Ideas
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Wachtel On The Arts - Robert Carsen
Eleanor Wachtel talks to Canadian opera director Robert Carsen. He talks about his early life and about his philosophy of directing, bringing fresh and surprising interpretations to classic operas.
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Beauty and the Freak
For centuries human beings have been modifying their bodies - tribal scarification, tattoos and cosmetic surgery are just a few. But when we change our bodies, do we change who we are? Sheetal Lodhia explores how changes to the body can effect changes to
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Return to Tripoli
Libyan novelist Hisham Matar was still a boy when his family fled to Cairo in order to escape the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. He talks to IDEAS host Paul Kennedy about his recent return to a country that his imagination never left.
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Tinctor's Foul Manual
Our ideas about witches may come from an extraordinary manuscript found in the University of Alberta Library. It's one of only 4 known copies. Written in the 1400s and now being re-translated from medieval French, it created the framework for witch hunts.
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Legends of the Ilnu of Mashteuiatsh of Quebec
From the shores of Lac St. Jean in Northern Quebec come these ancient stories of the Mashteuiatsh Ilnu.
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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? Frank Faulk explores the meaning of idolatry in a secular age.
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My Brother's - And My Sister's - Keeper, Part 2
Anything you can do to make someone's life better, you must do. Right? But how much do you owe to other people, and who should you help? In this series, we consider the limits and the extent of our obligations to others, as individuals and as a society.
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Vasari's Most Eminent Lives (Encore Jan 21, 2013)
In the mid-1500s, Giorgio Vasari's short biographies created art history, the artist as genius and even the "Renaissance". Tony Luppino leafs through Vasari's Lives to see how it still shapes our ideas of art.
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Revising History, Part 2
What happens when historians go searching for new evidence about the nation's past? Historian Robert Johnson speaks to some American historians who are asking us to reconsider America's role in the Vietnam War.
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My Brother's - And My Sister's - Keeper, Part 1
Anything you can do to make someone's life better, you must do. Right? But how much do you owe to other people, and who should you help? In this series, we consider the limits and the extent of our obligations to others, as individuals and as a society.
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York In Flames
Two hundred years ago, on April 27th, 1813, an invading American army attacked the muddy little town of York - which is now Toronto. Paul Kennedy revisits the battleground, as part of IDEAS continuing coverage of the War of 1812 bicentennial.
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Worthy Parasites: A Villain's Silver Lining
People hate parasites. They bring pestilence, misery, even death. 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.
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Madeleine Blair: Nobody's Victim
A rare and detailed account of a prostitute and brothel owner in the Canadian west during the late 1800s reveals the integral role prostitutes played in shaping the Canadian frontier.
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The Heart of the Beat
What is it about rhythm, pattern, and synchronization that fascinate us? How do pacemaker cells in a heart synchronize? How can thousands of people unconsciously walk in step? Filmmaker Tess Girard explores the idea of rhythm and what it means to us.
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Legends of the Kainai
Dramatizations of the old stories of the Blackfoot of southern Alberta, provide a glimpse into this ancient culture's sacred beliefs, traditions and heroes
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The Visionary, Controversial, Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer was one of the great visionaries and humanitarians of the 20th century. Writer and broadcaster Megan Williams looks back on his life and legacy.
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Wachtel On The Arts - Yoko Ono
A controversial, iconic figure, Yoko Ono is today regarded as a multi-media innovator. At 80, she remains an adventurous and committed conceptual artist and musician, celebrated internationally. Eleanor Wachtel talks to Yoko Ono.
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Mur-Écran, The Windscreen
Fermont, Quebec was designed as the mining community of the future. Its 1.3 kilometre-long windscreen complex was built to shield residents from the sub-arctic climate. Simon Nakonechny heads north to find out what has become of this visionary town.
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Riel's Revenge
A recent Supreme Court decision in favour of the Manitoba Metis Federation could fundamentally change the nature of Crown/Metis relations in Canada. We hear from interested participants, including Thomas Berger who argued this case for almost three decade
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Sailing Alone Around The World
In 1895 Joshua Slocum set off to sail alone around the world. It had never been done, and it took 3 years. Since then, fewer than 200 people have sailed in his wake. Philip Coulter explores this greatest challenge sailors set for themselves.
