The CRAM Podcast ~ Extraordinary Ideas Unleashed

Many people live with constant pain.   They’ve seen all kinds of specialists.  They’ve tried all kinds of therapies and drugs.  They’ve even had surgery.  But they still have pain.   Doctors have told them it’s “all in your head.”   It’s not. That’s according to Dr. Andrea Furlan, a pain specialist who’s made it her life’s work to research the mechanisms of chronic pain and what actually works to...

Why do we STILL get married?   We can live together – cohabit.  Or we can live apart but have some kind of commitment, or understanding, or arrangement.  There are so many options for people in relationships today.  Why do we need the stamp of marriage? Take this unexpected and eye-popping journey through the history of marriage and discover why people around the globe have said – and continue to...

This is an interview that will stay with you. It’s difficult, unsettling, and absolutely inspiring. There are very few people who’ve experienced life like James Orbinski - doctor, humanitarian, activist .  He’s had unforgettable experiences on the front lines of aid:  Somalia during its civil war and famine, Afghanistan as the Taliban came to power, and Rwanda during its horrific genocide.   And t...

Admit it, you’re nervous about A.I. There’s all the talk around chatbots like ChatGPT.   These LLMs (large language models) can write code, lawyer a document, train a doctor, plan a military operation.   Its uses seem limitless.  Scary, right? So what’s next? Geoffrey Hinton, one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence,  is warning us of the possible “end of people.”   But other experts say t...

Is it possible to feel healthy no matter what?  Yes!! “You are equipped with the versatility and the tools to overcome practically any obstacle that prevents you from being healthy.”   That’s according to Alex Jadad.  It sounds incredible but Dr. Jadad believes you can feel healthy despite having illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, even cancer.  He’s conducted large scale health studies and consul...

Think about building an airport.. a bridge.. a museum.. even staging the Olympics!  Why is it these mega projects often end in failure?  Bloated budgets.  Massive delays.  Unhappy stakeholders.  Even doing a home reno often runs into the very same problems.   What do all these failures have in common?  And is there actually a formula for success? Bent Flyvbjerg, a Danish researcher who studies meg...

One of the fundamental questions of humans has been “who am I?”   To know our identity and where we came from has been a powerful driving force.  And it was a force in Norma Dunning, a professor at the University of Alberta,  to find out about her Inuit heritage that was never spoken about in her family. Norma spent years doing research that revealed practices of a colonial system that had devasta...

You probably know people who you think are irrational (and you’re certainly NOT one of them!).   They have views you don’t agree with and make decisions that make no sense. And maybe you even feel irrational people are on the rise.  And that makes you nervous.   But just who is a rational person?  What constitutes rational thinking?  And can we use this form of thinking to make better decisions an...

There’s always excitement around the Academy Awards.  It could be the celebrities, their outfits, the sheer spectacle of the show,  and of course the movies.  Since the pandemic started, movie making and movie watching have changed dramatically -  just look at the popularity of streaming services.  But movies and the film industry have always been evolving - reflecting, imagining and even forecast...

What if I were to show you the face of someone and ask: “Do you think this person is beautiful?”  I bet you wouldn’t have a problem giving me an answer. But if I were to show that same picture to someone else, I might get a different answer. So how does our perception of beauty develop?  Why does it differ from one person to the next?  And how does it change over time? These are questions that Dap...

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  And we’re bombarded with the message that true love means happiness forever after, right?   Sure the message is to sell chocolates, flowers and romantic cards.  But that idea that love equals happiness runs deep and goes way back in history - in literature, art, culture, even politics.  It’s become an accepted belief for many of us.   So is there anythin...

How is it that a bunch of sounds in a particular order can evoke sadness, joy, restlessness, or some other emotion in you?  That is the power of music.  And if you’re a music lover, you will love this interview. Music is found in every culture around the world.  Are there universal aspects to the way music is expressed and in the way we respond? Why do some people love one kind of music, say jazz,...

