Ideas

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.

"Those who remember the disappeared would also disappear." Under dictator Bashar al-Assad, grieving publicly in Syria was punishable. Now the silenced stories of lost loved ones are emerging and there are public spaces to grieve. Syrian architect Ammar Azzouz's friend and colleague Taher Al Sebai was killed on his street in 2011. After 14 years in exile, Azzouz returned home and says it's not just a right but "a duty to remember." IDEAS hears about Azzouz's classmate from architecture school, the lives of a father, a brother, and a singer who became the voice of the revolution.

Guests in this podcast:

Jaber Baker is a novelist, researcher, former political prisoner, human rights activist, and filmmaker. He is the author of Syrian Gulag: Assad’s Prisons, 1970-2020, the first-ever comprehensive study of Syrian political prisons.

Ammar Azzouz is a British Academy Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He studied architecture in Homs, Syria and is the author of Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria.

Noura Aljizawi is a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She was a prominent figure in the Syrian uprising and a survivor of abduction, detention, and torture.

When civil war broke out in his home country in 2011, Hassan Al Kontar was a young Syrian living and working in the UAE. A conscientious objector, he refused to return to Syria for compulsory military service and lived illegally before being deported to Malaysia in 2018. He became trapped in the arrivals zone at Kuala Lumpur Airport. Exiled by war and trapped by geopolitics, Al Kontar used social media and humour to tell his story to the world, becoming an international celebrity and ultimately finding refuge in Canada.

Khabat Abbas is an independent journalist and video producer based in northeastern Syria. Since 2011, she has extensively covered the developments that have shaken her country starting with the popular demonstrations, to the fight against the so-called Islamic State and its aftermath.

Prior to riding horses, no one wore pants. There's a lot to thank horses for in our daily lives. From the Hollywood motion picture to life-saving vaccines for diphtheria and tetanus. Historian Timothy Winegard argues horses are intertwined in our own history to the point that we overlook their importance. His research explains how they shaped societies, economies and cultures. Without us, horses would be nowhere, and vice versa. It was a partnership — our brains and their braun — that truly changed the world. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 10, 2024.

It's getting pretty difficult to read any article online without a paywall in the way. What happened to the internet's great promise to democratize knowledge? On an individual basis, artists, writers and scientists can create without fear of theft thanks to copyright laws. But in practice copyright laws set up barriers, stifle production and prevent equal access to art and research. In this podcast, producer Naheed Mustafa explores the fate of “open access” — all in the ever-expanding universe of copyright laws, paywalls and old-fashioned bureaucratic sludge.

Guests in this podcast:

John Willinsky is emeritus professor of education at Stanford University with an appointment at Simon Fraser University.

Lokesh Vyas is pursuing a PhD at Sciences Po in Paris working on the history of international copyright law.

Thea Lim is a Toronto-based novelist, creative writing teacher, and cultural writer focussing on the intersection of power, art and personhood, and technology.

We gorge ourselves on the internet, smartphones, social media, information overload — all of it constantly sap us of our emotional and intellectual vitality. Authors Pico Iyer and Jonathan Haidt argue it's vital we disconnect from our addictive online world to pursue a fulfilling, and richer life. By curtailing the noise of technology, media and other worldly distractions there's space to reconnect with the things that matter. "Humans were never designed to live at a pace determined by machines. The only way we could begin to do that is by becoming machines ourselves," says Iyer.

Pico Iyer and Jonathan Haidt were two of the marquee speakers at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival. The theme this year was 'What Makes Life Good.'

Holmes Rolston III began his career as a Presbyterian minister. But his love of the natural world — and his belief in evolution — didn't sit well with his congregation. He was ultimately fired. The late philosopher spent much of his career working to bridge the gap between science and religion because he said "the future of Earth depends on it." Rolston is the pioneer of environmental ethics, a turning point in philosophy. His ultimate goal was to define the moral worth of the planet. Rolston died in 2025 at the age of 92.

In this episode, IDEAS explores his legacy and the continuing resonance of his work.

Guests in this documentary:

Christopher Preston is a professor of environmental philosophy at the University of Montana, Missoula. His books include Tenacious Beasts and Saving Creation: Nature and Faith in the Life of Holmes Rolston III.

Stephen Scharper is an associate professor in the department of anthropology and the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto.

Kerry Bowman is a Canadian bioethicist and environmentalist who teaches bioethics and planetary health at the University of Toronto.

Nathan Kowalsky is an associate professor of philosophy at St. Joseph's College at the University of Alberta.

Karen Beazley is a professor emerita in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University.

Simon Appolloni is an assistant professor in the Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto's School of the Environment.

Maria Chapdelaine: A Tale of French Canada is one of the most widely read works of fiction ever written in French. It's considered the world's highest-selling French book. Yet today, the 1913 novel remains far less known in English Canada and the English-speaking world. Translated into over 20 languages, the book's character Maria and her story has inspired four film versions, several plays, an opera, and even a pop song.

Contributor Catherine Annau examines the many lives that Maria Chapdelaine has lived, and continues to live. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 4, 2024.

What do you get when you take some of the classic Enlightenment values like reason, fairness, and justice, and substitute them with opinion, privilege and power: The Dark Enlightenment — a movement that is a deliberate oxymoron with a vision to dump democracy and replace it with start-up cities run by CEOs. American blogger Curtis Yarvin, also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is the founder of this movement that advocates for the return of traditional hierarchical societies and monarchy-like governance.

Bioethicist Arthur Schafer has thought a lot about life and death. He's helped shape policy on medically assisted death (MAID) in Canada. The philosophy professor argues that an ideal end-of-life legislation would respect individual choice and the wishes of individuals to die according to their own values. "The best ethical argument is that patient autonomy is a fundamental value," Schafer told host Nahlah Ayed. He discusses the role of philosophy in addressing complex ethical dilemmas confronting individuals, and society as a whole. *This episode originally aired on May 16, 2024.

Today we bring you our annual New Year's Levee looking ahead at episodes in the works to keep your curiosity satiated. You can anticipate a fresh roster of IDEAS programs to inspire new ways of understanding our world. From the phenomenon of the ‘27 Club’’ to exploring literature from Labrador, to social media influencers who push their intellectual pursuits, find out what our producers are cooking up for the 2026 season.