What on Earth is Going on?

Denise Clarke is one of Canada's most respected performing artists, perhaps best known for her work with One Yellow Rabbit. Since 1997 she has opened up the company's process with the Summer Lab Intensive. She recently published The Big Secret Book: An Intense Guide for Creating Performance Theatre.

Ben talks with Denise about her book, the recent Calgary production of Waiting for Godot (which she directed for Black Radish Theatre), the life of an artist, the meaning of art in an age of noise, and much more.

This episode contains some swearing.

About the Guest

Denise began working with One Yellow Rabbit in 1983 and became Associate Artist and a permanent member of the Ensemble in 1986. She has created or co-created several shows including The Erotic Irony of Old Glory, Touch, CD Dance, Breeder, So Low, Permission, Featherland, Sign Language, Heavens to Murgatroid, A Fabulous Disaster, Smash Cut Freeze, and wag. In 1997, Denise created the Summer Lab Intensive and as Director continues to welcome a broad range of established and emerging artists from all over the world. She continues to teach, provide master classes, and lecture across Canada and abroad.

Other work includes choreography for Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary, Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, Crows Theatre, Canadian Stage Company in Toronto, the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake. Denise has toured extensively in shows including Ilsa, Queen of the Nazi Love Camp, Mata Hari: Tigress at the City Gates, Doing Leonard Cohen, Thunderstruck, Sign Language, and Dream Machine.

On December 30th, 2013, Denise was appointed as a Member to the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honours. Prior to this appointment, she was also recognized by the University of Calgary with an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Arts.

Recently Denise wrote The Big Secret Book, An Intense Guide To Creating Performance Theatre.

The Quote of the Week

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." - From "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann, 1927

Thomas Friedman has been explaining the modern predicament as an author and New York Times columnist for decades. With Thank You For Being Late, he turns his sights to the unprecedented rate of change today. His main focus here is on the three M's: Markets, Moore's Law and Mother Nature, and the book's scale is grand as it tries to answer our eternal question, what on earth is going on?

Joining Ben to tackle the book is Mark Sollis, strategist, writer and engagement specialist in higher education.

About the Book

A field guide to the twenty-first century, written by one of its most celebrated observers.

We all sense it―something big is going on. You feel it in your workplace. You feel it when you talk to your kids. You can't miss it when you read the newspapers or watch the news. Our lives are being transformed in so many realms all at once―and it is dizzying. In Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, a work unlike anything he has attempted before, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman's original analysis.

Friedman begins by taking us into his own way of looking at the world―how he writes a column. After a quick tutorial, he proceeds to write what could only be called a giant column about the twenty-first century. His thesis: to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand that the planet's three largest forces―Moore's law (technology), the Market (globalization), and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)―are accelerating all at once. These accelerations are transforming five key realms: the workplace, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and community.

Why is this happening? As Friedman shows, the exponential increase in computing power defined by Moore's law has a lot to do with it. The year 2007 was a major inflection point: the release of the iPhone, together with advances in silicon chips, software, storage, sensors, and networking, created a new technology platform. Friedman calls this platform "the supernova"―for it is an extraordinary release of energy that is reshaping everything from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. It is creating vast new opportunities for individuals and small groups to save the world―or to destroy it.

Thank You for Being Late is a work of contemporary history that serves as a field manual for how to write and think about this era of accelerations. It's also an argument for "being late"―for pausing to appreciate this amazing historical epoch we're passing through and to reflect on its possibilities and dangers. To amplify this point, Friedman revisits his Minnesota hometown in his moving concluding chapters; there, he explores how communities can create a "topsoil of trust" to anchor their increasingly diverse and digital populations.

With his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, Friedman shows that we can overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations―if we slow down, if we dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics, and community. Thank You for Being Late is Friedman's most ambitious book―and an essential guide to the present and the future.

About the Guest

Mark Sollis is a strategist and creative with D3 Advancement Strategies & Communications.

