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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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- Dispatches from Canada's housing crisis · 54 Min.2026 CBC Massey Lecturer Leilani Farha believes the only way to really understand the housing crisis is to visit people in their homes. This fall, she’s been travelling the…
- Canada's original anti-Fascist army · 54 Min.Vimy, Dieppe and Normandy are places that hold profound and enduring meaning for many Canadians. But few have heard of Brunete, Teruel and Fuentes de Ebro — battles that saw…
- Writer Adam Gopnik on the evolution of antisemitism into anti-urbanism · 54 Min.The current wave of anti-elitism and anti-urbanism we're seeing from authoritarian leaders and their followers may seem to have erupted out of nowhere. But for New Yorker writer…
- The journalist who became a pawn in Putin’s game · 54 Min.The 2023 detainment in Russia of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich made international headlines. Two years post-release, he’s taken the story back in a book: This…
- How to spot a slow-motion coup · 54 Min.In the wake of the U.S. midterm elections, Kim Lane Scheppele is relieved that the electoral process ran smoothly. Yet she believes there is still reason to fear for the health…
- The suffragist who was too radical for Susan. B. Anthony · 54 Min.You likely have never heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage. Gloria Steinem calls her “the woman ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.” Matilda worked side by side with Susan…
- Understanding our genes to help our minds · 54 Min.For thousands of years, genetic inheritance was an observation in search of a theory. While some once thought of genetic code as fate, we now know that our genes are in a complex…
- What good is philosophy? · 54 Min."What is good?" is at the heart of philosophy. Asking the question helps us move toward answers about inclusivity, equality, and who gets a voice at the table. Last year, The…
- Why hope needs rage and love · 54 Min.In a world swirling with crisis upon crisis, historian Kevin Gannon contends that, even in our darkest days, hope persists. It might be far in the background sometimes, but it's…
- How Houdini fought the misuses of magic · 54 Min.Magician Harry Houdini crusaded against for-profit psychics and séances in the years before his death. He deplored the tools of his own art being used to exploit grief, says…
- Why 'body horror' helps us confront the fears within us · 54 Min."We are the monsters" — that's the premise for the genre of film known as body horror — movies that fixate on monstrous and grotesque changes to the body. There have been good…
- How being curious and confused drives scientific progress · 54 Min.Math may be the language of the universe, and brilliant minds and technology may have unlocked many of the secrets of the universe. But the pursuit of knowledge and insight…
- Why background music is everywhere · 54 Min.Erik Satie’s music is everywhere: in advertisements, coffee shops, and elevators. His iconic compositions like Gymnopédies have been streamed millions of times and become staples…
- What's for dinner in 2050? · 54 Min.For most of human history there was one problem with our food: there wasn’t enough of it. But the food system we built to solve that problem — the one capable of feeding eight…
- How the Humanities can pull down the screens between us · 54 Min.From the earliest days of cinema to our era of streaming, zooming, and scrolling, the screen has become a central part of our lives -- so central that it actually impedes our…
- AI as the new Delphic Oracle? · 54 Min.For more than a thousand years the Oracle of Delphi sat on a stool at the ‘navel of the universe.’ Under a mystical trance, she would offer cryptic predictions of the future…
- The 2,000-year-old travel list to complete before you die · 55 Min.More than 2,000 years ago, someone sat down and wrote a travel bucket list for the ancient world — suggesting must-see places that we now call The Seven Wonders of the World. It…
- How a natural catastrophe 8,000 years ago may have fueled Brexit · 55 Min.For the first two billion years, the Earth didn't have oxygen. That's just one of the many fascinating details Peter Frankopan reveals in his book, "Earth Transformed: An Untold…
- How the Moon shaped humanity — and defined life on Earth · 54 Min.Without the Moon, the Earth would be unrecognizable. Across the eons, it has shaped our seasons, our calendars — and even the evolution of life itself. Producer Annie Bender…
- Tech billionaires are betting on a coming Apocalypse · 54 Min.Authors Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor want to stop apocalyptic end-of-the-world thinking and its fantasies about colonizing other planets. “We love it here… we want to stay,” they…
- Are Alberta’s separatists guilty of 'moral treason'? · 54 Min.If you ask security expert and author Patrick Lennox the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ He argues Alberta separatism is less about Western alienation and more about a global…
- What draws a new immigrant to Quebec separatism? · 54 Min.With a newly elected government in Quebec promising to turn the province into its own country, and another separatist party warning against ethno-nationalism, immigrants in the…
- To become a Cascadian, just look south. Or north. · 54 Min.There’s a place where people make hoppy beer, fresh sushi, and damn fine coffee. It's called Cascadia. The lifestyle is laid-back, the scenery is majestic, and they even have a…
- Bureaumania: A 'Granular' Look at Corporate Red Tape · 54 Min.Bureaucracies were created to get the work done and get it done efficiently, according to 19th-century thinker Max Weber. So why are there more and more meaningless executive…
- Can empathy be dangerous? · 55 Min.It depends on who you ask. Until recently empathy was generally considered a positive thing. But a growing number of mostly conservative voices believe empathy can be extremely…
