Ideas

Experts in the field of child sex abuse prevention argue that we need to bring pedophilia out of the shadows if we ever want to end abuse. CBC producer John Chipman explores an innovative new program in Kitchener, Ontario that has sex offenders and abuse survivors working together to prevent future harm and promote healing.

IDEAS continues to explore Wilhelm von Humboldt’s public education system with guests, including acclaimed author Gabor Maté, who is a former English teacher. Is this 200-year-old system equipped to meet the challenging demands of the 21st century? And does it still reflect Humboldt’s ideals, especially at the university level? *This episode is part two of a two-part series. It originally aired on April 16, 2024.

Two hundred years ago, Wilhelm von Humboldt created the public education system as we know it today. At the heart of his philosophy of education was the concept of Bildung — reaching one's inner potential. Yet over the years, as his public education system was adopted, Bildung may well have been the critical piece left out. *This is part one of a two-part series. It originally aired on April 15, 2024.

The late Lois Wilson didn’t tell you what to believe — she just lived by example. And what an example. She was a minister, Senator, human rights advocate — and inspiration. She lived out her Christian faith in concrete terms, on the ground, in the community. Lois Wilson died on Friday at the age of 97.

A final experiment from a dying musician. A painter whose work finds its cultural moment, posthumously. An aged writer intent on ‘getting to know death.’ From David Bowie to little-known creatives, this documentary looks at the ways that an artist’s mortality gives their work new meaning.

New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin calls himself one-sixth Canadian. For 55 years, he and his family have spent their summers in Nova Scotia — what he calls: The Home Place. IDEAS producer Mary Lynk spoke to the 88-year-old author about everything from Trump to the layered Yiddish word: Meeskite.

Theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham has spent her life captivated by gravity. She has taken up flying airplanes, scuba diving and was even an astronaut candidate. Her book, The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, explores the mysteries of gravity and how it connects us to the universe.  

For millennia, human beings along with their domesticated animals have travelled to bring sheep, goats, cattle, and other animals to better grazing areas. The ancient practice, known as transhumance, has been dismissed as an outdated mode of animal husbandry. Yet the practice holds promise for a sustainable future. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 25, 2022.

Robert Macfarlane says his writing is about the relationship between landscape and the human heart. His books share his encounters with treacherous mountain passages, mammoth glaciers flowing perceptibly into the sea, and harrowing descents into fissures inside the Earth. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 25, 2023.

The Arctic and the Amazon may be far apart geographically, but art connects them intimately. As part of a public art project bringing Indigenous artists from both regions together, Inuk artist Niap and the Shipibo artist Olinda Silvano worked on a mural that now graces the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University. They share their inspirations and their collaboration. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 23, 2023.