Weekdays at 9 p.m. (9:30 p.m. NT) and Mondays at 2 p.m. (2:30 p.m. NT)
Ideas is all about ideas and programs that explore everything from culture and the arts to science and technology to social issues.
Updated: Daily (Except when there are restrictions - then no podcast will be issued)
Use the links below to download a file.
A Bow to the Bow
Lapsed cellist Eitan Cornfield enters a world of exotic materials, pirates, forgers and geniuses. Master bowmakers, dealers, collectors and musicians reveal a passion for the bow that rivals their passion for Strads and Guarneris.
Download A Bow to the Bow
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The Faces of Eve
She represents the first woman on earth in Christian and Judaic traditions. In Islam she's known as Hawwa. To many, she's the thoughtless vixen who tempted man away from God. But a closer look shows a daring champion of human ingenuity and equality. Nicola Luksic explores the mystique of the woman so many claim to understand.
Download The Faces of Eve
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A Word to the Wise, Part 1
Times have changed. So has the study of wisdom. Philosophers, make room for the scientists! In this two-part series, Marilyn Powell talks to psychologists, sociologists, neuroscientists - and the wise that dwell among us - about a very old topic. What they have discovered about the nature of wisdom and being wise will enlighten and surprise you.
Download A Word to the Wise, Part 1
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Opening the Book
The book has stayed pretty much the same for over 500 years: a bunch of paper pages between covers. It's been both finite and easily grasped. But our digitally-connected world is forcing us to re-imagine what books could be.
Download Opening the Book
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Wachtel On The Arts - Taryn Simon
Eleanor Wachtel speaks with Taryn Simon whose art mixes camera-work, writing and graphic design to raise questions about truth and certainty.
Download Wachtel On The Arts - Taryn Simon
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The Imaginary Albino
From the 19th century freak show to the East African black market in body parts to the modern cinema, the image of the albino has seized the popular imagination. Garth Mullins is a person with albinism and at six feet, four inches tall, he stands out in a crowd. But recently Garth didn't stand out...instead, he blended in at an Albinism conference with a pale majority who looked a lot like him.
Download The Imaginary Albino
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Legends of the Old Massett Haida (Encore November 24, 2006)
The Haida are an ancient and powerful nation, internationally renowned for their artwork. Despite modern day assimilation, the Haida of Haida Gwaii are fiercely proud of their culture and history. Their stories of creation and transformation illustrate the richness of that culture. CBC Radio's Legends Project compiles traditional oral stories, legends and histories of Canada's Inuit and First Nations, gathered in communities across the country.
Download Legends of the Old Massett Haida (Encore November 24, 2006)
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War, Peace and Health
Canadians of all ages are delivering health care to people in war ravaged regions. Meet three Canadians who are rolling their sleeves up to make a difference. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy joins them along with peace advocate and mentor, Ursula Franklin, to talk about global health, conflict and the people they've met in far flung regions.
Download War, Peace and Health
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A Remarkable Encounter
Three young women are working, from opposite sides of the world, to make it possible for girls to grow up, educated and safe, in Afghanistan. Two of them live in Kabul. The other lives in Kelowna, Canada. Journalist and author Sally Armstrong accompanies 15-year-old Alaina Podmorow on her first trip to Afghanistan and introduces her to Noorjahan Akbar and Anita Haidary. This is the story of the amazing encounter of three women.
Download A Remarkable Encounter
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Brain Bang Theory
Dr. Charles Tator grew up loving hockey. Now, as an eminent neurosurgeon, scientist and researcher, he must face the patients and the families of those who suffer from concussions, spinal cord injury and disability. He's learned a lot about traumatic sports injuries and he sits down with IDEAS host Paul Kennedy to tell Canadians what they might not want to hear.
Download Brain Bang Theory
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The Games of Olympia
One year from today - on February 7th, 2014 - the 22nd Olympic Winter Games begin in Sochi, Russia. As the countdown begins, IDEAS takes you back in time to Ancient Greece to see what the very first Olympic Games - known then as the Olympic struggles - were really like. This IDEAS classic, from 1988, was by historian and classicist Brent Shaw.
Download The Games of Olympia
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Imagination, Part 2 (Encore October 18, 2012)
The poet William Blake claimed that the imagination is our highest faculty and central to our perception and experience of reality. More than two hundred years later, scientific research on the brain and creativity confirms the great poet's insight. IDEAS producer Frank Faulk explores the key role the imagination plays in our lives.
Download Imagination, Part 2 (Encore October 18, 2012)
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Imagination, Part 1 (Encore October 17, 2012)
The poet William Blake claimed that the imagination is our highest faculty and central to our perception and experience of reality. More than two hundred years later, scientific research on the brain and creativity confirms the great poet's insight. IDEAS producer Frank Faulk explores the key role the imagination plays in our lives.
