What on Earth is Going on?
103 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsYour weekly podcast for a world in flux.
Globalization and climate change. The rise of social media and the decline and fall of Blockbuster Video. AI and VR. Donald Trump and Flat Earthers. The world is changing so fast that we can't get a grip on how we got here, let alone where we're headed.
Join Ben Charland as he peels back the headlines to ask, what are the events, characters, forces and ideas that shape the human story today? Have things always been this nuts, or are they getting crazier by the day? Who were those barbarians that took down the Blockbuster Empire? Just what on Earth is going on?
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Episodes
...with the new novel, Seven by Farzana Doctor (Ep. 101)
September 18, 2020 11:00 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBFarzana Doctor's new novel, Seven, juggles family, history, culture, and the incredible weight of those forces on women today. It's a detective story and travel novel, and a powerful insight into a woman struggling with sex, identity, her past, and her vast network of relatives. But the overarching issue throughout the book is female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice still common around the world. Farzana joins Ben to talk about the book, FGM, her writing process, and much more. About...
...after 99 Episodes (Ep. 100)
September 04, 2020 11:00 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBIt's been over two years since host Ben Charland kicked off this podcast in a basement in Kingston, Ontario. After nearly 100 fascinating conversations about everything from the mafia to the water supply, from science to philosophy, we're revisiting some of the best moments. Author, science broadcaster and previous guest Ziya Tong (Episode 85) interviews Ben with questions from listeners about what on earth is going on behind the scenes. Enjoy this very special centennial episode! About ...
...with Changing Cities (Ep. 99)
August 21, 2020 11:00 - 59 minutes - 54 MBThe one thing that doesn't change about cities is the fact that they are constantly changing. Most people now live in cities, transforming them with their consumer behaviour, their culture, their ideas and their advocacy. City planners have to balance the natural development of these vast social organisms with complex, long-term plans. How do they do it? Ben chats with veteran urban planner Teresa Goldstein. . Follow Teresa on Twitter (@teresagoldstein). Mentioned in this Episode T...
...with Creativity, Music and Politics during COVID-19 (Ep. 98)
August 07, 2020 16:00 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBThe coronavirus pandemic is altering our lives in ways we cannot yet comprehend, and in decades we will marvel at this transformative time. COVID-19 is not just accelerating trends that were in place beforehand, but it is creating new realities. How are artists coping? How about our politics and ideologies? Alex Green's podcast, Stereo Embers, addresses the current creative moment of the artist. He joins Ben remotely from San Francisco for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. Abo...
...with Kingston WritersFest (Ep. 97)
July 24, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 64.5 MBWhat makes a book interesting? Beautiful? Provocative? Necessary? Is reading still the best way to get a message across and tell a good story, and how is it changing in our world today? The Kingston WritersFest is one of Canada's premiere literary events, drawing headline international authors as well as big crowds from the bookish Ontario city. Ben chats with the festival's artistic director and alumnus of the podcast, Barbara Bell, about writing, reading, and what goes on in between. A...
...with Disability (Ep. 96)
July 10, 2020 11:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBWe will all encounter disability in our lives, either ourselves or someone we know and love. What is our responsibility when that happens? What role should the greater community play to provide care and support? What about government, public policy, and spending? What's changing when it comes to disability and how we care for those who truly need it, and why is this important? Ben has an enlightening conversation with Helen Ries, an Ottawa-based advocate with a powerful story of her and he...
...with Rebuilding Democracy (Ep. 95)
June 26, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBWhat if being a Member of Parliament or Congress had nothing to do with an election, but rather worked like jury duty? What if our officials were seated randomly in a legislature? What if we innovated the very idea of government itself? Dave Meslin says our politics is broken, but instead of repeating this from the sidelines, he's got 100 common-sense fixes. They are all detailed in his fascinating and provocative book, Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up. Ben chats with Dave...
