then focused on the design of games to use simulations effectively in undergraduates. After participating as a researcher in the $3 million dollar SAGE gamification grant at Simon Fraser University he worked with organizations across many sectors to improve learning through serious game design. Since that time Dr. Chandross has designed game systems for improving memory in seniors, training health professionals for management of the frail elderly, the design of instruction for the financial sector, cyber-security professionals, Elections Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto, Baycrest Health Sciences, Ryerson University, the National University of Health Sciences, ARC Business Solutions, the energy sector, the College of Family Physicians, Ontario and Humber College. His current research focus is in two areas: (1) The treatment of memory loss in seniors with dementia using streaming digital technology and (2) the optimization of virtual reality and immersive technology in learning. He is the program coordinator for seniors’ off campus education at Ryerson University and is active in the development of advanced systems for training health professionals as part of the E-Campus and Contact North initiatives for the province of Ontario. Mentioned in this Episode Walter Greenleaf, a behavioural neuroscientist at Stanford University David Kaufman, professor of education at Simon Fraser University Martin Seligman, American psychologist (positive psychology) Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, a book by Robert Sapolsky Richard Bartle, British professor and game researcher Paul Howard-Jones, professor of neuroscience and education at Bristol University Ready Player One, a book by Ernest Cline followed by a 2018 film directed by Steven Spielberg Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari The Matrix, the 1999 film Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto psychologist Black Mirror, a series on Netflix Donald Trump, Doug Ford and Jordan Peterson, an article in the National Post by guest David Chandross The Quote of the Week “A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression.” - From Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

What is consciousness? Where does the mind reside? Can we create artificial intelligence that can fake intelligence, or maybe just have it? What happened in 17th century Europe that led to such a fascinating time for deep thinkers? And are we going through a similar period of churn today? Ben has a fascinating and wide-ranging chat about these big questions with University of Alberta professor of philosophy Amy Schmitter. About the Guest   Besides her position as Professor of Philosophy, Amy is an Executive Editor and Board Secretary for the Canadian Journal of Philosophy.She is also involved in the project “New Narratives in the History of Philosophy,” supported by a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In April 2016, she was a Visiting Professor in the Facultad de Filosof Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, where she lectured and held several seminar sessions. Before coming to the University of Alberta, Amy taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Hamilton College in New York, and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and at New York University, and during 2002-03, held a Fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University. She has received several awards for Summer Institutes and Seminars from the National Endowment for the Humanities (U.S.A.) and two Standard Research Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She also serves on various committees, including the Religious Studies Advisory Council for the U of A, the Program Committee for the Pacific Northwest-Western Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, and review committees for several grant organizations.  Amy's main areas of research and writing are the history of early modern philosophy and philosophy of art. But those are broad and eclectic areas that (necessarily) take her into many different topics, historical periods and approaches to philosophy. Her teaching interests and educational history cover yet further fields. The result is that she knows a little bit about many different things.  Mentioned in this Episode Here are the thinkers we mentioned in this episode: Hume, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Russell, Marx, Descartes, Hobbes, Leibniz, Spinoza, and Poulain de la Barre. Check them out! A History of Western Philosophy, a book by philosopher Bertrand Russell Crash Course on Aesthetic Appreciation, a video that mentions the example of a chained cat statue (is the chain part of the art?) The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, a book by Stephen J. Gould The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle and the Struggles for the Soul of Western Civilization, a book by Arthur Herman Discourse on Method, a 1637 work of philosophy by René Descartes Physics, a 4th century BC work of philosophy by Aristotle The Quote of the Week "One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another." - René Descartes

It's Friday 13th! What does that mean? Is it an unlucky day? According to science—no, it means absolutely nothing. But there is one exception: the date has meaning if we think it does. As meaning-machines, we impart significance everywhere we look. We don't want to live in a world where randomness reigns. So what traps have we set? Ben has a fascinating chat with University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal, statistician and author of "Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything". About the Guest Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto, and author of Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 1967, he received his BSc in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the University of Toronto at the age of 20, his PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University at the age of 24, and tenure in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto at the age of 29. For his research, Rosenthal was awarded the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, and the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the most prestigious honour bestowed by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. For his teaching, he received a Harvard University Teaching Award in 1991, and a University of Toronto Outstanding Teaching Award in 1998. He was elected to Fellowship of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 2005, and to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012, and was awarded the SSC Gold Medal in 2013, and a President's Impact Award in 2019. Rosenthal's book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. It led to numerous media and public appearances, to his work exposing the Ontario lottery retailer scandal, and to a President's Impact Award. Rosenthal has also published two textbooks about probability theory, and well over one hundred refereed research papers, many related to the field of Markov chain Monte Carlo randomized computer algorithms and to interdisciplinary applications of statistics. He has dabbled as a computer game programmer, musical performer, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French. Despite being born on Friday the thirteenth, Rosenthal has been a very fortunate person. Learn more about Jeffrey at his website or follow him on Twitter (@ProbabilityProf). Mentioned in this Episode The Secret, a book by Rhonda Byrne Poisson clumping, a phenomenon where random events tend to occur in clusters, clumps, or bursts. The hard problem of consciousness The Quote of the Week "Luck has a way of evaporating when you lean on it." - From Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

What does it mean to have a good conversation about politics, democracy, our place in the world, Donald Trump and sports? How do we bring disparate and distinct voices into that dialogue, and keep it fresh? The Walrus, a weekly Canadian magazine, has been trying to figure it out. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Jessica Johnson, executive editor and creative director of The Walrus, about democracy, conversation, and the magazine's unique and ever-evolving response to "what on earth is going on?" About the Guest Jessica is the executive editor and creative director for The Walrus. She is an award-winning journalist who has worked with a range of North American publications, including The Globe and Mail, National Post, Saturday Night, Lucky, Elle, and The New Republic. Her work has also appeared in the BBC and Medium. Jessica was named executive editor of The Walrus in 2017. She is also a visiting professor at the University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto. Learn more about Jessica or follow her on Twitter (@ejessicajohnson). Mentioned in this Episode Thank You For Being Late, a book by Thomas Friedman (also check out Episode 60, about the book) Jason McBride, a writer at The Walrus "The Charmed Life of Esther the Wonder Pig", an article in The Walrus by Jason McBride Black Mirror, a program on Netflix Cover of The Walrus magazine from December 2018 Video of "A More Perfect Union", a 2008 presidential campaign speech by Barack Obama  Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto professor of psychology Sidewalk Labs, a company owned by Google that is developing Toronto's Quayside neighbourhood The Quote of the Week "Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them, draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought. Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards." - Theodore Zeldin

