Rome fell, because of... divorce. Or was it immigration? Maybe moral decay. IDEAS producer Matthew Lazin-Ryder explores the political history of 'the fall of Rome' — a hole in time where politicians, activists, and intellectuals can dump any modern anxiety they wish. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 11, 2024.

What if there was one thing we could do to significantly impact poverty, crime, and climate change. Law professor Adam Benforado believes there is a solution: prioritizing kids. The author of A Minor Revolution argues that if we centred children when enacting law and public policy, we would all benefit.

English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that life would be "nasty, brutish and short" without a strong government. IDEAS explores how a new take on Hobbes offers a surprising perspective on the recent American election.

For the last 20 years, members of ARC Ensemble have dedicated themselves to recovering the forgotten works of exiled composers. Recently, the ensemble revived the works of Frederick Block — music that hasn't been performed publicly in nearly a century. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 19, 2023.

This month, IDEAS features the 2024 BBC's Reith Lectures by forensic psychiatrist Gwen Adshead. Her four lectures address pertinent questions she has faced in her career. To start, she asks if violence is a normal part of human life — whether we are all capable and tempted by violence — or whether it is an aberration in just some people. *The Reith Lectures originally aired on BBC Radio 4.

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.