...with Writing Biography (Ep. 94)
June 12, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBRosemary Sullivan is an acclaimed Canadian poet and biographer. She has written definitive biographies about Elizabeth Smart and Gwendolyn MacEwen as well as a book about the early life of Margaret Atwood. In 2015, Rosemary published Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva to widespread praise. Ben sits down with Rosemary in Toronto to talk about what goes into making a biography (such as calling the CIA first), how she wrote Stalin's Daughter, and m...
...with Politics and its Future
May 29, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBKent Hehr is a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and member of parliament for Calgary Centre. As a so-called "recovering politician" with careers on both the federal and provincial levels, Kent has a lot to say about what on earth is going on -- but he’s also got an incredible story. In October 1991 he was with some friends in Calgary when someone in another car opened fire. The bullet went into Kent’s spine, and just like that, he was paralyzed from the chest down as a C5 quadriplegic...
...with Politics and its Future (Ep. 93)
May 29, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBKent Hehr is a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and member of parliament for Calgary Centre. As a so-called "recovering politician" with careers on both the federal and provincial levels, Kent has a lot to say about what on earth is going on -- but he’s also got an incredible story. In October 1991 he was with some friends in Calgary when someone in another car opened fire. The bullet went into Kent’s spine, and just like that, he was paralyzed from the chest down as a C5 quadriplegic...
...with Acting, Gaming and Creativity (Ep. 92)
May 15, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBAurora Browne is one of Canada's national treasures. Best known as one of the cast members of the Baroness von Sketch Show and as co-host of the Great Canadian Baking Show, Aurora has been creating daring, funny and original work for theatre, television and film for many years. Ben catches up with Aurora in Toronto to discuss her career as an actor and comedian, as well as her fascinating with the oceans, video games, clowning, and Dungeons & Dragons. Don't miss this wide-ranging conversat...
...with the Writing Process, Genre, and the Rise of Stupid (Ep. 91)
May 01, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 66.2 MBWhat does it take to write a novel? What about genre? How does marketing define the books we read before we even open the first page? What does it mean to find a space that isn't programmed? And is the old right-left divide being replaced by a new one: the axis of smart-stupid? Ben is in Toronto to chat with award-winning novelist Andrew Pyper about his work, his writing process, and his take on what on earth is going on today. About the Guest Andrew Pyper was born in Stratford, Ontario...
...with Writing Novels (Ep. 90)
April 17, 2020 09:00 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBElizabeth Hay is a Giller Prize-winning author of novels such as Late Nights on Air, His Whole Life, and Alone in the Classroom. Most recently, she published a memoir about her parents' final years in Ottawa: All Things Consoled. She has been writing since she was fifteen, and also spent ten years working as a radio broadcaster, living in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Toronto and Latin America. Ben sits down with Elizabeth in her Ottawa home to talk about her books, her writing process, and much ...
...with Generations and the Ethical Choice to Have Children (Ep. 89)
April 03, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 67.8 MBIs dividing people up by their generation (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, etc.) unhelpful and even harmful? Is it a form of ageism, along the same lines as racism or sexism? What is the coming crisis of our time, and have we already arrived? And is it ethically justified to have children in this world in flux? Ben is in Kingston for a fascinating conversation about all this and more with philosopher Christine Overall of Queen's University. About the Guest Christine Overall's teaching, ...
...with Polling in Politics (Ep. 88)
March 20, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBOne of the key features of the democratic process is opinion polling, whether it is leader likability or attitudes on various issues. But do these snapshots of the horserace have an impact on the race itself? How has scientific polling and statistical analysis changed? How will it change in the years to come? And, what happens when the data shows us that the story we think is happening is not the one actually playing out? Ben joins writer and political analyst Eric Grenier at his CBC offic...
...with the Power of Names (Ep. 87)
March 06, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBDo our names shape our destiny? What does it mean to live life as Don as opposed to Donald or Donnie? What prejudices do we carry with our names and the names of others, and what about those who change theirs? When we name our children, are we projecting our own battles and biases onto them before they even know the value of a name? Ben is in Toronto to sit down with Mavis Himes, a psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist who wrote The Power of Names: Uncovering the Mystery of What We Are C...
