Ideas From Cbc Radio (highlights)

Who exactly was Martin Luther? Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther translated the New Testament so that ordinary Germans could understand it. This sparked a theological, social and political revolution that we're still living in. So who was he: a freedom fighter? An antisemite? IDEAS explores the legend and legacy of Martin Luther. *This episode originally aired on April 14, 2024.

Adam Smith may be known as 'The Father of Economics,' but 400 years before him, Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun was putting forward economic theories that are now taken for granted. IDEAS explores Ibn Khaldun's famous book, Muqaddimah and the lessons it has for us on the philosophy of history, economics, biology, sociology, and political theory. *This episode originally aired on June 24, 2021.

English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that life would be "nasty, brutish and short" without a strong government. IDEAS explores how a new take on Hobbes that includes his writing on the topic of anxiety offers a surprising perspective on the recent American election and democracy. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 13, 2025.

Our brains tell us that our intellects make us superior to animals. But after years of studying dolphins and other marine creatures, Justin Gregg has come to the conclusion that the human brain isn’t as great as it thinks it is. His research led him to a shift in his view on our much-vaunted intelligence. *This episode originally aired on June 22, 2023.

The great divide in politics is all around us. Sometimes the best way to engage in a difference of opinion is to 'pass it by.' Political theorist Shalini Satkunanandan suggests we take that lesson from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. Yeah, that guy — the one most known for his wrestling with nihilism. Satkunanandan argues that the constant need to engage and correct, refute or criticize "is making partisan divides even more pronounced." She views Nietzsche's method as a valuable way to navigate the highly polarized discourse of today. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 20, 2025.

The answer is art by artist Divya Mehra, a 2022 recipient of the Sobey Art Award. She explains the meaning behind her inflatable art installation and joins the four finalists to discuss and celebrate where new art is taking us. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 9, 2023.Guests in this episode:Azza El SiddiqueStanley FévrierKrystle SilverfoxTyshan WrightDivya Mehra

For years, people have made the journey to Algonquin Park to see the landscapes that inspired Tom Thomson's famous paintings. IDEAS producer Sean Foley was one of them, exploring the great Canadian artist's muse while also examining Indigenous artists' perspectives of the same landscapes that Thomson and the Group of Seven may have overlooked. *This is the second episode in a two-part exploration of the Canadian painter. It originally aired on Dec. 18, 2018.

Tom Thomson is one of the most mythologized Canadian painters of his time — and ours. Over 100 years ago, the artist died suddenly on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park, when he was at the peak of his powers. IDEAS producer Sean Foley delves into what we think we know about Tom Thomson and examines the tales that have evolved over the past century. *This episode originally aired Nov. 9, 2018.Guests in this episode:Gregory Klages, historian and author of The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction.Sherrill Grace, Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia and the author of Inventing Tom Thomson Ian Dejardin, art historian and the former executive director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.Pete Telford, chairman of the Friends of Leith Church, Leith, Ontario.

The outrage over threats by the U.S. to become a 51st state indicates Canadian nationalism is very much alive. IDEAS shares this 1992 award-winning documentary, which includes music compositions inspired by Glenn Gould. Composer Christos Hatzis discusses the meaning and enduring relevance of The Idea of Canada, saying, "Canada allows you to be patriotic and not to be nationalist."Credits:Composer Christos HatzisProducer Steve WadhamsAudio engineers Laurence Stevenson and Rod Crocker.

During the Communist era in Bulgaria, anyone who opposed the government could be arrested, sent to the Gulag. For 20 years, Lilia Topouzova has been collecting the stories of those who survived. She recreated a Bulgarian room where her conversations with survivors can be heard, a space about the absence of memory and what that does to a people.

"We come from the sea. It's not a memory. It's a feeling. It's in our DNA," Joan Jonas told IDEAS producer Mary Lynk at her home in Nova Scotia. The arts icon, now 88, has been celebrated for her work since the late 1960s. She splits her time between a Soho loft in NYC, and the "magical landscape" of Cape Breton, where she can be by her muse: the ocean. In 2024, she received her crowning recognition in the U.S., when New York's Museum of Modern Art organized a major retrospective of her work. Part of Jonas' MoMA retrospective called Moving Off the Land II has been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The exhibit will tour across Canada this summer, beginning in Cape Breton.

