Aaron Williams has worked in fisheries, as a forest fighter and is currently an airport ramp agent. When he's not working, he's writing about work: the hard kind, requiring bodily energy and mental endurance. Physical labour has always been a part of his life. He grew up in a logging family. In this podcast, Williams talks about the challenges, rewards and changing realities of hard work.

Aaron William's memoir is called The Last Logging Show: A Forest Family at the End of an Era (Harbour Publishing). The book received the 2025 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. His public talk was recorded at the awards ceremony at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

The Trump administration has been targeting higher education for some time now — freezing grants and filing lawsuits against leading universities. But these threats are not limited to the U.S. and there are growing concerns about a potential spillover effect on Canadian campuses. In this podcast, host Nahlah Ayed speaks with three panelists to explore what's at stake with the politicized attacks on universities — and why it matters to all of us.

This discussion was recorded in front of an audience at the Isabel Theatre in Toronto.

Guests in this episode:

Malinda S. Smith is an associate vice president research and a professor of political science at the University of Calgary. She is the co-editor of Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy: Teaching, Learning, and Researching While Black.

Randy Boyagoda is a novelist and professor of English at the University of Toronto, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse, the first position of its kind in Canada.

Davide Panagia is professor and chair of political science at UCLA, where his work bridges philosophy, media and democratic life. Before that, he held the Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies at Trent University.

How? Some scientists believe it's the power of nuclear fusion. Environmentally, these machines would have the potential to meet our energy needs with zero carbon cost. This would de-escalate the climate crisis but it also removes a significant motivation behind wars — the control of energy sources. Think about it? The Middle East would look a lot different today.This podcast explores what the transition to fusion energy would entail, from the challenges, the rewards and the risks.

Elmina is a place in Ghana that poet Sarpong Osei Asamoah describes as a "two-sided wonder." A bustling, lively fishing town in contrast to the painful history of a 400 year old 'slave castle' — a UNESCO World Heritage site. Historically, it's considered 'ground zero' for global economic and racial injustice. This podcast takes you on a tour inside the dark and brutal past of the Elmina castle and through the vibrant town that's full of life.

Guests in this episode:

Philip Amoa-Mensah is an Elmina tour guide with more than 20 years of experience.

Ato Quayson is chair of the department of African and African American studies and professor of English at Stanford University. He is the author of Oxford Street, Accra: City Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism.

Bayo Holsey is a professor of African American studies at Emory University. She is the author of Roots of Remembrance: Refashioning the Slave Trade in Ghana.

Sarpong Osei Asamoah is a Ghanaian poet. His poetry includes At Elmina Castle, I Bleed.

The ancient Greek story of Jason and Medea starts as a love story and ends as a horror show — just the way the Greeks liked it. The met, fell in love, stole the magical golden fleece (a symbol of authority and kinship) and escaped like a primeval Bonnie and Clyde. Find out why one of our guests calls Jason "an absolute hypocritical pig of a husband" as IDEAS explores their turbulent relationship. *This episode originally aired on Sept.19, 2022.

Guests in this episode:

Edith Hall is a professor of Classics at Durham University.

Florence Yoon is an assistant professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of British Columbia.

Rosie Wyles is a senior lecturer in Classical History and Literature at the University of Kent.

James Clauss is a professor of Classics at the University of Washington.

Lucy Jackson is an assistant professor of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University.

Connor Heaney is a collections manager at the Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation in Edinburgh.

Vanessa Harryhausen is Ray Harryhausen's daughter.

Lyndsy Spence is the author of Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas, published by The History Press.

"AIDS exacerbates and accentuates inequality," Stephen Lewis said in his final CBC Massey Lectures he delivered in 2005. Back then the willingness of the world’s richest countries to help in the HIV/AID crisis was in question. The former ambassador to the UN and Canadian political leader died March 31st at 88. He will be remembered for his unwavering efforts to bring international attention to the HIV pandemic in Africa — calling out Western governments and financial institutions. This podcast revisits Lewis's Massey Lectures and his overall message to make a difference.

"I thought I understood the way the world works. I don't. I'll devote every fibre of my body to defeating this viral contagion, but I cannot abide the willful inattention of so much of the international community. I cannot expunge from my mind the heartless indifference, the criminal neglect of the last decade [1995-2005], during which time countless people have gone to their graves, people who should still be walking the open savanna of Africa." — excerpt from Stephen Lewis in his 2005 CBC Massey Lectures.

The Queen of Sheba is a holy figure to some; a demon in disguise to others. Her indelible presence has haunted religious scholars and fuelled nationalist visions in East Africa and Southern Arabia. IDEAS explores the many afterlives of the Queen of Sheba — and how ideas about gender and power have shifted in each retelling of her life.

Guest in this episode:

Shahla Haeri is a professor of anthropology and a former director of the Women's Studies Program at Boston University, and one of the pioneers of Iranian anthropology. Her books include Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shi'i Iran, No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women and The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender.

Jillian Stinchcomb is a director's visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey working as a postdoctoral fellow in the "Interactive Histories, Co-Produced Communities: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam" project. In 2020, she defended her dissertation, "Remembering the Queen of Sheba in the First Millennium," a reception history of the Queen of Sheba across Jewish, Muslim, and Christian texts from the biblical to the early medieval period. She works with material in Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Ge'ez.

Safia Aidid is an interdisciplinary historian of modern Africa and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Her research addresses anticolonial nationalism, territorial imaginations, borders, and state formation in the Horn of Africa, with a particular focus on modern Somalia and Ethiopia.

Eyob Derillo is a reference specialist in the Reading Room of Africa and Asian Studies at the British Library, and previously served as curator for the library's Ethiopic and Ethiopian Collections. He is a Ph.D. student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, focusing on the history of Ethiopian magic.

Yousra Ishaq is a director and producer in Yemen, facilitating local productions and coordinating multinational teams including international media outlets such as the BBC and PBS. In 2017, she co-founded the Yemen-based film foundation and production company, Comra Films.

St. John Passion — the complex masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach tells the story of Jesus during his final days. It's a work that speaks to the heart of the Christian narrative, which itself lies at the heart of Western culture. Tafelmusik Chamber Choir Director Ivars Taurins and music broadcaster Robert Harris zoom in on the work from the conductor's perspective to show how the notes translate into meaning — at a level of detail we listeners rarely discern.