Unpacking the contradictions in America's ideals

Authoritarian politics continue to intensify. But so do acts of resistance. This podcast focusses on the resisters who are pushing for accountability as they fight against state violence. They are from Argentina, South Africa and India. Some work alone or in groups trying to stave off ever-encroaching authoritarian rule.Guests in this episode:Maria del Carmen Verdu is an Argentine human rights activist fighting against state violence.Fatima Hassan is a South African human rights lawyer and activist with the Health Justice Initiative.Bill McKibben is an American author, environmentalist, and educator. He is the founder of Third Act, which organizes seniors for action on climate and democracy.Siddharth Varadarajan is a founding editor of The Wire, a news website in India.

Not everyone gives birth. But everyone is born. Yet we rarely talk about the history of childbirth. So author Lucy Inglis researched its bloody, triumphant, political past. Her book Born: A History of Childbirth argues that birth has a deep global history that proves it has always been a highwire act, shaped by both nature and culture. IDEAS explores the visceral, intimate realities of childbirth that have always been in evidence. *This episode originally aired on Jan. 22, 2026.

Historian Marci Shore doesn't hesitate to use the word 'fascism' to describe the present moment. The former Yale professor left the U.S. after President Trump was re-elected. She now teaches at the University of Toronto and tells her students why "we shouldn't fetishize" the term. Shore argues concepts and terminologies born from history like fascism is how we process the world, but it's critical we allow for today's nuances and differences.This podcast includes Marci Shore in conversation with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed and Shore's lecture “Thoughts From a Post Truth World," part of the series “Democracy in Peril: A Way Forward Against Authoritarianism," organized by the University of Manitoba, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.Marci Shore is Chair of European Intellectual History at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Seabird biologist Bill Montevecchi has been ranked in the world’s top two per cent of scientists. Montevecchi died at the age of 80 in July 2026. In his honour, we share this 2023 documentary by producer Mary Lynk that shines a light on the renowned scientist's humanity and brilliance. Lynk followed Montevecchi on a wild two-day adventure in Newfoundland, climbing steep cliffs to spy on famous seabird colonies, and venturing on a heart-pounding overnight rescue mission of young storm petrels along the coastline.

After seizing power in a 1971 coup, Ugandan military commander Idi Amin promised a return to democracy — but he delivered a brutal dictatorship. Known for his erratic and sadistic behaviour, Amin’s reign was defined by ethnic purges, forced expulsions and total economic collapse. We continue our four-part series, How to Defeat Authoritarianism, exploring the legacy of Idi Amin and the conflation of personality with totalitarian politics.

What has become of the America that has for so long been held up as a shining example of ideals? In conversation at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival, documentary maker Ken Burns and American scholar and author Eddie Glaude unpack the vexed contradictions at the heart of American democracy, from the founding of the Republic in 1776 until today.

Behind every great chatbot are many human workers making decisions on how those chatbots behave and evolve. Recent PhD graduate Noah Khan has been observing these workers and shares his findings on their emotions and motivations as they design and build AI entities that communicate with users — influencing our own emotions and outlooks.

When Rohingya poet Mayyu Ali saw his name in print for the first time, he thought: "I exist." "Even though my government doesn't recognize [me] I exist in my writing," he told IDEAS. The Myanmar government has targeted the Rohingyas for decades, and Ali grew up with no birth certificate, no citizenship, and no human rights. He fled genocide in 2017 to live in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, until he resettled to Canada in 2021. Ali speaks with Nahlah Ayed about survival, the power of poetry, and his long journey to become a citizen for the first time in his life.

Fascism has been called “the aestheti-cization of politics.” Nazis and Italian Fascists both made visual culture, art, even fashion part of their destructive programs. Now the far-right in the U.S. is taking lessons from history, selling its ideas through memes, and hate-filled videos.

How do authoritarian leaders use threats, illusions and force to seize and maintain power? And what does it take for truth and justice to prevail? IDEAS explores the rise and fall of pivotal authoritarians and their regimes from recent world history, and asks what we can learn from their eventual downfall. We start our five-part series with the legacy of Italian fascism and its relevance today.