loader from loading.io

...with Generations and the Ethical Choice to Have Children (Ep. 89)

What on Earth is Going on?

Release Date: 04/03/2020

...with the new novel, Seven by Farzana Doctor (Ep. 101) show art ...with the new novel, Seven by Farzana Doctor (Ep. 101)

What on Earth is Going on?

Farzana Doctor's new novel, Seven, juggles family, history, culture, and the incredible weight of those forces on women today. It's a detective story and travel novel, and a powerful insight into a woman struggling with sex, identity, her past, and her vast network of relatives. But the overarching issue throughout the book is female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice still common around the world.

info_outline
...after 99 Episodes (Ep. 100) show art ...after 99 Episodes (Ep. 100)

What on Earth is Going on?

It's been over two years since host Ben Charland kicked off this podcast in a basement in Kingston, Ontario. After nearly 100 fascinating conversations about everything from the mafia to the water supply, from science to philosophy, we're revisiting some of the best moments.

info_outline
...with Changing Cities (Ep. 99) show art ...with Changing Cities (Ep. 99)

What on Earth is Going on?

The one thing that doesn't change about cities is the fact that they are constantly changing. Most people now live in cities, transforming them with their consumer behaviour, their culture, their ideas and their advocacy. City planners have to balance the natural development of these vast social organisms with complex, long-term plans. How do they do it?

info_outline
...with Creativity, Music and Politics during COVID-19 (Ep. 98) show art ...with Creativity, Music and Politics during COVID-19 (Ep. 98)

What on Earth is Going on?

The coronavirus pandemic is altering our lives in ways we cannot yet comprehend, and in decades we will marvel at this transformative time. COVID-19 is not just accelerating trends that were in place beforehand, but it is creating new realities. How are artists coping? How about our politics and ideologies?

info_outline
...with Kingston WritersFest (Ep. 97) show art ...with Kingston WritersFest (Ep. 97)

What on Earth is Going on?

What makes a book interesting? Beautiful? Provocative? Necessary? Is reading still the best way to get a message across and tell a good story, and how is it changing in our world today?

info_outline
...with Disability (Ep. 96) show art ...with Disability (Ep. 96)

What on Earth is Going on?

We will all encounter disability in our lives, either ourselves or someone we know and love. What is our responsibility when that happens? What role should the greater community play to provide care and support? What about government, public policy, and spending? What's changing when it comes to disability and how we care for those who truly need it, and why is this important?

info_outline
...with Rebuilding Democracy (Ep. 95) show art ...with Rebuilding Democracy (Ep. 95)

What on Earth is Going on?

What if being a Member of Parliament or Congress had nothing to do with an election, but rather worked like jury duty? What if our officials were seated randomly in a legislature? What if we innovated the very idea of government itself?

info_outline
...with Writing Biography (Ep. 94) show art ...with Writing Biography (Ep. 94)

What on Earth is Going on?

Rosemary Sullivan is an acclaimed Canadian poet and biographer. She has written definitive biographies about Elizabeth Smart and Gwendolyn MacEwen as well as a book about the early life of Margaret Atwood. In 2015, Rosemary published "Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva" to widespread praise.

info_outline
...with Politics and its Future (Ep. 93) show art ...with Politics and its Future (Ep. 93)

What on Earth is Going on?

Kent Hehr is a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and member of parliament for Calgary Centre. As a so-called "recovering politician" with careers on both the federal and provincial levels, Kent has a lot to say about what on earth is going on -- but he’s also got an incredible story. In October 1991 he was with some friends in Calgary when someone in another car opened fire. The bullet went into Kent’s spine, and just like that, he was paralyzed from the chest down as a C5 quadriplegic.

info_outline
...with Acting, Gaming and Creativity (Ep. 92) show art ...with Acting, Gaming and Creativity (Ep. 92)

What on Earth is Going on?

Aurora Browne is one of Canada's national treasures. Best known as one of the cast members of the Baroness von Sketch Show and as co-host of the Great Canadian Baking Show, Aurora has been creating daring, funny and original work for theatre, television and film for many years.

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Is dividing people up by their generation (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, etc.) unhelpful and even harmful? Is it a form of ageism, along the same lines as racism or sexism? What is the coming crisis of our time, and have we already arrived? And is it ethically justified to have children in this world in flux?

Ben is in Kingston for a fascinating conversation about all this and more with philosopher Christine Overall of Queen's University.

About the Guest

Christine Overall's teaching, supervision, research, and publications are in the areas of feminist philosophy, applied ethics (including bioethics), philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education. She is the editor of four books and the author of six. Her book, Aging, Death, and Human Longevity: A Philosophical Inquiry (University of California Press, 2003), won both the Canadian Philosophical Association’s Book Prize and the Royal Society of Canada’s Abbyann Lynch Medal in Bioethics. Her book, Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate,  was published by MIT Press in 2012.  She also recently edited Dying in Public: Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, by Sue Hendler (Michael Grass House, 2012). Dr. Overall was a weekly columnist for the Kingston Whig-Standard from 1993 to 2006, and also wrote a column for University Affairs/Affaires universitaires from 2008 to 2011.

Mentioned in this Episode

The Quote of the Week

"It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."
- William Clifford (1845-79), mathematician