Ideas
CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand
IDEAS is a place for people who like to think. If you value deep conversation and unexpected reveals, this show is for you. From the roots and rise of authoritarianism to near-death experiences to the history of toilets, no topic is off-limits. Hosted by Nahlah Ayed, we’re home to immersive documentaries and fascinating interviews with some of the most consequential thinkers of our time.
With an award-winning team, our podcast has proud roots in its 60-year history with CBC Radio, exploring the IDEAS that make us who we are.
New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 5pm ET.
Location:
Canada, ON
Networks:
CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand
Description:
IDEAS is a place for people who like to think. If you value deep conversation and unexpected reveals, this show is for you. From the roots and rise of authoritarianism to near-death experiences to the history of toilets, no topic is off-limits. Hosted by Nahlah Ayed, we’re home to immersive documentaries and fascinating interviews with some of the most consequential thinkers of our time. With an award-winning team, our podcast has proud roots in its 60-year history with CBC Radio, exploring the IDEAS that make us who we are. New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 5pm ET.
Twitter:
@CBCradio
Language:
English
Contact:
Ideas CBC Radio P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6 (416) 205-3700
Website:
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/
Email:
ideas@cbc.ca
Episodes
Mexican fiction turns drug kingpins into vicious vampires
10/31/2025
There’s a burgeoning genre of fiction coming from Mexico — stories that merge socio-political history and the impact of drug-related violence with fantastical stories of eerie ghosts, zombies, and monstrous cannibals. IDEAS explores dozens of gothic, horror and crime fiction novels. *This episode is part of our ongoing series, IDEAS from the Trenches, about outstanding PhD scholars across the country. It originally aired on June 5, 2023.
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Duration:00:54:08
Can democracies survive the attacks on the rule of law?
10/30/2025
Even in some of the world’s sturdiest democracies, leaders are deliberately undermining courts to weaken checks on their power. In many cases, the justice system is being sidelined. How much damage has already been done? And how worried should we be about the future of democracies around the world?
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Duration:00:54:08
This lawyer turns real legal cases into page-turners
10/29/2025
War criminals, Nazi fugitives, and a viable threat to American democracy — sounds like a classic page-turner but author and lawyer Philippe Sands isn't making this up. His book, 38 Londres Street is a retelling of legal history that probes the connections between former Nazi leaders and Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The payoff isn’t just an intriguing read. For Sands, broad public engagement is key to the survival of hard-won systems of international justice.
Philippe Sands delivered the 3rd Annual Irving Abella Lecture at Massey College in October 2025.
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Duration:00:54:08
How Indigenous Americans discovered Europe
10/28/2025
Indigenous Americans on European soil can be found throughout historical records, but historian Caroline Dodds Pennock says they have largely been ignored. In her book, On Savage Shores, she traces the history of Indigenous lives in Europe during the 1500s. The author told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed about her research collecting evidence of the widespread Indigenous presence in Portugal, Spain, France, and England in the 100 years before Britain attempted to establish its first North American colony. *This episode originally aired on April 5, 2023.
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Duration:00:54:09
33 years of the campus free speech controversy
10/27/2025
In the early 1990s, “woke” was "politically correct," "DEI" was known as "affirmative action,” and the term “cancel culture” had yet to be coined. The language was different, but the controversies of today were just beginning. In a 1992 episode of IDEAS, journalist Linda Frum took on the issue of free speech on campus.
With notable guests like Dinesh D’Souza and Alan Borovoy, the episode tackled the issue of speech codes, tokenization, victimhood, and a culture of victimhood on Canadian campuses. We revisit this documentary, to see what’s changed, what’s the same, and whether the pendulum is swinging again.
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Duration:00:54:07
Can you have compassion for someone you never agree with?
10/24/2025
Ask yourself: can you? It is a question that George Eliot asks over and over through her characters in Middlemarch, a 19th-century novel that speaks to our own fractious age. Eliot highlights how important it is to see the world from the point of view of others — even characters we don’t like. *This is second episode in our two-part series. It originally aired on April 7, 2002.
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Duration:00:54:08
George Eliot's invaluable lessons on how we treat others
10/23/2025
Virginia Woolf called George Eliot's novel, Middlemarch “one of the few English books written for grownups.” It’s a book full of characters asking: is it a good thing to live a life of duty, or is it ridiculous? Even after 150 years since the book was published, it provides up-to-date lessons in how to live a modern life. *This is part one or two-part series. It originally aired on April 6, 2022.
Duration:00:54:08
The real reasons why more young women freeze their eggs
10/22/2025
Egg freezing is one of today’s fastest-growing reproductive technologies. It's seen as a kind of 'fertility insurance' for the future, but that doesn’t address today’s deeper feelings of uncertainty around parenthood, heterosexual relationships, and the reproductive path forward. In this documentary, freelance producer Alison Motluk explores the history, significance, and reality of egg freezing for women.
