Ideas

CBC Discover & Learn

IDEAS is a place for people who like to think. If you value deep conversation and unexpected reveals, this show is for you. From the roots and rise of authoritarianism to near-death experiences to the history of toilets, no topic is off-limits. Hosted by Nahlah Ayed, we’re home to immersive documentaries and fascinating interviews with some of the most consequential thinkers of our time. With an award-winning team, our podcast has proud roots in its 60-year history with CBC Radio, exploring the IDEAS that make us who we are.  New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 5pm ET.

  1. -21 H

    The suffragist who was too radical for Susan. B. Anthony

    You likely have never heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage. Gloria Steinem calls her “the woman ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.” Matilda worked side by side with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to get women the vote in the United States and co-wrote the history of the women’s movement with them. IDEAS producer Dawna Dingwall looks into why the towering figure was erased by her peers, and the work that is being done to write Matilda back into history. If you liked this podcast, you may like: Why there's no place like Oz. Matilda Joslyn Gage was a big influence on the author Lyman Frank Baum, famous for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Feminism runs through this book. Guests in this episode: Angelica Shirley Carpenter, author of Born Criminal: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Radical Suffragist Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the Annotated Wizard of Oz Gita Dorothy Morena, great-great-granddaughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage Ciarrai Eaton, executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation The late Sally Roesch Wagner, former ED of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation appears courtesy of The Book Dreams Podcast, WCNY's Repeating History podcast, the International Wizard of Oz Club and filmmaker Jeremy Kagan.

    54 min

  2. -2 J

    How can we prevent AI from becoming a menace?

    There are two things most people agree on — artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing, and the grave risks AI poses are very real — no one, not even ChatGPT, really knows how this will play out. Renowned “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton argues we need to put the brakes on AI development until we know for sure it can be kept safely under control. Owain Evans is a leading AI researcher and the founder/director of Truthful AI. In his 2025 Hinton lecture series, organized by the AI Safety Foundation, he discusses the risks presented by AI, the means at our disposal to keep it escaping human control, and the challenges of developing coherent, comprehensive strategies to prevent AI from becoming a menace to humankind. Have time for one more podcast? Don't miss our feature interview with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton: Why AI needs to be nicer to us and develop 'maternal instincts'

    54 min

  3. -3 J

    What will happen to us when the internet dies?

    And it is dying. At least for us, humans. Our chatter and connection online is being overrun by bots — more than half of online activity is non-human. The internet is on it's way to feeling haunted, like a deserted mall where the fountain is still gurgling, the canned music is still playing, but the people are nowhere to be found. IDEAS explores the dying internet and what we will do when it's dead? If you like this episode, you may want to listen to: We're not machines. Why should our online world define life? Guests in this episode: Cory Doctorow is an activist with a non-profit called the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He's a writer and journalist. His most recent book is called Enshitification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse And What To Do About It Matt Hussey is a UK-based therapist and tech journalist.

    54 min

  4. -3 J

    When your grandmother is accused of being a 'fascist spy'

    It was a simple honeymoon photo from 1941. A stranger posted it online and the commentary was vicious. The woman in that picture was Albanian author Lea Ypi’s grandmother. In the midst of the Second World War and the violent end times of Mussolini’s government, Ypi’s grandmother must have been a fascist, a collaborator, a traitor to Albania. In her book, Indignity: A Life Reimagined, Ypi attempts to find the truth of her grandmother’s life, in a journey that mixes philosophy, fantasy, history, and family narrative.

    54 min

  5. -6 J

    The spark that ignited a 40-year fight for human rights

    When he was eight, 2025 CBC Massey Lecturer Alex Neve watched his mother fight for daycare in Alberta. It’s shaped how he thinks about human rights activism. Neve shares the pivotal moments in his life that led to his human rights advocacy — and shines a light on the chorus of people he carries with him. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 14, 2025.

    54 min

  6. 19 FÉVR.

    With a decline in reading is our capacity to think eroding?

    Thanks to AI, it's easier than ever to avoid reading books — but that convenience may come with a cost. IDEAS explores how our digital landscape, coupled with the decline of reading, is changing the way we think. If you like this episode, listen to our podcast with Geoffrey Hinton, the 'godfather of artificial intelligence' who says AI must develop empathy and 'maternal instincts' or we risk human extinction. Guests in this episode: Adriaan Van der Weel is a professor emeritus by special appointment at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He's also the co-author of The Ljubljana Manifesto on Higher-Level Reading. Maryanne Wolf is director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the author of Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World (2018). Naomi Baron is a professor emerita of World Languages and Cultures at American University and the author of Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters (2026). Leah Sargeant is an author and senior policy analyst at the Niskanen Center. Shannon Vallor is the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) at the University of Edinburgh, where she is also appointed in Philosophy. She is the author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (2024).

    54 min

  7. 18 FÉVR.

    Why AI needs to be nicer to us and develop 'maternal instincts'

    If AI continues to develop without appropriate guardrails, a worst-case scenario could lead to human extinction, warns the 'godfather of artificial intelligence ' Geoffrey Hinton. But the Nobel Prize winner has a solution: AI must foster 'maternal' instincts, empathy and kindness. Hinton tells host Nahlah Ayed that it's fairly inevitable AI will become smarter than humans, but if we could make it care more for us than it did about itself, good things could happen.

    54 min

  8. 17 FÉVR.

    Why winter does not justify ditching your bike for driving

    IDEAS producer Tom Howell recently sold his car and joined the ranks of winter cyclists in Montreal. He is not the only one who commutes on bike in North America’s snowiest metropolis. The city’s bike-sharing program operates year-round. The bicycle’s popularity as a winter vehicle is increasing. Nevertheless, winter bicycling remains a minority practice, often viewed as folly. Howell investigates whether there is indeed wisdom in it.

    54 min
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IDEAS is a place for people who like to think. If you value deep conversation and unexpected reveals, this show is for you. From the roots and rise of authoritarianism to near-death experiences to the history of toilets, no topic is off-limits. Hosted by Nahlah Ayed, we’re home to immersive documentaries and fascinating interviews with some of the most consequential thinkers of our time. With an award-winning team, our podcast has proud roots in its 60-year history with CBC Radio, exploring the IDEAS that make us who we are.  New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 5pm ET.

Informations

  • Chaîne
    CBC Discover & Learn
  • Création
    CBC
  • Années d’activité
    2006 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    241
  • Classification
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    Copyright © CBC 2026
  • Site web de l’émission
    Ideas

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