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Revising History, Part 1
What happens when historians go searching for new evidence about the nation's past? Historian Robert Johnson looks at what happens when Russians begin to examine Stalin's vaunted role as a leader during World War II.
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The Enright Files
Michael Enright, in conversation with two trail-blazing female political leaders: Vigds Finnbogadttir and Mary McAleese. In 1980, Vigds Finnbogadttir became the first woman in history to be elected as a constitutional head of state when she became pre
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Rethinking Depression, Part 3
Mary O'Connell brings us the stories of the depressed on the path to wellness and the methods that can be used to get them there.
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The Signal of Noise (Encore June 14, 2012)
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
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Wachtel On The Arts - Patti Smith
Eleanor Wachtel talks to American singer-songerwriter, poet, and visual artist Patti Smith.
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Legends of the Mik'maq
The rich oral tradition of the Mi'kmaq is highlighted in four fascinating stories - stories of power and magic that provide insight into the culture of this First Nation from Canada's east coast.
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Rethinking Depression, Part 2
IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell explores the short and troubling history of the antidepressant.
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The End of Growth
Economist Jeff Rubin and environmentalist David Suzuki might seem an unlikely pairing. But they've been touring Canada together, talking about the natural limits to growth from their very different perspectives. We listen in as they try to convince a Calgary audience that we've already exceeded the capacity of the planet.
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Philosophy Bites
Philosophy doesn't have to be an arcane subject. It's about people thinking, and like Socrates, asking simple questions. Meet Nigel Warburton who wants to take philosophy off its pedestal and make it lucid and enjoyable. His A Little History of Philosophy is written for the young at heart and the curious adult.
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Rethinking Depression, Part 1
Depression. It has been called the mean reds. The blue devils. The black dog. And through history, treatments for depression have varied wildly. In the Middle Ages, depressives were caged in asylums. In Victorian England, wealthier patients were sent to seaside resorts for a change of air. In the 1930’s, procedures like lobotomies and electroconvulsive therapy were used. Psychiatry’s tools were crude and limited. No wonder then, when the Age of the Antidepressant arrived, it was considered...
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A Word to the Wise, Part 2
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.
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The Enright Files
As the cardinals gather in Rome to pick a new Pope, Michael Enright speaks with Garry Wills, who explains why his rejection of the Vatican hasn't shaken his Catholicism, and with legendary New York newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin, about his break from the Church over its moral failures in his 2004 book, The Church That Forgot Christ.
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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.
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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.
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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, psychiatrists, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Legends of the Old Massett Haida (Encore November 24,...
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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
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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.
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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.
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Wachtel On The Arts - Yannick Nzet-Sguin
Eleanor Wachtel speaks with 37-year-old Yannick Nzet-Sguin, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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Worthy Parasites: A Villian'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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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'.
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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.
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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.
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The Munk Debates - Iran's Nuclear Ambitions (Broadcast...
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.
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The Screw That Changed The World (Encore October 17,...
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.
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The Four Seasons of Mavis Gallant (Encore February 15,...
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.
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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."
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Munk Debates - Iran's Nuclear Ambitions
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Wachtel On The Arts - Lera Auerbach
Eleanor Wachtel, host of Writers & Company, 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.
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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.
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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?"
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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William Notman of Montreal, Part 1 (Encore February 22,...
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.
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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.
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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....
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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....
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Idolatry for Beginners
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.
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Wired for Culture
Human beings have a unique evolutionary history. We are at the mercy of neither biology nor luck. We survive by learning from each other. Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tells us humans are successful because we are "wired for culture."
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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
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Footprints Kenya
An ongoing annual series about the connection between Sport and Society, "Footprints 2012" takes IDEAS host Paul Kennedy to the Great Rift Valley, in Kenya. He spends time in the training camp for distance runners that may produce pots of gold at this summer's London Olympics.
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Where is the Internet?
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?
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Buying Into Biodiversity
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.
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Pondering the Patriation
Thirty years after pivotal constitutional negotiations, an Edmonton conference brings together many of the original participants to consider what happened and how it changed Canadian history.
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What's Wrong with Multiculturalism?