...with Political Philosophy (Ep. 86)
February 21, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 66 MBHumans are living longer, delaying disease and decay later and later. It's conceivable that we could eradicate the big killers and attain a certain kind of infinite postponement of death. But what would this mean for our humanity? What does philosophy have to say about this, and about the state of our ongoing social experiment with democracy? Ben sits down to chat about all this and much more with Queen's University political philosopher and National Scholar, Colin Farrelly. About the Gu...
...with The Reality Bubble (Ep. 85)
February 07, 2020 12:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBZiya Tong is "one of the world's most engaging science journalists" and after co-hosting Discovery Canada's Daily Planet television program for ten years, she wrote her first book, The Reality Bubble. It's a veil-removing tour-de-force, filled with wonder, rigour and a powerful thesis about our role in the world and how we are often blinded, sometimes by our own choice, from what on earth is really going on. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Ziya about The Reality Bubble and so much more. A...
...with Guy Gavriel Kay (Ep. 84)
January 24, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBGuy Gavriel Kay is a bestselling, world-renowned author whose works have been translated into over 30 languages. Originally from western Canada, Guy practiced law, developed a radio series with the CBC, and even assisted Christopher Tolkien with the editing of his father JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion, before becoming established as a fantasy writer. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Guy about writing, creativity, the intersection of art and power, and even the vagaries of pricing single malt...
...according to the novel, Ducks, Newburyport (Ep. 83)
January 10, 2020 12:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBLucy Ellmann's groundbreaking and award-winning novel, "Ducks, Newburyport", consists of a single sentence broken up only by the small bits of a parallel story of a mountain lioness protecting her cubs. It's a powerful, engrossing and genuinely readable piece of literature that challenges how fiction is read as well as our base assumptions of history, women, motherhood and the incredible flux of the 21st century. Ben discusses the book with Barbara Bell, Artistic Director of Kingston Write...
...with Rebalancing Society (Ep. 82)
December 27, 2019 12:00 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBDo the problems we face today -- political gridlock, climate change, social upheaval, accelerating economic inequality -- stem from fundamental imbalances in our society and thinking? What role might the plural (or civil) sector play in rejigging our systems? And why should we be ditching 30-year plans to focus on ones just a few weeks out? Ben sits down with world-renowned scholar of management, Henry Mintzberg, about these questions and many others. About the Guest Henry is a writer a...
...with Poetry (Ep. 81)
December 13, 2019 12:00 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBDo music and poetry share the same roots? How do you write poetry that embraces complexity, history, beauty and atrocity? How can literature confront the self with the past, and the events that seem out of our control with the urgent need for a new language to understand them? What is creativity, and is there some kind of salvation there? Ben joins poet and teacher Canisia Lubrin for a fascinating conversation at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she currently works as writer-...
...with Polygraphs, Technology and the Music of Plants (Ep. 80)
November 29, 2019 12:00 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBWhat is the future of technology, and what does it take to be a real lifelong innovator at the ground level? Ben's guest is James Brown, a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and head of Limestone Technologies in Kingston. They have been at the forefront of polygraph and other security technology in Canada for years, and their most recent endeavour might sound unorthodox until you hear the backstory: PLANTChoir, a device that lets you hear the music of plants. About the Guest James Brown i...
...with Polyraphs, Technology and the Music of Plants (Ep. 80)
November 29, 2019 12:00 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBWhat is the future of technology, and what does it take to be a real lifelong innovator at the ground level? Ben's guest is James Brown, a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and head of Limestone Technologies in Kingston. They have been at the forefront of polygraph and other security technology in Canada for years, and their most recent endeavour might sound unorthodox until you hear the backstory: PLANTChoir, a device that lets you hear the music of plants. About the Guest James Brown i...
