''Ideas'' is a long-running scholarly radio documentary series on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

, first broadcast in 1965. it has been hosted by

Nahlah Ayed Nahlah Ayed (Arabic: نهله عَايِد) is a Canadian journalist, who is currently the host of the academic documentary program ''Ideas'' on CBC Radio One and a reporter with CBC News. She was previously a foreign correspondent with the netwo ...

and is broadcast between 8:05 and 9:00 p.m. weekday evenings; one episode each week is repeated on Monday afternoons under the title ''Ideas in the Afternoon''. The CBC Ideas podcast series initiative began in 2005.

Background

Co-created by

Phyllis Webb Phyllis Webb (April 8, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was a Canadian poet and broadcaster. Webb's poetry had diverse influences, ranging from neo-Confucianism to the field theory of composition developed by the Black Mountain poets. Critics hav ...

and William A. Young,Ideas

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization which documents the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television. Since 1995, the organization has distributed its collection via an intern ...

. the premiere broadcast of the hour-long daily program, ''The Best Ideas You'll Hear Tonight'', aired on CBC Radio on October 25, 1965, and featured a "series on Darwin's theory of evolution by Dr. June Clare, a British biochemist". ''The Best Ideas'' was a "series of talks, discussions and commentaries for 'people who just enjoy thinking.'" Two programs, ''The Learning Stage'' and ''University of the Air'' had merged because of budget cuts to create the ''Best Ideas'' first series. A 1988 ''Toronto Star'' article said that the show described itself as a radio program on contemporary thought. The subject matter of the shows varies, but music, philosophy, science, religion, and history were common topics. By 1988, the show had won many plaudits for its quality and depth. According to a 1989, ''Calgary Herald'' article, the series was notable at that time, for soliciting programming proposals from people who are not professional broadcasters, and having the successful applicants write and host their own documentaries (aided in production by CBC staff producers). In the 1990s, the series was sometimes temporarily replaced in the summer season by ''Ideas in the Summer'', a companion series by the same producers which specifically explored cultural and entertainment topics such as music, literature and art. Many ''Ideas'' programs are multi-part, with two, three, four, or more fifty-five-minute programs devoted to a single topic. Transcripts and audio recordings of many programs are made available, and sold directly by the CBC. In 2013, notable CBC staff producers who have been associated with the program included Bernie Lucht,

Geraldine Sherman Geraldine Sherman (born Geraldine Judith Schoenmann) known as Dena Hammerstein, is a British actress and writer, and theatre producer. She was the third wife of James Hammerstein, and after his death became president/CEO of James Hammerstein ...

, Damiano Pietropaolo,

, and David Cayley. Individual programs are produced at CBC Radio One facilities across Canada. Documentarian William Whitehead also wrote or cowrote a number of shows for ''Ideas''.'' The Next Chapter'', April 8, 2013. A television version for CBC News Network, ''Ideas on TV'', was short-lived. The book ''Ideas: Brilliant Thinkers Speak Their Minds'', edited by Bernie Lucht, commemorated the series' 40th anniversary. The show broadcasts Canada's annual Massey Lectures, Lafontaine-Baldwin Lecture, and the Munk Debates. Since 2006, they have included the Henry G. Friesen lectures. Audio downloads of many episodes are available from the CBC website, as well as via the CBC On June 24, 2019 it was announced that Nahlah Ayed would be the new host of ''Ideas'', taking over from the retiring Paul Kennedy in September. The CBC's 2019 fall schedule also moved the program an hour earlier from its longtime 9 p.m. slot, and it will now be heard from 8 to 9 p.m. nightly.

Podcast

Ideas

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, which was, by popular demand, one of the first to be included in the network's large podcasting initiative begun in 2005.

Hosts

* 1965–mid-1970s: Ken Haslam * Mid-1970s–1983:

Russ Germain Russ Germain (1947 – February 2, 2009) was a Canadian broadcaster who worked for CBC Radio from 1973 to 2002. He was born in New Liskeard, Ontario. He hosted the flagship news programs '' World Report'' and ''The World at Six ''The Worl ...

* 1983–1999:

Lister Sinclair Lister Sheddon Sinclair, OC (January 9, 1921 – October 16, 2006) was a Canadian broadcaster, playwright and polymath. Early life Sinclair was born in Bombay, India, to Scottish parents. His father, William Sheddon Sinclair, was a chemical eng ...

* 1999–2019: Paul Kennedy"Kennedy replaces Sinclair on Ideas". ''

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...

'', July 16, 1999. * 2019–present:

Notes

References

External links

* {{CBC Radio Programs (current and upcoming) CBC Radio One programs Canadian talk radio programs Audio podcasts Canadian documentary radio programs Educational broadcasting in Canada 1965 radio programme debuts 2005 podcast debuts Educational podcasts