IDEAS in the Afternoon for July 2025
* Please note this schedule is subject to change.
MONDAY, JULY 7
AN OUTSIDER, INSIDE THE TRADES: HILARY PEACH
Hilary Peach was interested in experimental poetry. But she also had bills to pay. So she trained to become a welder, and spent 20 years as a member of the boilermakers union, travelling all across North America for jobs. And Peach — now a B.C. boiler inspector — never stopped writing. Her latest book is a memoir, called Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister in the Brotherhood, and was awarded the 2023 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction from Laurier University. Hilary Peach gave a public talk at the awards ceremony, artfully describing her working experiences, and exploring the historical and cultural reasons why the trades have become so associated with men despite interest from so-called outsiders.
MONDAY, JULY 14
NIETZCHE AND THE ART OF 'PASSING BY'
Philosopher Friedrick Nietzsche is most popularly known for his declaration that 'God is dead' and for his wrestling with nihilism. But political theorist Shalini Satkunanandan argues that Nietzsche offers us a method that can help us navigate the highly polarizing discourse that's afflicting democracies today. "Where one can no longer love, one should pass by," wrote Nietzsche.
MONDAY, JULY 21
LOVING YOUR COUNTRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY (STEP ONE)
Choose your country. It's the first step towards finding the healthy variety of patriotic love. But what sort of 'choice' is it? IDEAS producer Tom Howell speaks with exiles, nationalists, dual citizens, and people whose 'country' doesn't officially exist, in a quest for peace on fraught terrain: modern patriotism.
MONDAY, JULY 28
HOW TO FLOURISH IN A BROKEN WORLD
The world is full of problems. We talk about them all the time. It seems like there's always someone yelling about our broken healthcare and out-of-reaching housing. Democracy is in shambles and the planet is dying. Is it actually possible to fix this mess? In this episode we hear from people working to fix our most intractable problems at a time when it can feel easier to just give up.