Noted for his disruptive thinking and willingness to challenge the status quo, Mark served for almost five years as the first Associate Vice-President, Alumni at the University of Calgary. Building on leadership roles in planning within various institutions, he led the creation of, and delivered on, the institution's much-lauded first Alumni Strategy, which set the university as one of the most forward-thinking and performance-driven operations in the field of alumni engagement.

Previously, at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Mark served for three years as the project manager for Canada's leading alumni facility, the $20 million UBC Alumni Centre, while working as the Senior Director, Operations and Planning; and Interim Associate Vice-President Alumni and Executive Director, Alumni Association, for UBC Alumni.

Noted for his considered approach, and his ability to execute with focus, agility, and collegially, his post-secondary experiences also cover media relations; student leadership; finance; major project management; as well as serving as strategic counsel to higher education executives. Mark served on the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations from 2013-16 and the CASE District VIII Board from 2014-16. A frequent presenter in North America and internationally, with significant experience with CASE and the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), he has also worked closely with institutions and colleagues across Canada, the US, Australia and the UK in the areas of performance management, planning and organisational development. Other leadership roles include successes in two major Canadian political campaigns and serving as a caucus chief of staff, and as a VP Advancement in Scotland.

A proud graduate of Mount Royal (Calgary) with a Bachelor of Applied Communications (Journalism), Mark has recently launched his own consultancy to focus on performance management, strategy development, and business planning in advancement.

The Quote of the Week

"When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start. You start to reflect, you start to rethink your assumptions, you start to reimagine what is possible and, most importantly, you start to reconnect with your most deeply held beliefs. Once you've done that, you can begin to re-imagine a better path." - Dov Siedman, CEO of LRN, as quoted by Thomas Friedman in Thank You For Being Late

What are the challenges and pressures that face growing cities like Toronto? How do we make housing affordable in such places? And what does the future of the city look like?

Ben is in Toronto to chat with a panel of experts on the past, present and future of the city: Adam Brind, managing partner and broker of record with Core Assets Real Estate; Pamela Robinson, Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University; and podcast alumnus Blair Scorgie, Senior Planner and Urban Designer at SvN Architects and Planners.

About the Guests

Adam Brind

Adam Brind is a co-founder of Core Assets Real Estate. Since launching in January 2013, the company has quickly become one of the leading full-service brokerages in the Toronto market selling in excess of $500,000,000 in the first five years of operation.

As a real estate Broker, Adam has over 10 years of experience selling luxury properties and is one of Toronto's foremost real estate Brokers putting him in the top 1% year-over-year, among Toronto Real Estate Board members.

Adam has a focus on the luxury markets in central Toronto including custom built homes, recently renovated properties and underdeveloped land. Adam's team adds value by staying involved and advising his clients through low-rise building projects (infill homes, additions and renovations).

He often contributes to various media publications as both an author and an industry expert which have included the Globe and Mail, Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine, Toronto Life and many others.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University and continues to develop his skills and education. He has attended Harvard Business School and completed the Executive Education Program on Urban Development, Design and Construction.

Adam lives and works in central Toronto with his wife and two kids.

Learn more about Adam or follow him on Twitter (@AdamJBrind).

Pamela Robinson

Pamela Robinson (MCIP, RPP) is the associate dean, graduate studies and strategic initiatives at the Faculty of Community Services and an associate professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson. She is also a registered professional planner. As part of the geothink.ca research team, Robinson's research and practice focus on urban sustainability issues with a particular focus on cities and climate change and the use of open data and civic technology to support open government transformations. She serves on the board of directors of the Metcalf Foundation and has participated in four Metrolinx Community Advisory Committees. Robinson is an editor of Urban Sustainability: Reconnecting Space and Place (University of Toronto Press, 2013), Teaching as Scholarship: Preparing Students for Professional Practice in Community Services (WLU Press, 2016) and is a columnist for Spacing magazine.

Learn more about Pamela or follow her on Twitter (@pjrplan).

Blair Scorgie

Blair is a Senior Planner and Urban Designer as well as SvN's Business Development Director. He holds a Master of Architecture, specializing in Urban Design, from McGill University as well as a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University. Blair is a Registered Professional Planner, and a member of both the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Ryerson University's School of Urban and Regional Planning and was formerly the Acting Chair of the City of London Urban Design Review Panel.

