The implicit arrangement between science and society—funding and autonomy in exchange for substantial but unpredictable benefits—is under strain. Canadians are increasingly skeptical that scientists conduct themselves ethically, or that the gov

Mutant Biofuels — with Kin Chan

Apr 1st, 2020 17m 46s

Keeping global temperatures to safe levels will require unlikely and disruptive discoveries from unexpected places. Medicine is a promising frontier.Kin Chan discusses his medical research on DNA damage and cancer, and explains how an enzyme t

Canada’s Front Yard — with Jackie Dawson

Mar 25th, 2020 16m 10s

A melting Arctic is opening up Canadian waters and coastlines to the world. Canada needs a vision for how it will handle this new activity and build out the necessary infrastructure in previously inaccessible locations.Jackie Dawson explains w

An Unlocked Arctic — with Jackie Dawson

Mar 18th, 2020 16m 9s

The Arctic is warming at twice the global average. In the Canadian Arctic, it's three times the global average.Jackie Dawson explains the scale of this transformation, and what a melting Arctic means for the future of trade, geopolitics, and N

Brace for Geoengineering — with Jason Blackstock

Mar 11th, 2020 24m 22s

Climate change is the ultimate disruptor. On timescales that matter for people alive today, it’s a question of slowing climate change down rather than “solving” or “fixing” it. Geoengineering might be our most drastic option.Jason Blackstock e

The Unpredictability of National Security — with Mark Salter

Mar 4th, 2020 22m 49s

Nations constantly make decisions about national security in the face of uncertainty or incomplete information. The outcomes of these decisions are often unpredictable, and success is often invisible.Mark Salter explains how the national secur

Deweaponizing Misinformation — with Kimberly Girling

Feb 26th, 2020 21m 50s

Misinformation is influencing public opinion, decision making, and even geopolitics. And it’s not just coming from Facebook and Twitter—it’s coming from our political leaders. Yet our ability to detect misinformation is diminishing. Kimberly G

China Conundrums — with Margaret McCuaig-Johnston

Feb 19th, 2020 22m 26s

Canada-China relations are in uncharted territory. To understand the current tangle of trade disputes and hostage diplomacy, it helps to go back to the beginning.Margaret McCuaig-Johnston traces Canada's relationship with China back to the est

Big Data, Big Agriculture — with Kelly Bronson

Feb 12th, 2020 24m 3s

Big data can dramatically improve decision-making, but the design and imagining of what we can and should use big data for is happening largely outside of the purview of public debate. Kelly Bronson explains big data's arrival in the public sp

How Do We Know Something Is True — with Marc Saner

Feb 5th, 2020 18m 57s

We live in an era of information abundance. But converting information into knowledge and applying that knowledge to improve society are massive tasks.Marc Saner explains the challenge of turning increasingly complex scientific knowledge into