...with Theatre (Ep. 79)
November 15, 2019 12:00 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBLive theatre is one of the oldest art forms, but rather than fade away in the face of easy social media and instant entertainment, it is experiencing a resurgence. What is it about live drama that keeps filling theatres around the world? How are theatre directors keeping the form relevant, accessible and engaging? What are the cultural touchstones of the stage, and what makes it so much fun? Ben is in Edmonton to chat with Daryl Cloran, Artistic Director of the renowned Citadel Theatre. ...
...with Politics in the US and Canada (Ep. 78)
November 01, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBRampant and increasing polarization of our politics? The turn to populism as a result of economic inequality? The growing, scarcely regulated political power of social media and Big Data? These are some of the forces that are reshaping our politics in North America, with a minority government in Canada and an impending election (and ongoing impeachment inquiry) in the United States. Ben chats with Queen's University political scientist Jonathan Rose about all this and more. About the Gue...
...with Gambling (Ep. 77)
October 25, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 57 MBWe can't seem to talk about gambling without reference to its very real, very serious social problems -- whether it's the association with organized crime, the addictiveness, or the ruination of many people's lives. But what if we look at gambling through the lens of everyday life? Where does it come from, what does it say about us, and how should we manage it in our society? Ben is in Edmonton to chat with University of Alberta gambling expert Fiona Nicoll. About the Guest My greatest ...
...with Elections (Ep. 76)
October 11, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 61 MBWhat makes an election work? Is it the technology aggregates our preferences? Is it trust that our choices will be fairly counted, that they have an impact? Is it the institutions that manage the voting process? Or is it, ultimately, the people we elect and whether or not they choose to respect the process? What happens to our democracy when these components are stretched and strained? Ben chats with Holly Ann Garnett, political scientist and elections expert at the Royal Military College ...
...with Being and Becoming Indigenous (Ep. 75)
October 04, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBSome argue that all of humanity today faces an identity crisis, as we struggle with rapid change and a deteriorating habitat -- and that the solutions may lie in indigenous social technologies, especially the power of the story. This is a wide-ranging discussion covering a lot of ground (reconciliation, diversity, Back to the Future), but one that should be relevant to all. Ben is in Edmonton for an inspiring conversation with Jacquelyn Cardinal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Naheyaw...
...with Gamification (Ep. 74)
September 27, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 62.8 MBWe often see video games as a form of consumer entertainment—an escape from reality, not that different from watching TV or reading a book. But the structure of games are perhaps fundamental to what it means to be human. By playing them, we can learn to be and rehearse as doctors, pilots, engineers, lawyers, and more. We might also overcome real conditions, such as depression and addiction. Ben has a powerful and provocative conversation with gaming, gamification and learning expert David ...
...with Philosophy (Ep. 73)
September 20, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBWhat is consciousness? Where does the mind reside? Can we create artificial intelligence that can fake intelligence, or maybe just have it? What happened in 17th century Europe that led to such a fascinating time for deep thinkers? And are we going through a similar period of churn today? Ben has a fascinating and wide-ranging chat about these big questions with University of Alberta professor of philosophy Amy Schmitter. About the Guest Besides her position as Professor of Philoso...
...with Luck and Probability (Ep. 72)
September 13, 2019 11:00 - 57 minutes - 53 MBIt's Friday 13th! What does that mean? Is it an unlucky day? According to science—no, it means absolutely nothing. But there is one exception: the date has meaning if we think it does. As meaning-machines, we impart significance everywhere we look. We don't want to live in a world where randomness reigns. So what traps have we set? Ben has a fascinating chat with University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal, statistician and author of "Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of E...
...with Democracy, Conversation and the Walrus (Ep. 71)
September 06, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 65.6 MBWhat does it mean to have a good conversation about politics, democracy, our place in the world, Donald Trump and sports? How do we bring disparate and distinct voices into that dialogue, and keep it fresh? The Walrus, a weekly Canadian magazine, has been trying to figure it out. Ben is in Toronto to chat with Jessica Johnson, executive editor and creative director of The Walrus, about democracy, conversation, and the magazine's unique and ever-evolving response to "what on earth is going ...