Is colonialism ongoing in the Kalahari Desert? What do the struggles of the San peoples tell us about democracy, tradition, adaptation to the environment, and the exercise and imbalances of power in today's world? What role does tourism take in all this, and is education still the silver bullet? And, can a people be truly free and fulfilled without meaningful sovereignty? Ben chats with higher education consultant, scholar and Program Director at the Kalahari Peoples Fund Fleming Puckett. About the Guest Dr. R. Fleming Puckett is Program Director for Land Rights & Governance for the Kalahari Peoples Fund, working to increase awareness, funding, and advocacy related to land rights, community governance, and San/government relationships across southern Africa. He began his fieldwork with the !Xun, Khwe, and ǂKhomani San people of South Africa in 2009 and received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in 2013. He is also the Senior Director of Strategic Research for EAB. Dr. Puckett's continuing research focuses on indigenous systems of governance, decision-making, land use, and community organization and the impacts of conflicts between these systems and the stated goals, requirements, and implementation procedures of national land and “development” legislation. His professional background includes research, teaching, writing, public speaking, legal practice, consulting, and negotiation. In addition to his doctorate, Dr. Puckett holds an MA in Higher Education from Columbia University, an MBA from Cornell, and two law degrees, from Boston University and Cambridge University. He was admitted to the State Bar of New York in 2002. Fleming is co-editor of the book, Research and Activism Among the Kalahari San Today: Ideals, Challenges, and Debates (2017). Learn more about Fleming and the Kalahari People's Fund. Mentioned in this Episode The San People of the Kalahari The Notre-Dame de Paris fire and reconstruction The Inconvenient Indian, a book by Canadian author Thomas King The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) The Quote of the Week "We are not primitive. We live differently to you, but we do not live exactly like our grandparents did, nor do you. Were your ancestors 'primitive'? I don't think so. We respect our ancestors. We love our children. This is the same for all people." - Roy Sesana, San activist

What is social media doing to our politics from the inside? Are politicians themselves getting along, or are the deep partisan divisions in our culture also fraying the relationships of the people who we have elected to get things done? What does it take to run and win a political campaign these days? And how can democracy evolve. Or, should it? Ben chats with Stephanie Rea, longtime conservative political staffer and current communications director for the Ontario Minister of Education. About the Guest Stephanie Rea is a long-time political staffer who originally studied journalism and writing. She has worked for several conservative governments and politicians over the years on the federal and provincial levels, and currently works for the Ontario Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, under Premier Doug Ford. Mentioned in this Episode Black Mirror, a series on Netflix Edward Snowden, activist and whistleblower The Quote of the Week "Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." - Winston Churchill

What is the future of the university and higher education? Will the local, broad-scope, brick-and-mortar campuses that form a critical part of our society give way to a fragmented system of hyper-focused online learning nodes? What is learning, anyways? And what's the purpose of an educational institution in the first place? Ben has a fascinating chat with a key thinker in this space: writer, strategist and higher education engagement specialist Mark Sollis, whom you might remember from Episode 60. About the Guest Mark Sollis is a strategist and creative with D3 Advancement Strategies & Communications. Noted for his disruptive thinking and willingness to challenge the status quo, Mark served for almost five years as the first Associate Vice-President, Alumni at the University of Calgary. Building on leadership roles in planning within various institutions, he led the creation of, and delivered on, the institution's much-lauded first Alumni Strategy, which set the university as one of the most forward-thinking and performance-driven operations in the field of alumni engagement. Previously, at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Mark served for three years as the project manager for Canada’s leading alumni facility, the $20 million UBC Alumni Centre, while working as the Senior Director, Operations and Planning; and Interim Associate Vice-President Alumni and Executive Director, Alumni Association, for UBC Alumni. Noted for his considered approach, and his ability to execute with focus, agility, and collegially, his post-secondary experiences also cover media relations; student leadership; finance; major project management; as well as serving as strategic counsel to higher education executives. Mark served on the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations from 2013-16 and the CASE District VIII Board from 2014-16. A frequent presenter in North America and internationally, with significant experience with CASE and the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), he has also worked closely with institutions and colleagues across Canada, the US, Australia and the UK in the areas of performance management, planning and organisational development. Other leadership roles include successes in two major Canadian political campaigns and serving as a caucus chief of staff, and as a VP Advancement in Scotland. A proud graduate of Mount Royal (Calgary) with a Bachelor of Applied Communications (Journalism), Mark has recently launched his own consultancy to focus on performance management, strategy development, and business planning in advancement. Mentioned in this Episode A quote from George Bernard Shaw, from Back to Methuselah: “You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?” Episode 60, in conversation with Mark Sollis about Thank You For Being Late by Thomas Friedman ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design), now the Alberta University of the Arts State of Higher Education in 2019, a report by Grant Thornton The End of History and the Last Man, a 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama, based on his 1989 essay Hegel's Dialectics (thesis-antithesis-synthesis) The Quote of the Week "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch

How do we understand and engage in today's conversation about gender? What on earth is going on with gender and identity politics, and what is the personal dimension? Ben is at Queen's University in Kingston to chat with Dr. Lee Airton, author of Gender: Your Guide — A Gender-Friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say, and What to Do in the New Gender Culture. It's a fascinating, important and unexpectedly fun conversation about the unique historical moment in which we live today. About the Guest Dr. Lee Airton is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Education at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. As a researcher, blogger, advocate and speaker, Dr. Airton focuses on enabling individuals and institutions to welcome gender and sexual diversity in everyday life. In 2012, they founded They Is My Pronoun, a Q+A-based blog about gender-neutral pronoun usage and user support with over 30,000 unique visitors in 2017 alone. Dr. Airton is also the founder of the No Big Deal Campaign, a national social media initiative that helps people show support for transgender peoples' right to have their pronouns used. In recognition of their advocacy work, Dr. Airton received a 2017 Youth Role Model of the Year Award from the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Dr. Airton's first book is Gender – Your Guide: A Gender-Friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say and What to Do in the New Gender Culture, which offers practical steps for welcoming gender diversity in all areas of everyday life. As a university-based teacher educator for over ten years, Dr. Airton has worked with hundreds of teacher candidates to widen the circle of belonging and participation for students of all genders and sexualities. Dr. Airton's current SSHRC-funded research explores how K-12 schools are responding to the inclusion of gender identity and gender expression protections in human rights legislation, including implications for teacher education. Dr. Airton's scholarly publications have appeared in the journals Gender and Education, Sex Education, Curriculum Inquiry, Teachers College Record, and the Journal of Education Policy, and their editorials have been published in The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. With Dr. Susan Woolley, they are also editing a forthcoming collection of lesson plans on gender diversity for K-12 teachers. Learn more about Lee or follow them on Twitter (@LeeAirton). Mentioned in this Episode Episode 2: The Digital Age, an episode of this podcast featuring philosopher Carlos Prado. The No Big Deal Campaign Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), an activist alliance formed in the UK in 1984-85 Two books by psychologist Jonathan Haidt: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, and The Coddling of the American Mind (with Greg Lukianoff) Episode 24: The Knowledge Illusion, an episode of this podcast about The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach Lev Vygotsky, Soviet psychologist and founder of cultural-historical psychology Freedom, music video of a song by Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar Michel Foucault (1926-84), French philosopher The Quote of the Week "Don’t aim for no mistakes. Aim for better mistakes." - From Gender: Your Guide by Lee Airton

