How should I deal with my horrendous sister-in-law?  

Do I have to tell my new boyfriend about my past infidelity?

Can I cut ties with a friend who helped me through a hard time?  

Do any of these questions resonate with you?  

They probably do as we all deal with various forms of these issues at various times in our lives.  These moral and ethical dilemmas can weigh us down.  It feels like we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t!

So what SHOULD we do?

We can ask Kwame Appiah.  He writes The Ethicist column in the New York Times.  People write to him about their problems and he answers them with what kind of action they might take.  

So how does he arrive at his answers?  Take a listen…

INFO ON GUEST:

Kwame Appiah is a Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University,  and  the author of numerous books including his most recent:  Captive Gods: Religion and the Rise of Social Science.” He also writes the weekly column The Ethicist in the New York Times.

https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/kwame-anthony-appiah.html

https://www.nytimes.com/by/kwame-anthony-appiah

https://appiah.net/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Procrastination.  Surprising right?  Because they all had such impressive achievements.  

But procrastination is common - maybe so common that we take it for granted.  But there could be a stiff price to pay when you put off studying for that exam, getting your car checked, leaving a project to the last minute.. even worse, delay seeing your doctor.   And there’s not only a personal cost to procrastination but there can be a larger social and economic cost as well.  

Find out how to get to that task or job and get it done from an expert on procrastination.  

GUEST INFO:

Piers Steel is a Professor and Brookfield Management Chair with the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.  https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/piers-david-gareth-steel

He’s also the author of “The Procrastination Equation:  How to stop putting things off and start getting stuff done.”

https://www.amazon.com/Procrastination-Equation-Putting-Things-Getting-ebook/dp/B003ZSHUP2?ref_=ast_author_mpb

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It used to be there was only ONE way to achieve this.  One might call it the “old fashioned way.”  And that went on for hundreds of thousands of years! 

But with technological advancements, there are many ways to have a baby today.   And one of them is in vitro fertilization.  In Canada, about 15% of couples, or 1 in 6, can experience infertility and many pursue IVF.   It’s the most common procedure among reproductive technologies to help couples and individuals get pregnant.  

It’s been an area of interest and research for Dr. Shirin Dason who’s passionate about spreading awareness on issues around fertility, IVF, and what people should know about getting pregnant. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Shirin Dason is a reproductive, endocrinology and infertility specialist.   For more info on her work:  https://www.drshirindason.com/    

https://triofertility.com/team-member/dr-shirin-dason-md-obgyn-rei/

She’s also an Ass’t Professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Toronto.  https://obgyn.utoronto.ca/faculty/shirin-dason.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

The mission also increased deep-space capabilities required for a permanent presence on the moon – and even more exciting – the possibility of sending humans to Mars.

A professor who spent his career bringing space research to the public is Paul Delaney.  He’s even  been recognized for his life’s work by having an asteroid named after him – the Asteroid Pauldelaney.  Pretty cool!  Listen to this fascinating astronomer who still wonders about the universe and the possibilities of space exploration.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Paul Delaney is a professor emeritus in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy and former Director of the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory.  https://news.yorku.ca/experts/?mid=3594

Asteroid Pauldelaney:  https://www.yorku.ca/yfile/2024/11/19/york-university-professor-emeritus-gets-asteroid-named-after-him/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Should the well worn phrase “happily ever after” be used for single people and THEIR lives?  

You might think so based on the movement by some academics, celebrities, influencers, and the public, who embrace the single life, also known as the “solo or single at heart movement.”  Many say life’s actually BETTER when you’re single compared to being coupled.   Is this true?  What’s the evidence behind this?  

Geoff MacDonald is a psychologist who says there are benefits to both:  being single or being partnered.  

But when you tally it up, which way of living comes out on top?  

INFO ON GUEST: 

Geoff MacDonald is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He’s also a Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Int’l Assoc. for Relationship Research:  https://www.psych.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/geoff-macdonald

He runs the MacLab whose aim is to better understand wellbeing in singlehood:  https://www.macdonaldlab.ca/

On CBC TV’s The National -  2026 Relationship Goal:  Stay Single? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XaQC7-i6Q

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

How about penicillin discovered in the late 20's marking the beginning of the antibiotic era?  Or insulin, a Canadian discovery that changed the lives of people with diabetes?  Also vaccines, oral contraceptives.. aspirin?

