Michael's Essay; UN Climate Talks; Fear of flying mailbag; Essay: Demos in Lithuania; Women back to work mailbag; Thomas Frank and the "Creativity Craze"; All about Angela; Dr. Sunita Vohra
Michael's Essay: Michael's take on teen-speak, and why we should all like, just relax. (0:00:24)
UN climate talks: Former president of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, takes on the environment. With the latest round of UN climate talks underway, she has a tough message for Canada: If we want to prevent climate disaster, we have to leave a lot of our fossil fuels in the ground. (0:05:17)
Fear of flying mailbag: In light of Michael's fear of flying, last week's Sunday School invited an author/pilot to debunk popular myths about air travel. They talked about everything from the quality of the air inside airplanes, to what happens when lightning strikes .. to why airplane wings are more likely to stay on, than to fall off.
You chimed in with your own flight horror stories, and with kind but futile efforts to reassure. (0:26:27)
Essay: Demos in Lithuania: Hey hey! Ho ho! The thing I hate has got to go!
If that sentiment, that rhythm, isn't at all familiar to you, you probably haven't been to a demonstration for a really long time.
There WAS a time in this fair land - at least in the big cities - when demonstrations, sometimes really big ones, were a common sight. They had an impact. But now they seem to be fewer, less effective, and far between.
Have demos had their day? John Miller - something of a veteran - considers the question in his essay, "Demonstrating on a Sleepy Sunday in Lithuania." (0:33:25)
Women back to work mailbag: Getting a job - especially a good one - is very hard work these days.
A few months ago, we aired "The Double Grind", a documentary about the Barista Generation - young people with university degrees filling up the jobs at upscale coffee joints at minimum wage.
A couple of weeks ago, it was the Freedom 95 crowd, older workers, suddenly unemployed, having a hell of a time even getting looked at by employers.
And then this past Sunday, we heard about about a different set of challenges ... faced by professional women who took time out to raise children, and now want back in.
We heard them as they started a program at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. It's aimed at helping with that transition. (0:41:11)
Thomas Frank and the "Creativity Craze": The ancient Greeks believed creativity came from the nine muses. Nowadays, we seem to believe it comes from hundreds of books that promise to "unleash" or "awaken" our creative side.
But journalist and cultural critic Thomas Frank believes these books are banal, boring bunk -- and that they have more to do with investment than invention. (0:47:48)
Profile of Angela Merkel: If Europe ever manages to fix its economic woes, it will be in large part because of the leadership of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. We look at how a young girl from East Germany became one of the most powerful politicians in the world. (1:06:23)
Interview: Dr. Sunita Vohra: "Alternative medicine" was once the domain of new age mystics, in shadowy back rooms.
It was to be approached with skepticism --- perhaps as a last resort.
Today, Dr. Sunita Vohra has become a leader in both complementary and alternative medicine -- and conventional medicine -- working to bring the two communities closer together.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Vohra was awarded the 2013 Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. At 250,000 dollars --- it is the largest prize of its kind in North America. (1:30:19)