What does it mean to be a storyteller? What happens when we look into the mirror after a long day, let the masks drop, and come face to face with who we really are? What does ownership mean in the arts, and what can theatre be when it isn't a commodity? Why do we act in the first place, and are our stories and audiences changing? And what's going on with Samuel Beckett? Ben is in Calgary for a funny, fascinating and quite unique conversation with local actor and theatre artist, Andy Curtis. About the Guest Andy is a founding artist of Black Radish Theatre in Calgary, where he recently performed the role of Vladimir in the company's production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Andy is also a member of the One Yellow Rabbit's Ensemble, which creates original works in the Big Secret Theatre, performing and touring internationally for over 30 years. In 2007, the Ensemble was awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award. Andy has worked with many Calgary theatres companies, including Theatre Calgary, ATP, Ground Zero, Loose Moose, Quest, Stage West, Ghost River, Vertigo Theatre and Lunchbox. Andy had the great fortune to perform alongside his daughter at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in MAKING TREATY 7, an ongoing project which explores the historical significance and aftermath of the events which took place at Blackfoot Crossing in 1877. Learn more about Andy. Mentioned in this Episode Keith Johnstone, Calgary-based improv artist and teacher who worked with Samuel Beckett in London The "Allegory of the Cave", from The Republic by Plato The Okotoks "Big Rock", a glacial erratic in southern Alberta The Maori myth of the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand Making Treaty 7, an arts collective in southern Alberta Michelle Thrush, Canadian actress and First Nations activist Tanya Tagaq, Canadian Inuk throat singer Eya-Hey Nakoda, a musical drum group from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation in southern Alberta Proust, a 1930 essay by Samuel Beckett A clip of Ian McKellen describing his acting process on Extras The High Performance Rodeo, a yearly theatre festival in Calgary The Genesis Centre, a community institution in northeast Calgary The Quote of the Week "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

How important is culture to the long-term success of an organization? What role does being vulnerable play in leadership? How does story help weave and even make up our everyday experience? And what can putting ourselves out there with travel teach us about our own inner storyteller and context in the world? Ben is in Ottawa to chat with Jana Dybinski, consummate traveler, thinker, innovator and VP for Marketing and Culture at Rebel.com. About the Guest Jana's bio on her website is just too good, so instead of any tinkering, we've copied it here. Stories shape us. My Irish dad was an astrophysicist. He told me about worlds beyond our universe. He launched rockets, and once took a road trip from France to Iran, where it was so hot that his steering wheel melted. My German mom was a teacher - the kind that inspires a deep and profound love of learning. She moved to California before doing her Master's degree and traveled around in a Westfalia. One time she charmed a stunt pilot to take her flying and barrel-roll his plane. As kids, my brother and sister and I spent hours passing our old globe back and forth, creating stories of the infinite possibilities the world held for us. No one was surprised when I saved all my spares to spend the last two months of high school exploring New Zealand alone, or when I came back to study journalism. After graduating I received a fellowship from the Aga Khan Foundation to work in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The stories in East Africa were intoxicating. The women I worked with were changing the face of education in their communities by training teachers and building vibrant classrooms out of recycled scraps. They laughed infectiously at each other's jokes, and at my frequent state of bewilderment. Like the time in central Tanzania, when a baby was passed onto my bus, alone, with a note of his destination tied around his wrist. For reals. While I panicked, the other women on the bus took turns bouncing a stranger's baby, until hours later when he was unceremoniously released into the arms of someone waiting at the specified stop. I was friends with a Massai warrior. One night we tried to figure out how long it would take to walk to the moon. I called my dad. The answer is 9 years. In Kenya I camped among hippos and drank gin with a British expat who lived in a house with only two walls. In Ethiopia I fed wild hyenas from a stick and a 7-year-old boy showed me a cave with a floor made of human skulls. A chance encounter with some fellow Canadians while stuck in an Ethiopia sandstorm landed me a job managing comms for the international organization CODE. I worked to travel. While hiking to Machu Picchu I learned about e coli and Peruvian hospital care. One time while smoking shisha in Istanbul with my childhood best friend I looked up and knew the Canadian guy walking past. The world’s like that. Small. Magical. When a boyfriend broke up with me I decided to leave my coms job to go explore India. My mom thought I was being irresponsible, but I went anyway. A month later that boyfriend showed up and proposed to me on a train leaving Varanasi. We were travelling in third class and sharing a tiny space with an Indian family of 6, all staring and loudly eating papadum. It was romantic anyway. We got married a year later. Our vows were taken from pages of the journals we wrote for each other during those crazy colorful months in India. I took a job at a digital marketing agency and learned new platforms for storytelling. It wasn't as purposeful as the international work, but it was fun and creative and I liked the psychology behind it all. I loved studying what motivated and inspired people. ​By then my dad had lost his rocket scientist job. Consumed by darker stories, he’d become a no-longer-functioning alcoholic. He was always talking about how Bill Gates ruined his life, and also that he invented the internet, neither are true. He’s never even met Bill. It was hard to witness his suffering. Addiction's like that. I got lucky with an incredible mom that made up for it, and enough world experience to fully understand that all we ever really control is how we show up. My husband and I road tripped around California with paper maps. We watched a van speed right off a winding road and over a cliff near Death Valley. In Thailand we snorkelled at night in blue plankton. It was like a dream. I got knocked up and we bought a little 1.5 story house from a man who hoarded antiques and kept three intact bullmastiffs in the basement. It was a fixer upper. Our daughter was born on Christmas Eve in our living room. I’ve never felt so alive - so completely unleashed. She’s a wildly quirky and curious kid. At 6 years old she already has a daily ritual of creating art before sunrise. I wake up to her nudging me, the latest piece in her hands. Mornings are the best. My digital agency job had warped into leading the marketing at Rebel.com. I worked with a talented leadership team to evolve Rebel’s outdated brand, vision and negative workplace into something to be proud of. Changing corporate culture is hard but purposeful work. We won awards for the transformation we created, and I geeked out over the philosophical side of inciting change within teams and organizations. I wrote articles and took stages to share our story of turning a bad culture into something really special. All that learning around how to transform organizations and teams gave me a heightened awareness around the power of transforming individual leaders too. I got introspective. I loved my life and at the same time felt unsettled inside. My untethered traveler identity was diluted by all the other things I’d become - a female leader in a tech company, a corporate culture junkie, a speaker, a marketer, a wife, a mom. My family and friends told stories about my success, but I could feel something was still missing. It was like my intuition was yelling at me but I couldn't make out a word. I felt stuck and guilty for wanting more out of my easy, privileged life. I worried that if I didn't figure it out I'd have big regrets. I was deeply uncomfortable with my own pain, which I labelled as trivial. I decided to patiently follow the whispers of intuition that I could hear. They led me to pour thousands of hours (and dollars) into the study of change at a personal level - into mastering the principals behind positive psychology, personal development, self connection, and the delicate art of balance. I hired a talented coach who supported me to reconnect with myself. ​ I learned that we're not just shaped by stories, we're made of them. The stories we believe. The stories we let others write about us. The stories we write for ourselves. My story is about discovering how to connect with the evolution of yourself, and how to live audaciously in all your identities. My story is about a travelling explorer who's also a proud female leader in a tech company, a wife, a mom, a speaker, and a leadership coach. Because my intuition wasn't yelling at me at all, it was calling me - to share my story and support other leaders that are passionate about transforming themselves and their organizations, but stuck where I've been stuck. To do this, I co-founded a fun consulting company with a couple of my favorite humans, called We Human. Learn more about Jana or follow her (@janowhatimsayin) on Twitter and Instagram. Mentioned in this Episode Thank You For Being Late by Thomas Friedman (check out Episode 60 about the book) The Aga Khan Foundation Canada Sapiens, a book by Yuval Noah Harari The Future of Education, video of a conversation with Yuval Noah Harari and Russell Brand 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, a book by Yuval Noah Harari The Quote of the Week "Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change." - Brené Brown