How should European societies respond to the influx of peoples with different traditions, backgrounds and beliefs? In the 2012 Milton K. Wong Lecture, Kenan Malik looks at multiculturalism policies in Europe, at the ways in which different countries have approached immigration and diversity, and at the reasons for the current dissatisfaction.
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Who Started the War of 1812?
It was a war that nobody really wanted, although both sides ultimately claimed to win. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy considers the causes and the consequences of the War of 1812-14, from both sides, and includes an "Indian" perspective that is all too frequently ignored.
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The Sword Brothers, Part 3
Christians against Muslims, 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...
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The Sword Brothers, Part 2
Christians against Muslims, the Crusades that began in the eleventh 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....
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The Sword Brothers, Part 1
Christians against Muslims, the Crusades that began in the eleventh 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....
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The Munk Debates
The Munk Debates convenes four influential Europeans to tackle the resolution: Be it resolved the European experiment has failed. Arguing for the resolution are: Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University; and Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of the German weekly Die Zeit and a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, TIME and Newsweek. Arguing against the resolution are Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who rose to public prominence...
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A Question of Optimism
Research seems to indicate that we're genetically inclined to optimism. But what if we're too optimistic to deal with social problems? A Calgary forum mulls the implications. Produced in association with the Calgary Institute for the Humanities at the University of Calgary
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The Gender Trap, Part 2
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, more than race and class, constricts individual identity. When the story of Storm became public, controversy ensued. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell takes up the story and the debate.
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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...
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The Red Book, Part 2
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.
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After Atheism, Part 1
Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 1: Richard Kearney,(Anatheism: Returning to God After God).
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After Atheism, Part 2
Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 2, John Caputo (The Weakness of God).
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After Atheism, Part 3
Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 3: William Cavanaugh (Migrations of the Holy).
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After Atheism, Part 4
Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 4: James Carse (The Religious Case Against Belief)
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After Atheism, Part 5
Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 5: Roger Lundin,(Believing Again: Doubt and Faith in a Secular Age).
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The Red Book, Part 1
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.
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Solar Dance
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.
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The Swerve
In 1417, a Renaissance scribe and book hunter discovered an ancient manuscript in a monastery. That book was the Roman poet Lucretius' On the Nature of Things. Renowned scholar Stephen Greenblatt tells us how that discovery changed the world.
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Demon Coal, Part 1
Coal is dirty, toxic, abundant and cheap. Mining it disfigures the earth. Using it for fuel or electricity generation is unsustainable. Burning it emits deadly pollutants and greenhouse gases, and is the major cause of global warming. Right? Max Allen talks with environmentalists and energy scientists about why much conventional wisdom about coal in the 21st century is just plain wrong.
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Demon Coal, Part 2
Coal is dirty, toxic, abundant and cheap. Mining it disfigures the earth. Using it for fuel or electricity generation is unsustainable. Burning it emits deadly pollutants and greenhouse gases, and is the major cause of global warming. Right? Max Allen talks with environmentalists and energy scientists about why much conventional wisdom about coal in the 21st century is just plain wrong.
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The Four Seasons of Mavis Gallant
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 her documentary portrait: "The Four...
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William Notman of Montreal, Part 2
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.
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William Notman of Montreal, Part 1
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.
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Demon Coal, Part 2
Coal is dirty, toxic, abundant and cheap. Mining it disfigures the earth. Using it for fuel or electricity generation is unsustainable. Burning it emits deadly pollutants and greenhouse gases, and is the major cause of global warming. Right? In this new two-part series, Max Allen talks with environmentalists and energy scientists about why much conventional wisdom about coal in the 21st century is just plain wrong.
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Demon Coal, Part 1
Coal is dirty, toxic, abundant and cheap. Mining it disfigures the earth. Using it for fuel or electricity generation is unsustainable. Burning it emits deadly pollutants and greenhouse gases, and is the major cause of global warming. Right? Max Allen talks with environmentalists and energy scientists about why much conventional wisdom about coal in the 21st century is just plain wrong.
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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.
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The Nation of Hockey, Part 2
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.
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The Nation of Hockey, Part 1
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.
