Monday, August 13
THE POWER OF COLOUR, Part 1
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 2 airs Monday, August 20.

Tuesday, August 14 - Wednesday, August 15
THE RED BOOK
Bound in red-leather, a hand-written and vividly illustrated manuscript by Carl Jung documents what he called his "confrontation with the unconscious," beginning around World War I. It was, he claimed, the source of all his later thinking in psychology. But the extent of his dreams, fantasies, arguments, and encounters were revealed only when the astonishing Red Book was published in 2009. Marilyn Powell scouts its dangerous contents.

Thursday, August 16
KOESTLER
Arthur Koestler was a controversial journalist and thinker. He witnessed many of the twentieth century's great upheavals, wars and revolutions. His influential anti-communist novel, Darkness at Noon, made him an international celebrity. Koestler's personal life was chaotic and makes for a compelling story as told by his biographer Michael Scammell.

Friday, August 17
THE BONES OF THE EARTH
Plate tectonics was a revolutionary scientific theory that shook our understanding of the planet. Chris Brookes takes us to Newfoundland's Gros Morne National Park, the site of one of the world's best illustrations of plate tectonics in action.

Ideas in the Afternoon - Monday, August 13
THE GENDER TRAP, Part 1
For the past 20 years we've been hearing the claims from pop psychology to neuroscience: men and women, boys and girls, have different brains. The books are plentiful: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, The Female Brain, The Essential Difference. The idea that males and females are hard-wired to learn differently, making them better suited for specific professions, has taken hold.  Yet some neuroscientists and psychologists believe this leads to unhealthy gender stereotyping.  IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell explores the debate.