Download Imagination, Part 1 (Encore October 17, 2012)
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The Enright Files - The Police Procedural
What makes a mystery novel more than a guilty pleasure?
Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition, in conversation with two masters of the police procedural: Swedish writer Henning Mankell and American novelist Craig Johnson.
Download The Enright Files - The Police Procedural
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Iron Curtain
In 1945, at the end of World War II, an Iron Curtain rolled over Eastern Europe. Stalin, his allies and the secret police set out to seize control over a dozen countries and turn them into communist states. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy speaks with journalist and author Anne Applebaum about the harrowing story of how millions became imprisoned and how their daily lives were brutally crushed.
Download Iron Curtain
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Back To The Future in Fogo
As a young woman, Zita Cobb left her birthplace - the relatively remote island of Fogo, off the east coast of Newfoundland - to get an education, and ultimately to find her fortune. Not long ago, she returned to invest that considerable fortune turning Fogo into a place of pilgrimage for artists. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy takes a tour with guide Zita Cobb.
Download Back To The Future in Fogo
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Paying for Parking
We engineer our roads to accommodate traffic, but cars and other vehicles spend almost all their time parked. All those parking spaces - and finding them - cause huge economic, environmental, and even social problems. Dave Redel searches for a good spot to survey the situation.
Download Paying for Parking
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Valley of the Deer
Canadian video artist Jillian McDonald spent much of the past year as 'artist in residence' at Glenfiddich Distillery, in the highlands of Scotland. As a Burns' Night tribute to both Art and Whisky, IDEAS host Paul Kennedy visits her in Dufftown, and watches while she makes single-malted art.
Download Valley of the Deer
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A Serpent's Tale (Encore June 15, 2012)
IDEAS contributor Hassan Ghedi Santur discusses the mysterious evolutionary history of snakes and their fearsome reputation. Along the way, he confronts his own case of ophidiophobia - you guessed it: the "abnormal fear of snakes."
Download A Serpent's Tale (Encore June 15, 2012)
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Iceberg Ship Habbakuk
1942: Hitler's U-Boats are ravaging merchant ships that Britain depends on for its survival. Enter a plan, for a gigantic warship, to help the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic. It will be built in Canada and made from ... ice! Richard Longley tells the story of iceberg ship Habbakuk, in all its icy eccentricity
Download Iceberg Ship Habbakuk
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Vasari's Most Eminent Lives
In the mid-1500s, Giorgio Vasari's short biographies created art history, the artist as genius and even the "Renaissance". Although rife with inaccuracies and outright lies, his book is still the source on Leonardo, Michelangelo, and many others. Tony Luppino leafs through Vasari's Lives to see how it still shapes our ideas of art.
Download Vasari's Most Eminent Lives
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The Nation of Hockey, Part 2 (Encore February 8, 2012)
The back of our five dollar bill shows kids playing shinny on a timeless pond somewhere in Canada. But Calgary writer Bruce Dowbiggin argues that hockey is far more than simple nostalgia or big business. It's a clear window into the complexity of modern Canada: from shifting political power and economics, to multiculturalism and what we think it means to be a Canadian in the 21st century.
Download The Nation of Hockey, Part 2 (Encore February 8, 2012)
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Wachtel On The Arts - Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Eleanor Wachtel speaks with 37-year-old Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the most successful conductor in Canadian history, who has just been made a Companion of the Order of Canada and recently took over the venerable Philadelphia Orchestra.
Download Wachtel On The Arts - Yannick Nézet-Séguin
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Building Brains
Recent recipient of the Friesen Prize in Health Science Research, Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne identified important mechanisms for the formation of the normal human brain, which ultimately opened new frontiers in the world of neuro-degeneration, and spinal chord injuries. He talks with Paul Kennedy.
Download Building Brains
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The Nation of Hockey, Part 1 (Encore Februry 1, 2012)
The back of our five dollar bill shows kids playing shinny on a timeless pond somewhere in Canada. But Calgary writer Bruce Dowbiggin argues that hockey is far more than simple nostalgia or big business. It's a clear window into the complexity of modern Canada: from shifting political power and economics, to multiculturalism and what we think it means to be a Canadian in the 21st century.
