Monday, November 1
THE ENRIGHT FILES - Fiction from the Extremes of Personality
Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition, in conversation with with Hilary Mantel and Anna Quindlen about the sources of fiction. Hilary Mantel won the 2009 Booker Prize with Wolf Hall, a fictional account of the life of Thomas Cromwell while Anna Quindlen has written Every Last One, an intense novel about a very ordinary, very average family. 

Tuesday, November 2
A LETHAL OBSESSION
Anti-Semitism has a long and ugly history, which culminated in the Holocaust in the 1940s. But it occurs even in countries where few, if any, Jews live. Renowned historian Robert Wistrich traces its history from ancient times to its shocking resurgence today.

Wednesday, November 3
TIME KALEIDOSCOPE
What is time? How have we imagined it through the ages? Is time travel possible? Toronto essayist and poet Christopher Dewdney, author of The Soul of the World: Unlocking the Secrets of Time, and freelance broadcaster Cindy Bisaillon immerse us in time - how we imagine it, invent it and flex it.

Thursday, November 4
FROM HERE TO MATERNITY, Part 2
For decades men have donated sperm for baby-making. But in recent years egg donation has become a growing business and concern. Moms-in-waiting can purchase tourism packages to the Czech Republic or pay a university student in Boston for her eggs. Science journalist and IDEAS contributor Alison Motluk deconstructs the new motherhood.

Friday, November 5
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 9
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Monday, November 8 – Friday, November 12
PLAYER ONE: WHAT IS TO BECOME OF US? A NOVEL IN FIVE HOURS: THE 2010 CBC MASSEY LECTURES BY DOUGLAS COUPLAND
For the first time in their history, the CBC Massey Lectures is a work of fiction. In an airport lounge in the very near future, four people are marooned when a kind of apocalypse strikes. Sealed in, the four can only talk to each other, examining their lives and the meaning of love. Thick ash falls from the sky. Cell phones don’t work. What is to become of us? In the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and J.G. Ballard, Douglas Coupland locates his story and characters in an extreme situation and then pushes the implications as far as possible.

Monday, November 15
A GLORIOUS RACKET
Contrary to popular belief, Nero didn't play the violin. He played the bagpipes, a revered and reviled peasant's instrument now over five-thousand years old. Karl Turner explores the rise, fall, and revival of the bagpipes-the instrument that simply refuses to go away.

Tuesday, November 16
WACHTEL ON THE ARTS
A monthly IDEAS feature with CBC Radio’s celebrated arts journalist Eleanor Wachtel. Each month, she takes an in-depth look at what’s new, exciting and important in film, opera, the visual arts, theatre, dance and architecture.

Wednesday, November 17
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.

Thursday, November 18
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
How do our expectations of what public institutions, governments and our employers should do, create a national mythology and collective sense of entitlement? A Calgary Institute for the Humanities forum ponders this question.

Friday, November 19
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 10
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Monday, November 22 – Tuesday, November 23
THE BOOK OF EXODUS
It is a story of epic proportions: an enslaved people’s liberation from bondage and their transformation into a nation. Considered one of the most important books in the Bible, the influence of Exodus transcends religious boundaries. CBC producer Frank Faulk explores how this powerful story has reverberated through the centuries and shaped the imagination of the West.

Wednesday, November 24
DUCKS ON THE MOON
Regina playwright and producer, Kelley Jo Burke was an orderly woman with an orderly life. In 2000, she had a perfect baby. But by 2004, order was out the window, as she tried to cope with her perfect but "special" boy. In this performance-documentary, annotated by comments from specialists and other parents, she talks about meeting and accepting her son’s autism.

Thursday, November 25
THE 2010 DALTON CAMP LECTURE
She has worked in the world’s most dangerous places – Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo – to report on the ravages of war and disease. Currently South Asia correspondent for the Globe and Mail, award-winning journalist Stephanie Nolen delivers the 2010 Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism.

Friday, November 26
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 11
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Monday, November 29
SHANGHAI LADIES
Painted posters of beautiful women were used to sell all manner of goods in 1920s China. Broadcaster Christina Wong asks if these are images of subservience or liberation.

Tuesday, November 30
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.

December

Wednesday, December 1
“SEX AND THE DEAD…”
…is how Irish poet Paul Muldoon summarizes the themes of his work. He has been called the most significant English language poet since World War II. He has garnered international praise and recognition of his work, including a Pulitzer Prize and a Griffin Poetry Prize. Today, he is poetry editor at The New Yorker. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy interviewed Paul Muldoon at the 2010 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal.

Thursday, December 2
ORIGINAL SPARE STRANGE
Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins embraced the ecstatic in nature. Conflicted by a repressed homosexuality, he entered the priesthood and adopted the rigours of Jesuit celibacy. He wrote highly original poetry, and produced some of the greatest poems of faith and doubt in the English language. A portrait by Cindy Bisaillon.

