Ideas

Latest Episodes:

Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space: A Place to Dream Sep 25, 2024

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It's been 60 years since French thinker Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space made its English-language debut. It’s a hard-to-define book — part architecture, philosophy, psychoanalysis, memoir. And it continues to feed our ongoing need for purposeful solitude and wide-open fields for our imagination.*This episode originally aired on March 7, 2022.

The Heavy Metal Suite: Music and the Future of Mining Sep 24, 2024

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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.

Child Sex Abuse Prevention: How Best to Protect Kids Sep 23, 2024

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Experts in the field of child sex abuse prevention argue that we need to bring pedophilia out of the shadows if we ever want to end abuse. CBC producer John Chipman explores an innovative new program in Kitchener, Ontario that has sex offenders and abuse survivors working together to prevent future harm and promote healing.

Humboldt's Ghost, Pt 2: The Meaning of Education Sep 20, 2024

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IDEAS continues to explore Wilhelm von Humboldt’s public education system with guests, including acclaimed author Gabor Maté, who is a former English teacher. Is this 200-year-old system equipped to meet the challenging demands of the 21st century? And does it still reflect Humboldt’s ideals, especially at the university level? *This is part two of a two-part series.

Humboldt's Ghost, Pt 1: Origins of our 200 year-old public education system Sep 19, 2024

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Two hundred years ago, Wilhelm von Humboldt created the public 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 is part one of a two-part series.

For the Sake of the Common Good: Honouring Lois Wilson Sep 17, 2024

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The late Lois Wilson didn’t tell you what to believe — she just lived by example. And what an example. She was a minister, Senator, human rights advocate — and inspiration. She lived out her Christian faith in concrete terms, on the ground, in the community. Lois Wilson died on Friday at the age of 97.

Death and the Artist: Four Stories Sep 16, 2024

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A final experiment from a dying musician. A painter whose work finds its cultural moment, posthumously. An aged writer intent on ‘getting to know death.’ From David Bowie to little-known creatives, this documentary looks at the ways that an artist’s mortality gives their work new meaning.

New Yorker Writer Calvin Trillin: A Warm Weather Nova Scotian Sep 13, 2024

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New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin calls himself one-sixth Canadian. For 55 years, he and his family have spent their summers in Nova Scotia — what he calls: The Home Place. IDEAS producer Mary Lynk spoke to the 88-year-old author about everything from Trump to the layered Yiddish word: Meeskite.

Pursuing the Mysteries of Gravity with a Radical New Theory Sep 12, 2024

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Theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham has spent her life captivated by gravity. She has taken up flying airplanes, scuba diving and was even an astronaut candidate. Her book, The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, explores the mysteries of gravity and how it connects us to the universe.

Brutalist Architecture, Beyond Aesthetics Sep 11, 2024

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Brutalist architecture has been celebrated as monumental and derided as ‘concrete monstrosity.' But the people who depend on these buildings are often caught in between. IDEAS explores the implications of Brutalism’s 21st-century hipster aesthetic in a world of housing challenges, environmental crisis, and economic polarization.

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