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Reflections on the Norwegian Massacre
On July 22, 2011, Norway suffered a catastrophe: its main government buildings were bombed, and scores of young people were killed and maimed at a summer youth congress. Nils Christie, a prominent Norwegian sociologist and criminologist, talks with IDEAS producer David Cayley about what happened and what it means for his country.
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Left Behind, Part 3
Over the past 30 years, the benefits of economic growth in Canada, the US and much of the rest of the world, have gone increasingly to the top one percent of the population. For the majority of families, however, incomes have stagnated. This rise in inequality coincided with a sea change in government policy. Beginning in the 1980s, governments in much of the English-speaking world embarked on what has been called the neoliberal revolution - deregulation, privatization and tax cuts, aimed at...
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Left Behind, Part 2
Over the past 30 years, the benefits of economic growth in Canada, the US and much of the rest of the world, have gone increasingly to the top one percent of the population. For the majority of families, however, incomes have stagnated. This rise in inequality coincided with a sea change in government policy. Beginning in the 1980s, governments in much of the English-speaking world embarked on what has been called the neoliberal revolution - deregulation, privatization and tax cuts, aimed...
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Left Behind, Part 1
Over the past 30 years, the benefits of economic growth in Canada, the US and much of the rest of the world, have gone increasingly to the top one percent of the population. For the majority of families, however, incomes have stagnated. This rise in inequality coincided with a sea change in government policy. Beginning in the 1980s, governments in much of the English-speaking world embarked on what has been called the neoliberal revolution - deregulation, privatization and tax cuts, aimed...
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Feeding Ten Billion
The world just got its seven billionth citizen, and the population explosion shows no signs of stopping. In a Saskatoon lecture, writer and activist Raj Patel argues that the only way to feed everyone is to completely rethink agriculture.
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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.
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The Vancouver Human Rights Lecture- Cute Cats and the...
In the 2011 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture, Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, looks at the "cute cat" theory of internet activism, and how it helps explain the Arab Spring. He discusses how activists around the world are turning to social media tools which are extremely powerful, easy to use and difficult for governments to censor.
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The Last Commandment: Thou Shalt 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...
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The Enright Files
Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition, in conversation about two of the more intriguing fathers of confederation. Biographer Richard Gwyn talks about Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister while University of Toronto Scholar David Wilson talks about the poet of Confederation Thomas D'Arcy McGee.
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David Frum: Conservatism for Liberals?
America's most famous Canadian, outside of Hollywood, is David Frum. He is a former editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and the author of Comeback: Conservatism that Can Win Again. Frum speaks with Max Allen about the conservative wave in Canadian politics, the American medical system, Sarah Palin, and the evolution of his own political views - at the age of 14, he was a campaign volunteer for the NDP.
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Zionism From Within - Part Two
Since appearing on the international stage in the 19th century, Zionism has evoked strong emotions, both positive and negative. Nowhere have its meaning and aims been more hotly debated than amongst Zionists themselves. Frank Faulk speaks with Zionists about the movement's troubled history and the current struggle over its meaning.
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The Munk Debate
Be It Resolved North America Faces a Japan-style Era of High Unemployment and Slow Growth. Arguing for the resolution are Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner and one of the pre-eminent economists of our time, and David Rosenberg, Chief Economist and Strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates. Arguing against the resolution are Lawrence Summers, one of America's most influential economists, and until recently President Obama's director of the White House National Economic Council, and Ian Bremmer,...
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Bourgeois Dignity
Deirdre McCloskey is a contrarian among economists. She believes that ideas really matter, not just money and material reality. Wealth doesn't grow from economic factors alone. People's values and opinions, especially those of the industrious middle class, are more important.
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The Art of Reasoning
A bronze bust of Pierre Bdard was recently unveiled in the Quebec National Assembly. Bdard was a journalist, politician, judge and nationalist leader of Lower Canada, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was an early advocate of responsible government. Bdard was also a philosopher who engaged in imaginary dialogues with Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot and Montesquieu. IDEAS host Paul Kennedy explores his significance for Quebec today.
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Boot Camp Moms - Part Two
Twelve single mothers. Poor and uneducated. Their mission: to complete a one-year boot camp designed to lift them out of poverty. Their tools: citizenship, literature, and education. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell charts the progress of these mothers as they attempt to break the generational chains of poverty. Women Moving Forward could well be the most inventive poverty reduction program in the country.
