It's a time of year when many of us try to recapture some of the wonder at the world we felt as kids... and Katherine Rundell has a special gift for doing just that. The British author and Oxford University fellow has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkein for her fantasy books beloved by younger and older readers alike. She joins Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about two of her latest – Impossible Creatures, which brings unicorns, dragons and griffins to life for children; and Vanishing Treasures, which reflects on animals threatened with extinction for adults – and why she thinks cultivating wonder in worlds both imagined and real is vital.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with Rob Russo, Stephanie Levitz and David Staples about the highlights and lowlights of the year in Canadian politics, researcher Rachel Plotnick explores what the rise, fall and return of buttons can teach us about the human-machine relationship, Bessma Momani and Kareem Shaheen discuss Syria's future after the Assad regime, and author Katherine Rundell makes her case for cultivating wonder in our chaotic world.

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Whether your holiday book wish list includes classics like The Nutcracker or works by contemporary authors like Jon Fosse and Elena Ferrante... if you want to read them in English, then you’ll have to thank a translator. But Damion Searls says that the work of translating is more complicated than simply converting words from one language to another. In the latest instalment of Word Processing – our ongoing look at language – David Common speaks with the noted author and translator about his book The Philosophy of Translation, the nuance needed to make a faithful translation and what gets lost when authors outsource that work to technology.

Guest host David Common speaks with The Economist's Gregg Carlstrom about the latest developments in Syria following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, law professor Kent Roach offers his take on police reform after 10 First Nations people died following officer encounters since August, president of the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris charity Michel Picaud outlines the efforts made to restore the iconic monument, writer and translator Damion Searls explores what makes a great translation, and humourist and public speaker Fran Lebowitz opines on the art of conversation.

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In the latest edition of our monthly challenge That's Puzzling!, Piya Chattopadhyay competes against one familiar voice and one clever listener in a battle of brain games devised by puzzle master Peter Brown. Playing along this month are Mark Connolly, the host of CBC Radio's Edmonton AM, and Winnipeg listener Debbie Hamlin.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The Economist's Rob Russo and The Globe and Mail's Stephanie Levitz about how Canadian politicians are responding to Donald Trump's tariff threat, historian Evan Friss explores why bookstores endure against the odds, researcher Carolyn Whitzman shares approaches to solving Canada's housing crisis, and our monthly challenge That's Puzzling! returns.

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2024 has been dubbed the "year of elections," and it comes as democratic backsliding is on the rise. Now that Donald Trump is returning to the White House, what does that spell for the fate of democracy worldwide? Piya Chattopadhyay moderates the 2024 Stanfield Conversation – a series focusing on critical challenges to democracy and imaginative and inspiring responses to them – at Dalhousie University in Halifax. This year's featured guests are The Globe and Mail's international affairs columnist Doug Saunders and McGill University political scientist and Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies, Debra Thompson.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with international relations professor Fawaz Gerges about the consequences of the ICC's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, associate professor of political science Maria Popova unpacks recent escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, linguist Julie Sedivy talks about how language defines our lives, and we present the 2024 Stanfield Conversation about the U.S. election and democracy's global fate, featuring The Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders and McGill University political scientist Debra Thompson.

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After a beloved gorilla at the Toronto Zoo named Charles died last month, hundreds of people visited his enclosure to mourn and lay flowers. But did his fellow apes understand that he had died? Did Charles ever contemplate his own mortality? Susana Monsó has long contemplated questions like these as she seeks to understand how animals understand death. The philosopher joins Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about how all kinds of animals relate to mortality... and what we humans might learn from them.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with Carleton University's Ian Lee about the latest on the Canada post strike and the postal service's future, Dene leader Georges Erasmus reflects on his decades-long fight for Indigenous rights, World Meteorological Organization secretary-general Celeste Saulo talks climate, cash, and the role of meteorology in navigating a warming world, The Sunday Magazine's Peter Mitton unpacks the politics of grievance, and philosopher Susana Monsó examines how animals relate to death.

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