IDEAS schedule for July 2024

* Please note this schedule is subject to change.

Monday, July 1

THE NEVER-ENDING FALL OF ROME  
The fall of Rome! A terrible day in history, when smoke blackened the sky, barbarians rampaged through the city, Doric columns toppled over, and lascivious emperors were too busy having orgies to do anything about it. Okay, that never happened. But listening to politicians you'd think "the fall of Rome" was a catastrophic incident that could have been avoided if only those Romans had outlawed… something. Maybe divorce. Or immigration. Or homosexuality. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 11, 2024.

Tuesday, July 2

FLOP SWEAT
The World Cup of Soccer promises some of the most dramatic moments in sports — including the ultra-tense moment when a player attempts a penalty kick with the entire game — and reputation of the county — on the line. When they miss it's agonizing for players and fans, especially because it's a shot they should make. Peter Brown's documentary Flop Sweat looks at the choke — why our skills desert us when it matters most, how the choke appears in sports and music and even in our everyday lives, and what we can do to avoid the dreaded choke. *This episode is part of a special series showcasing some of our award-winning episodes. Flop Sweat took second place at the International Association of Sports Media Awards. It originally aired on Nov. 22, 2022.

Wednesday, July 3

MASSEY AT 60: TANYA TALAGA 
In 2018, award-winning journalist Tanya Talaga, presented the CBC Massey Lectures series, entitled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward in which she explored the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples. For Talaga, that cultural genocide has led to a forced disconnection from land and language by Indigenous peoples. In her lecture series she focused on the present-day need for Indigenous self-determination in social, cultural and political arenas. As part of an ongoing series of interviews marking the 60th anniversary of Massey College, a partner in the Massey Lectures, Tanya Talaga sits down with IDEAS producer Naheed Mustafa to reflect back on her lectures and how the stories of Indigenous peoples offer lessons for Canada today. *This episode originally aired on March 6, 2024.
 

Thursday, July 4

BE REASONABLE! (CANADIAN INTELLECTUALS DEFINE WHO IS AND WHO IS NOT)
We want our neighbours to put up with reasonable amounts of noise, and expect them not to make unreasonable noise. We empower judges to decide how a reasonable person would act, and to determine the line dividing reasonableness from unreasonableness. We demand that governments be reasonable when they make and enforce laws. From the interpersonal to the societal: what is reasonableness? In a democracy, how reasonable can we reasonably demand that others be? Hear thinkers Rinaldo Walcott, Lynne Viola, George Elliot Clarke, Miglena Todorova, and Anakana Schofield wrestle with the answers as they fill out our Reasonableness Questionnaire. *This episode originally aired on Feb 6, 2024.

Friday, July 5

ROSS GAY ON JOY AND DELIGHT  
It might seem odd — or even clueless — to be writing seriously, and joyfully, about joy and delight during this run of one annus horribilis after another. But the award-winning poet, Ross Gay, the author of Inciting Joy and the bestselling Book of Delights, argues that joy and delight are not just entwined with death, sorrow, and grief, they're essential to a meaningful life, especially in the face of so much pain and suffering. In brief, rapturous notes about quotidian delights and essays on the sources and complexities of joy, he suggests an ethics of pleasure, attention, noticing, and human connection that resists the forces that seek to repress and delimit our birthright to live fully. *This episode originally aired on April 2, 2024.
 

Monday, July 8

# 1: CURA'S GIFT | ASTRA TAYLOR'S 2023 MASSEY LECTURES
Insecurity has become a "defining feature of our time," says 2023 CBC Massey lecturer Astra Taylor. In her first lecture, Taylor points to the ancient Roman goddess Cura and how she reminds us that in our vulnerability — both mental and physical — we're dependent on others for survival. But today we also live in an era of manufactured insecurity, imposed on us from above. Taylor aruges that consumer society capitalizes on the very insecurities it produces, making us all insecure by design. How we understand and respond to insecurity is one of the most urgent questions of our moment, for nothing less than the future security of our species hangs in the balance. *Astra Taylor's Massey Lectures originally aired in November 2023.

Tuesday, July 9

TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
Jesus sees the crowds, climbs the mountain, sits down, and begins to teach. Actually, he begins to turn everything upside down. Or is it right-side-up? All of a sudden, the meek, the poor and the heartbroken are the blessed ones — and our enemies are the ones we should pray for. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the greatest gifts of scripture to humanity; just ask Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Leo Tolstoy. But who is making any use of it today? In a time when an eye for an eye still seems to hold sway, IDEAS producer Sean Foley explores the seemingly bizarre logic of Christian non-violence, beginning with Jesus' counsel to 'turn the other cheek.' *This episode won a Wilbur Award for excellence in communicating spiritual themes. It originally aired on Oct. 14, 2022.