Friday, December 3
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 12
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Monday, December 6
THE ENRIGHT FILES
Our monthly Monday night feature with Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition, in conversation with some of the most original and influential thinkers of our time.

Tuesday, December 7
WIHTIG0
The class of beings Cree people call Wihtigo, may be humans who've been transformed into something horrifying and dangerous. Maureen Matthews journeys to a village near Hudson's Bay to learn how stories about them reveal Cree moral teachings.

Wednesday, December 8 - Thursday, December 9
KING SOLOMON’S RING
Why do these geese think that you’re their mother? How do stickleback fish find a mate? Why does that crow seem smarter than you are? Konrad Lorenz spent a lifetime watching animals, figuring out how they live together, how they communicate, and - most important - how their worlds touch ours. Philip Coulter traveled to Austria to follow the trail of Konrad Lorenz today.

Friday, December 10
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 13
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Monday, December 13
DOGS THEMSELVES, Part 1
New evidence reveals what dogs understand, about their world and about people, what they say and how they say it – to each other and to us – and what they know that people don't. The hidden lives of dogs themselves are uncovered by dog observers Alexandra Horowitz, Vilmos Csányi, Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor, Jon Katz, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and Patricia McConnell in conversation with Max Allen. Part 2 will air Monday, Dec 20.

Tuesday, December 14
THE HURRIED CHILD
Buying achievement. Rigid regimens. As a society, we are keeping children busy with the business of childhood. Tutoring and computer centers for children are a booming business, and have become America’s top franchise of the decade. A new age of anxiety has invaded childhood. IDEAS producer Mary O’Connell examines the costs and consequences of the hurried child.

Wednesday, December 15
THE MUNK DEBATES
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the internationally-renowned writer and atheist Christopher Hitchens, go head-to-head on the resolution: "Be It Resolved that Religion is a Force for Good in the World." The Munk Debates is an initiative of the Aurea Foundation, a charitable organization founded in 2006 by Peter and Melanie Munk to "improve the quality and vitality of public debate in Canada."

Thursday, December 16
DALHOUSIE'S DREAM
The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec became the first scholarly organization in Canada, when it was founded in 1824 by the Earl of Dalhousie, the Governor General of British North America. But from the very beginning, the Society served as the cultural bastion for an often-beleaguered English-speaking minority, within an increasingly French-speaking city. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy takes us on an audio tour.

Friday, December 17
THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN PUBLIC, Part 14
Publicity was once the exclusive property of men of rank. They alone, by virtue of their stations, could make things public. During the 18th century it became meaningful to talk about "public opinion" as something formed outside the state. Today anyone with a Twitter account can make a public. In this series IDEAS producer David Cayley examines how publics were formed in Europe, between 1500 and 1700, and how these early publics grew into the concept of "the public" that we hold today.

Tuesday, December 21
WACHTEL ON THE ARTS
A monthly IDEAS feature with CBC Radio’s celebrated arts journalist Eleanor Wachtel. Each month, she takes an in-depth look at what’s new, exciting and important in film, opera, the visual arts, theatre, dance and architecture.

Wednesday, December 22
SANCTUARY
What are the elements of a haven? Can it be safe in these times of insecurity? Cindy Bisaillon ruminates on the idea of sanctuary in her off-the-grid cabin in the woods, interweaving her thoughts with tales from a naturalist, a refugee and a monk. She discovers clues to our future survival. To support the actions of Colorado-based monk Tessa Bielecki and Sudanese refugee Jacob Deng, both interviewed in the program visit The Desert Foundation and Wadeng Wings of Hope websites.

Thursday, December 23
A BUCKET WITH YOUR NAME ON IT: MEMORIES OF A HALIFAX CHILDHOOD
On the day following his death in 2008, there were found in writer David Cole’s closet, memoirs of the dark comedy of his youth. Edited by Barbara Nichol.

Friday, Decmber 24
A STEPHEN LEACOCK CHRISTMAS
The author of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town wrote a series of annual Christmas stories - here sampled by IDEAS host Paul Kennedy, and accompanied by appropriate seasonal music.

Tuesday, December 28 - Wednesday, December 29
STALKING THE CAT
It has survived over millions of years - doing well enough on its own before human beings entered the picture. We've idolized, loved, demonized and hunted it. We can't seem to make up our minds. Marilyn Powell stalks the cat, wild and domestic, balancing history with science, the new genetic discoveries that reconfigure the animal in the landscape of its nature.

Thursday, December 30
A GUIDE TO THE GOOD LIFE
The ancient philosophy of Stoicism can still direct to lead a good life, even today. Philosopher William B. Irvine offers us a refreshing look at a school of thought that teaches the importance of tranquility.

Friday, December 31
CHANGES
As an old year fades and a new year dawns, IDEAS host Paul Kennedy considers what is gained, and what is lost, in the inevitable process of "change," with a little help from selected musical and philosophical friends