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
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
Why a proposed 'new capitalism' is so contested
10/3/2025
It’s loathed and celebrated, by both the left and right. It's called The Great Reset. To conspiracy theorists, it's a plot by global elites at the World Economic Forum to control our lives. To its supporters, it represents a gentler, more humane form of capitalism. IDEAS contributor Ira Basen lays out the origins, its aims and its potential, for both good and ill. *This episode originally aired on May 23, 2023.
Duration:00:54:08
How hashish may have helped a philosopher envision our future
10/2/2025
What happens when original artworks become endless copies? German philosopher Walter Benjamin called it the death of "aura," and his concept predicted our digital age. He describes "aura" as the energy that encases an object. In the '20s, Benjamin experimented with hashish under medical supervision, and his thinking while on drugs evolved to a theory of art history.
Duration:00:54:08
What life was like for Luke Galati in a psychiatric ward
10/1/2025
Writer and filmmaker Luke Galati shares what it is like living with bipolar I disorder and staying in a psychiatric ward — an experience he says feels like being in a fish bowl. While being hospitalized meant he lost his sense of freedom and control, he never lost hope. Luke's documentary is both a personal essay and a series of conversations with health-care professionals and others who have bipolar disorder. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 11, 2025.
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Duration:00:54:08
How Inuk activist Aaju Peter learned to 'decolonize' her mind
9/30/2025
Aaju Peter was 11 years old when she was taken from her Inuk community in Greenland and sent away to learn the ways of the West. She lost her language and culture. The activist, lawyer, designer, musician, filmmaker, and prolific teacher takes IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed on a tour of Iqaluit and into a journey to decolonization that continues still. *This episode originally aired on January 29, 2025.
Duration:00:54:08
Can the fierce wars of today end in peace?
9/29/2025
If intractable conflicts in the 90s could end in peace agreements, is there hope for the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond? What can we learn from the successes and failures of the past about how to create a more peaceful world? And what solutions are obstructed by lack of will? Nahlah Ayed and guests explore what peacemaking and rebuilding mean for us today, and try to chart a course for the future. *This is the last episode in our five-part series, Inventing Peace. +
Duration:00:54:09