Big Thinking Podcast

What happens when the future arrives in your neighbourhood?For many Canadians, artificial intelligence feels abstract: it lives on our phones, in our workplace, or somewhere in the digital cloud.But behind AI are enormous physical infrastructures called data centers that require land, energy and water, and that can have very real consequences for the communities around them.As Canada pushes to lead the way on AI, communities across the country are beginning to ask what that ambition means for them. Who benefits? What might be lost? And what happens when residents want to have a say, or simply say no?Becoming an AI leader requires technology, power, place, and participation, so how can Canadians shape the future of AI being built around them, and what are we willing to compromise along the way?For this Big Thinking Podcast episode, Karine is joined by Renée Sieber, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at McGill University, and together they'll explore these questions. 

Une université n’est pas seulement un campus; c’est aussi un lieu qui fait partie d’un quartier, un lieu qui côtoie ses résidentes et résidents, ses commerces, ses aires publiques.Mais comment faire en sorte que cette proximité entre l’université et le quartier devienne une véritable relation? Comment une université peut-elle contribuer à la vie de son quartier, tout en apprenant de ceux et celles qui y habitent?C’est l’une des questions au cœur du projet du Quartier Latin de l’UQAM, qui cherche à transformer le quartier en un espace dynamique et inclusif, où se rencontrent apprentissage, culture, recherche et vie collective.  Aujourd’hui, Karine Morin est accompagnée de Priscilla Ananian, vice-rectrice associée à la Relance du Quartier Latin de l’UQAM, et de Lucie Dumais, doyenne de la faculté des sciences humaines de l’UQAM. Ensemble, elles explorent comment l’université peut réellement faire partie prenante de son milieu, et le rôle des sciences humaines dans la mise en lumière des réalités d’un quartier.

Soccer is often described as the world's game. It crosses borders and brings people together through languages and cultures in ways few other sports can. And every four years, the FIFA World Cup turns that connection into a global spectacle, drawing billions of people into the same unfolding story of victory, heartbreak, and national pride.Soccer has the power to bring people together, but it can also reflect the divisions that already exist beyond the field.So who actually gets to belong?From local clubs to the FIFA World Cup, the experience of the game can be very different depending on who is playing. For this episode of the Big Thinking Podcast, Karine Morin is joined by Greg Yerashotis, Assistant Professor at Trent University. For years, he has looked at the relationship between sport and social inclusion, more recently through the lives of immigrant youth playing soccer in Toronto. Their experiences offer a different way of seeing the World Cup, and of asking what belonging looks like when the whole world is watching.

Those who’ve completed a degree in Canada know that it’s a demanding experience, but for many students without safe or stable housing, the challenge is even greater.Right now across the country, some students are balancing coursework with couch-surfing, living in unsafe housing, or facing impossible choices between paying rent, buying groceries, and continuing their education. And for years, this reality has largely been invisible.Today, on the Big Thinking Podcast, we’re talking about what it takes to turn evidence into action: how research can move beyond documenting a problem, to helping establish partnerships across sectors to create practical solutions. Through her work, Emily confronts the stigma around student homelessness so that institutions can better respond to students’ needs.

Comment continuer à vivre, à espérer, à aimer alors que notre époque semble entrer dans une suite de crises climatiques, sociales, politiques et humaines? Nicolas Langelier, journaliste, chroniqueur et éditeur et fondateur de l’entreprise sociale Atelier10, se joint à Karine Morin pour discuter de son plus récent essai, Ce qu’on trouve dans la cendre : Méditations sur le sens et le courage dans un monde en effondrement.

Alors que le Canada cherche à affirmer son rôle comme chef de file en recherche et innovation, une question essentielle se pose : quelle place accorde-t-on à la recherche en français, particulièrement en dehors du Québec? Trop souvent ignorées, les communautés francophones en situation minoritaire jouent pourtant un rôle déterminant dans le développement du savoir, de la culture et de l’identité canadienne. Dans l’épisode de ce mois-ci du balado Voir Grand, Karine Morin est accompagnée d’Émir Delic, Doyen des facultés et des études collégiales à l’Université Sainte-Anne. Ensemble, Karine et Émir se penchent sur la question de l’impact de la recherche hors Québec, de ses défis, de ses contributions et de son potentiel pour l’avenir.

Across healthcare, education, and advocacy, many assumptions about disability are being challenged and, in some cases, dismantled. Among them are questions related to intimate relationships and sexuality, where stigma can get in the way of safety and rights.On this month’s episode of the Big Thinking Podcast, Karine Morin is joined by Dr. Alan Martino, Assistant Professor in the Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies Program at the University of Calgary.

Something remarkable happens when spaces are allowed to feel more human—when they are welcoming, grounded in care, and shaped with intention. When there’s time to sit together, perhaps good food on the table, and an openness that feels closer to being welcomed into someone’s home than arriving at an institution of learning.Across the country, centres for Black studies are emerging as spaces like these. They are places where Black scholarship is held with care, where history and leadership are approached through joy, and where intellectual life is nurtured rather than extracted.That spirit of joy comes to the Big Thinking Podcast this month. Andrew B. Campbell joins Karine Morin for a conversation about Black leadership through history, the power of building scholarly spaces that are expansive rather than extractive, and what becomes possible when we show up not just as participants, but as allies and co-conspirators in sustaining this work.

As global conflicts intensify, the federal government is being forced to make hard choices about security, defense spending, and values.  These choices raise a pressing question: can the country maintain its commitment to Women, Peace, and Security, also known as WPS, while adapting to a rapidly changing global defense landscape?In this episode of the Big Thinking Podcast, Karine Morin is joined by Stéfanie Von Hltaky, Canada Research Chair in Gender, Security, and the Armed Forces to unpack how WPS commitments collide, coexist, or transform within our national defense framework. 

Canada’s future is being written in the places where people learn and in how those places connect. If collaboration holds the key to shaping that future, how do we begin unlocking its full potential?Listen to our new Big Thinking Podcast episode in partnership with The Conversation featuring Karine Morin, President and CEO of the Federation, and Pari Johnston, President and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada, in conversation with Kim Honey, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Conversation Canada.