George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1984) is a touchstone of 20th-century English literature and a key piece of modern political thought and speculative fiction that continues to provoke conversation, and comparison, today. Orwell's novel from 1949 describes a bleak future where the state (Big Brother) has weaponized technology, language, propaganda and memory to exert near-total control over every person. Jaret Hargreaves joins Ben in Calgary to discuss this classic and frighteningly prescient book. About the Book "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controlsthe past." Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal. George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century. About the Guest Jaret Hargreaves is a Product Management professional with more than ten years experience bringing products to market at health tech startups. Spending more time in school than his parents could reasonably have foreseen, Jaret studied Biochemistry and Computer Science, splitting time between the Universities of Calgary and British Columbia. He studied medical imaging while completing an MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the Foothills Medical Centre, where his thesis investigated image processing to aid neurologists in stroke diagnosis. With the slowly dawning realization that he would never be a truly exceptional programmer, Jaret decided to pursue an alternate career in health tech, where he could utilize his ability to speak both rudimentary “doctor” and “developer”. He spent 7 years at Calgary Scientific (now PureWeb) managing a series of medical image viewing products including ResolutionMD Mobile, the first FDA-cleared diagnostic viewer for Apple and Android mobile devices. Next, Jaret lead development of Brightsquid’s Secure-Mail, which provided secure communication between doctors and dentists, including with their colleagues and patients. Jaret currently serves as Director of Product Management at two health tech companies. At the Calgary-based medical imaging startup Kent Imaging, he leads development of SnapshotNIR, a near-infrared camera for assessing tissue health. He also manages partner opportunities for the eponymous Auxita platform for the company out of Brisbane, Australia. In his spare time, Jaret has volunteered for organizations including the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the Calgary Youth Science Fair, and local political campaigns, where he is motivated by the potential of exceptional candidates. He served as the Data Lead for the successful 2015 campaign for Calgary Centre MP Kent Hehr. If you’re looking to engage him in an animated discussion, any of the following topics are a safe bet: near-future dystopian fiction (any format), Star Trek (not-so-near-future utopia), amateur home barista-ry, returning to hockey as an adult, disc golf, 3D printing, and the collected works of Joss Whedon. Check out Jaret on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter (@jaretis). Mentioned in this Episode "George Orwell's '1984' is Suddenly a Best-Seller", article in The New York Times, January 2017 "Kellyanne Conway: Press Secretary Sean Spicer Gave 'Alternative Facts'", video from Meet The Press / NBC News Firefly, a television series created by Joss Whedon Wag the Dog, a film directed by Barry Levinson Noam Chomsky, scholar, historian, activist and writer The Handmaid's Tale, a book by Margaret Atwood and subsequent television series The Lives of Others, a 2006 German film Guns, Germs and Steel, a book by Jared Diamond Brave New World, a 1932 book by Aldous Huxley often paired with 1984 The Road, a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy The Lord of the Rings, a fantasy trilogy by JRR Tolkien The Quote of the Week "The best books...are those that tell you what you know already." - From 1984 by George Orwell

What does it mean to be an introvert, and is it harder in our society to keep to oneself? Is there a pressure to conform to an Extrovert Ideal? How do introverts assert themselves in education, the workplace and daily life without giving up what makes them unique, thoughtful -- and just them? Ben brings back Jody MacPherson (Episode 11) to talk about "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain. About the Book The book that started the Quiet Revolution At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves. About the Guest Check out Jody on social media: http://about.me/jodymacpherson Jody MacPherson is an Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) with 20+ years of experience in corporate communications and public relations. Graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, Jody spent her teenage years in Fort McMurray working for the local weekly newspaper and radio stations throughout high school as a columnist and on-air reporter. She paid for university, by literally going underground at Syncrude Canada, working in the extraction plant of the oil sands operation in the 80’s, working as the only woman on her shift, logging hours in the underground portion of the mining operation, cleaning up spills and collecting lab samples. After graduation, Jody stayed in the north to work as a journalist but soon made the leap to public relations in 1986 where she wrote and edited employee publications (and co-authored a book) for several years in Fort McMurray before moving to Edmonton. As community relations team leader, Jody managed donations programs and organized community relations activities across the province, including a $1 million community investment program in Calgary. She went on to receive an international award of excellence for work in employee communications. Formed her own communications consulting company and for the next six years specialized in stakeholder consultation (including cross-cultural communication), employee communication, website content and writing/editing for numerous clients. Beginning in 2005, Jody switched to full-time employment in the public sector in various leadership roles including director of communications and media relations for the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine. Left the U of C in July of 2010 to pursue political interests, including volunteer positions as the former VP of Communications for the Alberta Liberal Party (2008-2010) and as communications/media chair for Kent Hehr’s successful election as Member of Parliament in Calgary Centre in 2015 (Mr. Hehr was also appointed to the federal Liberal cabinet as Minister of Veterans Affairs). After the last municipal election, Jody left a position with a local non-profit organization to supervise a team for the City of Calgary in digital/web communications and social media. Mentioned in this Episode Episode 11: "...according to the book, Selfie", a previous episode featuring Jody MacPherson in a discussion about Will Storr's book Episode 45: "...with Marketing and Human Nature", a previous episode featuring Terry O'Reilly The Power of Introverts, a TED Talk by Susan Cain Who Are You, Really? The Puzzle of Personality, a TED Talk by Brian Little The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, a book by Malcolm Gladwell The Quote of the Week "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." - Albert Einstein

What does it mean to be creative? Where does creative expression lie: in the individual, in the shared experience, or in the coming together of public and private? How can an actor be more than just an interpreter, but a creative artist in their own right? Ben is in Toronto to chat with Brian Smith, acting teacher, coach and Professor Emeritus from the University of Calgary, about his own journey, and the meaning and importance of finding one's creative voice in our difficult and accelerated age. About the Guest Brian researches the practice of contemporary theatre performance through acting, directing, coaching and devising performance. He is especially interested in the creativity of the actor, and has particular expertise in the use of masks in actor training and performance. In directing, Brian has focused on the reinterpretation of plays from the modern theatre for contemporary audiences. The modern Russian theatre has been an area of particular interest. At the University of Calgary, Brian taught acting to advanced-level undergraduates. In this work, process took precedence over immediate result, and students investigated how technique and the creative imagination support one another in the creation and interpretation of works for the theatre. At the graduate level, Brian taught a course that investigates the creative and communicative practices of collaborating artists as they conceptualize theatre works together. Today, though retired from university teaching, Brian still works in the theatre, and divides his time between Toronto and Nova Scotia. The Quote of the Week "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.." - Pablo Picasso

