What on Earth is Going on?

Your weekly podcast for a world in flux. Globalization and climate change. The rise of social media and the decline and fall of Blockbuster Video. AI and VR. Donald Trump and Flat Earthers. The world is changing so fast that we can't get a grip on how we got here, let alone where we're headed. Join Ben Charland as he peels back the headlines to ask, what are the events, characters, forces and ideas that shape the human story today? Have things always been this nuts, or are they getting crazier by the day? Who were those barbarians that took down the Blockbuster Empire? Just what on Earth is going on?

...with the new novel, Seven by Farzana Doctor (Ep. 101) 09/18/2020

...after 99 Episodes (Ep. 100) 09/04/2020

...with Changing Cities (Ep. 99) 08/21/2020

...with Creativity, Music and Politics during COVID-19 (Ep. 98) 08/07/2020

...with Kingston WritersFest (Ep. 97) 07/24/2020

...with Disability (Ep. 96) 07/10/2020

...with Rebuilding Democracy (Ep. 95) 06/26/2020

...with Writing Biography (Ep. 94) 06/12/2020

...with Politics and its Future (Ep. 93) 05/29/2020

...with Acting, Gaming and Creativity (Ep. 92) 05/15/2020

...with the Writing Process, Genre, and the Rise of Stupid (Ep. 91) 05/01/2020

...with Writing Novels (Ep. 90) 04/17/2020

...with Generations and the Ethical Choice to Have Children (Ep. 89) 04/03/2020

...with Polling in Politics (Ep. 88) 03/20/2020

...with the Power of Names (Ep. 87) 03/06/2020

...with Political Philosophy (Ep. 86) 02/21/2020

...with The Reality Bubble (Ep. 85) 02/07/2020

...with Guy Gavriel Kay (Ep. 84) 01/24/2020

...according to the novel, Ducks, Newburyport (Ep. 83) 01/10/2020

...with Rebalancing Society (Ep. 82) 12/27/2019

...with Poetry (Ep. 81) 12/13/2019

...with Polygraphs, Technology and the Music of Plants (Ep. 80) 11/29/2019

...with Theatre (Ep. 79) 11/15/2019

...with Politics in the US and Canada (Ep. 78) 11/01/2019

...with Gambling (Ep. 77) 10/25/2019

...with Elections (Ep. 76) 10/11/2019

...with Being and Becoming Indigenous (Ep. 75) 10/04/2019

...with Gamification (Ep. 74) 09/27/2019

...with Philosophy (Ep. 73) 09/20/2019

...with Luck and Probability (Ep. 72) 09/13/2019