What makes a great conversation? The subject? Not so much. It’s more that it’s filled with layers and that you never really know where it’ll end up — how it will change you by the time it ends. Ian Williams delivers the final 2024 CBC Massey Lecture on the art of good conversation.

We’re in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself; the term ‘appropriation’ has come to create guardrails around what can be said, and by whom. In his fourth Massey Lecture, Ian Williams considers the role of speech and silence in reallocating power, and what it means to truly listen. 

Difficult conversations are almost always about something under the surface, and hidden. In his third Massey Lecture, Ian Williams illustrates what we’re listening for isn’t always obvious. He explains how personal conversations aren't about finding answers — it's for communion.  

In his second Massey Lecture, Ian Williams explores the power of conversation with strangers. He says humanity comes out when interacting with them. But how do we open ourselves up to connect with strangers while safeguarding our personal sovereignty? Williams believes we can learn a lot from our conversations with strangers and loved ones alike. 

Ever felt that no one is really listening? In the first of his 2024 CBC Massey Lectures, novelist and poet Ian Williams explores why we need to have a conversation about conversations. His five-part lecture series confronts the deterioration of civic and civil discourse and asks us to reconsider the act of conversing as the sincere, open exchange of thoughts and feelings.

2024 CBC Massey lecturer Ian Williams speaks with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed about the forces that have shaped him as a thinker and writer, from the encyclopedias he read as a child in Trinidad to his years as a dancer to the poetry of Margaret Atwood. 'I believe in multiplicity,' he says. The 2024 Massey Lectures, What I Mean to Say: Remaking Conversation in Our Time, begin this coming Monday.

Digital assistants, in your home or on your phone, are usually presented as women. In this documentary, IDEAS traces the history of the feminized, non-threatening machine, from Siri and Alexa to the "women computers" of the 19th century. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 26, 2022.

In an era of rampant commodification of life-saving medicines, healthcare must be secured as a global public good, argues health justice advocate Fatima Hassan. In her Boehm Lecture on Public Health she explores ideas of solidarity and leadership in pandemic, epidemic and war responses.  

The world is full of problems — our broken healthcare, out-of-reach housing, a democracy in shambles and a dying planet. Is it actually possible to fix this mess? IDEAS hears from people working to fix our most intractable problems at a time when it can feel easier to just give up. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 21, 2023.

Canada’s veterans have a conflicted relationship with Remembrance Day, an idea that may be shifting as older war vets leave us. In a two-part series, IDEAS continues exploring postwar experiences from The Canadian War Museum’s oral history project called In Their Own Voices. *This is part two of a two-part series.

Even when wars end, they go on — transforming the people who fought them, their families, and even society. More than 200 veterans were interviewed for a project by the Canadian War Museum called In Their Own Voices. The initiative explores the profound changes that come after veterans return home. *This is part one of a two-part series.

Doris Lessing addressed Canadian audiences with her CBC Massey Lectures in 1985, warning warn us against groupthink and what she called the intellectual “prisons we choose to live inside." Now, a response from the present day: Professor Miglena Todorova reflects on Lessing’s message and puts it into the context of today’s politics.

More than 2,000 years ago, someone sat down and drafted a list of what they thought were the seven man-made wonders of the ancient world. From the Pyramid of Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, historian Bettany Hughes shares her enthusiasm for the monumental achievements brought into existence by ancient cultures.

Animals — what on earth are they thinking? A panel of scientists explore the notion of animal cognition from what your dog means when it wags its tail, to the incredible problem-solving skills of crows, as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. *This episode originally aired on November 5, 2021.

Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, there are growing fears that American democracy is headed toward a crisis point. In this 2022 episode, IDEAS contributor Melissa Gismondi unpacks the idea that America as we've known it may be ending, while exploring where the country may be headed, and what — if anything — can save it.

Canadian conservatism remains a contested territory, even for those who see themselves firmly entrenched in its ideas and history. IDEAS examines how contemporary conservatism has shifted over the last decades — and how conservatives are wrestling with their own movement's internal pressures, including a sustained call for a return to socially conservative values. 

Award-winning writer Pankaj Mishra argues that self-serving narratives of Western countries have masked agendas of imperialism and exploitation, resulting in widespread suspicion of liberal democracy itself. He is the winner of the 2024 Weston International Award, which he received in September. After delivering a talk, Mishra joined IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed onstage to have a conversation.

An ideology that emerged with catastrophic consequences 100 years ago, has become a rising political force globally. With the possible re-election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, some observers believe that if he were to win again, a fascist would be inhabiting the most powerful political post in the world. IDEAS examines the ideology of fascism — and why it poses such a danger now. 

The crisis in journalism has been blamed for the social and political polarization visible the world over. But newer forms of journalism may point a way out of the quagmire that the media itself has dug everyone into. IDEAS contributor Anik See explores how we got here and where we may be heading in a two-part series.

The crisis in journalism has been blamed for the social and political polarization visible the world over. But newer forms of journalism may point a way out of the quagmire that the media itself has dug everyone into. IDEAS contributor Anik See explores how we got here and where we may be heading in a two-part series.

The dominant story in archaeology has long been that humans came to North America around 12,000 years ago. But Indigenous archaeologist Paulette Steeves points to mounting evidence suggesting it was more like 130,000 years ago. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 13, 2022.

They've remained a minority among humans since the dawn of our species, coping with systems and tools arranged for right-handers, and sometimes thriving as a result of their difference. IDEAS explores the history — and latest mysteries — of the 'sinister 10 per cent' to find out what makes a left-hander special. *This episode originally aired on May 2, 2022.

Our relationship with wetlands is nothing if not troubled; swamps, bogs, and marshes have long been cast as wastelands, paved over to make way for agriculture and human development. But with wetlands proving crucial for life, artists, ecologists and activists say we need to rewrite this squelchy story. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 17, 2022.

American arts pioneer Joan Jonas is a central figure in the performance art movement of the late 1960s. This year, New York's Museum of Modern Art organized a major retrospective of her work, which will be on tour in Canada. One of her exhibits is inspired in part by her love for Cape Breton — a 'magical landscape' where she lives in the summer.