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Boot Camp Moms - Part One
Twelve single mothers. Poor and uneducated. Their mission: to complete a one-year boot camp designed to lift them out of poverty. Their tools: citizenship, literature, and education. IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell charts the progress of these mothers as they attempt to break the generational chains of poverty. Women Moving Forward could well be the most inventive poverty reduction program in the country.
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The New Revolutionaries - Part Two
Women have been identified by economists, social scientists, politicians and pundits as key to moving forward on issues like poverty, violence and conflict. Sally Armstrong takes us around the globe, where localized acts of female emancipation are literally improving the prospects for humankind at large.
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The New Revolutionaries - Part One
Women have been identified by economists, social scientists, politicians and pundits as key to moving forward on issues like poverty, violence and conflict. Sally Armstrong takes us around the globe, where localized acts of female emancipation are literally improving the prospects for humankind at large.
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In the Valley of the Shadow
Harvard professor James Kugel is one of the world's leading biblical scholars. Ten years ago he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. His illness forced him to further reflect on themes he's been studying for decades - the nature of human spirituality and our changing conception of God.
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Synthetic Life
Craig Venter was the first person to have his genome sequenced. Recently he and his colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute created a synthetic organism that could be a key to the foods and fuels of the future. Dr. Venter speaks about synthetic life and about a project to map the diversity of the microbial world. His lecture was the inaugural Wall Exchange, a new public lecture series in Vancouver presented by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies in the University of British...
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Salt - Part Two
Something insignificant is sometimes said to be worth "a pinch of salt." On the other hand, people of impeccable integrity are often called, "the salt of the earth." Salt is now among the most common substances on earth, although once it was rarer and more valuable than gold. Paul Kennedy considers the incredible history, science and mythology of salt.
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Salt - Part One
Something insignificant is sometimes said to be worth "a pinch of salt." On the other hand, people of impeccable integrity are often called, "the salt of the earth." Salt is now among the most common substances on earth, although once it was rarer and more valuable than gold. Paul Kennedy considers the incredible history, science and mythology of salt.
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An Evening With Irshad Manji
IDEAS host Paul Kennedy moderates a discussion with Irshad Manji, the critically acclaimed author of The Trouble With Islam, on the impact of individual rights on social integration and Canadian society. How do responsibilities play into the process of integration within a diverse society? How should we address rights that are in conflict?
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Leading Under Fire
What are the components of military leadership? That's the question Dr. Joe MacInnis asks soldiers, sailors, and airmen on a Canadian warship and at the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In the cockpits of their aircraft, the front seats of their armored vehicles, and the bridge of HMCS Toronto, they describe leadership-critical moments and share stories about leadership's essential components and how they are acquired. He considers how the synergy of courage, competence,...
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Thucydides: The First Journalist
About 2,500 years ago, Thucydides travelled ancient Greece, gathering stories about a brutal war that plunged the ancient world into chaos. He set high standards for accuracy, objectivity and thoroughness in his reporting. IDEAS producer Nicola Luksic explains why his account of the Peloponnesian War is relevant today.
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Citizen Mel - Part Two
His name is synonymous with the words "Canadian nationalist". Mel Hurtig's voice has been prominent in discussions about the country for almost fifty years. He is a bookseller, a publisher and a catalyst for debate on subjects ranging from child poverty to nuclear arms. IDEAS producer Kathleen Flaherty traces Mel Hurtig's lifelong quest to shape a Canada he passionately believes in.
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Citizen Mel - Part One
His name is synonymous with the words "Canadian nationalist". Mel Hurtig's voice has been prominent in discussions about the country for almost fifty years. He is a bookseller, a publisher and a catalyst for debate on subjects ranging from child poverty to nuclear arms. IDEAS producer Kathleen Flaherty traces Mel Hurtig's lifelong quest to shape a Canada he passionately believes in.
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PROGRAM INFORMATION
- Toronto, ON
- Ideas, Science, Public Radio
- CBC
- English
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Ideas
CBC Radio
P.O. Box 500 Station A
Toronto, ON
Canada, M5W 1E6(416) 205-3700 -
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