IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.
374 episodes transcribedBrutalist architecture has been celebrated as monumental and derided as ‘concrete monstrosity.' But the people who depend on these buildings are often...
In Canada and the U.S., public libraries have become a target in the culture wars. It’s an urgent conversation to have, no matter where one sits on th...
You might think the subject makes a great conversation, but according to Massey lecturer Ian Williams, it's more than that. It's full of layers and yo...
We’re in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself; the term ‘appropriation’ has come to cre...
Difficult conversations are almost always about something under the surface, and hidden. In his third Massey Lecture, Ian Williams illustrates what we...
In his second Massey Lecture, Ian Williams explores the power of conversation with strangers. He says humanity comes out when interacting with them. B...
Ever felt that no one is really listening? In the first of his 2024 CBC Massey Lectures, novelist and poet Ian Williams explores why we need to have a...
2018 Massey Lecturer Tanya Talaga reflects on the legacy of cultural genocide, and on how the stories of Indigenous peoples offer lessons for Canada t...
With the end of the Cold War, the struggle for peace, equality, and democracy wasn’t settled — it became more complex. As we mark the 60th anniversary...
Technology is much more than a tool. Physicist Ursula Franklin argued that it’s a system — one so powerful that it can shape our mindset, our society...
British novelist and Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing warned us against groupthink when she delivered her CBC Massey Lectures in 1985. She argues the...
Payam Akhavan has witnessed appalling episodes of human cruelty and suffering. And that’s helped forge his commitment to pursuing justice for the vict...
For award-winning poet and bestselling author Ross Gay, joy and delight aren’t frivolous or a privilege. He argues they’re absolutely essential to a m...
With a to-do list that requires 30 hours in a day to complete, leisure time often gets erased. IDEAS producer Naheed Mustafa explores a better time, w...
We tend to view philosophy as a formal endeavour. Not so, says Lewis Gordon. Yes, he's an academic but he argues that confining thinking to the academ...
Educators are wired for hope, according to English professor Jessica Riddell. She believes in the importance of slowing down in urgent times and urges...
More than half of working satellites are now owned by a single company, Elon Musk's Space X company. Astrophysicist Aaron Boley says Space X satellite...
Universities have always been places of protest and dissent, but University of Toronto English professor Randy Boyagoda argues that it should be somet...
You can’t pay rent with experimental poetry, so Hilary Peach trained as a welder. Twenty-plus years on, she’s now a boiler inspector, poet, and author...
In 2023, about 1 in 10 Canadian doctors considered attempting suicide in 2023. That's why Winnipeg doctor Jillian Horton is advocating for the emotion...