Do you realize you’re at the start of a new year that will be filled with hundreds of thousands of decisions you’ll make!  Small decisions and big decisions – many regarding your health.  And what exactly are these decisions based on?  Listen to this eye-opening interview with Timothy Caulfield who looks behind our everyday decisions – like brushing our teeth, drinking coffee, going on a diet, and...

This is a special edition of the CRAM Podcast - a recording of “Big Ideas at U of T: Celebrating 50 Years of the Connaught Fund.”  Three remarkable researchers at the University of Toronto spoke about their innovative work:  evolutionary biologist Maydianne Andrade, political scientist Ronald Diebert and cosmologist Renee Hlozek.   Should scientists be activists?  How are you affected by cyber sur...

It’s been three years of living with the coronavirus – and the world has changed.  We spoke with popular sci-fi writer Rob Sawyer a year ago to get his predictions on the pandemic.  Where would we be with covid a year later?  How would our lives and relationships change? And where is technology taking us?  Now we’ve invited him back to see whether those predictions held true.  Hear what one of Can...

Step into the incredible mind of Nina-Marie Lister! She looks at our streets, our communities, our world, as places full of potential to live harmoniously with nature.  This has been her life’s work - from designing wildlife crossings (including the world’s largest) to implementing systems that will connect green spaces and communities to changing city bylaws to support biodiversity. You’ve probab...

Serial killers.  You probably know the names of some of the world’s most infamous.  Charles Manson, Ted Bundy.  Robert Pickton and Paul Bernardo.  If roughly 1% of the world’s population has psychopathic personality disorder, most of them live among us.  Who are they?  What distinguishes them from others?  Psychologist Stephen Hart is an expert on this condition and has spent years studying it and...

In Part I, psychologist Kang Lee talked about the development of lying in children – when it starts, why kids lie, and whether you can tell if a child is lying.  (No you can’t tell a lot of the time!) In part 2, we continue our discussion on what actually works to prevent lying, and what happens as kids get older and become teens, then adults.  How and why do adults lie?   Dr. Lee has some researc...

Hallowe’en is around the corner – and you may think magic is all about witches, warlocks, and wizards.  But did you know that hundreds of years ago, magic was practiced by people known as cunning folk – or as Prof. Sharon Wright likes to call them everyday magicians.  Find out how these everyday magicians used magic to solve the everyday problems of life.   Sharon Wright is a professor of late med...

Adam Kahane has been involved in some of the world’s most enduring and disruptive conflicts as a peace or progress facilitator:  Colombia’s civil war, South Africa’s transition from apartheid,  Northern Ireland and Guatemala after genocide. When former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize, he referred to a meeting with Adam Kahane as one of the most significant eve...

What is serendipity?    You may think of it as a happy accident or an unexpected outcome that’s good. And though it gives you pleasure, you may see it as random and something not worth thinking about.   But sociologist Anabel Quan-Hasse says serendipity plays a very important role in our lives. And she’s concerned that we’re losing opportunities for serendipity – especially in our online lives.  W...

No one likes to be lied to, right?  But face it, we all lie probably more often than we’d like to admit. How does lying actually start in life?  Why do children lie and can we tell if they’re lying? Kang Lee is a world renowned expert on lying and some of his research was so unexpected, it even startled his lab assistants.  Here’s what he discovered about children and lying. Info on Guest: Kang Le...

It's been a super busy summer for us and we've had to extend our break just a little longer. Our apologies, but we'll be back on our new date of Thursday, September the 8th. We'll have a brand new season of podcasts on some of the most innovative, exciting and eye opening research that's happening across Canada. So please join us on Thursday, September the 8th, when we dro...

How do you achieve a life as good as it can be?  Jim Davies, a cognitive scientist has thought a lot about this.   Changing your life can mean changing bad habits and that's not an easy thing to do. And it can take more than willpower.  So how do you change bad habits into good ones?  Jim Davies looks at research that helps answer this question.   Jim is a cognitive scientist and Director of...

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? An eye-opening exploration of black beauty culture in North America – and its ties to colonialism, slavery, political unrest, power and money.   Communications researcher Cheryl Thompson gives us a fascinating and unique lesson in history – examining social, political and economic influences on black women and what’s been perceived as “beautiful.”  What is bea...