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.
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It's tempting to think suffering should be avoided at all costs, but moral suffering has its own distinct standing. It signals a moral conscience. Every day people consume real time violence, grief, war and genocide through screens and experience moral upending. Without a moral compass there’s no motivation to address necessary issues. Guests in this episode: Cynda Rushton is a nurse and a professor of nursing and bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. Robert Meagher is an emeritus professor at ...
Former IDEAS writer-broadcaster David Cayley passed away at his home on Wednesday June 10, surrounded by family. To honour his legacy, we wanted to share part of a 2006 conversation David had with Irish philosopher Richard Kearney on the space for theism within atheism, and/or atheism within theism. Richard Kearney is a philosophy professor at Boston College and University College, Dublin. He has written many books on modern philosophy and culture, including The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of...
There may be no one alive who saw Houdini perform magic. Yet we still know his name and his legend. Dua Lipa namechecked the escape artist in a 2023 dance hit and she's not alone. Houdini is still a cultural reference point, despite having died 100 years ago. And that’s pretty much what he would have wanted. IDEAS explores why his name persists in our imaginations and how his magic helped his family escape poverty. Guests in this episode: Adam Begley is a biographer living in London, and author ...
Sujata Berry's brother, Sharad was 16 years old when he was killed. He was aboard Air India Flight 182 when it exploded off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985. It's considered the worst terror attack in Canadian history. For Sujata, 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 y...
Homosexuality is illegal in more than half of African countries — a crime punishable by prison sentences. Or in some cases: death. In the past few years, six African countries have made it illegal just to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. These laws bring up questions of foreign influence, neo-colonialism, and the role the international community could play in nudging human rights on the continent. *This episode originally aired on May 26, 2025. Want another podcast? Ghana and Uganda have some of the ...
Uganda and Ghana have the harshest laws against LGBTQ+ people in the world. Despite the threats, podcasters in both countries are fighting back by creating a space where people can have sex-positive conversations and gender inclusivity. IDEAS contributor Nana aba Duncan was in Uganda and Ghana to find out how the safety, privacy, and independence of the medium offer a path to understanding, validation and community. In the past few years, six African countries have made it illegal to just advoca...
When Jay Pitter was eight years old and out shopping with her mother, she began swaying to the music at the mall. Her mother scolded her for it — signalling that it was undignified for a Black person to act that way in public. That incident was the genesis for Black Public Joy: No Permit Or Permission Required . In her book, she addresses the self-policing Black people can internalise, and reveals how culture, urban planning, and memory shape the way people can access joy in parks, streets, tran...
Mae West shocked audiences and infuriated censors for more than 70 years. She was pop culture’s original blonde bombshell sex-symbol comedienne provocateur. But she was more than just a corseted sex pot with an affinity for word play. She was a trailblazer, transgressive, funny, smart, sassy, lively, a genius. And she got away with all of it. IDEAS contributor Lynda Shorten explores the legacy of the eccentric Mae West. Guests in this episode: Linda Hutcheon is a professor emerita of English and...
Rachel Jedinak will never forget the day that changed her life in July 16, 1942. She was eight years old, living in Nazi-occupied France at a time known as les années noires — The Dark Years. Police rounded up Jewish men, women, and children for deportation. Rachel, her older sister and mother were among them. That morning two police offers did something that Rachel considers an act of resistance. The girls were saved. But their mother was not. IDEAS contributor Neil Sandell, based in Nice, Fran...
Right now Elon Musk's wealth is currently around $825 billion US — more than double what it was a year earlier. Only 22 countries currently boast economies larger than Musk’s net worth, but he’s catching up. In the third episode of our series The Billionaire Age we investigate how Musk and his fellow billionaires are trying to take over the world. And if they succeed, what will this mean for the rest of us? Listen to more episodes in this series: Listen to Part One: How did we get here? Listen t...
