Monday, August 2
THE EVOLUTION OF CHARLES DARWIN, Part 1

IDEAS celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's transformational and contentious book, On the Origin of Species. Darwin's theory of evolution through Natural Selection forever changed how we think about the living world. In this 4-part series, Seth Feldman guides us through the life and ideas of Charles Darwin, a creative genius. Part 1, The Prepared Mind: From Darwin's early years to his voyage of discovery on the H.M.S. Beagle. Part 2 airs Monday, August 9.

Tuesday, August 3 - Wednesday, August 4
TALKING PHILOSOPHY: SECULARISM
We live in a Secular Age. Here in Canada, as in other liberal democracies, religion no longer plays a central role in public life. How then are we to think, in a principled way, about a host of issues riddling society today? From creationism to burqas, IDEAS host Paul Kennedy and philosophers Michael Blake, Simone Chambers, Mohammad Fadel and Arthur Ripstein, tackle religion and the putatively secular state, from a philosophic perspective.

Thursday, August 5
BLUE METROPOLIS BLEU - The Future of the Book
Ideas host Paul Kennedy moderates a panel from the 2010 Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival in Montreal. Two publishers (Yvonne Hunter from Penguin Canada and Kim McArthur from McArthur Books) and an academic/author/blogger (Andrew Piper from McGill) discuss the uncertain future of an endangered species.

Friday, August 6
THE EMPATHIC CIVILIZATION
A new view of human nature is emerging in the biological and cognitive sciences. Once humans were considered merely an aggressive species. Now Jeremy Rifkin argues we also have the capacity for world changing empathy.