...with Power, Colonialism and the San People (Ep. 70)
August 30, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.2 MBIs colonialism ongoing in the Kalahari Desert? What do the struggles of the San peoples tell us about democracy, tradition, adaptation to the environment, and the exercise and imbalances of power in today's world? What role does tourism take in all this, and is education still the silver bullet? And, can a people be truly free and fulfilled without meaningful sovereignty? Ben chats with higher education consultant, scholar and Program Director at the Kalahari Peoples Fund Fleming Puckett. ...
...with the Inside of Politics (Ep. 69)
August 23, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBWhat is social media doing to our politics from the inside? Are politicians themselves getting along, or are the deep partisan divisions in our culture also fraying the relationships of the people who we have elected to get things done? What does it take to run and win a political campaign these days? And how can democracy evolve. Or, should it? Ben chats with Stephanie Rea, longtime conservative political staffer and current communications director for the Ontario Minister of Education. ...
...with Higher Education (Ep. 68)
August 16, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBWhat is the future of the university and higher education? Will the local, broad-scope, brick-and-mortar campuses that form a critical part of our society give way to a fragmented system of hyper-focused online learning nodes? What is learning, anyways? And what's the purpose of an educational institution in the first place? Ben has a fascinating chat with a key thinker in this space: writer, strategist and higher education engagement specialist Mark Sollis, whom you might remember from Ep...
...with Gender (Ep. 67)
August 09, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.2 MBHow do we understand and engage in today's conversation about gender? What on earth is going on with gender and identity politics, and what is the personal dimension? Ben is at Queen's University in Kingston to chat with Dr. Lee Airton, author of Gender: Your Guide — A Gender-Friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say, and What to Do in the New Gender Culture. It's a fascinating, important and unexpectedly fun conversation about the unique historical moment in which we live today. Abou...
...with Acting and Storytelling (Ep. 66)
August 01, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.1 MBWhat does it mean to be a storyteller? What happens when we look into the mirror after a long day, let the masks drop, and come face to face with who we really are? What does ownership mean in the arts, and what can theatre be when it isn't a commodity? Why do we act in the first place, and are our stories and audiences changing? And what's going on with Samuel Beckett? Ben is in Calgary for a funny, fascinating and quite unique conversation with local actor and theatre artist, Andy Curtis...
...with Travel, Story and Vulnerability (Ep. 65)
July 26, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBHow important is culture to the long-term success of an organization? What role does being vulnerable play in leadership? How does story help weave and even make up our everyday experience? And what can putting ourselves out there with travel teach us about our own inner storyteller and context in the world? Ben is in Ottawa to chat with Jana Dybinski, consummate traveler, thinker, innovator and VP for Marketing and Culture at Rebel.com. About the Guest Jana's bio on her website is just...
...according to the novel, 1984 (Ep. 64)
July 19, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBGeorge Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1984) is a touchstone of 20th-century English literature and a key piece of modern political thought and speculative fiction that continues to provoke conversation, and comparison, today. Orwell's novel from 1949 describes a bleak future where the state (Big Brother) has weaponized technology, language, propaganda and memory to exert near-total control over every person. Jaret Hargreaves joins Ben in Calgary to discuss this classic and frighteningly ...
...according to the book, Quiet (Ep. 63)
July 12, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBWhat does it mean to be an introvert, and is it harder in our society to keep to oneself? Is there a pressure to conform to an Extrovert Ideal? How do introverts assert themselves in education, the workplace and daily life without giving up what makes them unique, thoughtful -- and just them? Ben brings back Jody MacPherson (Episode 11) to talk about "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain. About the Book The book that started the Quiet Revoluti...