Even in the name of love, we can justify hatred, even murder, of the other. But why do we hate others? Scholars have identified a list of 10 reasons why one group may hate another group. They also have suggestions on how to break the cycle of hate. Guests in this episode are scholars from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR):Prerna Singh, professor of political science, Brown University, U.S.Victoria Esses, professor of psychology, Western University, London, Ontario Stephen Reicher, professor of social psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Maria Chapdelaine: A Tale of French Canada, written by Louis Hémon in 1913, is one of the most widely read works of fiction ever written in French. Yet today, the book remains far less known in English Canada and the English-speaking world. It is the world's highest-selling French book, and has been translated into over 20 languages. The book has inspired four film versions, several plays, an opera, and even a pop song. Contributor Catherine Annau examines the many lives that Maria Chapdelaine has lived, and continues to live.

Fifty years ago, the movie Jaws put sharks on our radar in a very real way. It broke box office records and tapped into an underlying fear of sharks and the unknown lurking in the ocean. Turns out, sharks were already developing a villainous reputation before Jaws. In this documentary, producer Molly Segal explores the long history people have with the ocean, and our tendency across cultures and times to create 'sea monsters' out of the depths of the ocean. 

She’s one of Canada’s most decorated journalists, having won a Pulitzer Prize, a Peabody and a Columbia-Dupont Prize for her podcast series, Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s. Yet Connie Walker had been reluctant to feature stories about her family in her journalism. Until she realized her family's survival in residential schools embodies the defining reality for virtually all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 2, 2024.

Some experts are calling loneliness an epidemic in Canada and throughout much of the world. Social isolation is a public health risk with consequences for individuals, communities and for our social systems. A multi-disciplinary panel, hosted at the University of British Columbia, examine loneliness from perspectives of men's and women's health, interpersonal relations, climate change and public policy. Guests in this episode:Dr. Kiffer Card is an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences. He was the moderator of the panel presentation, All the Lonely People: the Search for Belonging in an Uncertain World.Mandy Lee Catron is from the School of Creative Writing, at UBC.Dr. John Oliffe is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion at the School of Nursing, at UBC.Dr. Carrie Jenkins is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at UBC.Dr. Marina Adshade is an assistant professor of teaching at the Vancouver School of Economics, at UBC.

Champion hurdler Perdita Felicien has climbed to the summits of international glory throughout her track career, and endured the excruciating lows of defeat. Those peak experiences inform the talk she gave at Crows Theatre in Toronto, in which she parses the comparison of sport to life, and life to sport. In her words: "It isn't that sport is life exactly. It's that it reveals life. It's the part of life where we play with purpose. Where effort is visible. Where character is tested. Where failure is not final, just part of the arc. It's where we try. Fully. Openly. Without guarantee."

A groundbreaking study conducted in the wake of the Second World War by a group of scholars rocked the academic world when it was published in 1950 — but fell out of favour. Now a new generation of scholars is reviving the lessons of The Authoritarian Personality to understand who is drawn in by fascist propaganda.

There is a growing number of researchers who are 'forcibly displaced' worldwide. Thirty-four Canadian universities and colleges are currently hosting scholars who’ve left their jobs and homes to find safety. Scholars-in-exile from dozens of countries gathered at Carleton University in Ottawa to discuss ways to support free thinking and research whenever it is threatened.

From planting periwinkles on the graves of slaves, to the blues itself, the colour blue has been core to Black Americans’ pursuit of joy in the face of being dehumanized by slavery, argues Harvard professor Imani Perry. In her latest book, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of my People, she unpacks the deep, centuries-long connection between Black people and the colour blue, from the complex history of indigo dye to how the blues became a crowning achievement of Black American culture.