Denise Clarke is one of Canada's most respected performing artists, perhaps best known for her work with One Yellow Rabbit. Since 1997 she has opened up the company's process with the Summer Lab Intensive. She recently published The Big Secret Book: An Intense Guide for Creating Performance Theatre. Ben talks with Denise about her book, the recent Calgary production of Waiting for Godot (which she directed for Black Radish Theatre), the life of an artist, the meaning of art in an age of noise, and much more. This episode contains some swearing. About the Guest Denise began working with One Yellow Rabbit in 1983 and became Associate Artist and a permanent member of the Ensemble in 1986. She has created or co-created several shows including The Erotic Irony of Old Glory, Touch, CD Dance, Breeder, So Low, Permission, Featherland, Sign Language, Heavens to Murgatroid, A Fabulous Disaster, Smash Cut Freeze, and wag. In 1997, Denise created the Summer Lab Intensive and as Director continues to welcome a broad range of established and emerging artists from all over the world. She continues to teach, provide master classes, and lecture across Canada and abroad. Other work includes choreography for Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary, Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, Crows Theatre, Canadian Stage Company in Toronto, the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake. Denise has toured extensively in shows including Ilsa, Queen of the Nazi Love Camp, Mata Hari: Tigress at the City Gates, Doing Leonard Cohen, Thunderstruck, Sign Language, and Dream Machine. On December 30th, 2013, Denise was appointed as a Member to the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honours. Prior to this appointment, she was also recognized by the University of Calgary with an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Arts. Recently Denise wrote The Big Secret Book, An Intense Guide To Creating Performance Theatre. The Quote of the Week "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." - From "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann, 1927

Thomas Friedman has been explaining the modern predicament as an author and New York Times columnist for decades. With Thank You For Being Late, he turns his sights to the unprecedented rate of change today. His main focus here is on the three M's: Markets, Moore's Law and Mother Nature, and the book's scale is grand as it tries to answer our eternal question, what on earth is going on? Joining Ben to tackle the book is Mark Sollis, strategist, writer and engagement specialist in higher education. About the Book A field guide to the twenty-first century, written by one of its most celebrated observers. We all sense it―something big is going on. You feel it in your workplace. You feel it when you talk to your kids. You can’t miss it when you read the newspapers or watch the news. Our lives are being transformed in so many realms all at once―and it is dizzying. In Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, a work unlike anything he has attempted before, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman’s original analysis. Friedman begins by taking us into his own way of looking at the world―how he writes a column. After a quick tutorial, he proceeds to write what could only be called a giant column about the twenty-first century. His thesis: to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand that the planet’s three largest forces―Moore’s law (technology), the Market (globalization), and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)―are accelerating all at once. These accelerations are transforming five key realms: the workplace, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and community. Why is this happening? As Friedman shows, the exponential increase in computing power defined by Moore’s law has a lot to do with it. The year 2007 was a major inflection point: the release of the iPhone, together with advances in silicon chips, software, storage, sensors, and networking, created a new technology platform. Friedman calls this platform “the supernova”―for it is an extraordinary release of energy that is reshaping everything from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. It is creating vast new opportunities for individuals and small groups to save the world―or to destroy it. Thank You for Being Late is a work of contemporary history that serves as a field manual for how to write and think about this era of accelerations. It’s also an argument for “being late”―for pausing to appreciate this amazing historical epoch we’re passing through and to reflect on its possibilities and dangers. To amplify this point, Friedman revisits his Minnesota hometown in his moving concluding chapters; there, he explores how communities can create a “topsoil of trust” to anchor their increasingly diverse and digital populations. With his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, Friedman shows that we can overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations―if we slow down, if we dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics, and community. Thank You for Being Late is Friedman’s most ambitious book―and an essential guide to the present and the future. About the Guest Mark Sollis is a strategist and creative with D3 Advancement Strategies & Communications. Noted for his disruptive thinking and willingness to challenge the status quo, Mark served for almost five years as the first Associate Vice-President, Alumni at the University of Calgary. Building on leadership roles in planning within various institutions, he led the creation of, and delivered on, the institution's much-lauded first Alumni Strategy, which set the university as one of the most forward-thinking and performance-driven operations in the field of alumni engagement. Previously, at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Mark served for three years as the project manager for Canada’s leading alumni facility, the $20 million UBC Alumni Centre, while working as the Senior Director, Operations and Planning; and Interim Associate Vice-President Alumni and Executive Director, Alumni Association, for UBC Alumni. Noted for his considered approach, and his ability to execute with focus, agility, and collegially, his post-secondary experiences also cover media relations; student leadership; finance; major project management; as well as serving as strategic counsel to higher education executives. Mark served on the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations from 2013-16 and the CASE District VIII Board from 2014-16. A frequent presenter in North America and internationally, with significant experience with CASE and the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), he has also worked closely with institutions and colleagues across Canada, the US, Australia and the UK in the areas of performance management, planning and organisational development. Other leadership roles include successes in two major Canadian political campaigns and serving as a caucus chief of staff, and as a VP Advancement in Scotland. A proud graduate of Mount Royal (Calgary) with a Bachelor of Applied Communications (Journalism), Mark has recently launched his own consultancy to focus on performance management, strategy development, and business planning in advancement. The Quote of the Week "When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start. You start to reflect, you start to rethink your assumptions, you start to reimagine what is possible and, most importantly, you start to reconnect with your most deeply held beliefs. Once you’ve done that, you can begin to re-imagine a better path." - Dov Siedman, CEO of LRN, as quoted by Thomas Friedman in Thank You For Being Late

What are the challenges and pressures that face growing cities like Toronto? How do we make housing affordable in such places? And what does the future of the city look like? Ben is in Toronto to chat with a panel of experts on the past, present and future of the city: Adam Brind, managing partner and broker of record with Core Assets Real Estate; Pamela Robinson, Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University; and podcast alumnus Blair Scorgie, Senior Planner and Urban Designer at SvN Architects and Planners. About the Guests Adam Brind Adam Brind is a co-founder of Core Assets Real Estate. Since launching in January 2013, the company has quickly become one of the leading full-service brokerages in the Toronto market selling in excess of $500,000,000 in the first five years of operation. As a real estate Broker, Adam has over 10 years of experience selling luxury properties and is one of Toronto’s foremost real estate Brokers putting him in the top 1% year-over-year, among Toronto Real Estate Board members. Adam has a focus on the luxury markets in central Toronto including custom built homes, recently renovated properties and underdeveloped land. Adam’s team adds value by staying involved and advising his clients through low-rise building projects (infill homes, additions and renovations). He often contributes to various media publications as both an author and an industry expert which have included the Globe and Mail, Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine, Toronto Life and many others. Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University and continues to develop his skills and education. He has attended Harvard Business School and completed the Executive Education Program on Urban Development, Design and Construction. Adam lives and works in central Toronto with his wife and two kids. Learn more about Adam or follow him on Twitter (@AdamJBrind). Pamela Robinson Pamela Robinson (MCIP, RPP) is the associate dean, graduate studies and strategic initiatives at the Faculty of Community Services and an associate professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson. She is also a registered professional planner. As part of the geothink.ca research team, Robinson's research and practice focus on urban sustainability issues with a particular focus on cities and climate change and the use of open data and civic technology to support open government transformations. She serves on the board of directors of the Metcalf Foundation and has participated in four Metrolinx Community Advisory Committees. Robinson is an editor of Urban Sustainability: Reconnecting Space and Place (University of Toronto Press, 2013), Teaching as Scholarship: Preparing Students for Professional Practice in Community Services (WLU Press, 2016) and is a columnist for Spacing magazine. Learn more about Pamela or follow her on Twitter (@pjrplan). Blair Scorgie Blair is a Senior Planner and Urban Designer as well as SvN’s Business Development Director. He holds a Master of Architecture, specializing in Urban Design, from McGill University as well as a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University. Blair is a Registered Professional Planner, and a member of both the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Ryerson University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning and was formerly the Acting Chair of the City of London Urban Design Review Panel. Blair’s diverse project experience includes streetscape and public realm design strategies; architectural control and private realm design strategies; revitalization and intensification strategies; waterfront, campus and district master plans; policy reviews and amendments; development approvals and appeals; and urban design peer reviews. Listen to Blair in Episode 22, learn more about him, or follow him on Twitter (@BlairScorgie). The Quote of the Week "The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand." - Italo Calvino (1923-1985)

