Ideas

In his second Massey Lecture, Ian Williams explores the power of conversation with strangers. He says humanity comes out when interacting with them. But how do we open ourselves up to connect with strangers while safeguarding our personal sovereignty? *The Massey Lectures originally aired in November of 2024.

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 conversation about conversations. His five-part lecture series confronts the deterioration of civic and civil discourse and asks us to reconsider the act of conversing as the sincere, open exchange of thoughts and feelings. *The Massey Lectures originally aired in November of 2024.

2018 Massey Lecturer Tanya Talaga reflects on the legacy of cultural genocide, and on how the stories of Indigenous peoples offer lessons for Canada today. *This episode first aired on March 6, 2024, as part of a series of conversations with — and about — former Massey Lecturers to mark the 60th anniversary of Massey College, a partner in the CBC Massey Lectures.

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 of Massey College, IDEAS executive producer Greg Kelly interviews Jennifer Welsh about her 2016 CBC Massey Lectures, The Return of History — and how nine years on, the struggle continues. *This episode originally aired on May 9, 2024.

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 and our politics. Her observations were prescient when she delivered her Massey Lecture in 1989 and they are all the more relevant today. Ursula Franklin’s friend and collaborator Jane Freeman reflects on the power of Franklin’s message. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 3, 2024.

British novelist and Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing warned us against groupthink when she delivered her CBC Massey Lectures in 1985. She argues the danger is not about belonging to a group or groups, but in not understanding the social laws that govern groups and govern us. Professor Miglena Todorova reflects on Lessing’s message and puts it into the context of today’s politics. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 7, 2024.

Payam Akhavan has witnessed appalling episodes of human cruelty and suffering. And that’s helped forge his commitment to pursuing justice for the victims of human rights abuses. The human rights lawyer and former UN prosecutor at The Hague argues that our salvation as a species will come ultimately through realizing that we're all one people and must live that way. In 2017, he delivered the Massey Lectures titled In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey. He explains how the themes explored in his lectures have taken on even more relevance in today's divided and conflict-ridden world. *This episode originally aired on June 26, 2024.

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 meaningful life — especially in the face of grief, sadness and suffering. "I think of joy, which gets us to love, as being a practice of survival," writes Gay. *This episode originally aired on April 2, 2024.

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, when there was space for ourselves to pursue activities we value. What it comes down to is reconfiguring our relationship to the time we have and opening it up so we can pursue the good life. *Originally aired on February 20, 2020.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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