Download The Nation of Hockey, Part 1 (Encore Februry 1, 2012)
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George MacMartin's Big Canoe Trip (Encore Dec 19, 2011)
In 1905, George MacMartin, Treaty Commissioner for Ontario, accompanied by federal commissioners and native guides, journeyed through rapids and hiked through the wilds to meet with First Nations leaders. The result was James Bay Treaty Nine. The treaty put northern Ontario into Canadian hands, but First Nations' tradition is clear: their leaders agreed to share the land, not give it away. Christopher Moore, historian and winner of a 2011 Governor General's Literary Award, explores what the diary by George MacMartin reveals, and what it means today.
Download George MacMartin's Big Canoe Trip (Encore Dec 19, 2011)
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Worthy Parasites: A Villain's Silver Lining
People hate parasites. They're slimy and repulsive - worms emerging from blisters on the body, mites breeding in skin folds. They hold wild parties in our guts. They bring pestilence, misery...even death. But wait: parasites can also be good - really, really good! Author Rosemary Drisdelle explores these much maligned creatures and their importance in nature, and she unveils exciting new medical research into the good they can do for us.
Download Worthy Parasites: A Villain's Silver Lining
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The Enright Files - Andrew Solomon
Michael Enright speaks with celebrated writer Andrew Solomon about his latest book, Far From the Tree. In his book, Solomon examines the extreme form of differences that exist between many parents and their children, and tells the stories of how they've coped with autism, schizophrenia, dwarfism, Down Syndrome and deafness.
Download The Enright Files - Andrew Solomon
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Risk, Part 2 (Encore September 11, 2012)
On the simplest level, we take risks to derive benefits. If the benefit outweighs the risk, we've made a good decision. But decisions are subject to bias, even those of experts. How do we live with uncertainty and make good decisions? Vancouver broadcaster Kathleen Flaherty talks with risk takers, risk managers and risk assessors to find out.
Download Risk, Part 2 (Encore September 11, 2012)
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Risk, Part 1 (Encore Sept 10, 2012)
On the simplest level, we take risks to derive benefits. If the benefit outweighs the risk, we've made a good decision. But decisions are subject to bias, even those of experts. How do we live with uncertainty and make good decisions? Vancouver broadcaster Kathleen Flaherty talks with risk takers, risk managers and risk assessors to find out.
Download Risk, Part 1 (Encore Sept 10, 2012)
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The Longevity Puzzle
In a cluster of quiet mountain villages in Sardinia, Italy, something unusual is happening. A remarkable number of people are living into their hundreds. And in this global hotspot for longevity, there are nearly as many male as female centenarians. Susan Pinker takes us to the Blue Zone of Sardinia as she searches for the answers to - Why?
Download The Longevity Puzzle
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Selkirk's Grant
The War of 1812 wasn't the only important event that year in nascent Canada. That fall, the Earl of Selkirk established a small colony in what would become southern Manitoba. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy tells the story of how that tiny settlement changed Canada, introducing new ideas of what the west could be, including an early version of a multicultural Canada.
Download Selkirk's Grant
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Silver and Exact (Encore December 6, 2011)
That is how the poet Sylvia Plath referred to the mirror, an important artifact in science and art, literature and philosophy, magic and folklore. Karen Virag explores the history and cultural significance of the mirror, and rediscovers the wonder inherent in reflection.
Download Silver and Exact (Encore December 6, 2011)
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Canada Goes Deep
In the spring of 2012, Canadian film-maker James Cameron made headlines with a solo submarine dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - the deepest place in the world's oceans. Also on the expedition were a core group of Canadians, including Dr. Joe MacInnis, who prepared the official National Geographic Society blog.
Download Canada Goes Deep
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Eleven Thousand Metres Under the Sea
In an IDEAS exclusive, James Cameron talks about his recent expedition to Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench - the deepest place in the world's oceans. Shortly after he returned to the surface, he recorded this conversation on board the Mermaid Sapphire with the expedition's electronic journalist and backup physician, Dr. Joe MacInnis.
Download Eleven Thousand Metres Under the Sea
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Wachtel on the Arts - Costa Gavras
Eleanor Wachtel speaks with legendary Greek-born director Costa Gavras, whose latest film, Capital, takes on the world of high finance. Known for his biting and indicting movies like Z, Missing, and Amen, Gavras is credited with 'almost single-handedly creating the genre of the modern political thriller as we know it'.
Download Wachtel on the Arts - Costa Gavras
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The End of Days
The Maya are famous for their calendars, which they created to try to understand the shape of history - the patterns of the past and the future, how things might begin and end. The Mayan "Long Count" calendar began in 3114 BC. It runs out at the end of 2012. What does this mean? A documentary by Philip Coulter.
Download The End of Days
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The New Revolutionaries, Part 2 (Encore Oct 4, 2011)
Women have been increasingly identified by economists, social scientists, politicians and pundits as key to moving forward on issues like poverty, violence and conflict. Award-winning journalist Sally Armstrong takes us around the globe, to places where localized acts of female emancipation are literally improving the prospects for humankind at large. It's a spontaneous, grass-roots revolution that will inevitably change the world.
