Ideas

The apartheid era in South Africa ended in 1991 with the National Peace Accords. The peace agreement also paved the way for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Yet TRC head Desmond Tutu considered the process “scandalously unfinished.” Lawyer Prakash Diar agrees: "You don’t undo centuries of colonization just like that.” Diar and writer Kagiso Lesego Molope were young activists in apartheid-era South Africa. They saw the toll that oppression and state violence took: on their families, communities, and themselves. In our fourth episode of our series Inventing Peace, they consider the history of the history of this pivotal peace agreement and what other countries might learn.

An Ontario trucking union predicts a shortage of 30,000 truckers in Canada as old hands retire faster than new ones take on the job. IDEAS producer Tom Howell visits a trucking school in northern Ontario, where recruits consider their options, and the road ahead. *This episode originally aired on March 4, 2024.

Eight composers, five instruments, and a world of metal. IDEAS explores a project by the University of British Columbia called The Heavy Metal Suite that conveys the challenges and opportunities of the mining industry, through music. Each composer draws inspiration from their country’s mineral resources in their original pieces. *This episode originally aired on May 28, 2024.

In June 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland. It's considered the worst terror attack in Canadian history. Sujata Berry's 16-year-old brother, Sharad was on that flight. The shock of his horrific death morphed into an unshakeable grief. The family's sorrow was augmented with the lack of justice for victims' families — a flawed investigation, evidence lost and what Sujata says was "an unsatisfactory verdict." It's taken Sujata 40 years to chip away at her grief and try to understand what happened to her and her family. She explores love, loss and the grief that binds them in her documentary, All that Remains.

Smell this yogurt, is it still good? Our sense of smell has the ability to keep us healthy and safe. In fact in some cases, our ability to detect "off" foods using our sense of smell can be superior to dogs and other animals. Smell is often undervalued and yet capable of inspiring profound admiration if we stop turning our noses at it. Producer Annie Bender examines what we lose when we take our powerful — but often misunderstood — sense of smell for granted. *This episode originally aired on June 3, 2024.

For almost four years, the Bosnian War in the former Yugoslavia was characterized by ethnic hatreds, atrocities, and a refugee crisis. So when leaders of the warring factions were sequestered in an American air base and forced to come up with the 1995 peace agreement known as the Dayton Accord, the world was relieved. But is a cessation of violence the same as real peace? *This episode is the third in a five-part series called Inventing Peace.

Acclaimed author Gabor Maté joins the conversation in part two of our series exploring Wilhelm von Humboldt’s public education system. Maté is a former English teacher. In this episode we ask: Is Humboldt's 200-year-old system equipped to meet the challenging demands of the 21st century? And does it still reflect his ideals, especially at the university level? *This episode concludes our two-part series. It originally aired on April 16, 2024.

Two hundred years ago, Wilhelm von Humboldt created the education system as we know it today. At the heart of his philosophy of education was the concept of Bildung — reaching one's inner potential. Yet over the years, as his public education system was adopted, Bildung may well have been the critical piece left out. *This episode is part one of two-part series. It originally aired on April 15, 2024.

Ahead of the Massey tour, Alex Neve sits down with Nahlah Ayed to talk about his lectures, Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World. This year, the lectures are coming to: Toronto, Sept. 19 Vancouver, Sept. 25 Edmonton, Oct. 1 Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Oct. 15 Ottawa, Oct. 30 Tickets are available now for the 2025 CBC Massey Lectures — and selling fast! For information on how to get tickets, go to cbc.ca/masseys.