Making films is often about balance: between the singular vision of the script and director and the ideas and impulses of the team; between getting the perfect shot and keeping the project on time and under budget. And yet the end result can be like a magic trick. How do they do it? Ben is in Toronto to chat with filmmaker Christopher MacBride, who has written and directed films such as "The Conspiracy" (2012). He is currently in the editing suite for "The Education of Fredrick Fitzell. The Quote of the Week "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations." - Orson Welles

People take to the streets to change the world. Sometimes regimes fall and power shifts, yet too often nothing much happens -- it's business-as-usual the next day. But are we missing the spirit of activism? Are mass protests actually about changing the conversation and altering our perspectives? Or is disobedience the goal in itself? Ben is in Toronto to chat with Lesley Wood, activist and York University Professor of Sociology, about her work on how ideas travel and the true purpose of protest. About the Guest Lesley Wood is Associate Professor of Sociology at York University in Toronto. She is interested in how ideas travel, how power operates, how institutions change, how conversations influence practices, how people resist and how conflict starts, transforms and ends. Lesley is the author of Direct Action, Deliberation and Diffusion: Collective Action after the WTO Protests in Seattle (2012) and co-author of the third edition of Social Movements 1768-2012, and Crisis and Control: The Militarization of Protest Policing. She is an activist in the global justice and anti-poverty movements. Learn more about Lesley, visit her blog, or follow her on Twitter (@lesleybikes). The Quote of the Week "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." - Elie Wiesel

Michael Kaufman's newest book, The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution, is a stirring call for men to step up for women's rights, as well as a poignant analysis of what on earth is going on with gender equality today.  Michael has been a prominent figure in promoting social justice and women’s rights for decades. He sits with Ben in Toronto for a timely and insightful conversation about why men should do more, what they have to gain, and how to get it done. About the Guest Michael Kaufman, PhD, is a writer, advisor, and keynote speaker whose innovative approaches to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality and transforming men's lives has taken him around the world over the past four decades. He has worked extensively with the United Nations and with governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, trade unions, and universities. Michael is also the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. He is a senior fellow at Promundo in Washington DC and co-writer of the State of the Worlds' Fathers Report. He is a member of France's G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. In 2017 he was awarded Canada's Meritorious Service Cross. His work in the UN system, including with UN WOMEN, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, IFAD, and UNESCO has taken him to New York, Rome, Paris, Beijing, Katmandu, Ankara, Geneva, Nairobi, Jakarta, and Delhi. He has worked with numerous NGOs including OXFAM, International Red Cross, Save the Children, and Amnesty International, as well as with governments on six continents. He wrote the training program on sexual harassment used by tens of thousands of staff at the United Nations. His latest book is The Time Has Come. Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution. He is the author or editor of eight other books on gender issues, on democracy and development studies, and two novels, the award-winning, The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars and the anti-war tale, The Afghan Vampires Book Club. His articles, which have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals around the world, have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian, Turkish, and Arabic. He has worked across Canada and the United States; in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Russia); Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Chile, Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador); Africa (Namibia, Kenya, South Africa): Asia and Australia (Japan, China, South Korea, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand.) Michael previously taught at York University in Toronto where he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean. He lives in Toronto, Canada, is married, and has a grown daughter and son. Learn more about Michael or follow him on Twitter (@GenderEQ). The Quote of the Week "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." - Kofi Annan

In April 2019, Jason Kenney returned the Conservatives to power in Alberta. Is this a return to normal in Alberta politics, where one party usually rules? What's happening underneath the platforms and rhetoric? And what do these events tell us about politics, populism and power elsewhere? Ben is in Calgary to address these questions with renowned pollster and political analyst Janet Brown, lawyer and former politico Denise Brunsdon, and University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Sayers. About the Guests Janet Brown Based in Calgary, Janet Brown is one of Alberta’s most-recognized pollsters and political analysts. With over 25 years experience in polling and marketing research, Janet has developed a knack for asking the right people the right questions. Janet sees beyond the headlines and talk radio chatter to assess and interpret what’s happening beneath the surface in Alberta politics. In partnership with journalist Paul McLoughlin, Janet publishes the Wild Ride Update – a quarterly report on Alberta’s rapidly evolving political scene. She is co-author of "Marginally Better: Polling in the 2015 Alberta Election", a chapter in Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta, an edited volume released by the University of Calgary Press in 2019. Janet is a regular commentator on the CBC Calgary News at Six, Alberta Primetime on CTV2 in Alberta, and The Weekend Morning News on Global News Calgary. Learn more about Janet or follow her on Twitter (@planetjanetyyc). Denise Brunsdon Denise is a confident and creative thinker who works tirelessly for her clients and community. She is a general commercial litigation lawyer at Bennett Jones in Calgary, Alberta, with particular experience in court and arbitration disputes in digital, intellectual property, construction, health, and real estate matters. Besides appearing before arbitration tribunals, Denise has appeared before the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court of Canada. Denise is a co-founder and member of Lawyers for Education, Access, and Diversity (LEAD Alberta), and volunteer legal counsel for the Women’s Centre of Calgary. Prior to law, she was a senior director in public relations and a researcher for the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children. She worked for the Liberal Party of Canada as well as the BC Liberal Party for political leaders such as Stephane Dion, Paul Martin and Christy Clark. Denise has earned awards in sex discrimination law, leadership in business and the law, and outstanding community leadership. She is proficient in French and Spanish. Learn more about Denise or follow her on Twitter (@brunsdon). Anthony Sayers Anthony is a previous guest on the What on Earth is Going on? podcast, when he discussed the division of political power with Ben. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Western Australia and completed an MA and Ph.D at the University of British Columbia. His research deals with major political institutions including political parties, elections, federalism and parliaments. He is particularly interested in the organizational and campaigning aspects of political parties and the distribution of power in federal states, and wrote Parties, Candidates, and Constituency Campaigns in Canadian Elections. He also writes about Alberta provincial politics. Listen to Anthony in Episode No. 13 or learn more about him. The Quote of the Week "Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen." - Winston Churchill