Wednesday, July 10

AUTHOR CHRISTINA SHARPE ON ORDINARY NOTES: BLACKNESS IN CANADA
Christina Sharpe is Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Humanities, at York University in Toronto. Her award-winning book, Ordinary Notes, blends memoir, history, cultural and political critique. It offers reflections on Sharpe's literary inspirations, such as Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, as well as a loving tribute to her African-American mother and grandmother. It examines how the lives of Black people have been brutally shaped by racism and violent repression over four centuries in North America. She argues that the experience of Black people is misunderstood — but can be contested, and healed, by Black creativity, and community. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 29, 2024.

Thursday, July 11

ETHICIST ARTHUR SCHAFER
When philosophy professor Arthur Schafer began teaching at the University of Manitoba's faculty of medicine in 1972, it became the only English-speaking institution in Canada to offer a course on secular ethics to medical students. At a time when courses in bioethics didn't exist, that was a breakthrough. Yet there was much skepticism then about Schafer's unusual role there. Schafer went on to a career that spanned half a century, and placed him at the heart of some of Canada's biggest ethical debates, from medical assistance in dying (MAID), to the rights of prisoners to vote. In this wide-ranging conversation with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, Arthur Schafer looks back, and forward, in considering the field of applied ethics. He discusses the role of philosophers in addressing the increasingly complex ethical dilemmas confronting individuals, and society as a whole. *This episode originally aired on May 16, 2024.

Friday, July 12

THE YEAR 1919: DIVIDING THE SPOILS
After the First World War, the Western powers create new borders and carve out spheres of influence, Pan-Africanists fight for a new future, unrest in China foreshadows the future, and the League of Nations is formed. Nahlah Ayed speaks with Amitava Chowdhury, Renee Worringer, and Oleksa Drachewych at the Stratford Festival. *This episode was part of our series focusing on five years of great upheaval during the 20th century. It originally aired on Jan. 22, 2024. 
 

Monday, July 15

# 2: BARONS OR COMMONERS? | ASTRA TAYLOR'S 2023 MASSEY LECTURES
In her second CBC Massey Lecture, Astra Taylor argues that we need the right to things, not just protection from threats. Our constitution tells us what we're protected from, but it doesn't tell us a lot about what we're entitled to. And it's not enough to be granted the right not to be abused without the right to receive assistance; not enough to possess civil and political rights without social and economic ones as well. What does real health security actually entail? What does the right to housing mean? The wealthy barons of the past and present have defined what security means — for themselves — but the rest of us, ordinary commoners, have fought for something else instead. *Astra Taylor's Massey Lectures originally aired in November 2023.

Tuesday, July 16  

A POLITICAL PRISONER'S ODYSSEY: WRITER AHMET ALTAN, PART ONE
Acclaimed Turkish novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan spent almost five years in prison on trumped up charges. But during this time, he was able to pass small pieces of paper to his lawyer, that collectively became an extraordinary prison memoir, I Will Never See the World Again, published around the world. It has been compared to Viktor Frankl"s Man's Search for Meaning. In 2020, IDEAS producer Mary Lynk created a documentary on the imprisoned Ahmet Altan, talking to his family and friends. It won an Amnesty International Canada Media Award for outstanding human rights reporting. IDEAS re-airs this episode, which will be followed the next day by a recent conversation from Istanbul with now freed Ahmet Altan. *This episode originally aired on June 18, 2020.

Wednesday, July 17

THE EMANCIPATION OF AHMET ALTAN, PART TWO
How can you be imprisoned, and yet still be free? Write, says Ahmet Altan. One's imagination can never be trapped by bars. And that is what he did in a COVID-infected prison in Turkey. In fact, during his incarceration, he wrote an extraordinary prison memoir — which was smuggled out on small pieces of paper — and two novels. Altan had been sentenced to life imprisonment on trumped up charges. He is considered to be one of Turkey's most important writers. His books have sold in the millions around the world. In 2021, after intense international pressure — including a letter signed by 52 Nobel Laureates — he was freed from prison. A feature interview from his home in Istanbul. And when asked what can save humanity, Altan said: Literature. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 17, 2024.

Thursday, July 18

THE ENDLESS PROGRESSION OF DAYS 
At the end of Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya, Vanya is reminded that all that is expected in a good life is that we do our best, and do our duty, through the 'endless procession of days' before death. Giller Prize-winning writer and the 2024 Massey Lecturer Ian Williams picks this up and asks: how do we fill our days, what records should we keep, what events are important, what is the role of memory — and what do we owe to the future? A talk from the IDEAS at Crow's Theatre series. *This episode originally aired on March 11, 2024.

Friday, July 19

THE YEAR 1938: THE WINDS OF WAR
On the eve of the Second World War, Hitler annexes Austria and escalates antisemitic persecution, Japan wages war on China, and the parallel collapse of democracy in the East and West sets the stage for war. Nahlah Ayed speaks with Joseph Wong, Tomaz Jardim and Deborah Neill at the Stratford Festival. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 23, 2024 as part of a series focusing on five years of great upheaval during the 20th century.
 