Download The New Revolutionaries, Part 2 (Encore Oct 4, 2011)
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The Screw That Changed The World (Encore October 17, 2011)
There's a secret at the heart of our modern economy: standards. Standards frame every aspect of our lives, according to Karl Turner, from the nuts and bolts that hold our material world together to life's genetic blueprint.
Download The Screw That Changed The World (Encore October 17, 2011)
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The Four Seasons of Mavis Gallant (Encore February 15, 2012)
Mavis Gallant has written dozens of dazzling, sardonic, heart-breaking short stories. She is acknowledged as a master of the short-story and has been showered with honours. Yet she is not well known in her home country - Canada. Now in her 90th year, she still lives in the same small Parisian apartment she moved into almost 50 years ago. Rome-based writer and journalist Megan Williams spent almost a week with Gallant in Paris, recording material for this documentary portrait.
Download The Four Seasons of Mavis Gallant (Encore February 15, 2012)
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Things We Lost In The War, Part 2
he East African nation of Somalia is the definition of a failed state. It has been without a central government since 1991, when the country's dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown. What followed were two decades of civil war, anarchy, failed Western intervention, Islamic fundamentalism and famine. Somali-born IDEAS contributor Hassan Ghedi Santur returns to his home-land to explore, "Things We Lost in the War."
Download Things We Lost In The War, Part 2
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Things We Lost In The War, Part 1
The East African nation of Somalia is the definition of a failed state. It has been without a central government since 1991, when the country's dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown. What followed were two decades of civil war, anarchy, failed Western intervention, Islamic fundamentalism and famine. Somali-born IDEAS contributor Hassan Ghedi Santur returns to his home-land to explore, "Things We Lost in the War."
Download Things We Lost In The War, Part 1
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The New Revolutionaries, Part 1 (Encore October 3, 2011)
Women have been increasingly identified by economists, social scientists, politicians and pundits as key to moving forward on issues like poverty, violence and conflict. Award-winning journalist Sally Armstrong takes us around the globe, to places where localized acts of female emancipation are literally improving the prospects for humankind at large. It's a spontaneous, grass-roots revolution that will inevitably change the world.
Download The New Revolutionaries, Part 1 (Encore October 3, 2011)
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Legends of the Shuswap
From the shores of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia come the foundation stories of the Secwepemc people: rich accounts of the magic in nature that teach the harmony of the world. CBC Radio's Legends Project compiles traditional oral stories, legends and histories of Canada's Inuit and First Nations, gathered in communities across the country.
Download Legends of the Shuswap
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When Families Start Talking, Part 2
Even the best of families can run into trouble when grappling with the needs of aging parents, the demands of care-giving and the shifting dynamics between siblings over money and inheritance. Estates mediator Genevieve Chornenki looks at these hot button issues and explores if families can talk about them without wanting to kill each other.
Download When Families Start Talking, Part 2
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The Munk Debates - Iran's Nuclear Ambitions (Broadcast Version)
Be it resolved the world cannot tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons capability. That's the resolution for the latest Munk Debate. On the pro side: Amos Yadlin and Charles Krauthammer. On the con side is Fareed Zakaria and Vali Nasr.
Download The Munk Debates - Iran's Nuclear Ambitions (Broadcast Version)
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The Enright Files
Michael Enright speaks with two authors on the internal and external forces that have shaped modern Israel and Iran. Gershom Gorenberg, the author of The Unmaking of Israel. And Christopher de Bellaigue, the author of Patriot of Persia.
Download The Enright Files
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Killam Prize Symposium
How do we find things out? Four of Canada's top research scholars come together to discuss the idea of discovery. Is it an art or a science? Can anyone do it? And who owns what's discovered? Paul Kennedy moderates the 2012 Killam Prize Symposium from Rideau Hall, featuring this year's Canada Council's Killam Prize winners.
Download Killam Prize Symposium
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Solar Dance (Encore April 3, 2012)
Vincent Van Gogh may be the most famous artist of the modern era. For historian Modris Eksteins, he is a symbol for the twentieth century and for today. Eksteins talks to Paul Kennedy about art, forgery, Nazis, truth and certainty.
Download Solar Dance (Encore April 3, 2012)
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When Families Start Talking, Part 1
Even the best of families can run into trouble when grappling with the needs of aging parents, the demands of care-giving and the shifting dynamics between siblings over money and inheritance. Estates mediator Genevieve Chornenki looks at these hot button issues and explores if families can talk about them without wanting to kill each other.
