Episodes
Jan Wong
In her book "Out of the Blue," Jan Wong describes her spiral into depression and her struggle to come to terms with the diagnosis. For more interviews on mental health see Allan Gregg Mental Health Mini-series.
Janice Stein on "Diplomacy In The Digital Age"
Global affairs expert Janice Stein is the editor of "Diplomacy in the Digital Age," a collection of essays inspired by former Ambassador to the United States, Allan Gotlieb. The essayists believe the art of diplomacy has to change to adapt to the digital age. In this conversation, Stein addresses WikiLeaks, which she believes could not have happened before 9/11; Stephen Harper's more muscular foreign policy, trade with the U.S. and Canada's poor reputation for safeguarding the environment.
Dave Chilton "The Wealthy Barber Returns"
After the huge success of "The Wealthy Barber," Dave Chilton has written a follow-up; "The Wealthy Barber Returns." He dispenses financial advice for this economy, and addresses the subjects of personal debt and the importance of saving.
Ron Graham and Allan Levine
First guest is Ron Graham, whose book is "The Last Act", which is an account of Trudeau's struggle to make Canadians fully independent and to entrench a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Second guest is Allan Levine, author of "King", which is a portrait of Canada's longest serving Prime Minister, Mackenzie King. Often derided for being quirky some believe he may have been Canada's greatest Prime Minister.
Patchen Barss and Marc Lewis
First guest Patchen Barss is the author of "The Erotic Engine". Barss contends that the main driving force behind the evolution of the internet, has been the pornography industry. Their early use of video streaming and their dominance in the commercialization of the internet, helped build up bandwidth. Barss thinks their next innovation will be tactile forms of communication. Second guest is neuroscientist Marc Lewis, a former drug addict. He talks about his descent into addiction, how he finally got clean and why he'll always be an addict. His book is "Memoirs of an Addicted Brain".
Ted Fishman and Robin Sharma
First guest is Ted Fishman, author of "Shock of Gray", which looks at potential global implications, both political and financial, of an ageing population. He foresees generational conflict and the universal demise of pensions. Second guest is self-help guru Robin Sharma, author of "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari", which paralleled his own life. Now he has written a sequel; "The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari".
This week only, the Saturday repeat has been pre-empted
Sholom Glouberman and Michael Bliss
First guest is health care expert and author of "My Operation", Sholom Glouberman. When he recently had to undergo a stay in hospital, he saw the health care system from the inside and was disgusted. Because of his experience, he started the "Patients' Association of Canada". Second guest is historian Michael Bliss, author of "The Making of Modern Medicine", which looks at a turning point in the treatment of disease from 1885-1922, during which time medicine started to become more science-based, microbes were discovered and there was much more investment in health care.
Loretta Napoleoni On Why China Is Thriving
Economics Professor Loretta Napoleoni, is the author of "Maonomics: Why The Chinese Make Better Capitalists Than We Do". In it, she ascribes China's success to their flexibility. Having witnessed the demise of communism in Russia, China, in a bid to ward off a similar fate, decided to pump money into the infrastructure. This they did by tempting foreign investors with the promise of cheap labour, which in turn, gave many Chinese people an opportunity to earn money, and thus create a middle class. She thinks the West can learn a lot from China but that we are too ideological, too rigid. The West must produce more in order to slow the shifting balance of power from West to East.
Ray Jayawardhana
"Strange New Worlds" brings readers up to date on the rapidly progressing quest for exoplanets and their potential inhabitants, and also interweaves the very human details about the people behind these discoveries. Read Jay Jayawardhana's book if you want a picture of how modern astronomy and astrobiology are helping to calibrate our place in the universe. A most delightful read." - Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Reasarch.
David McCullough
Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough has written "The Greater Journey", which covers account the period 1830-1900 in which many American artists and scientists who lived and studied in Paris. Subjects include Samuel Morse, James Fenimore Cooper and Charles Sumner. Sumner witness racial equality whilst at the Sorbonne and became an abolitionist when he returned to the U.S. McCullough also mentions his past biography of President John Adams and states that the calibre of the Founding Fathers was far superior to that of modern day politicians.