What does it mean to be human? Is the world a mirror or a window? Should our experience of reality be mediated, and if so, who should be the mediators? We ask these questions earnestly today, but they were tackled in revolutionary ways during the European Renaissance, an extraordinary period of progress and creativity. Ben's has a powerful and spirited conversation with a world-renowned historian of culture and the Renaissance, Professor Kenneth Bartlett of the University of Toronto. About the Guest Kenneth Bartlett is a Professor of History and of Renaissance Studies, a program he helped establish in 1979, at Victoria College in the University of Toronto. He teaches courses ranging from first year to graduate levels, with his research interests in the fields of Anglo-Italian relations in the sixteenth century and Italian humanism. Professor Bartlett was also the founding director of the Office of Teaching Advancement (now CTSI), and founder and director of the Faculty of Arts and Science's undergraduate experience programs, which include the First-Year Seminars, the Research Opportunities Program and the Independent Experiential Study Program, which won the Northrop Frye Award for excellence and innovation in linking teacher and research. Professor Bartlett was also the founding director of U of T's Art Centre, and currently serves as a trustee for the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. During his career at the university, which spans over 30 years, he has been the recipient of the Victoria University Excellence in Teaching Award, the Students Administrative Council and Association of Part-Time Students Undergraduate Teaching Award (on two occasions), and the Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2005, Professor Bartlett was awarded both the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship and a University of TorontoArbor Award. In 2007 he was awarded an inaugural LIFT Award by the Province of Ontario and was a finalist in the TVO Best Lecturer Competition. In addition to teaching, he has published over 35 scholarly articles and contributions to books, and several editions and translations of Renaissance texts. He has served as the editor of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme, and President of the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies. He has produced four video series on various aspects of Italian Renaissance culture and European civilization, and has also appeared in televisions series such as Museum Secrets. Some of his publications include The Experience of History, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, The English in Italy 1525-1558: A Study in Culture and Politics, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance and The Northern Renaissance and the Reformation. Learn more about Ken. The Quote of the Week "Learning never exhausts the mind." - Leonardo da Vinci

Sally Armstrong has been to some of the most dangerous places to speak with, learn about and report on women and girls in conflict zones. Countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia have been her beat for decades, and yet she has always found her way to the heart of the human story. An award-winning journalist, author and human rights activist, Sally joins Ben for a timely conversation about the ascent of women everywhere, and why we need to do more to make the world a better, more equal place. Read the blog post about this episode. About the Guest Sally Armstrong is sometimes called “the war correspondent for the world’s women.” She’s also known as “La Talibanista”. Sally has covered stories in zones of conflict all over the world. From Bosnia and Somalia to Congo and Afghanistan, her eyewitness reports have earned her the Amnesty International Media Award four times over, as well as acclaim all over the world. Armstrong shares her experiences reporting from the front lines and imparts her audiences with the lessons she’s learned from the battlefields surrounding the complexities of “human rights” versus “human wrongs.” In addition to her journalism, Armstrong is the author of the books Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan; The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor; Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan’s Women; and her most recent title, Ascent of Women: A New Age is Dawning for Every Mother’s Daughter. 2017 was a busy year for Armstrong — it saw her on assignments in Iraq, Kenya, and Afghanistan, and she gave a speech in Oxford, UK, and at Oxford University. Also in 2017, Armstrong was promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada, and won, along with photographer/videographer Peter Bregg, the Amnesty International Canada Media Award for their work in Iraq (her fourth Amnesty International Canada Media Award). She and Bregg also won the Gold Award for Investigative Journalism at The Canadian Online Publishing Gala for their work about the Yazidis called Resisting Genocide in 2017. Armstrong is a former member of the International Women’s Commission at the UN, and is the recipient of ten honorary doctorate degrees. Her newest book, Power Shift: The Longest Revolution, will be published in October 2019. Learn more about Sally. The Quote of the Week "Talking is the antidote for oppression and injustice." - Sally Armstrong

Bob McDonald is one of Canada's most recognizable voices. An author, science journalist and chief science correspondent for the CBC, Bob has been hosting Quirks & Quarks (a weekly radio show about science) since 1992. He's interviewed thousands of scientists over the years, and this week he joins Ben for a conversation about science and technology, the power of curiosity and storytelling in communicating science, and the urgent need for us to see the long game in order to face today's big challenges. About the Guest Bob McDonald is one of Canada’s best known science journalists, bringing science to the public for more than 40 years. In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program that is heard by 800,000 people each week, McDonald is also science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National and host and writer of the children’s series Head’s Up. The host and writer of numerous television documentaries and more than 100 educational videos in Canada and the United States, Bob has also authored four bestselling science books, and contributed to numerous textbooks, magazines, and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail. His latest book is Canadian Space Walkers: Hadfield, MacLean and Williams Remember the Ultimate High Adventure. An Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, Bob has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science with the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; the “Sir Sanford Fleming Medal” from the Royal Canadian Institute; and the “McNeil Medal” from The Royal Society of Canada. He also won a 2008 Gemini Award for Best Host in a Pre-School, Children’s or Youth Program or Series. In 2015, asteroid 332324 was officially named “Bobmcdonald” in his honour by the International Astronomical Union. He holds eleven honorary doctorates from Canadian universities. Learn more about Bob or follow Quirks & Quarks on Twitter. The Quote of the Week "Science is an organized way of being curious." - Bob McDonald (from today's podcast)