Download When Families Start Talking, Part 1
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The Gender Trap, Part 2 (Encore April 26, 2012)
In May, 2011, a Toronto family decided not to reveal the sex of their newborn baby. Only nine people in the world know whether baby Storm is a boy or a girl. The parents believe that gender stereotypes can constrict and damage individual identity. When the story of Storm became public, controversy ensued. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell takes up the story and the debate.
Download The Gender Trap, Part 2 (Encore April 26, 2012)
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The Gender Trap, Part 1 (Encore April 25, 2012)
For the past twenty years we've been hearing the claims from pop psychology to neuroscience: men and women, boys and girls, have different brains. Yet some neuroscientists and psychologists believe this leads to unhealthy gender stereotyping. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell explores the debate
Download The Gender Trap, Part 1 (Encore April 25, 2012)
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The 2012 Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism
Nahlah Ayed, correspondent for CBC's The National, delivers the 2012 Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. She's the author of, A Thousand Farewells: A Reporter's Journey from Refugee Camp to the Arab Spring.
Download The 2012 Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism
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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.
Download Cyber/Master Class
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Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza was a 17th century lens grinder known for his precision optical work. But it was his philosophy that made this Dutch-Jewish thinker famous, then and now. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy explores how Spinoza's thoughts on God, the universe, ethics and politics helped ignite the flame that became the Enlightenment.
Download Spinoza
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Wachtel On The Arts - Lera Auerbach
Eleanor Wachtel speaks with Lera Auerbach, a Russian-born American composer who's earned comparisons to Dmitri Shostakovich and has been declared one of the most important classical music figures of our time.
Download Wachtel On The Arts - Lera Auerbach
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Royal and Ancient Golf and Gown
The ancient Scottish city of St. Andrews is home to the world's oldest golf course and one of the most venerable and prestigious institutions of higher learning on the planet - the University of St. Andrews, which is six-hundred years old this year. IDEAS host (and St. Andrews alumnus) Paul Kennedy celebrates a nearly perfect place.
Download Royal and Ancient Golf and Gown
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The 2012 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture by Bob Watts
Bob Watts has been involved in major indigenous issues in Canada for the past twenty years. An adjunct professor and fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University, he is currently working with Mediate BC to recommend ways for aboriginal communities to respond to changes in the Canadian Human Rights Act. His lecture is called: "Rights in a History of Wrongs: What does a just future look like for Indigenous peoples?"
Download The 2012 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture by Bob Watts
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The Grande Dame of Green Design
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander is this country's pre-eminent landscape architect. Her love of nature and respect for the environment has guided and inspired her work from the grounds of the National Gallery in Ottawa to the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. IDEAS producer Yvonne Gall profiles the 91-year-old icon, whose career spans six decades and is still going strong.
Download The Grande Dame of Green Design
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Legends III: Legends of the Mushuau Innu
In contrast to headlines of gas sniffing and suicide in Labrador, are stories from the Mushua Innu, a culture rich in humour and spirituality. These stories were recorded in October 2004, in the northern Labrador community of Natuashish. They include a story of how a spirit grandfather takes his grandson on a journey of love and transformation.
Download Legends III: Legends of the Mushuau Innu
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The Enright Files - Courage
As Remembrance Day approaches, The Enright Files looks at courage. Michael Enright and his guests will define the term, dissect the act and delve into why it is such a big part of our remembrances. But before that, Michael examines a different kind of courage: that of a Dutch Jew who chronicled his last year in a Nazi concentration camp. Michael speaks with Robert Jan Van Pelt, a Canadian academic who has worked hard to keep David Koker's words alive.
Download The Enright Files - Courage
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Levelling the Playing Field (Encore January 24, 2011)
A renowned cardiovascular scientist and public policy visionary, Dr. Victor Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University, is spearheading an international campaign to eliminate tragic disparities in the delivery of medical care - both close to home and around the world. Winner of the 2011 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research, Dr. Dzau speaks about both these passions with IDEAS host Paul Kennedy.
Download Levelling the Playing Field (Encore January 24, 2011)
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The Red Book, Part 1 (Encore April 24, 2012)
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.
