Ideas

4.4 (2.5K)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.

1 DAY AGO

Searching for Truth: The Honourable Louise Arbour

Is a criminal trial a search for truth? How do we navigate between the trial process and our lived experience in that elusive search for the truth? Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour tackles these questions in her 2024 Horace E. Read lecture.

54 min
2 DAYS AGO

Reith Lectures #2: Is there such a thing as evil?

In a career spanning over 30 years, Dr. Adshead has heard many of her patients ask: "I have done evil things, but does that mean I am evil? In her second BBC Reith Lecture, Adshead asks if there is such a thing as evil. She argues we all have capacity for 'evil' and says we need to find ways to cultivate societal and individual 'goodness.' *The Reith Lectures originally aired on BBC Radio 4.

54 min
3 DAYS AGO

The Never-Ending Fall of Rome

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.

54 min
4 DAYS AGO

A Minor Revolution: Prioritizing Kids' Rights Benefits Us All

What if there was one thing we could do to significantly impact poverty, crime, and climate change. Law professor Adam Benforado believes there is a solution: prioritizing kids. The author of A Minor Revolution argues that if we centred children when enacting law and public policy, we would all benefit.

54 min
5 DAYS AGO

What 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes would say about American democracy today

English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that life would be "nasty, brutish and short" without a strong government. IDEAS explores how a new take on Hobbes offers a surprising perspective on the recent American election.

54 min
JAN 10

ARC Ensemble: The Forgotten Music of Exiled Composers

For the last 20 years, members of ARC Ensemble have dedicated themselves to recovering the forgotten works of exiled composers. Recently, the ensemble revived the works of Frederick Block — music that hasn't been performed publicly in nearly a century. *This episode originally aired on Dec. 19, 2023.

54 min
JAN 9

Reith Lectures #1: Is violence normal?

This month, IDEAS features the 2024 BBC's Reith Lectures by forensic psychiatrist Gwen Adshead. Her four lectures address pertinent questions she has faced in her career. To start, she asks if violence is a normal part of human life — whether we are all capable and tempted by violence — or whether it is an aberration in just some people. *The Reith Lectures originally aired on BBC Radio 4.

54 min
JAN 8

Woke Racism and the Language Police | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie & John McWhorter

Writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and John McWhorter share common concerns about language, race and politics in our polarized society. They discuss the chilling of civic discourse for fear of political censure and how wokeness is condescending to Black people at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival.

54 min

See All (222)

4.4

out of 5

2,511 Ratings

Lost its lustre

2024-10-08

蓝頓和

Made me to wonder why
Pre-2024 podcasts

2024-12-31

gwjohnson

Is it possible to access Ideas podcasts prior to 2024?
WOW: Indigenous Archaeologist reclaims paleo history

2024-10-26

Julinetrou

Very interesting and informative. This episode knocked the socks off what I thought was the history of this land. It also relieved me if some settler-racist anxiety I didn’t know how to navigate through. It is really very disturbing when academics ignore evidence and silence dissent to maintain power and control. Thank you for this episode and thank you Dr Paulette Stevens for your work, persistence and bravery.
Nice.

2024-01-19

Optimist_Prime

Interesting takes.

IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. In the age of clickbait and superficial headlines, it's for people who like to think.