Monday, November 28
THE POWER OF COLOUR, Part 2
Red is passion and lust, courage and sacrifice. Blue is happy, or sad, or - in German - drunk. In India, yellow is said to have been made from the urine of cows, force-fed mango leaves. Cindy Bisaillon looks into the history, psychology, art, music and spirituality of colour. She uncovers the mysteries of the purple tears of sea snails, the vibrant orange of a Stradivarius violin, and the green that killed Napoleon. Part 3 airs next Monday, December 5.

Tuesday, November 29
CYBER/MASTER CLASS
Pinchas Zukerman is one of the world's greatest violinists. Conductor of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, he regularly goes down to a broom closet in the basement of the NAC to conduct master classes - over the internet - with aspiring soloists from all over the world: New York, Tokyo, London and Tel Aviv.

Wednesday, November 30
EMPIRE OF ILLUSION
Writer Chris Hedges argues that North American culture is dying because it has become transfixed by illusions about literacy, love, wisdom, happiness and democracy. Jim Brown explores Hedges' ideas about the mechanisms that keep us diverted from confronting the collapse around us.

Thursday, December 1
SAY NO TO HAPPINESS
Life is about being happy, right? Just ask the Dalai Lama...or any of the best-selling authors on the subject...or the scientists who study the benefits of being happy. But are we losing something else along the way: the need for meaning in our lives? IDEAS producer Frank Faulk examines the tension between our desire for happiness and our need for meaning.

Friday, December 2
THE LAST COMMANDMENT: THOU SHALL NOT BEGUILE
The print newspaper is down, but not out. It remains a close friend to hundreds of millions of people around the world - every day. Yet it is threatened on two fronts: its ability to adapt profitably to 21st century technology, and its declining trust-worthiness: Only 30 percent of Canadians trust journalists - and it's not clear whether they are the readers who have quit or the readers who remain. In the 2011 Dalton Camp Lecture, veteran journalist Neil Reynolds says that to increase trust, there must be an end to anonymous sources.