Download The Red Book, Part 1 (Encore April 24, 2012)
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 7
IDEAS producer David Cayley concludes his series with three thinkers who believe that division of the world into the secular and the religious both oversimplifies and impoverishes political and religious life. Political philosopher William Connolly argues for a richer and more inclusive public sphere; historian of religion Mark Taylor calls for a new philosophy of religion; and Fred Dallmayr presents the case for a deeper and more thorough-going pluralism.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 7
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 6
In 1990 British theologian John Milbank published a five-hundred-page manifesto called Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason. The book argued that theology should stop deferring to social theories that are just second-hand theology and declare itself, once again, the queen of the sciences. The book led, in time, to a movement called "Radical Orthodoxy." IDEAS producer David Cayley profiles John Milbank.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 6
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 5
"All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts." So wrote German legal theorist Carl Schmitt in a book called Political Theology. American legal theorist Paul Kahn has just published Political Theology: Four New Chapters in which he argues that the foundations of the American state remain theological. He explores this theme with IDEAS producer David Cayley.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 5
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 4
The Fundamentals was a series of books, published by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles between 1910 and 1915, which tried to set the basics of Christianity in stone. Fundamentalism now refers to any back-to-basics movement. Malise Ruthven's Fundamentalism asks what all these movements have in common, in this feature interview with David Cayley.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 4
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 3
Early in the post-colonial era, politics in most Muslim countries were framed in secular and nationalist terms. During the last thirty years, the Islamic revival has dramatically changed this picture. Anthropologist Saba Mahmood talks with IDEAS producer David Cayley about her book, The Politics of Piety.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 3
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 2
The secular is often defined as the absence of religion, but secular society is in many ways a product of religion. In conversation with IDEAS producer David Cayley British sociologist David Martin explores the many ways in which modern secular society continues to draw on the repertoire of themes and images found in the Bible.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 2
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The Myth of the Secular, Part 1
Western social theory once insisted that modernization meant secularization and secularization meant the withering away of religion. But religion hasn't withered away, and this has forced a rethinking of the whole idea of the secular. IDEAS producer David Cayley talks to Craig Calhoun, Director of the London School of Economics, and Rajeev Barghava of India's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
Download The Myth of the Secular, Part 1
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Imagination, Part 2
The poet William Blake claimed that the imagination is our highest faculty and central to our perception and experience of reality. More than two hundred years later, scientific research on the brain and creativity confirms the great poet's insight. IDEAS producer Frank Faulk explores the key role the imagination plays in our lives.
Download Imagination, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Imagination, Part 1
The poet William Blake claimed that the imagination is our highest faculty and central to our perception and experience of reality. More than two hundred years later, scientific research on the brain and creativity confirms the great poet's insight. IDEAS producer Frank Faulk explores the key role the imagination plays in our lives.
Download Imagination, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Wachtel On The Arts - Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, one of Canada's most respected and cherished filmmakers, talks to Eleanor Wachtel about her life, her career, and her new movie "Midnight's Children". It's the first ever big-screen adaptation of a Salman Rushdie novel, and is Mehta's most ambitious work to date.
Download Wachtel On The Arts - Deepa Mehta
[mp3 file: runs 00:52:33]
Writing From The Rock
At Montreal's 2012 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, IDEAS host Paul Kennedy discusses the recent renaissance in Newfoundland writing with poet Mary Dalton, novelist Kathleen Winter, and poet Mark Callanan. Why do Newfoundland writers punch above their weight? Is it something they put in the water?
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[mp3 file: runs 00:53:33]
William Notman of Montreal, Part 2 (Encore Feb 23, 2012)
He arrived in Montreal in 1856 as a fugitive from the law. He became Canada's most successful photographer. A rare combination of canny businessman and master craftsman, William Notman embraced the wondrous new medium of photography and left us a unique record of Canada's social history. A portrait by Montreal writer Elaine Kalman Naves.
Download William Notman of Montreal, Part 2 (Encore Feb 23, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:52:27]
William Notman of Montreal, Part 1 (Encore February 22, 2012)
He arrived in Montreal in 1856 as a fugitive from the law. He became Canada's most successful photographer. A rare combination of canny businessman and master craftsman, William Notman embraced the wondrous new medium of photography and left us a unique record of Canada's social history. A portrait by Montreal writer Elaine Kalman Naves.
Download William Notman of Montreal, Part 1 (Encore February 22, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:52:41]
The Science of Morality, Part 2
How do we know right from wrong? For centuries, religion and philosophy tried to provide answers. Now psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology are weighing in. What can science tell us about our moral beliefs? And where, exactly, do morals come from? Science journalist Dan Falk investigates.
Download The Science of Morality, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
The Sword Brothers, Part 3 (Encore June 6, 2012)
The Crusades that began in the 11th century were wars for control of the Holy Land. The Crusaders themselves were a hybrid of warrior and priest, defending the pilgrim, attacking the Infidel. These Military Orders were also the first multinational corporations, and until their eventual destruction and diminishment, the Knights Templar, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights held unparalleled power, enough to threaten whole kingdoms and the Papacy itself. Philip Coulter tells the story. Part 3: The Story of the Teutonic Knights - The Iron Fist.