Duration:00:54:08
New details on Canada's first documented 'demon possession'
10/21/2025
A demonic possession, a do-it-yourself exorcism, and the execution of an accused witch — welcome to daily life in Quebec City, circa 1660. IDEAS digs into the story of Canada’s earliest reported ‘demon possession caused by witchcraft’ case. *This episode originally aired on June 9, 2023.
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Duration:00:54:08
Can abolishing all political parties topple fascism?
10/20/2025
In the aftermath of the First World War, French philosopher Simone Weil had a solution to address the fascism that surged across Europe: abolish political parties. She argued political parties were not democratic, they were dangerous. With the help of former politician Michael Ignatieff and other guests, IDEAS producer Nicola Luksic explores the radical thinking of Simone Weil to help us better understand the current political climate.
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Duration:00:54:08
This Italian painter was a feminist before the word existed
10/17/2025
*Please note that this episode features descriptions of a sexual assault that some listeners may find disturbing.* Seventeen century artist Artemisia Gentileschi upended traditional depictions of women in her paintings by creating gutsy, strong female figures. With her paintbrush as in her life, she fought gender inequality and helped to reimagine womanhood and what it could mean to be a female artist. *This episode originally aired on May 24, 2022.
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Duration:00:54:08
Why the practice of empathy is far from simple
10/16/2025
In today's fractured world, the many threats facing humanity seems to be an empathy deficit. Writer and journalist Leslie Jamison discusses the complicated nature of empathy and the dearth of it at a time when it’s needed more than ever. Jamison argues it's important to maintain a certain kind of humility when it comes to understanding other people.
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Duration:00:54:09
Why modern spirituality is actually a form of religion
10/15/2025
Traditional religious institutions have been in decline since the '60s. As congregations dwindle, more Canadians are identifying as 'spiritual.' Sociologist Galen Watts traces the history of the modern spiritual movement and asks what we have gained — and lost — as it has become the dominant religious tradition of our time.
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Duration:00:54:08
How 60s Scoop 'warriors' reclaimed their Indigenous roots
10/14/2025
Leticia Racine calls herself a “Returning Warrior” of the Sixties Scoop. As a child, she was at the centre of a landmark Supreme Court case that paved the way for Indigenous children to be adopted into non-Indigenous homes. Judges ruled that Leticia’s foster parents could adopt her, and suggested her connections to her Indigenous mother and their heritage were likely to “abate” over time." IDEAS producer Dawna Dingwall explores how Leticia —and other adoptees — found their way back to the families, communities and culture — that never really left them.
Dawna shares Leticia's story and this precedent court case on the CBC podcast, See You in Court.
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Duration:00:54:09
An homage to chickens, a dinosaur, dinner and backyard pet
10/13/2025
Chickens are the stars of this podcast today. Our relationship with this living creature, allegedly the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, is long and intertwined. And as it turns out, chickens have a lot to tell us, as IDEAS producer Tom Howell finds out. If you've ever wanted to hear two chickens attempt to video-conference together on Zoom, this episode is as close as you're likely to get. *This documentary originally aired on October 19, 2020.
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Duration:00:54:08
Imprisoned Syrian wrote poetry imagining the fall of the regime. Now it's come true
10/10/2025
For 14 years, Syrian poet Faraj Bayrakdar was imprisoned and tortured in a series of prisons. He found refuge in writing poetry. Now, the poems he wrote imagining the collapse of the regime are a reality. In December, 2024, the rule of Syria’s longtime president Bashar al Assad did collapse. Bayrakdar tells host Nahlah Ayed how the freedom within is greater than any prison. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 19, 2024.
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Duration:00:54:09
How absurdist theatre is an act of resistance
10/9/2025
Theatre of the Absurd was born in the postwar era as a recoil against the violent fetish that totalitarian regimes had for “order.” For 75 years, absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco's plays have been running continuously in Paris. IDEAS travels to Paris, where a logic professor can conclude confidently that a dog is in fact a cat.
Duration:00:54:09
How a translation movement made Western philosophers famous
10/8/2025
From Greek to Arabic and then to Latin, translators in 8th-century Baghdad eventually brought to Europe the works of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and others who became central pillars of Western thought. IDEAS explores what is known as the Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement. *This episode originally aired on June 19, 2025.
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Duration:00:54:08
Can we have new pipelines and curb climate change, too?
10/7/2025
For the past decade, Canadians have been split 50/50 on new pipelines — that has changed. Two recent opinion polls found three quarters of eligible voters in Canada want at least one new pipeline built to export more fossil fuels. Yet, 70 per cent of people consider climate change a serious threat. IDEAS producer Tom Howell explores the incompatibilities and future scenarios.
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Duration:00:54:09
Why progressives may not be as 'woke' as they think
10/6/2025
Socialist and journalist Musa al-Gharbi identifies himself as part of an elite class of progressives that he calls: "symbolic capitalists" -- knowledge workers with elevated salaries and cultural status like professors, broadcasters, and bankers. He says it's the top 20 per cent, not the notorious one per cent, who pose a substantial impediment to progress.
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Duration:00:54:09