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Channel • 20 Shows

Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated daily
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated twice weekly
History

History

Updated 08/10/2025
Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences

Updated weekly
News

News

Updated weekly
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated 22/12/2023
History

History

Updated 02/04/2025

16/12/2025

Why yellow traffic lights were designed to be ambiguous

The yellow traffic light is a perfect example of imperfection — with intention. While driving you have to think fast. Do you speed up or stop, whether that means easily or slamming on the brakes? Every driver has their answer and what lies in the middle is a vast perceptual field. A great deal of thought has gone into the engineering of the ambiguous yellow light, as IDEAS producer Seán Foley found out. He had his own encounter with what he was sure was the shortest yellow light in the world. It resulted in a traffic fine, and gave voice to so many questions.

16/12/2025

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54 min
08/09/2025

Lessons from last century’s failed Mideast peace deal

When Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat met in Washington to sign the first Oslo Accords in 1993, it was supposed to usher in a new era of peace and lay the groundwork for a more stable Middle East. Three decades later, the Accords are primarily remembered as a failure. Nahlah Ayed and guests discuss what went wrong, and what lessons the Oslo Accords hold for the future.

08/09/2025

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54 min
03/10/2025

Why a proposed 'new capitalism' is contested

It’s loathed and celebrated, by both the left and right. It's called The Great Reset. To conspiracy theorists, it's a plot by global elites at the World Economic Forum to control our lives. To its supporters, it represents a gentler, more humane form of capitalism. IDEAS contributor Ira Basen lays out the origins, its aims and its potential, for both good and ill. *This episode originally aired on May 23, 2023. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input!

03/10/2025

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54 min
01/06/2023

S5: The Potlatch Ban

In 1921, Chief Dan Cranmer held a secret Potlatch — a ceremony celebrated by many First Nations along the Pacific Northwest. But because the ceremony had been banned by the Canadian government, authorities arrested people and confiscated many ceremonial items. These items then ended up in private collections and museums all over the world. This episode traces the winding journey of the ripple effects of a ban that lasted almost 70 years. We sit down with Dan Cranmer's son Bill Cranmer from the U'mista Cultural Centre to learn about his father’s story and the long process of repatriation by the Kwakwaka'wakw people of these precious items. We also speak with educator Sara Florence Davidson to talk to her about the book Potlatch as Pedagogy, what she has learned through the Potlatch and how her father, Haida artist Robert Davidson, worked to reclaim ceremony and artistic practice after the ban. With guests Chief Bill Cranmer and Sara Florence Davidson. For links and more about this episode visit us at: www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada

01/06/2023

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39 min
18/05/2023

S5: Eugenics in Canada: Leilani Muir's fight for justice

In 1992, Leilani Muir decided to sue the government. Along with thousands of other people Muir was forcibly sterilized as part of a robust government plan for members of the population it deemed “unfit.” In this episode we learn why some of the most notable Canadians from history championed eugenics, what it is and why Leilani Muir’s decision to step forward and tell her story changed everything. With guests Dr. Megan Davies and Dr. Ericka Dyck from the Eugenics Archive. Warning: this episode contains strong language and content. For more about this episode visit us at: www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada

18/05/2023

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40 min
24/10/2024

S6: Canada's historic Palestinian immigration program you probably haven't heard of

In 1955, Canada’s immigration officials began a special experimental program to bring in Palestinian refugees through Pier 21. Falen and Leah take a look back at this historic port of entry that saw almost a million immigrants and refugees arrive in Canada and then find out what has changed since Pier 21’s heyday. And then they try to find out if we are currently better or worse at responding to refugees in crisis zones like Gaza and Sudan. With special guests Jan Raska from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and Gauri Sreenivasan from the Canadian Council for Refugees. Related episodes: Crash Course on Ukrainian Canadians The Halifax Donair The province of Jamaica For more links and more about this episode visit us at cbc.ca/secretlife. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok.

24/10/2024

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19 min
11/07/2025

What rights do we need for our future?

If the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were rewritten today, what rights would we add to strive for a more just world? In the final episode of our five-part series, IDEAS looks beyond our fractured present and tries to imagine what new rights we need for the new millennium. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 6, 2025.

11/07/2025

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54 min
30/10/2025

Can democracies survive the attacks on the rule of law?

Even in some of the world’s sturdiest democracies, leaders are deliberately undermining courts to weaken checks on their power. In many cases, the justice system is being sidelined. How much damage has already been done? And how worried should we be about the future of democracies around the world? We'd love to hear from you. Fill in our listener survey.

30/10/2025

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54 min
25/05/2023

S5: Crash Course on Bread and Cheese

Bread and Cheese. More than just two of Falen and Leah’s favourite foods. Did you know it’s also a day? In Falen’s community of Six Nations, every Victoria Day weekend people from the community get in line and walk through the local arena to get a big squishy slice of bread and a giant hunk of orange cheese. Delicious? Yes. But why? For more about this episode visit us at : www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada

25/05/2023

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14 min
13/06/2023

BONUS | The story Falen never thought she’d tell: On stage at Hot Docs

Falen Johnson took to the stage at the Hot Docs festival to speak candidly about her experience of growing up on Six Nations, a place that was both idyllic and complicated — especially when it came to water and the lack thereof.

13/06/2023

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8 min

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