Has there ever been a number more maligned in western culture than 13? So feared, it's got its own horror-film franchise. So infamously unlucky, a good many of us avoid it en masse. We've just blindly accepted its bad reputation. As part of our series, The Greatest Numbers of All Time, IDEAS explores where our irrational fear and uncomfortable feelings about 13 began. *All five episodes in our number series will be available daily in our feed this week.*Listen to 12 is SublimeListen to 27 Club LoreListen to The 33,000 Horsepower GamechangerListen to How 4 Makes and Breaks RulesGuests in this episode:Stephen Winick is a folk life specialist at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.Barry Markovsky is distinguished professor emeritus of sociology at University of South Carolina. His latest book is Everyday Extraordinary: A Scientist Ponders a Lifetime of Magical, Bizarre, and Paranormal Experiences.Claire Potter is an author of parenting books, including Getting the Little Blighters to Behave and the creator of the online programme Tiny Bites for parents of picky eaters.Rabbi Heschel Greenberg is the founder and director of the Jewish Discovery Center in Buffalo, New York. He has written many books including Tefillin: Judaism's Crown.
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IDEAS is a place for people who like to think. If you value deep conversation and unexpected reveals, this show is for you. From the roots and rise of authoritarianism to near-death experiences to the history of toilets, no topic is off-limits. Hosted by Nahlah Ayed, we’re home to immersive documentaries and fascinating interviews with some of the most consequential thinkers of our time.With an award-winning team, our podcast has proud roots in its 60-year history with CBC Radio, exploring the IDEAS that make us who we are. New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 5pm ET.
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Folge vom 22.06.2026The Curse of 13 | The Greatest Numbers of All Time
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Folge vom 19.06.2026Why moral suffering can be a good thingIt's tempting to think suffering should be avoided at all costs, but moral suffering has its own distinct standing. It signals a moral conscience. Every day people consume real time violence, grief, war and genocide through screens and experience moral upending. Without a moral compass there’s no motivation to address necessary issues.Guests in this episode:Cynda Rushton is a nurse and a professor of nursing and bioethics at Johns Hopkins University.Robert Meagher is an emeritus professor at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.Thea Lim is a novelist, culture writer, and creative writing teacher in Toronto.
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Folge vom 18.06.2026What if God is the possibility of the impossible?Former IDEAS writer-broadcaster David Cayley passed away at his home on Wednesday June 10, surrounded by family. To honour his legacy, we wanted to share part of a 2006 conversation David had with Irish philosopher Richard Kearney on the space for theism within atheism, and/or atheism within theism.Richard Kearney is a philosophy professor at Boston College and University College, Dublin. He has written many books on modern philosophy and culture, including The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion and Anatheism: Returning to God After God.
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Folge vom 17.06.2026From Dua Lipa to Broadway, Houdini never disappearsThere may be no one alive who saw Houdini perform magic. Yet we still know his name and his legend. Dua Lipa namechecked the escape artist in a 2023 dance hit and she's not alone. Houdini is still a cultural reference point, despite having died 100 years ago. And that’s pretty much what he would have wanted. IDEAS explores why his name persists in our imaginations and how his magic helped his family escape poverty.Guests in this episode:Adam Begley is a biographer living in London, and author of Houdini: The Elusive American.David Ben is a conjuror, writer, and consultant in Toronto. He’s writing a graphic novel featuring an imagined adventure for Houdini.Katie Bender is a playwright and actor. Her interactive performance about Houdini is called Instructions for a Seance.