Ideas

Bogs, marshes, and swamps have long been cast as toxic wastelands, from the dead marshes in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to the vegetal monster from the DC comic . But in fact wetlands store more carbon than forests. Experts argue wetlands are crucial to our future. It's time to rewrite this squelchy story. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 17, 2022.

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

In 1989 the Canadian government was set to spring into action to address climate change. “If we don’t move now, it will be a disaster,” said then-Conservative environment minister Lucien Bouchard. “We are dealing with the survival of the species.” This podcast features David Suzuki’s prescient radio series, It’s a Matter of Survival from nearly four decades ago. It includes conversations with nota...

In 1989 David Suzuki hosted a radio series called “It’s A Matter of Survival,” which addressed the climate crisis head-on. He and other scientists look ahead 50 years into the future to paint a picture of what the world could be like if nothing is done to curb the human impact on climate change. The series galvanized the environmental movement in Canada, with more than 14,000 listeners writing let...

Oil has delivered warmth, mobility, freedom and ruin all at the same time. "It's a very hard religion to ditch," says Don Gillmor, author of On Oil . Yes, religion. Gillmor argues oil is not just a substance — but an idea … one that has come to constitute its own potent system of belief. He joins Nahlah Ayed to discuss how oil became the one true global religion. Want to listen to more IDEAS ? Her...

When you're a historian and learn about Canada’s earliest reported ‘demon possession caused by witchcraft’ case, you dig right into the story. And that's what Mairi Cowan did. She's been investigating one of Quebec's weirdest true tales, and is finally able to piece together a detailed story of what happened. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 14, 2022. Mairi Cowan is the author of The Possess...

When Sir John Franklin set out to find the Northwest Passage in 1845, he never returned. From that mystery, began the stories. But why do we keep coming back to these Franklin stories? What do they say about us? And what does it mean today to seek a Northwest Passage? *This episode originally aired on April 19, 2022.

Nationalism doesn't have to mean extremism. It can mean celebration. IDEAS shares this 1992 award-winning documentary about "The Idea of Canada," which includes music compositions inspired by Glenn Gould. Composer Christos Hatzis discusses the relevance and meaning of how "Canada allows you to be patriotic." Credits: Composer Christos Hatzis Producer Steve Wadhams Audio engineers Laurence Ste...

At the surface, Bear is about a woman who develops a sexual relationship with a bear. And though the 1976 novel earned Marian Engel a Governor General's award, it's been largely forgotten. Contributor Melissa Gismondi explores its mystery, meaning and relevance today. *This episode originally aired on January 4, 2021.

Canada produces legendary comedians and comic actors who excel on the world stage. So why is Canada not known for comedy? Does it have something to do with our proximity to the U.S., the way there are so many Scottish comedians performing in England? Three comics discuss Canadian comedy and what Canada's profile would be on a dating app — as part of the Provocations-IDEAS festival. Comedians in th...

From the medicine wheel to the building blocks of DNA, the number four has represented structure and stability. But four is also a troublemaker: a portal to realms like the fourth dimension. Our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time explores how four helps us understand the world — by making the rules, and by breaking them.  More in the series: Listen to The Curse of 13 Listen to 12 is Sub...

There is nothing random about featuring 33,000 in our number series. It's very powerful. So much so, that the number put millions of horses out of work. Inventor James Watt used “33,000 foot-pounds a minute" to measure the capabilities of a horse when trying to market his new and improved steam engine. The engine was a big success, saving horses from the drudgery of manual labour. Now, a similar p...

Twenty-seven can be a pivotal and tumultuous age. It’s held up as the year of peak performance in many sports and it's also seen as a cursed age for pop and rock stars, exemplified by the so-called 27 Club. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, all died at 27. As part of our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time , IDEAS producer Chris Wodskou makes the case for...

Complete. Whole. Divine order. That's just the start of what makes the humble dozen extraordinary. It's one of only two numbers ever discovered in mathematics to be “sublime.” Twelve makes a number of appearances in pop culture, in religion, in non-fiction, everything from the 12 days of Christmas to the 12 people it takes to form a criminal jury. Still need convincing of 12’s perfection and indis...

Has there ever been a number more maligned in western culture than 13? So feared, it's got its own horror-film franchise. So infamously unlucky, a good many of us avoid it en masse. We've just blindly accepted its bad reputation. As part of our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time , IDEAS explores where our irrational fear and uncomfortable feelings about 13 began. *All five episodes in our nu...

It's tempting to think suffering should be avoided at all costs, but moral suffering has its own distinct standing. It signals a moral conscience. Every day people consume real time violence, grief, war and genocide through screens and experience moral upending. Without a moral compass there’s no motivation to address necessary issues. Guests in this episode: Cynda Rushton is a nurse and a profess...

Former IDEAS writer-broadcaster David Cayley passed away at his home on Wednesday June 10, surrounded by family. To honour his legacy, we wanted to share part of a 2006 conversation David had with Irish philosopher Richard Kearney on the space for theism within atheism, and/or atheism within theism. Richard Kearney is a philosophy professor at Boston College and University College, Dublin. He has...

There may be no one alive who saw Houdini perform magic. Yet we still know his name and his legend. Dua Lipa namechecked the escape artist in a 2023 dance hit and she's not alone. Houdini is still a cultural reference point, despite having died 100 years ago. And that’s pretty much what he would have wanted. IDEAS explores why his name persists in our imaginations and how his magic helped his fami...

Sujata Berry's brother, Sharad was 16 years old when he was killed. He was aboard Air India Flight 182 when it exploded off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985. It's considered the worst terror attack in Canadian history. For Sujata, the shock of his horrific death morphed into an unshakeable grief. The family's sorrow was augmented with the lack of justice for victims' families — a flawed inves...

Homosexuality is illegal in more than half of African countries — a crime punishable by prison sentences. Or in some cases: death. In the past few years, six African countries have made it illegal just to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. These laws bring up questions of foreign influence, neo-colonialism, and the role the international community could play in nudging human rights on the continent. *Thi...

Uganda and Ghana have the harshest laws against LGBTQ+ people in the world. Despite the threats, podcasters in both countries are fighting back by creating a space where people can have sex-positive conversations and gender inclusivity. IDEAS contributor Nana aba Duncan was in Uganda and Ghana to find out how the safety, privacy, and independence of the medium offer a path to understanding, valida...

When Jay Pitter was eight years old and out shopping with her mother, she began swaying to the music at the mall. Her mother scolded her for it — signalling that it was undignified for a Black person to act that way in public. That incident was the genesis for Black Public Joy: No Permit Or Permission Required . In her book, she addresses the self-policing Black people can internalise, and reveals...

Mae West shocked audiences and infuriated censors for more than 70 years. She was pop culture’s original blonde bombshell sex-symbol comedienne provocateur. But she was more than just a corseted sex pot with an affinity for word play. She was a trailblazer, transgressive, funny, smart, sassy, lively, a genius. And she got away with all of it. IDEAS contributor Lynda Shorten explores the legacy of...

Rachel Jedinak will never forget the day that changed her life in July 16, 1942. She was eight years old, living in Nazi-occupied France at a time known as les années noires — The Dark Years. Police rounded up Jewish men, women, and children for deportation. Rachel, her older sister and mother were among them. That morning two police offers did something that Rachel considers an act of resistance....

Right now Elon Musk's wealth is currently around $825 billion US — more than double what it was a year earlier. Only 22 countries currently boast economies larger than Musk’s net worth, but he’s catching up. In the third episode of our series The Billionaire Age we investigate how Musk and his fellow billionaires are trying to take over the world. And if they succeed, what will this mean for the r...