In the 19th-century, feminist and scholar Pandita Ramabai travelled America delivering lectures on how the caste system and patriarchy shaped the trajectory of women’s lives. When she came back to India, she explained America's customs around gender and race relations, and their experiment with democracy. IDEAS explores her rich life and legacy. Guests in this episode: Radha Vatsal is the author of No. 10 Doyers Street (March 2025), as well as the author of the Kitty Weeks mystery novels. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, she earned her Ph.D. in Film History from Duke University and has worked as a film curator, political speechwriter, and freelance journalist. Tarini Bhamburkar is a research affiliate at the University of Bristol. Her research explores cross-racial networks and international connections built by British and Indian women's feminist periodical press between 1880 and 1910, which sowed the seeds of the transnational Suffrage movement of the early 20th century. Sandeep Banerjee is an associate professor of English at McGill University and a scholar of Global Anglophone and World literature, with a focus on the literary and cultural worlds of colonial and postcolonial South Asia. Readings by Aparita Bhandari and Pete Morey.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was an instant bestseller in 1900. Thirty-nine more official Oz books followed, as well as other derivative works like Broadway musicals, films, comic books, cartoons, sitcom parodies and more. IDEAS follows the proverbial yellow brick road to uncover how this seemingly simple story of friendship, self reliance and longing for home continues to speak to us, 125 years after it was published.

When Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat met in Washington to sign the first Oslo Accords in 1993, it was supposed to usher in a new era of peace and lay the groundwork for a more stable Middle East. Three decades later, the Accords are primarily remembered as a failure. Nahlah Ayed and guests discuss what went wrong, and what lessons the Oslo Accords hold for the future.

Pope Leo XIV has been deeply influenced by St. Augustine, and so, the fourth century titan of Western thought has re-entered the global conversation. IDEAS Producer Seán Foley reaches out to Canadian scholars who have read St. Augustine closely to determine what it is about how Augustine’s thought and character might shape the Catholic Church in these times.

Reigning Pope Leo XIV has been deeply influenced by St Augustine, and so the fourth century titan of Western thought has re-entered the global conversation. Canadian scholars predict how the 21st century Catholic church will evolve with St Augustine as a guide.

Günther Anders predicted the exact technological crises we’re facing today… but 70 years ago. The uncanny relevance of Anders’ thoughts about technology—from the atomic bomb to artificial intelligence— and how it makes us feel what he called “Promethean Shame”.

Renowned natural history writer Robert Macfarlane traveled to Ecuador, India and Quebec, pondering the question of whether rivers are living beings -- the premise behind much of the movement to legally recognize the rights of nature. He found that the answer to that question is more complicated and wondrous -- and more life-altering and world-changing -- than he could have imagined.

With vengeful alien civilizations, virtual realities and hologram wives, Chinese science fiction is in its heyday — not just in China but around the globe. Renowned author Cixin Liu is at the forefront of the movement. His book, The Three-Body Problem is a Netflix's series. IDEAS explores what we can learn about China through it's science fiction.

The process of making peace is often imperfect, and can shape the future in both positive and destructive ways. In a five-part series called Inventing Peace, Nahlah Ayed asks panelists to reflect on one pivotal 20th century effort to make peace, and its relevance for our own time. In this first episode, the “constructive ambiguity” of Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998.

NATO’s secretary general has warned Russia could launch an attack on the alliance within the next five years. Talk to NATO’s two newest members, Finland and Sweden, and they’ll tell you preparation involves a lot more than just boosting military spending. As Canada seeks to strengthen ties with both countries, what can we learn from our newest NATO allies about preparing for the worst? Supported by the R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship, CBC’s The House producer Emma Godmere travelled to the two Nordic countries to visit bomb shelters, the Russian border and military training grounds north of the Arctic Circle to see and hear how Finns and Swedes are steeling themselves for whatever the future may bring. Every Saturday, listen to The House for in-depth explorations of the biggest issues facing Canada. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/IdeasxTTND

In Canada and the U.S., public libraries have become a target in the culture wars. It’s an urgent conversation to have, no matter where one sits on the political spectrum. Libraries exist to give everyone access to a wide variety of content, even when books may offend others. Yet librarians are increasingly having to persuade skeptics that all ideas belong on their shelves. In our series, IDEAS for a Better Canada (in partnership with the Samara Centre for Democracy) we ask: What do we have if the freedom to read isn’t ours anymore? *This series originally aired the week of April 21st, 2025.