IDEAS schedule for December 2022
* Please note this schedule is subject to change.
Thursday, December 1
MYTHS ON SCREEN: HOLLYWOOD AT WAR, PART TWO
America's losing the Vietnam War shattered the 'heroic myth' that Hollywood had spent decades creating, according to historians and researchers. What followed was an era of films attempting to recapture past glories. *This episode originally aired on May 18, 2020.
Friday, December 2
MYTHS ON SCREEN: HOLLYWOOD AT WAR, PART THREE
As the Twin Towers lay in rubble after Sept. 11, former U.S. president George W. Bush's administration leveraged the influence of Hollywood celebrities to sway the public to rally around the flag. *This episode originally aired on May 25, 2020.
Monday, December 5
COYOTYL'S SONG
Coyotes were once distant howls in the North American wilderness. For decades now, they've lived more visibly among us, in the countryside, in cities — and recently, in media headlines about coyotes attacking people and pets. This episode revisits Coyotyl's Song, a 2001 IDEAS documentary by Dave Redel that explores the remarkable nature of the coyote itself, and how this wild canine intersects with human life, and informs our storytelling and myth.
Tuesday, December 6
RAPE AND ROMANCE IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
PhD student Mariah Cooper dusted off 800-year-old court documents from medieval England to find that convictions for sexual assault from that period are on par with convictions for sexual assault today. Victims lost credibility in the eyes of the court when interrogated on what they were wearing. And the defence would argue that "no" could actually mean "yes." By comparing representations of rape in medieval love stories with actual trial documents from the time, Cooper's thesis demonstrates remarkably consistent representations of survivors of sexual assault dating from the Middle Ages right to the 21st century. *This episode originally aired on December 6, 2021.
Wednesday, December 7
THOMAS HALLIDAY: HISTORY OF EXTINCT ECOSYSTEMS
The story of complex life on Earth is one of continuity and massive disruption. Ecosystems and the species within them rise and flourish, and they are either snuffed out by extinction — sometimes in mass extinction events — or evolve into something better suited to a changed environment. Everything living today is the descendant of those survivor species. In his book, Otherlands, British paleontologist Thomas Halliday richly describes 16 extraordinary ecosystems from the Earth's deep past and the catastrophic mass extinction that ended some of them — all part of the dance of evolution and extinction that has played out over hundreds of millions of years.
Thursday, December 8
PASSAGGIO
Passaggio is a term from classical singing, used to describe the transition area between vocal registers. It's also the title of a documentary by radio producer, Pamela Post — about the transition of her transgender son, Asher, a serious performer of vocal music. The documentary captures the pain and joy of this intimate passaggio, as Asher confronts the pain of medical procedures, and the prospect of losing both his musical career and his partner. A story of love, family, and ultimately triumph. *This episode originally aired on December 20, 2021.
Friday, December 9
IN DEFENCE OF DEMOCRACY: NAHEED NENSHI
Over the past several decades the west's love affair with democracy seems to have gone stale. Today, democratic backsliding is not only commonplace, it seems to be speeding up. The trend isn't happening in a vacuum, of course. It goes hand in hand with economic instability, conflict, climate change, and shifting demographics. These factors change how we perceive the societies we live in. It can be easy to choose seemingly clear answers from a "strong" leader over a messy democracy. Canada's Samara Centre for Democracy sees this backsliding in Canada as well. The centre's research points to partisan politics, alienated citizens, and regional differences as some reasons why Canadians are increasingly disaffected. In its Defence of Democracy public lecture, the Samara Centre hosted the former mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi. After his lecture, IDEAS host, Nahlah Ayed had an opportunity to ask him about the possibility of renewing civic purpose in Canada.
Monday, December 12
RETURN TO NORTH: THE SOUNDSCAPES OF GLENN GOULD
In 1967, pianist Glenn Gould made a documentary for CBC Radio about the Canadian North. Gould applied the technique of contrapuntal music to documentary-making, with the result sounding something like a Bach fugue made of stories. In Return to North: The Soundscapes of Glenn Gould, CBC contributor Mark Laurie talks to four people who knew Gould intimately, and reinterprets Gould's contrapuntal technique to explore the landscape of Gould's life — and his ideas about music and radio. *This episode originally aired on December 21, 2017.
Tuesday, December 13
INHERITED MEMORIES OF PARTITION
Oral historian and writer Aanchal Malhotra has spent the last decade trying to understand the reverberations of the 1947 Partition of India — a rupture that took place four decades before she was born, but which continues to shape the lives of millions. Her new book, In the Language of Remembering explores the transmission of memory, grief, love, animosity and curiosity; how Partition influences the contemporary politics of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; and what it means to unlearn beliefs you grew up with.
Wednesday, December 14
DEMON ATTACK IN OLD QUEBEC
Historian Mairi Cowan investigates a rumoured demon attack as described by French settlers in Quebec in 1660. She rebuilds the scene of the 'crime' in her mind's eye, playing out the action to the extent her evidence allows, and discovering unexpected truths about daily life in old Quebec along the way. With contributions from fellow scholars Sarah Ferber, Colin Coates, and Scott Berthelette.
Thursday, December 15
STURSBERG LECTURE: BELLINGCAT
In a world that's increasingly hostile to journalists — barred from covering certain countries and conflicts, or even targeted in violent attacks — Bellingcat has become an internationally respected organization that does essential journalistic work, even though most of its staff are not trained journalists. Instead, they meticulously comb through publicly available online information to uncover the truth about wrongdoing, from the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 to allegations of war crimes in Syria and Ukraine. Giancarlo Fiorella, a senior investigator with Bellingcat was the 2022 Peter Stursberg Foreign Correspondent Lecturer in an event moderated by IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed.