Download The Sword Brothers, Part 3 (Encore June 6, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:53:59]
Scaling the Heights
On the 200th anniversary of a crucial battle in the War of 1812-14, IDEAS host Paul Kennedy revisits Queenston, Ontario, where a major monument now towers over the battlefield where Major General Isaac Brock, along with many others, lost his life while leading combined British, Canadian and Aboriginal forces.
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[mp3 file: runs 00:53:35]
Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 5
ideacity is a three day festival of talk, produced and hosted by Moses Znaimer. In this episode, Andrew Sharpless, speaks about caring for the world's oceans; Edith Widder, oceanographer and deep sea explorer on reversing marine ecosystem degradation; and Preston Manning, on building knowledge and ethics for future political leaders.
Download Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 5
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Legends II: Legends of the Eastern Arctic
The Inuit of the Eastern Arctic explained their world through stories of transformation: the shaman who became a raven, the girl who turned into a snow bunting, the beautiful woman whose fingers became the creatures of the sea. The legends are full of the magic of the natural world. Sit by the qulliq and hear how the Inuit interpreted their harsh and unforgiving world.
Download Legends II: Legends of the Eastern Arctic
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
The Science of Morality, Part 1
How do we know right from wrong? For centuries, religion and philosophy tried to provide answers. Now psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology are weighing in. What can science tell us about our moral beliefs? And where, exactly, do morals come from? Science journalist Dan Falk investigates.
Download The Science of Morality, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
The Sword Brothers, Part 2
The Crusades that began in the 11th century were wars for control of the Holy Land. The Crusaders themselves were a hybrid of warrior and priest, defending the pilgrim, attacking the Infidel. These Military Orders were also the first multinational corporations, and until their eventual destruction and diminishment, the Knights Templar, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights held unparalleled power, enough to threaten whole kingdoms and the Papacy itself. Philip Coulter tells the story. Part 2: The Knights Hospitaller
Download The Sword Brothers, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:53:59]
The Enright Files - Conversations About The Economy
Michael Enright host of The Sunday Edition, talks with labour lawyer Brian Langille and labour activist Nancy Riche about what meaning, if any, the 'right to strike' still has. Also a conversation with Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Business about what is wrong with the stock market.
Download The Enright Files - Conversations About The Economy
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 4
ideacity is a three day festival of talk, produced and hosted by Moses Znaimer. The focus this year was optimism and pessimism. This episode is about possibilities. Speakers include: neuroscientist David Eagleman, writer Pico Iyer, and biologist Marlene Zuk.
Download Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 4
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Where Is The Internet? (Encore June 11, 2012)
Can you come up with an answer? Most of us can't. And those who do have an answer-those in the field-often respond in technical language and with explanations that are intellectually counterintuitive. Barbara Nichol asks experts in the field a simple question: where is the Internet?
Download Where Is The Internet? (Encore June 11, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
The Signal of Noise
Once long past, listening gave clues for survival. Now we listen unconsciously, blocking noise and tuning in to what we want to hear. Yet the unwanted sounds we filter out tell us a lot about our environment and our lives. Broadcaster Teresa Goff listens for the messages in our walls of sound.
Download The Signal of Noise
[mp3 file: runs 00:53:58]
The Sword Brothers, Part 1
The Crusades that began in the 11th century were wars for control of the Holy Land. The Crusaders themselves were a hybrid of warrior and priest, defending the pilgrim, attacking the Infidel. The Knights Templar, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights held unparalleled power, enough to threaten whole kingdoms and the Papacy itself. Philip Coulter tells the story. Part 1: The Knights Templar
Download The Sword Brothers, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:53:58]
Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 3
ideacity is a three day festival of talk, produced and hosted by Moses Znaimer. The focus this year was optimism and pessimism. Wall Street, money and... meat are the subjects of this episode. Speakers include: Roger Martin, David Wolman, and Daisy Van Der Schaft.
Download Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 3
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Idolatry For Beginners (Encore June 20, 2012)
At a time of widespread obsession with everything from money to celebrity to the latest in techno gadgetry, does the idea of idolatry have more than religious significance? IDEAS producer Frank Faulk explores the meaning of idolatry in a secular age.
Download Idolatry For Beginners (Encore June 20, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Mad Ideas and Sweet Dreams For A Better World
Literature has often been viewed as a tool for social transformation. Irish writer, journalist and broadcaster Frank Delaney says integrating literature and social commentary unleashes a struggle of its own. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell in conversation with Frank Delaney.
