Ideas

<p>Despite their admirable qualities, rats have long been reviled as disgusting and aggressive animals. <em>IDEAS </em>contributor Moira Donovan explores how rats have come to occupy a position as cultural villain — and how they’ve shaped human history along the way. <em>*This episode originally aired on October 26, 2020.</em></p>

Historian Timothy Garton Ash, winner of the 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize, discusses his dedication to Europe's ideals and support for Ukraine by using prize money to buy drones. Topics include Europe's importance, balancing historical and journalistic perspectives, learning from past conflicts, and Canada's role in geopolitics.

Lois Wilson, a remarkable Canadian known for her roles as a United Church Minister, a Senator, and a human rights advocate, is honored in a book 'For the Sake of the Common Good'. The podcast discusses the influence of the prophetic tradition and the Old Testament in shaping Lois Wilson's life. It also reflects on her impact, approach to leadership, and the importance of grassroots activism. The podcast explores the challenges of building relationships, the power of symbols of faith, and the guiding influence of the Lord.

<p>In Astra Taylor's final Massey Lecture, she offers hope and solutions. Taylor suggests cultivating an ethic of insecurity — one that embraces our existential insecurity. The experience of insecurity, she says, can offer us a path to wisdom that can guide our personal lives and collective endeavours.</p><p><br></p>

<p>In part four of our series exploring five years that shaped the world,<em> IDEAS</em> examines 1973. Augusto Pinochet comes to power in Chile, and dictators rule Portugal, Greece, Uganda and beyond. The OPEC oil embargo sets the world on a new path. The American Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade, 50 years before it would be overturned. <em>*This episode originally aired on Jan. 25, 2024.</em></p>

<p>Scientists agree that dogs evolved from wolves and were the first domesticated animals. But exactly how that happened is hotly contested.<em> IDEAS</em> contributor Neil Sandell examines the theories and the evolution of the relationship between dogs and humans.<em> *This episode originally aired on March 1, 2021.</em></p>

<p>Feeling the weight of a world? A lecture on hope might be a much needed balm. Scholar Shannon Murray shares lesson in hope, patience, empathy and 'freudenfreude,' and how Shakespeare’s words have become the narrative soundtrack of her life. <em>*This episode originally aired on Nov. 13, 2023.</em></p>

Explore the intriguing balance between spirituality and commercialism in modern life. Delve into how ancient Eastern practices are commodified in a ‘mystical marketplace.' Examine the complexities of individualism and the exploitation of genuine traditions through cultural appropriation. Reflect on the quest for joy beyond traditional faith and the paradox of social media fostering loneliness. Uncover the impact of modernity on identity, highlighting the ethical implications of using spiritual figures like Rumi in consumer culture.

<p>The burning of fossil fuels causes the past, present and future to collide in destructive ways. In her fourth Massey Lecture, Astra Taylor tells us that as the climate alters, 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? But there is a path forward.</p>

<p>Our series, looking at pivotal years in recent history, continues as we focus on the year 1963. 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. <em>*This episode originally aired on Jan. 24, 2024.</em></p>