Friday, December 16
A CLEARER UNIVERSE: DR LOUISE EDWARDS
In 2024, our view of the universe is going to change drastically— and literally. High on a mountain in Chile, the complex construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has been underway for the past seven years. But soon, it will be producing images of the night sky that are both sharper and more wide-ranging than ever before. It will revolutionize our knowledge of galaxies. And one of the astrophysicists involved in this exciting project is the brilliant Canadian scientist and master storyteller Dr. Louise Edwards.
Monday, December 19
CLIMATE REPARATIONS
Thirty years ago the world's nations met in Rio for the Earth Summit to take stock of how rich nations and industries were changing the earth's climate for the worse. Small island nations formed an alliance to say with a collective voice that they were afraid of drowning. They needed help. Three decades on, those small island nations along with the world's vulnerable countries are battling super floods, wildfires, and heat waves. Climate change long ago went from being a fear to being an experience. At the most recent global meeting on climate change, COP27, vulnerable countries counted a win, sort of, with the establishment of a fund to pay for loss and damage brought on by climate change. All they need now is for rich nations to actually pay up. But can a conversation about "loss and damage" go deep enough to address moral responsibility? And without that moral piece, can there ever be climate justice?
Tuesday, December 20
INSOMNIA: A CULTURAL HISTORY
While we usually think of insomnia as the prolonged inability to sleep, 'insomnia' is also a concept, with its own cultural history. Scientists still don't fully understand why and how insomnia strikes. But the basis of how we talk about the condition may be found in the works of those who first wrestled with the disorder frankly and openly: the poets of England's Romantic era, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. *This episode originally aired December 22, 2017.
Wednesday, December 21
SOLSTICE
Much about the Christmas season badgers us to buy more, give more, eat more, more, more! But the solstice — the longest night of the year — invites us to move inward, to slow down, and to quiet down. Paolo Pietropaolo is the host of In Concert on CBC Radio 2. He joins Nahlah Ayed to showcase music he feels captures the spirit of the winter solstice, and to discover the power of introspection.
Thursday, December 22
ORDINARY MAGIC: THE MUSICAL GENIUS OF JERRY GRANELLI
A profile of the legendary jazz drummer and composer Jerry Granelli, who was recorded by producer Mary Lynk on the eve of his turning 80. Jerry sadly passed away earlier this year. Over his career, he accompanied many of the greats: Mose Allison, Sly Stone and The Grateful Dead. He opened for Lenny Bruce and taught alongside Allen Ginsberg. And most famously, he was the member of the Vince Guaraldi Trio that recorded the iconic album: A Charlie Brown Christmas. Jerry Granelli died in Halifax on July 20, 2021. *This episode originally aired on December 21, 2020.
Friday, December 23
CHRISTMAS PHILOSOPHY 101
Heat the cocoa, stoke the fire, and settle in for some good ol' fashioned philosophy! Christmas is a minefield of deep philosophical quandaries — is it ethical to lie to children? Who does a gift really benefit: the giver, or receiver? How do we really know Santa exists, or doesn't? Christmastime is full of moments that reveal deep questions, so join IDEAS on a jocular journey through the philosophy of Christmas. *This episode originally aired on December 23, 2020.
Monday, December 26
THE DANDY REBEL
Today the word 'dandy' is a bit of a throwback, often suggesting someone who is showy, and superficial. But over the last two centuries The Dandy has been a provocateur, someone who pushes against the boundaries of culture, sexuality and politics. From Beau Brummell to Oscar Wilde to contemporary Black activists, IDEAS contributor Pedro Mendes tracks the subversive role Dandies play in challenging the status quo. *This episode originally aired on April 15, 2021.
Tuesday, December 27
DON'T LOOK BACK: THE MYTH OF ORPHEUS
Orpheus haunts us — with music and magic. Not a god, but he thinks he might just be, as he's powerful enough to rescue his wife from death, and to bring her back into his world — if he can manage not to break the rules and look at her on the way out of the underworld. The myth of Orpheus is the oldest love story, from ancient Greece — it's the story of the power of art, a story told through opera and film, and poetry. Two thousand five hundred years later, why does the myth of Orpheus still have such a hold on us? *This episode was originally aired on Oct. 14, 2021.
Wednesday, December 28
BUILDING A BETTER GYM CLASS
Some of us are enthused and disciplined around daily exercise, even during a pandemic. Others of us...not so much — even knowing the benefits. This documentary looks into the modern history of fitness, and potential reasons for the divide around exercise, ranging from PhysEd traumas to neoliberal conceptions of success and failure. By the end of the hour, we may even design a better gym class for all! (And yes, you'll need a note from your mother to sit it out.) *This episode originally aired on June 23, 2022.
Thursday, December 29
THE FIRST GOOD POEM IN ENGLISH
Several English-language literary works survive from the first millennium A.D. and it is still uncertain which is the oldest. However, a short elegy called The Wanderer' stands out as English's oldest-surviving good poem, according to IDEAS producer Tom Howell. Experts in 'Old English' help explain the appeal and the complexity of this ancient but strangely accessible work. *This episode originally aired on March 15, 2021.
Friday, December 30
ALMOST NEW YEAR'S LEVEE
Happy almost New Year!! Nahlah Ayed holds court at the annual New Year's Levee, welcoming in the new year with IDEAS contributors and producers as they prepare for the 2023 season. This year Kamal Al-Solaylee will share some of his insights on the Queen of Sheba. We'll also hear about ghost neutrinos, pseudo archeology, war metaphors and restorative justice.
