CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas

Having a home defines normality. But what does that mean when you have no home? A Calgary community seminar explores what homelessness says about whom we think belongs in society. Co-sponsored by IDEAS and the Calgary Institute of the Humanities at the University of Calgary.

The prolific inventor, futurist and entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil, anticipates an “Age of Singularity,” when we'll be able to achieve a kind of immortality by downloading all of our essentially human qualities into a computer hard-drive. A feature interview by IDEAS host Paul Kennedy.

Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why can’t political figures own up to their blunders? What’s behind so many domestic fights? The distinguished social psychologist Elliot Aronson tells us about the power of cognitive dissonance.

We all use excuses – reasonable or not – to get us off the hook. Philosophers Michael Blake, Simone Chambers and Arthur Ripstein join IDEAS host Paul Kennedy to see how and why excuses work and what they tell us about ourselves. Listen. No excuses!

Do we need a common identity to be a modern nation? Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell, both staff writers at The New Yorker, battle it out with wit and humour in a debate moderated by Maclean’s national editor, Andrew Coyne.

A journey into the subtle and provocative ideas of historian Jocelyn Létourneau. As a leader of a new wave of Quebec intellectuals, he rejects melancholic myths that portray Quebeckers as victims of their past, trapped by unfulfilled political dreams. His ideas on the resilience of Quebeckers and the complexity of their history breathe new life into old debates about Quebec's identity, distinctiveness and destiny.

A journey into the subtle and provocative ideas of historian Jocelyn Létourneau. As a leader of a new wave of Quebec intellectuals, he rejects melancholic myths that portray Quebeckers as victims of their past, trapped by unfulfilled political dreams. His ideas on the resilience of Quebeckers and the complexity of their history breathe new life into old debates about Quebec's identity, distinctiveness and destiny.

A journey into the subtle and provocative ideas of historian Jocelyn Létourneau. As a leader of a new wave of Quebec intellectuals, he rejects melancholic myths that portray Quebeckers as victims of their past, trapped by unfulfilled political dreams. His ideas on the resilience of Quebeckers and the complexity of their history breathe new life into old debates about Quebec's identity, distinctiveness and destiny.

We are healthier than ever before, and we live longer, but improvements in health are not distributed evenly. The rich outlive the middle classes, who outlive the poor. Swedes and Japanese live longer than Canadians, and Canadians, longer than Americans. Freelance journalist Jill Eisen discovers that the reasons have little to do with our health care systems.

We are healthier than ever before, and we live longer, but improvements in health are not distributed evenly. The rich outlive the middle classes, who outlive the poor. Swedes and Japanese live longer than Canadians, and Canadians, longer than Americans. Freelance journalist Jill Eisen discovers that the reasons have little to do with our health care systems.