- Bearing Witness: Canadian Doctors in Gaza · 54 Min.Imagine seeing an atrocity with eyes wide open and then returning to a life that doesn't ask much about it. This is the experience of five Canadian doctors who have been offering…
- The inconvenient truth about convenience culture · 54 Min.In the mid-20th century, convenience was presented as 'the wave of the future,' where revolutionary home appliances would reduce work and save time. Today, convenience drives the…
- How absurdist theatre is an act of resistance · 54 Min.Theatre of the Absurd was born in the wake of the Second World War as a recoil against the violent fetish that totalitarian regimes had for “order.” For 75 years, absurdist…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Today's Authoritarians · 54 Min.The 21st century is witness to resurgent global authoritarianism, driven by leaders who answer to no law other than their own. Nahlah Ayed and panelists consider the rise of…
- Grief and the cost of outsourcing feeling · 54 Min.Hanif Abdurraqib lives his life heart-forward. His writing is informed by the many losses he's endured, but also by his commitment to "love deeply" and to not let machines do his…
- The Billionaire Age Pt 4 | How democracy can beat back the oligarchs · 54 Min.Feeling despair over the threats to democracy coming out of The Billionaire Age? Let alone the predictions we'll see 10 trillionaires within three years. Well, there are concrete…
- How Iqaluit's learning institute gave a generation of Inuit adults a path back to Inuktut · 54 Min.Younger generations in Nunavut today are less likely to grow up immersed in Inuktut. At a language school in Iqaluit, Inuit adults who didn’t grow up speaking Inuktut now have…
- How Indigenous art makes truth visible · 54 Min.“Truth telling is profoundly visual. Art created by Indigenous peoples is not mere expression — it is cognitive, ceremonial, and political," writes Gerald McMaster in Art,Truth…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Bashar al-Assad's Syria · 54 Min.In 2000, Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria, also known as the authoritarian "Kingdom of Fear" that his father Hafez al-Assad had created three decades earlier. The…
- When words get in the way, vocal improv saves the day · 54 Min.Would you 'doo-be-doo' if you know it would help bridge divides? Try vocal improvisation — singing sounds, rhythms and melodies. PhD graduate Erwan Noblet teaches the practice…
- Lamarck was wrong about evolution. Was he right about life? · 54 Min.French scientist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is mostly remembered for being wrong. He published an early theory of evolution, before Charles Darwin. His claim was that animals were in…
- Known for her sharp wit, Dorothy Parker was also an activist · 54 Min.She’s famous for her caustic quips and her love of cocktails, but there was a lot more to Dorothy Parker than her time at the famed Algonquin Round Table. The icon of New York in…
- What it's like to travel as a blind person · 54 Min.Blind life is an individual experience. But from neighbourhood walks to international travel, blind people want momentum, adventure, and a sense of place, like everyone else…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Augusto Pinochet's Chile · 54 Min.Augusto Pinochet became Chile's leader after a bloody, U.S.-supported coup killed socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973. He defended the coup. But as he attempted to…
- Authoritarian vs. The Resisters · 54 Min.Authoritarian politics continue to intensify. But so do acts of resistance. This podcast focusses on the resisters who are pushing for accountability as they fight against state…
- Birth is the story of us all. But do you know its history? · 55 Min.Not everyone gives birth. But everyone is born. Yet we rarely talk about the history of childbirth. So author Lucy Inglis researched its bloody, triumphant, political past. Her…
- How new fascism operates · 54 Min.Historian Marci Shore doesn't hesitate to use the word 'fascism' to describe the present moment. The former Yale professor left the U.S. after President Trump was re-elected. She…
- Adventures of the late great 'Bird Man' Bill Montevecchi · 54 Min.Seabird biologist Bill Montevecchi has been ranked in the world’s top two per cent of scientists. Montevecchi died at the age of 80 in July 2026. In his honour, we share this…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Idi Amin's Uganda · 54 Min.After seizing power in a 1971 coup, Ugandan military commander Idi Amin promised a return to democracy — but he delivered a brutal dictatorship. Known for his erratic and…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Idi Amin's Uganda · 54 Min.After seizing power in a 1971 coup, Ugandan military commander Idi Amin promised a return to democracy — but he delivered a brutal dictatorship. Known for his erratic and…
- Unpacking the contradictions in America's ideals · 54 Min.What has become of the America that has for so long been held up as a shining example of ideals? In conversation at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival, documentary maker Ken Burns and…
- Human emotion behind AI chatbot design · 54 Min.Behind every great chatbot are many human workers making decisions on how those chatbots behave and evolve. Recent PhD graduate Noah Khan has been observing these workers and…
- A poet's journey from being exiled to gaining citizenship · 54 Min.When Rohingya poet Mayyu Ali saw his name in print for the first time, he thought: "I exist." "Even though my government doesn't recognize [me] I exist in my writing," he told…
- What the far-right are borrowing from history’s fascism aesthetics · 54 Min.Fascism has been called “the aestheti-cization of politics.” Nazis and Italian Fascists both made visual culture, art, even fashion part of their destructive programs. Now the…
- How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Benito Mussolini's Italy · 54 Min.How do authoritarian leaders use threats, illusions and force to seize and maintain power? And what does it take for truth and justice to prevail? IDEAS explores the rise and…
