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.
615 episodes transcribedWhat has become of the America that has for so long been held up as a shining example of ideals? In conversation at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival, doc...
Behind every great chatbot are many human workers making decisions on how those chatbots behave and evolve. Recent PhD graduate Noah Khan has been obs...
When Rohingya poet Mayyu Ali saw his name in print for the first time, he thought: "I exist." "Even thought my government doesn't recognize [me] I exi...
Fascism has been called “the aestheti-cization of politics.” Nazis and Italian Fascists both made visual culture, art, even fashion part of their dest...
In 1922, Benito Mussolini took power in Italy. Sustained by a cult of personality and iron-fisted suppression of dissent, Mussolini transformed the na...
They were known as School Cars and Schools on Wheels. Trains that chugged along the railroads and brought schooling to children living in the isolated...
The Trump administration has been targeting higher education for some time now — freezing grants and filing lawsuits against leading universities. But...
A hundred years ago homework was described as a 'sin against childhood.' But the practice is still a staple of our education system. Some parents like...
What happens when original artworks become endless copies? German philosopher Walter Benjamin called it the death of "aura," and his concept predicted...
In pre-independence India, activist B.R. Ambedkar said India would never be free unless caste was eradicated. Today, India is rife with an aggressive...
Gandhi envisioned a free India as a place of communal harmony where each person understood duty and sacrifice. Today, India is rife with an aggressive...
In an era of political polarization and fatigue from ongoing crises, hope is critical. But it's not something you have; it's something you do, argues...
Fact and fiction may seem poles apart but writers Esi Edugyan and Tiya Miles find the two intertwine perfectly in their award-winning storytelling. Bo...
The world is feeling darker and darker these days. So this podcast might be a much-needed balm. It's about hope — a practice that scholar Shannon Murr...
Throughout his career, it wasn't unusual for David Bowie to sing about death. But the musician used his own mortality as a theme for a final album tha...
Alain Deneault has a philosophical cure for eco-angst. He suggests we brace for periods of severe crisis as nation-states and global networks become s...
Our relationship with earth and water is changing in the Anthropocene, says renowned author Robert Macfarlane. Humanity has become a transformative fo...
The summer of 2026 has been defined by the smoke — and the horror — of wildfires around the world. But what comes after one of these fires? "That isn'...
What happens to the land after a brutal wildfire? IDEAS visited St'át'imc territory near Lillooet, B.C., to follow land guardians and scientists from...
In 2021, a deadly heat dome produced a devastating wildfire season across British Columbia. While immediate media coverage often focuses on evacuation...