Download Mad Ideas and Sweet Dreams For A Better World
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Wachtel On The Arts - Frank Stella
Eleanor Wachtel talks to American painter Frank Stella. Since the late 1950s he's been at the forefront of the art world, constantly pushing new ideas for abstract painting. He was the youngest artist ever to have a one man show at the Museum of Modern Art. Frank Stella's latest project is a series of sculptures, or three-dimensional paintings, as he calls them - responding to the harpsichord sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti.
Download Wachtel On The Arts - Frank Stella
[mp3 file: runs 00:51:58]
Iceberg Ship Habbakuk
1942: Hitler's U-Boats are ravaging merchant ships that Britain depends on for its survival. Enter a plan, for a gigantic warship, to help the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic. It will be built in Canada and made from ... ice! Richard Longley tells the story of iceberg ship Habbakuk, in all its icy eccentricity
Download Iceberg Ship Habbakuk
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 2
ideacity is a three day festival of talk, produced and hosted by Moses Znaimer. The focus this year was optimism and pessimism. This episode is about seeking faith. Speakers include Eric Weiner, Jana Riess, and Gretta Vosper.
Download Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
A Serpent's Tale
IDEAS contributor Hassan Ghedi Santur discusses the mysterious evolutionary history of snakes and their fearsome reputation. Along the way, he confronts his own case of ophidiophobia - you guessed it: the "abnormal fear of snakes."
Download A Serpent's Tale
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Buying Into Biodiversity (Encore June 13, 2012)
The 2012 Muskoka Environmental Summit brings together prominent scientists and influential policy makers to discuss critical questions about biodiversity and the environment. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy moderates the plenary panel discussion.
Download Buying Into Biodiversity (Encore June 13, 2012)
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Risk, Part 2
On the simplest level, we take risks to derive benefits. If the benefit outweighs the risk, we've made a good decision. But decisions are subject to bias, even those of experts. How do we live with uncertainty and make good decisions? Vancouver broadcaster Kathleen Flaherty talks with risk takers, risk managers and risk assessors to find out.
Download Risk, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Risk, Part 1
On the simplest level, we take risks to derive benefits. If the benefit outweighs the risk, we've made a good decision. But decisions are subject to bias, even those of experts. How do we live with uncertainty and make good decisions? Vancouver broadcaster Kathleen Flaherty talks with risk takers, risk managers and risk assessors to find out.
Download Risk, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 1
deacity is a three day festival of talk, produced and hosted by Moses Znaimer. The focus this year was optimism and pessimism. This episode features talks by Jeff Rubin, former CIBC Chief Economist and author of The End of Growth: But Is It All That Bad?; Rex Weyler, ecologist, activist, writer and a co-founder of Greenpeace; Mara Hvistendahl, science journalist and author of Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men.
Download Moses Znaimer's ideacity, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Legends I: An Inuit Journey
Ancient stories depicting life and creation from traditional Inuit oral legends, retold, dramatized and recorded in Iqaluit, Nunavut. CBC Radio's Legends Project compiles traditional oral stories, legends and histories of Canada's Inuit and First Nations, gathered in communities across the country.
Download Legends I: An Inuit Journey
[mp3 file: runs 00:53:59]
Dancing in the Dark: The Intelligence of Bees
Bees are remarkable among insects. They can count, remember human faces, and communicate through dance routines performed entirely in the dark. But are they intelligent? Even creative? Bee aficionado Stephen Humphrey, along with a hive of leading bee researchers and scientists, investigates the mental lives of bees.
Download Dancing in the Dark: The Intelligence of Bees
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Selkirk's Grant
The War of 1812 wasn't the only important event that year in nascent Canada. That fall, the Earl of Selkirk established a small colony in what would become southern Manitoba. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy tells the story of how that tiny settlement changed Canada, introducing new ideas of what the west could be, including an early version of a multicultural Canada.
Download Selkirk's Grant
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Never In Anger, Part 2
Anthropologist Jean Briggs lived with an Inuit family during the early 1960s, when she was doing research and writing about them for her doctoral thesis. When she got "angry", they treated her as a child, because they thought that "anger" was an infantile emotion, something never expressed by Inuit adults. This experience led to many more years of research on the emotions and ideas by which Inuit lived, and how they learned and taught them.
Download Never In Anger, Part 2
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
Never In Anger, Part 1
Anthropologist Jean Briggs lived with an Inuit family during the early 1960s, when she was doing research and writing about them for her doctoral thesis. When she got "angry", they treated her as a child, because they thought that "anger" was an infantile emotion, something never expressed by Inuit adults. This experience led to many more years of research on the emotions and ideas by which Inuit lived, and how they learned and taught them.
Download Never In Anger, Part 1
[mp3 file: runs 00:54:00]
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