Blair's diverse project experience includes streetscape and public realm design strategies; architectural control and private realm design strategies; revitalization and intensification strategies; waterfront, campus and district master plans; policy reviews and amendments; development approvals and appeals; and urban design peer reviews.

Listen to Blair in Episode 22, learn more about him, or follow him on Twitter (@BlairScorgie).

The Quote of the Week

"The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand." - Italo Calvino (1923-1985)

Making films is often about balance: between the singular vision of the script and director and the ideas and impulses of the team; between getting the perfect shot and keeping the project on time and under budget. And yet the end result can be like a magic trick. How do they do it?

Ben is in Toronto to chat with filmmaker Christopher MacBride, who has written and directed films such as "The Conspiracy" (2012). He is currently in the editing suite for "The Education of Fredrick Fitzell.

The Quote of the Week

"The enemy of art is the absence of limitations." - Orson Welles

People take to the streets to change the world. Sometimes regimes fall and power shifts, yet too often nothing much happens -- it's business-as-usual the next day. But are we missing the spirit of activism? Are mass protests actually about changing the conversation and altering our perspectives? Or is disobedience the goal in itself?

Ben is in Toronto to chat with Lesley Wood, activist and York University Professor of Sociology, about her work on how ideas travel and the true purpose of protest.

About the Guest

Lesley Wood is Associate Professor of Sociology at York University in Toronto. She is interested in how ideas travel, how power operates, how institutions change, how conversations influence practices, how people resist and how conflict starts, transforms and ends. Lesley is the author of Direct Action, Deliberation and Diffusion: Collective Action after the WTO Protests in Seattle (2012) and co-author of the third edition of Social Movements 1768-2012, and Crisis and Control: The Militarization of Protest Policing. She is an activist in the global justice and anti-poverty movements.

Learn more about Lesley, visit her blog, or follow her on Twitter (@lesleybikes).

The Quote of the Week

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." - Elie Wiesel

Michael Kaufman's newest book, The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution, is a stirring call for men to step up for women's rights, as well as a poignant analysis of what on earth is going on with gender equality today.

Michael has been a prominent figure in promoting social justice and women's rights for decades. He sits with Ben in Toronto for a timely and insightful conversation about why men should do more, what they have to gain, and how to get it done.

About the Guest

Michael Kaufman, PhD, is a writer, advisor, and keynote speaker whose innovative approaches to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality and transforming men's lives has taken him around the world over the past four decades. He has worked extensively with the United Nations and with governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, trade unions, and universities.

Michael is also the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. He is a senior fellow at Promundo in Washington DC and co-writer of the State of the Worlds' Fathers Report.

He is a member of France's G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. In 2017 he was awarded Canada's Meritorious Service Cross.

His work in the UN system, including with UN WOMEN, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, IFAD, and UNESCO has taken him to New York, Rome, Paris, Beijing, Katmandu, Ankara, Geneva, Nairobi, Jakarta, and Delhi. He has worked with numerous NGOs including OXFAM, International Red Cross, Save the Children, and Amnesty International, as well as with governments on six continents. He wrote the training program on sexual harassment used by tens of thousands of staff at the United Nations.

His latest book is The Time Has Come. Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution. He is the author or editor of eight other books on gender issues, on democracy and development studies, and two novels, the award-winning, The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars and the anti-war tale, The Afghan Vampires Book Club. His articles, which have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals around the world, have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian, Turkish, and Arabic.

He has worked across Canada and the United States; in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Russia); Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Chile, Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador); Africa (Namibia, Kenya, South Africa): Asia and Australia (Japan, China, South Korea, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand.)

Michael previously taught at York University in Toronto where he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean. He lives in Toronto, Canada, is married, and has a grown daughter and son.

Learn more about Michael or follow him on Twitter (@GenderEQ).

The Quote of the Week

"Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." - Kofi Annan

In April 2019, Jason Kenney returned the Conservatives to power in Alberta. Is this a return to normal in Alberta politics, where one party usually rules? What's happening underneath the platforms and rhetoric? And what do these events tell us about politics, populism and power elsewhere?