Yan Lianke is one of China's most influential living writers. His often-satirical works have earned him an international readership. He has been touted for the Nobel Prize in Literature. And yet, most of Yan's books are effectively (if not formally) banned in China. Ben brings together three previous guests (Tricia Baldwin, Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant and Daniel Woolf) to discuss the rise of China, the absurdity of modern life, and what government power will look like in the future. Their point of departure is a 2018 profile of Yan Lianke in The New Yorker magazine. Note: you don't need to read anything before listening to the conversation; the below piece is a starting point only. Read the article in The New Yorker by Jiayang Fan. Read the blog post for this episode. About Yan Lianke Yan Lianke has secured his place as contemporary China’s most essential and daring novelist, “with his superlative gifts for storytelling and penetrating eye for truth” (New York Times Book Review). His newest novel, The Day the Sun Died—winner of the Dream of the Red Chamber Award, one of the most prestigious honours for Chinese-language novels—is a haunting story of a town caught in a waking nightmare. Yan was born in an impoverished region of Song County, Henan Province in 1958. His parents, illiterate farmers who lacked the means to send him to university, encouraged him to enlist in the army, where he rose in the ranks to become a propaganda writer. Upon returning to civilian life, Yan embarked on a career as a novelist. Over the last 30 years, he has produced an extensive body of work that ranges from novels, novellas and short fiction to essays and criticism. Although he has had two of his novels banned in China and was, for a period of three years, prohibited from obtaining a passport or travelling abroad, Yan continues to speak honestly about the impact that government censorship—and self-censorship—have had on contemporary Chinese writers. His full-length novels include: The Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦, Ding Zhuang Meng), a tale of the blood trade and subsequent AIDS epidemic in a rural Henan village; The Joy of Living (Alt title: The Living, 受活, Shou Huo), a sweeping tale of the lives of disabled rural villagers from the Chinese Communist revolution through the years of reform and opening; The Sunlit Years (日光流年, Riguang Liunian); Solidity of Water (also called Hard as Water, 坚硬如水, Jianying Ru Shui) and Serve the People (为人民服务, Wei Renmin Fuwu), which was banned in China and later translated into English, French and Japanese. He has published ten collections of novellas and short stories: among them, the critically acclaimed Days, Months, Years (年月日, Nian Yue Ri), Song of Balou (耙耧天歌, Balou Tiange) and a five-volume set of his collected works. He is a member of the Chinese Writers’ Association and the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the first and second Lu Xun Literary Prizes and the Lao She Award for literary excellence, awarded in recognition of his novel The Joy of Living (受活, Shou Huo), considered by many to be his master work. Yan is also a winner of the Franz Kafka Prize.   About the Guests Tricia Baldwin Listen to Ben's previous podcast conversation with Tricia (Episode 12 on The Role the Arts Play) Tricia Baldwin became the Director of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (‘the Isabel’) in December 2014, and works with a tremendously talented team at the Isabel. Tricia is responsible for its programming featuring top diverse emerging and established artists, education, student and community engagement resulting in significant increase in audience participation, socially engaged art, and facilities management. She established the Isabel as an arts incubator for new works, the Ka’tarohkwi Festival of Indigenous Arts with curator Dylan Robinson, the Isabel Human Rights Arts Festival, and the Isabel Overton Bader Canadian Violin Competition. Tricia is the co-creator of Queen’s University’s new M.A. in Arts Leadership program with Queen’s Dan School of Drama and Music, and is the course developer and instructor of the program’s Contract Negotiations in the Arts graduate course. A champion of training the next generation of arts leaders, Tricia has been a mentor with the Canadian Heritage Talent to Lead Program and the Cultural Career Council of Ontario Mentor Program. Tricia recently served on the International Association of Venue Managers Association conference panel on arts management education. Prior to the Isabel, Tricia Baldwin was the Managing Director of Tafelmusik from 2000 to 2014. During this period, Tafelmusik doubled its operating revenues and increased its endowment seventeen fold. The orchestra undertook over 50 national and international tours, created 20 recordings and films that garnered significant industry awards and nominations that led to the launching of its recording label and digital concert hall, established artist training programs attracting pre-professional musicians from around the world, and undertook a successful $3M venue renovation. Tricia also headed up Tafelmusik’s expansion of venues within Toronto that contributed to the doubling of earned revenues and significant audience development. Prior to Tafelmusik, she was the Executive Director of Ballet British Columbia and General Manager of the Kingston Symphony. Tricia received her Bachelor of Music (University of Toronto) and her MBA (York University), and has continued her education with courses from Harvard Business School, University of Oxford School of Continuing Studies, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Boston University. Tricia Baldwin has been awarded the Canada Council for the Arts’ John Hobday Award in Arts Management, a scholarship to attend Harvard University’s Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program, First Prize for Student Philosophy Essay from the University of Oxford School of Continuing Studies, and the Queen’s Human Rights Initiative Award. As a volunteer, she currently serves on the Advisory Board of the York University Schulich School of Business Arts, Media, and Entertainment Management program, the City of Kingston Arts Advisory Board and Professional Development Working Group, and St. Lawrence College Music and Digital Media Program Advisory Committee. She has been a panel advisor/juror/assessor for the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, City of Toronto Cultural Services, City of Barrie Department of Culture, and the Department of Canadian Heritage. Learn more about Tricia. Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant Listen to Ben's previous podcast conversation with Elizabeth (Episode 37 on US Politics: Women, Polarization and the Media) Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant (Ph.D. McGill) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University, and the Director of both the Queen’s Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (IIGR) as well as the Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA). Her research focuses on Canadian and comparative politics, with particular interests in electoral politics, voting behaviour, and public opinion; news media; and the political representation of women. She is the author of Gendered News: Media Coverage and Electoral Politics in Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013), which won the 2016 Pierre Savard Award from the International Council of Canadian Studies, and was one of three books shortlisted for the Canadian Political Science Association’s 2014 Donald Smiley Prize. In Gendered News, Goodyear-Grant presents compelling evidence that gender structures certain aspects of news coverage of candidates and politicians – not how much they’re covered, but certainly how they’re covered – and demonstrates that these differences can impact negatively on female candidates’ and leaders’ electoral prospects and political careers, contributing to the persistent under-representation of women at all levels of politics. Goodyear-Grant has also published work on attitudes toward democracy and political representation, attitudes toward the use of referenda, and so on, all part of a larger research agenda that concentrates on representation and political behaviour published in venues such as Political Behaviour, Politics & Gender, Electoral Studies, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, and the Canadian Journal of Political Science. In the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s, Goodyear-Grant teaches courses on campaigns and elections; women, gender, and politics; Canadian politics more generally; and empirical methods. Learn more about Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant or follow her on Twitter (@eplusgg). Daniel Woolf Listen to Ben's previous podcast conversation with Daniel (Episode 10 on History and Jazz) Daniel Robert Woolf is the 20th Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University, a role he stepped into on September 1, 2009. It wasn’t his first time on the campus, of course: Principal Woolf studied at Queen’s as an undergraduate in the late 1970s, graduating with a degree in history in 1980. After earning his doctorate at Oxford University (DPhil’83), Dr. Woolf returned to Queen’s in 1984 as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) postdoctoral fellow in history. His teaching career took him from Queen’s to Bishop’s University, before he joined the history department at Dalhousie University in 1987. Seven years later, he became a full professor, then associate dean and later, the acting dean of Graduate Studies. In 1999, Dr. Woolf moved to McMaster University, where he held the role of dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He joined the University of Alberta as dean of Arts in 2002. Dr. Woolf, who is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Historical Society, admits that learning he would become the principal of his alma mater initially inspired feelings of “shock, elation, and a little bit of fear,” and he continues to regard his role as both an honour and a challenge. A specialist in early modern British cultural history and the history of historical thought and writing, Dr. Woolf continues to teach at Queen’s on a part-time basis as a professor in the Department of History, and also pursues his own research and writing. He is the author or editor of a number of scholarly articles, monographs and books, including the five-volume Oxford History of Historical Writing (2011-2012) and a textbook on historiography entitled A Global History of History (Cambridge University Press, 2011), which has been translated into several languages. But Principal Woolf isn’t just about books (though he does have a growing collection of old and rare ones!) – he is also a fan of music (especially jazz), classic movies and is the father of three (one of whom is also a Queen’s graduate). Born in London, England, Dr. Woolf grew up in Winnipeg. A love of academia runs in his family: his mother taught English at university, his physician father was a member of a medical school faculty, and his uncle is a historian of modern Europe. Dr. Woolf, who began his second term as principal in 2014, is motivated by Queen’s students and by their dedication to making a difference in the world. While the university is a bigger place than it was when he was a student, it is also more research-intensive and has a more diverse student body. Since taking the helm, Dr. Woolf has built new connections with government, industry and institutions across Canada, led Queen’s through an extensive series of planning exercises, established the Principal’s Commission on Mental Health, and overseen the Initiative Campaign, the most ambitious fundraising campaign in Queen’s history. Principal Woolf’s term concludes on June 30, 2019.