IDEAS for the week of March 14

IDEAS airs Monday to Friday on CBC Radio One
at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) and 4 a.m. (4:30 a.m. NT)

Bear is a 1976 novel by Marian Engel (left). Pictured is the 2014 edition by Penguin Random House Canada imprint McClelland & Stewart. (Estate of Marian Engel/McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)

* Please note this schedule is subject to change.

MONDAY, MARCH 14

A Woman and a Bear

It's a novel so strange, shocking and surreal that it's hard to describe. At the surface, Bear is about a woman who develops a sexual relationship with a bear. And though the 1976 novel earned Marian Engel a Governor General's award, it's been largely forgotten. Contributor Melissa Gismondi brings Bear to life and explores its mystery, meaning and relevance today. *This episode originally aired on January 4, 2021.

TUESDAY, MARCH 15

Probable Impossibilities: Alan Lightman

Alan Lightman may be a theoretical physicist who doesn't believe in a supreme being, but he thinks a lot about God, where we all came from, and the meaning of life. He's also a best-selling novelist and author of acclaimed books on science that probe the deepest mysteries, wonders and paradoxes of the universe. His new book, Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings, ponders what science says about the origins and fate of life and the universe and the philosophical questions all of that raises.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

Song of Songs

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Song of Songs is the 'greatest of all songs.' In one way or another, over the course of about 2,500 years, the Song of Songs has also been Mystery of Mysteries, Allegory of Allegories, Love of Loves, and even Language of Languages. Its verses are both lovingly crafted and enthrallingly disorienting. The Song of Songs polishes the many facets of love, raises up the physical and marvels at the transcendent, and in doing all this, exalts the very act of poetry. In this documentary, IDEAS producer Sean Foley seeks out our best understanding of its origins, and tries to convey something of its power.

THURSDAY, MARCH 17

Freedom, Part Two

Today, the concept of freedom is often associated with limited government and freedom from state inference. But Annelien de Dijn, professor of Modern Political History at Utrecht University, argues that's actually a relatively new idea in the longer history of thinking about freedom. For centuries, freedom was associated with democratic control over the state — not with small government. And while political groups like the Tea Party often position themselves as the heirs of 18th century revolutionaries, she argues contemporary definitions of freedom actually emerged from an anti-democratic backlash to the Age of Revolutions. She speaks with Nahlah Ayed about her book, Freedom: An Unruly History.

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

Soulpepper: She Mami Wata & The PxssyWitch Hunt

In Jamaica, life for queer people often constists of navigating a society where both church and state reject the LGBTQ community. In her play She Mami Wata & The PxssyWitch Hunt, Jamaican Canadian playwright and dub poet d'bi young anitafrika tackles this very complex state of affairs. It follows the journey of three queer friends as they each make choices within that society, that will shape their lives forever. *This episode originally aired on June 2, 2021.

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IDEAS IN THE AFTERNOON

MONDAY, MARCH 14 at 2 p.m.

Connie Walker on how lived experience can help Indigenous journalists expose truth

Award-winning investigative journalist Connie Walker delivered the seventh annual Indigenous Speakers Series Lecture at Vancouver Island University called Exposing the Truth: Journalism's Role in Reconciliation. She shares her observations and experiences, both professional and personal, on the evolution of journalistic coverage of Indigenous stories.