Ben is in Calgary to address these questions with renowned pollster and political analyst Janet Brown, lawyer and former politico Denise Brunsdon, and University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Sayers.

About the Guests

Janet Brown

Based in Calgary, Janet Brown is one of Alberta's most-recognized pollsters and political analysts. With over 25 years experience in polling and marketing research, Janet has developed a knack for asking the right people the right questions. Janet sees beyond the headlines and talk radio chatter to assess and interpret what's happening beneath the surface in Alberta politics.

In partnership with journalist Paul McLoughlin, Janet publishes the Wild Ride Update – a quarterly report on Alberta's rapidly evolving political scene. She is co-author of "Marginally Better: Polling in the 2015 Alberta Election", a chapter in Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta, an edited volume released by the University of Calgary Press in 2019. Janet is a regular commentator on the CBC Calgary News at Six, Alberta Primetime on CTV2 in Alberta, and The Weekend Morning News on Global News Calgary.

Learn more about Janet or follow her on Twitter (@planetjanetyyc).

Denise Brunsdon

Denise is a confident and creative thinker who works tirelessly for her clients and community. She is a general commercial litigation lawyer at Bennett Jones in Calgary, Alberta, with particular experience in court and arbitration disputes in digital, intellectual property, construction, health, and real estate matters.

Besides appearing before arbitration tribunals, Denise has appeared before the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court of Canada.

Denise is a co-founder and member of Lawyers for Education, Access, and Diversity (LEAD Alberta), and volunteer legal counsel for the Women's Centre of Calgary. Prior to law, she was a senior director in public relations and a researcher for the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children. She worked for the Liberal Party of Canada as well as the BC Liberal Party for political leaders such as Stephane Dion, Paul Martin and Christy Clark.

Denise has earned awards in sex discrimination law, leadership in business and the law, and outstanding community leadership. She is proficient in French and Spanish.

Learn more about Denise or follow her on Twitter (@brunsdon).

Anthony Sayers

Anthony is a previous guest on the What on Earth is Going on? podcast, when he discussed the division of political power with Ben. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Western Australia and completed an MA and Ph.D at the University of British Columbia. His research deals with major political institutions including political parties, elections, federalism and parliaments. He is particularly interested in the organizational and campaigning aspects of political parties and the distribution of power in federal states, and wrote Parties, Candidates, and Constituency Campaigns in Canadian Elections. He also writes about Alberta provincial politics.

Listen to Anthony in Episode No. 13 or learn more about him.

The Quote of the Week

"Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen." - Winston Churchill

What does it mean to be human? Is the world a mirror or a window? Should our experience of reality be mediated, and if so, who should be the mediators? We ask these questions earnestly today, but they were tackled in revolutionary ways during the European Renaissance, an extraordinary period of progress and creativity.

Ben's has a powerful and spirited conversation with a world-renowned historian of culture and the Renaissance, Professor Kenneth Bartlett of the University of Toronto.

About the Guest

Kenneth Bartlett is a Professor of History and of Renaissance Studies, a program he helped establish in 1979, at Victoria College in the University of Toronto. He teaches courses ranging from first year to graduate levels, with his research interests in the fields of Anglo-Italian relations in the sixteenth century and Italian humanism. Professor Bartlett was also the founding director of the Office of Teaching Advancement (now CTSI), and founder and director of the Faculty of Arts and Science's undergraduate experience programs, which include the First-Year Seminars, the Research Opportunities Program and the Independent Experiential Study Program, which won the Northrop Frye Award for excellence and innovation in linking teacher and research. Professor Bartlett was also the founding director of U of T's Art Centre, and currently serves as a trustee for the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.

During his career at the university, which spans over 30 years, he has been the recipient of the Victoria University Excellence in Teaching Award, the Students Administrative Council and Association of Part-Time Students Undergraduate Teaching Award (on two occasions), and the Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2005, Professor Bartlett was awarded both the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship and a University of TorontoArbor Award. In 2007 he was awarded an inaugural LIFT Award by the Province of Ontario and was a finalist in the TVO Best Lecturer Competition.