...with Creativity and Acting (Ep. 62)
July 05, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBWhat does it mean to be creative? Where does creative expression lie: in the individual, in the shared experience, or in the coming together of public and private? How can an actor be more than just an interpreter, but a creative artist in their own right? Ben is in Toronto to chat with Brian Smith, acting teacher, coach and Professor Emeritus from the University of Calgary, about his own journey, and the meaning and importance of finding one's creative voice in our difficult and accelerat...
...with Making Art in a Noisy World (Ep. 61)
June 28, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBDenise Clarke is one of Canada's most respected performing artists, perhaps best known for her work with One Yellow Rabbit. Since 1997 she has opened up the company's process with the Summer Lab Intensive. She recently published The Big Secret Book: An Intense Guide for Creating Performance Theatre. Ben talks with Denise about her book, the recent Calgary production of Waiting for Godot (which she directed for Black Radish Theatre), the life of an artist, the meaning of art in an age of no...
...according to the book, Thank You For Being Late (Ep. 60)
June 21, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 67.4 MBThomas Friedman has been explaining the modern predicament as an author and New York Times columnist for decades. With Thank You For Being Late, he turns his sights to the unprecedented rate of change today. His main focus here is on the three M's: Markets, Moore's Law and Mother Nature, and the book's scale is grand as it tries to answer our eternal question, what on earth is going on? Joining Ben to tackle the book is Mark Sollis, strategist, writer and engagement specialist in higher ed...
...with City Planning in Toronto (Ep. 59)
June 14, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBWhat are the challenges and pressures that face growing cities like Toronto? How do we make housing affordable in such places? And what does the future of the city look like? Ben is in Toronto to chat with a panel of experts on the past, present and future of the city: Adam Brind, managing partner and broker of record with Core Assets Real Estate; Pamela Robinson, Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University; and podcast alumnus Blair Scorgie, Seni...
...with Filmmaking (Ep. 58)
June 07, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBMaking films is often about balance: between the singular vision of the script and director and the ideas and impulses of the team; between getting the perfect shot and keeping the project on time and under budget. And yet the end result can be like a magic trick. How do they do it? Ben is in Toronto to chat with filmmaker Christopher MacBride, who has written and directed films such as "The Conspiracy" (2012). He is currently in the editing suite for "The Education of Fredrick Fitzell. T...
...with Protesting (Ep. 57)
May 31, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBPeople take to the streets to change the world. Sometimes regimes fall and power shifts, yet too often nothing much happens -- it's business-as-usual the next day. But are we missing the spirit of activism? Are mass protests actually about changing the conversation and altering our perspectives? Or is disobedience the goal in itself? Ben is in Toronto to chat with Lesley Wood, activist and York University Professor of Sociology, about her work on how ideas travel and the true purpose of pr...
...with Men and Gender Equality (Ep. 56)
May 24, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBMichael Kaufman's newest book, The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution, is a stirring call for men to step up for women's rights, as well as a poignant analysis of what on earth is going on with gender equality today. Michael has been a prominent figure in promoting social justice and women’s rights for decades. He sits with Ben in Toronto for a timely and insightful conversation about why men should do more, what they have to gain, and how to get it done. Ab...
...with Alberta Politics (Ep. 55)
May 17, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 57 MBIn April 2019, Jason Kenney returned the Conservatives to power in Alberta. Is this a return to normal in Alberta politics, where one party usually rules? What's happening underneath the platforms and rhetoric? And what do these events tell us about politics, populism and power elsewhere? Ben is in Calgary to address these questions with renowned pollster and political analyst Janet Brown, lawyer and former politico Denise Brunsdon, and University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Say...
...with the Renaissance (Ep. 54)
May 10, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBWhat does it mean to be human? Is the world a mirror or a window? Should our experience of reality be mediated, and if so, who should be the mediators? We ask these questions earnestly today, but they were tackled in revolutionary ways during the European Renaissance, an extraordinary period of progress and creativity. Ben's has a powerful and spirited conversation with a world-renowned historian of culture and the Renaissance, Professor Kenneth Bartlett of the University of Toronto. Abo...