Writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and John McWhorter share common concerns about language, race and politics in our polarized society. They discuss the chilling of civic discourse for fear of political censure and how wokeness is condescending to Black people at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival.  

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor speaks to Nahlah Ayed about his life’s journey, from growing up in Montreal in the 1930s, his 1991 CBC Massey Lectures, and why he turned to Romantic poetry to re-enchant our sense of the meaning of life in his book, Cosmic Connections.

Anthropologist Wade Davis has smoked toad, tried ayahuasca, and figured out the zombie cocktail in Haiti. He takes a walk through the forest with IDEAS producer Philip to talk about the wonders of our planet and ideas in his latest book of essays, Beneath the Surface of Things.

Going the whole nine yards, dressing to the nines, being on cloud nine. In pop culture, in ancient folklore, in music, even in sports the number nine is everywhere. In the last episode of our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time, we explore nine and its uncanny connections. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 29, 2023.

Five: a simple, easy number with a diabolical side. As we continue our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time, meet the Janus-faced figure of five and find out how the number has acquired its personality for people in the arts and sciences. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 28, 2023.

From curses to charms to incantations and evocations, speaking thrice gives power — today, and in the ancient past. As our number series continues, we enter the powerful and spiritual realm of three. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 27, 2023.

It's a time of reflection and looking ahead. Host Nahlah Ayed invites IDEAS producers into the studio to share ideas they are working on for 2025. You’ll hear about income inequality, Nietzsche, the power of itch, the intrigue of the yellow traffic light and the fascinating story of Henry Box Brown — an enslaved man from Virginia who mailed himself to freedom.

It's nothing — and it's everywhere. Zero has confounded humanity for thousands of years. On IDEAS, we explore the infinite danger and promise of the void in a series called The Greatest Numbers of All Time. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 26, 2023.

A childhood full of Christmasses in Wales has left IDEAS producer Tom Howell pining for a certain kind of nostalgic poem this winter. So he turns to poets to put into words a strange feeling of homesickness, nostalgia, and yearning. *This episode originally aired on December 17, 2020.

A profile of the legendary jazz drummer and composer Jerry Granelli who passed away in 2021. Over his career, he accompanied many of the greats: Mose Allison, Sly Stone and The Grateful Dead. Most famously, he was a member of the Vince Guaraldi Trio that recorded the iconic album: A Charlie Brown Christmas. *This episode originally aired on December 21, 2021.

Christmas is a minefield of deep philosophical quandaries, like — is it ethically correct to lie to children? Who does a gift really benefit the giver, or receiver? How do we really know Santa exists, or doesn't? Join us on a dramatic journey through the philosophy of Christmas. *This episode originally aired on December 23, 2020.

Modern mystic Thomas Merton helped to bring contemplative spirituality to the fore during the convulsions of the 20th century. He spins us a powerful, prophetic Christmas story that we don’t often hear, but one that is central to our modern self-understanding.

CBC's investigative documentary program, The Fifth Estate, turned 50 this year. To commemorate this golden anniversary, a panel of distinguished journalists take us behind the stories and to the current threats facing their profession. As the media landscape continues to shrink, who will hold the powerful to account?

For 14 years, Syrian poet Faraj Bayrakdar was imprisoned and tortured in a series of prisons. He found refuge in writing poetry. Now, the poems he wrote imagining the fall of the regime are a reality. He tells host Nahlah Ayed how the freedom within is greater than any prison.

The Huarochirí Manuscript is one of the few surviving records of Quechua worldviews in the early modern era. It was once used by the Catholic Church to identify and eradicate “idolatries.” But today, for philosophy professor Jorge Sanchez-Perez, the manuscript is a tool for reconstructing and revitalizing Andean metaphysics. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 6, 2023.

Each year, a cohort of scholars with research careers of "sustained excellence" are honoured with the Killam Prize — seen by some as Canada's version of the Nobel. IDEAS hears from Engineering winner Clement Gosselin, who has developed an innovative robotic arm. Natural Sciences laureate Sylvain Moineau is making breakthroughs using basic science research, and Medical Sciences winner Gerard Wright fights the growing global threat posed by antibiotic resistance. (2 of 2)

Our homes hold our memories and hopes for the future. But today, our homes have become commodities. Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, considers what happens when humanity is stripped out of housing — and what it means for us to collectively ‘return home.’ *This episode is part of our IDEAS at Crow’s Theatre series.

We think nothing today of calling healthcare workers “front line workers,” engaged in a “battle” against disease. But the roots of the war metaphor in medicine go way back ⁠— entrenched by pop culture icons like the TV show M*A*S*H and Hawkeye’s army. Dr. Jillian Horton explores a less heroic but healthier way forward for doctors and health professionals. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 21, 2023.

Right now, more than 55% of the world's population live in cities. In a few decades, that percentage will rise to 70%. But with rising sea levels and mass migration, not to mention the state of geopolitics, where does all this leave cities of the future? Three experts weigh in.

It's the world's most prominent climate case in history. Iranian-Canadian human rights lawyer Payam Akhavan discusses the legal arguments he made before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on behalf of Bangladesh and small island states. The hearings seek to establish the legal obligations of states to mitigate climate change and the damage done by it — and the legal consequences for states which don’t fulfil those obligations.