Monday, July 22

# 3: CONSUMED BY CURIOSITY | ASTRA TAYLOR'S 2023 MASSEY LECTURES
It's a paradox — we live in the most prosperous era in human history, but it's also an era of profound insecurity. In her third Massey Lecture, Astra Taylor suggests that history shows that increased material security helps people be more open-minded, tolerant, and curious. But rising insecurity does the reverse — it drives us apart, and it also drives the rise of reactionary politics. We're in the middle of an attack on our essential nature, she says, an attack on our economic and emotional well-being.  *Astra Taylor's Massey Lectures originally aired in November 2023.

Tuesday, July 23

ALL THAT SHE CARRIED: TIYA MILES   
Tiya Miles writes a different kind of history in her prize-winning book, All That She Carried. Rather than turn to official records of slavey in the United States, the records of slave owners for example, she turns to a physical artifact: a cotton sack with embroidered words mentioning three women: Rose, the mother of Ashley who was sold at age nine; and Ruth Middleton, who in 1921 embroidered the names onto the sack. Harvard historian Tiya Miles scours the historical documentary record to discover who these women were and how love sustained them all from the time of slavery to emancipation to Jim Crow. Her book has won multiple awards, including the National Book Award, and the Cundill History Prize. *This episode won a bronze medal for best interview at the New York International Festivals. It originally aired on Feb. 20, 2023.

Wednesday, July 24

THE BIRTH OF BLACK HUMANISM: MERVE FEJZULA
At what age does one become an intellectual? Can you become a genuine member of the public by drawing on newspapers instead of reading them, as West African children did? What was the role of education — and the debate around the "right" education — in developing an understanding of Black intellectual achievement? Scholar Merve Fejzula explores the intellectual history of West African schoolchildren in the 20th century and how they helped to redefine common conceptions about what belonging to a "public" means. *This episode originally aired on March 8, 2023.

Thursday, July 25

ENGLISH: FRIEND OF FRENEMY?
Over the course of 400 years, English went from being a small language spoken in the British Isles to becoming the most dominant language in the world. But is English Britain's "greatest gift" to the world as some say it is, or is it, as critics contend, "a behemoth, bully, loudmouth, thief?" As English gains ground and pushes local languages aside and acting like a "linguistic imperialist," is there a way to rethink English not as a language with a universal standard upheld in a faraway place, but rather as a global language with multiple versions existing on equal footing? *This episode originally aired on May 19, 2023.

Friday, July 26

THE YEAR 1963: SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS
Martin Luther King Jr. leads a march on Washington, the Pan-African movement ushers in a new era for Africa, President Kennedy is assassinated, and the war in Vietnam heats up. Nahlah Ayed speaks with Candace Sobers, Paul Lawrie and Andrew Cohen at the Stratford Festival. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 24, 2024, as part of our panel discussions looking at pivotal years in recent history.
 

Monday, July 29

# 4: BEYOND HUMAN SECURITY | ASTRA TAYLOR'S 2023 MASSEY LECTURES
The burning of fossil fuels causes the past, present and future to collide in disorienting and destructive ways. As we incinerate our energy inheritance, nature's timekeeping methods become increasingly confused. In the fourth Massey Lecture, Astra Taylor tells us that as the climate alters, delicately evolved biological clocks erratically speed up or slow down, causing plants and animals to fall out of sync. In a world this out of joint, how could we possibly feel secure? No wonder there's anger worldwide about our warming planet. And meantime, we're all insecure — no one knows what will happen next.  *Astra Taylor's Massey Lectures originally aired in November 2023.

Tuesday, July 30

BUYING BUDDHA, SELLING RUMI  
A growing mystical marketplace sells an exoticized version of eastern religions as an answer to the sufferings of the modern western world. From jewellery to fashion to books filled with ancient wisdom, the commodification of eastern beliefs hollows out how they — and their adherents — are understood. *This episode won a Wilbur Award for broadcast excellence on spiritual issues and themes. It originally aired on Jan. 27, 2021. 
 

Wednesday, July 31

SHAKESPEARE'S GUIDE TO HOPE AND LEARNING  
For many, the world is feeling darker these days. So a lecture on hope might be a much needed balm. Shannon Murray is an award-winning English Professor at the University of Prince Edward Island. An annual lecture on hope was established in her honour. For the inaugural lecture, Murray presents: Shakespeare's Guide to Teaching, Learning and Hope. She explores what Shakespeare can offer us in terms of lessons in patience, empathy, hope, freudenfreude, and even the obsessions with metrics. And she talks about how The Bard's words have become the narrative soundtrack of her own life. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 13, 2023.