In addition to teaching, he has published over 35 scholarly articles and contributions to books, and several editions and translations of Renaissance texts. He has served as the editor of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme, and President of the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies. He has produced four video series on various aspects of Italian Renaissance culture and European civilization, and has also appeared in televisions series such as Museum Secrets.

Some of his publications include The Experience of History, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, The English in Italy 1525-1558: A Study in Culture and Politics, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance and The Northern Renaissance and the Reformation.

Learn more about Ken.

The Quote of the Week

"Learning never exhausts the mind." - Leonardo da Vinci

Sally Armstrong has been to some of the most dangerous places to speak with, learn about and report on women and girls in conflict zones. Countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia have been her beat for decades, and yet she has always found her way to the heart of the human story.

An award-winning journalist, author and human rights activist, Sally joins Ben for a timely conversation about the ascent of women everywhere, and why we need to do more to make the world a better, more equal place.

Read the blog post about this episode.

About the Guest

Sally Armstrong is sometimes called "the war correspondent for the world's women." She's also known as "La Talibanista".

Sally has covered stories in zones of conflict all over the world. From Bosnia and Somalia to Congo and Afghanistan, her eyewitness reports have earned her the Amnesty International Media Award four times over, as well as acclaim all over the world. Armstrong shares her experiences reporting from the front lines and imparts her audiences with the lessons she's learned from the battlefields surrounding the complexities of "human rights" versus "human wrongs."

In addition to her journalism, Armstrong is the author of the books Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan; The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor; Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan's Women; and her most recent title, Ascent of Women: A New Age is Dawning for Every Mother's Daughter.

2017 was a busy year for Armstrong — it saw her on assignments in Iraq, Kenya, and Afghanistan, and she gave a speech in Oxford, UK, and at Oxford University.

Also in 2017, Armstrong was promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada, and won, along with photographer/videographer Peter Bregg, the Amnesty International Canada Media Award for their work in Iraq (her fourth Amnesty International Canada Media Award). She and Bregg also won the Gold Award for Investigative Journalism at The Canadian Online Publishing Gala for their work about the Yazidis called Resisting Genocide in 2017.

Armstrong is a former member of the International Women's Commission at the UN, and is the recipient of ten honorary doctorate degrees.

Her newest book, Power Shift: The Longest Revolution, will be published in October 2019.

Learn more about Sally.

The Quote of the Week

"Talking is the antidote for oppression and injustice." - Sally Armstrong

Bob McDonald is one of Canada's most recognizable voices. An author, science journalist and chief science correspondent for the CBC, Bob has been hosting Quirks & Quarks (a weekly radio show about science) since 1992. He's interviewed thousands of scientists over the years, and this week he joins Ben for a conversation about science and technology, the power of curiosity and storytelling in communicating science, and the urgent need for us to see the long game in order to face today's big challenges.

About the Guest

Bob McDonald is one of Canada's best known science journalists, bringing science to the public for more than 40 years. In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program that is heard by 800,000 people each week, McDonald is also science correspondent for CBC TV's The National and host and writer of the children's series Head's Up.

The host and writer of numerous television documentaries and more than 100 educational videos in Canada and the United States, Bob has also authored four bestselling science books, and contributed to numerous textbooks, magazines, and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail. His latest book is Canadian Space Walkers: Hadfield, MacLean and Williams Remember the Ultimate High Adventure.

An Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal, Bob has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science with the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; the "Sir Sanford Fleming Medal" from the Royal Canadian Institute; and the "McNeil Medal" from The Royal Society of Canada. He also won a 2008 Gemini Award for Best Host in a Pre-School, Children's or Youth Program or Series.

In 2015, asteroid 332324 was officially named "Bobmcdonald" in his honour by the International Astronomical Union.

He holds eleven honorary doctorates from Canadian universities.

Learn more about Bob or follow Quirks & Quarks on Twitter.

The Quote of the Week

"Science is an organized way of being curious." - Bob McDonald (from today's podcast)