Our homes have been stripped of their essential humanity, says Leilani Farha, this year's CBC Massey Lecturer. Today housing has become a commodity — one fuelling the biggest industry in the world. In her lectures, Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home , Farha calls on all of us to envision a new ideology for home — one rooted in dignity, humanity and law. “Home is required for human existence," says Farha, who served as a UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing from 2014 ...
What happens when a human becomes intimately enmeshed with a chatbot? From people who’ve married their bots or who grieve their loved ones with the help of AI, host Victoria Hetherington (author of The Friend Machine) dives into the stories of the people who have invited these digital avatars into their hearts, minds, and even beds. And asks what do we gain and what do we stand to lose? Our intimacy, our resilience, even our grasp on reality? This latest season of Understood looks at who made th...
Sometimes the universe hands us a gift. Over the past year, our podcast listeners spent a total of 526,915 hours listening to our program. That's 21,954.8 days and that translates to 60 years of listening to us. So what better way to mark IDEAS ' 60th year then to look back on the highlights and lowlights of the past six decades. To give you a hint on some of the picks, on the bad list: online identity management. Trickle down economics. On the good: Free Trade. Girl Bosses. Apparently open bord...
Listeners recount the profound influence of CBC's IDEAS on their lives, from personal decisions to professional shifts. Featured stories include one listener who applied a Nietzschean philosophy to avoid sending a regrettable email, and another who used insights on "tribalism" to refine climate change strategies. The episode also highlights how a Massey Lecture on "The Age of Insecurity" transformed a listener's understanding of collective well-being and historical rights, and how a series on "The God Who May Be" fostered intergenerational dialogue on faith and possibility. These stories underscore IDEAS's role in fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and a deeper engagement with the world.
This podcast features an all-star, and bestselling, lineup of CBC Massey Lecturers from the past decade: Payam Akhavan (2017) and the police officer who pulled over to the side of the road to keep listening; Sally Armstrong (2019) and the women’s rights groups listening to her talks in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and China; Ron Deibert (2020) and his conviction that ‘philosophical’ radio is more crucial than ever; Esi Edugyan (2021), Tomson Highway (2022) feeling astonished when a stranger recognize...
That's not something you expect to hear in an interview. But the Harvard historian and author of All That She Carried , Tiya Miles did not hesitate to say these words to IDEAS host, Nahlah Ayed. What prompted the bold statement comes down to a question — seemingly for Miles the perfect one to ask. Their conversation resonated with many listeners, including a potter in Australia who shares how this story sustains him after the loss of his wife. Also in this podcast, we find out how IDEAS inspires...
Not many people like to think about traffic but Joanna Oda says this very topic on IDEAS in 2005 permanently changed the way she views medical care as a doctor. "It helped me understand how things that make sense for you as an individual contribute to a collective problem." She adds, the episode introduced her to the idea that one car has a big impact. This episode is the first episode in our special week-long series to mark our 60th anniversary. It originally aired on Dec. 1, 2025. Listen to ot...
Numbers get their due credit in this podcast. Even if we're not aware of them, numbers are essential to how we experience the world. IDEAS explores the most bizarre, surprising, mind-blowing and fundamental numbers in the universe. This panel discussion was recorded live at The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. Guests in this episode: Asimina Arvanitaki is a particle physicist and the aristarchus chair in theoretical physics at the Perimeter Institute. Ben Webster...
For the past decade, Canadians have been split 50/50 on new pipelines — that's changed. Two recent opinion polls found roughly 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. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 7, 2025. If you liked this episode, you may want to listen to this podcast: ...
Alexandria has been the source of invention, innovation, and beauty for millennia — capturing the imagination of Napoleon, the Prophet Muhammad and, of course, Alexander the Great. He envisioned a place that thrived on cultural, intellectual, economic, political and religious exchange. IDEAS examines the big ideas of this port city in Egypt with Islam Issa, author of Alexandria: The City That Changed the World. Part three in our ongoing series about how port cities shaped the world as we know it...
