Ideas

Out of synch? No wonder: the pandemic clock is messing with us. Taking measure of a strange moment, with writers, sociologists, a therapist, and a mathematician.

This final episode explores C.L.R. James coming to America, his influence on the Black Power movement, meeting up with Trotsky in Mexico, to his final days in England.

When critiques are made of the military-industrial complex in the U.S., they usually come from left-wing thinkers. But Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a lifelong Republican and career army officer, believes that military spending has become an ideological article of faith on the political Right. And it's both bankrupting America and making the world a dangerous place. *This episode originally aired on September 28, 2020.

Deserts cover nearly one-third of the earth's landmass of the earth, but we're still unsure what to make of them. Sometimes we consider them empty wastelands, other times we see them as beautiful landscape. IDEAS producer Matthew Lazin-Ryder explores our historically complicated, and yet intimate, relationship with deserts. *Originally broadcast on November 22, 2019.

Advisory: some of the language in this episode reflects the historical realities of the slave trade and the institution of slavery. | The second episode in this three-part series explores C.L.R. James leaving Trinidad for England and the story behind some of his acclaimed books, including his classic study of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins.

* Warning: Explicit Language * Iceland’s terrain — and mythology — yield surprising insights into potential past life on Mars, and sobering lessons on Earth’s future. *Originally aired on June 11, 2020.

This episode explores his Trinidadian upbringing, and how cricket became the inspiration for his ideas about the human condition.

In a time-honoured IDEAS tradition, Nahlah Ayed hosts a New Year's levee, giving us a taste of what to expect this coming year. We'll hear from the show's producers and contributors about everything from the cultural history of Black hair, to lessons on marketing a 'green' movement, to the revival of a controversial Canadian novel about a bear.

Indigenous people say there can never be reconciliation with Canada if the question of land remains unaddressed. This is the last of a 3-part series on genocide, truth, and reconciliation.

In Bosnia, there are facts about the genocide but little acceptance of their truth by Serb aggressors. For Bosniaks, genocide denial means they are stuck in a violent past with little prospect for release. This is part two of a three-part series on genocide, truth, and reconciliation.