Homosexuality is a crime in more than half of African countries — a crime punishable by prison sentences. Or in some cases: death. New laws in some states make it illegal for anyone to even advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. These laws bring up questions of foreign influence, neo-colonialism, and the role the international community could and should play in nudging human rights on the continent.
If you inherited $120 million dollars, could you give away 75 per cent of your wealth? Abigail Disney did. She's an heiress to the Disney fortune. The philanthropist, filmmaker and activist offers an insider perspective into the twisted perils of extreme wealth — on society and the human psyche. Listen to more episodes in this series: Listen to Part One: How did we get here? Listen to Part Three: How oligarchs are taking over the world Guest in this episode: Abigail E. Disney is an award-winning...
Egg freezing is considered a kind of "fertility insurance" for the future — a way to buy more time to make a decision about having a family. However, as IDEAS contributor Alison Motluk discovers, uncertainty around parenthood is just one of many reasons why egg freezing is one of the fastest-growing reproductive technologies in the world. She explores those reasons and digs into the social politics, gender realities, and big business of egg freezing. *This episode originally aired Oct. 22, 2025....
Renowned natural history writer Robert Macfarlane embarks on a global journey to ponder if rivers are living beings, as explored in his latest book, "Is a River Alive?" The episode delves into the "rights of nature" movement, showcasing legal victories for rivers in Ecuador, New Zealand, and Quebec, contrasting rationalist views of rivers as mere resources with intuitive and indigenous understandings of their inherent "livingness." Through personal experiences on wild rivers and insights from historians, it reveals how human actions have devastated waterways, but also how restorative efforts and a shift in perception can lead to their rebirth and, in turn, heal people and their communities.
Even if you aren't a fan of Frank L. Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , you know about the Tin man, the ruby red shoes and that the dog is named Toto. The classic story was an instant bestseller in 1900 and its popularity is still going strong with not one but a two-part prequel. For over 125 years, there have been derivative works of Oz, from Broadway musicals, films, comic books and more. IDEAS follows the proverbial yellow brick road to uncover how this seemingly simple story of friendship, ...
Ancient history just got an upgrade. Forget the ruins, empires and great thinkers of the Classical period and make way for escaped slaves, subversive pirates, and freethinking religious sects. These nonconformist communities rejected hierarchy and political order in favour of creating a more equitable society. Author, religious scholar and historian Christopher Zeichmann offers an alternative lens on the Greco-Roman era in his book called Radical Antiquity: Free Love Zoroastrians, Farming Pirate...
The yellow traffic light is a perfect example of imperfection — with intention. While driving you have to think fast. Do you speed up or stop, whether that means easily or slamming on the brakes? Every driver has their answer and what lies in the middle is a vast perceptual field. A great deal of thought has gone into the engineering of the ambiguous yellow light, as IDEAS producer Seán Foley found out. He had his own encounter with what he was sure was the shortest yellow light in the world. It...
North Korea is no place for evangelical Christians today. But when journalist Jonathan Cheng peeled back decades he found out Christianity is at the heart of the Kim family’s rise to power and continuing dynasty. Cheng has spent 15 years and two trips to North Korea to piece this all together. His book is called Korean Messiah. Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, and was previously the Korea bureau chief, running coverage of the Korean peninsula, including polit...
If you want to hear what a laughing rat sounds like this podcast is for you. From why the sound of laughter triggers us to join in, to how a laughing yoga class starts, to the difference between AHA and HAHA in science, IDEAS contributor Peter Brown takes us on a joyride to reveal the mystery of laugher. Will this podcast make you laugh? Most likely. But it's better than catching a cold. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 4, 2020.
Africa is a centre of world history — a fact that's been deliberately obscured, says journalist Howard W. French. In this talk based on his book, The Second Emancipation , he explores the surprisingly early seeds of 20th century Pan-African thought, and how Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana went from reluctant student to influential leader of a free Ghana. Howard W. French delivered the Black History Month lecture at University of Toronto's New College. French was is a former New York Times bureau chief ba...