And then there’s Ozempic, or more broadly GLP-1's – THE most talked about drugs today. Tens of millions of people around the world are on a GLP-1 like Ozempic or Wegovy.  A recent survey found 3 million Canadians are currently taking them.  

Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam of CAMH shares the latest research on how these drugs can affect our brain, our behaviours, and our relationships.

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam is the Chief Medical Officer and Sr. Vice President, Education at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.  https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/about-camh/leadership-team-directory/executive-leadership-bio-sanjeev-sockalingam

He’s also Vice-Chair and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto: https://psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/sanjeev-sockalingam

And Scientific Director of Obesity Canada: https://obesitycanada.ca/news/new-leadership-dr-sanjeev-sockalingam/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

What I learned was surprising - and disturbing.  

It’s about perimenopause – the stage before menopause – that can begin in women as early as their 30’s.  And it’s often misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated according to endocrinologist Jerilynn Prior who has studied this field for decades.  

She says there’s a lot of confusion and lack of awareness about what perimenopause is – even with many medical doctors.  And that’s despite the research and evidence that exists on what happens during this stage and what treatments can actually help.  

Actually our conversation covers a lot more than perimenopause.  It’s about the chemistry of being female and understanding what happens to our bodies - and our brains - at an important stage of life.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Jerilynn Prior is an endocrinologist and a professor emerita of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the Dept. of Medicine at UBC.  https://medicine.med.ubc.ca/jerilynn-c-prior/

She is the founder of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research: 

https://cemcor.ubc.ca/ 

She’s the author of the award winning book Estrogen’s Storm Season:  Stories of Perimenopause:

https://cemcor.ubc.ca/resources/estrogens-storm-season/

For more info and support on perimenopause: https://womenlivingbetter.org/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We’ve all been there.  But the angst, drama, the questioning, the ups and downs of that time,  may seem hard to understand now that we’re older.   

A lot has been studied and written about the parent/adolescent relationship as well as the influence of peers and friends.  

But what about siblings?  They’re usually an integral part of home life. How important is the sibling relationship on the development of a child? And how does it affect future relationships with friends - even romantic partners? Psychologist Ryan Persram has some fascinating answers!

INFO ON GUEST:

Ryan Persram is psychologist and Ass’t Professor in the Dept. of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University.  For more info on Ryan and his work:  https://www.torontomu.ca/psychology/about-us/our-people/faculty/ryan-persram/

He also directs the ASPIRE Lab at TMU:  https://psychlabs.torontomu.ca/aspirelab/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Based on the results of a number of studies, this simple strategy can elevate your mood, make you feel connected, happier… and even give greater meaning to your life.  You can do it almost anywhere and maybe best of all, it doesn’t add any significant time to your day.  

The strategy is called “Noticing Nature.”  And the researcher behind it is Psychologist Holli-Anne Passmore.  Try this practice and see if it works for you!  

INFO ON GUEST:

Holli-Anne Passmore is an Assoc. Prof. and Chair of the Dept. of Psychology at Concordia University of Edmonton.  https://concordia.ab.ca/faculty-arts/departments/psychology/faculty/full-time-faculty-psychology/holli-anne-passmore/

She’s also Director of the multi-university Nature-Meaning in Life Research Lab and an editor at the Int’l Journal of Well Being. https://nature-mill.org/

Here’s a CBC article on her “Noticing Nature Intervention:” 

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/noticing-nature-experts-1.7434315

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It was Word of the Year in Mirriam Webster’s dictionary in 2022.  Maybe you’ve even experienced it. 

Definitions of gaslighting vary but it’s a form of manipulation and can go on for years.  

What’s shocking is that it can be the very people whom you trust and love, who are trying to manipulate you.   

“You must be crazy to think that” or “you probably imagined that” or “there’s no reason to be upset” are common lines that are used.  More women than men are affected and the consequences can be damaging and long lasting.

How do you know if you’re being gaslit?  What effect can it have? And who are the perpetrators?  Willis Klein of McGill University fills us in on the latest research.  

Info on Guest:

Willis Klein is a PhD candidate in Experimental Psychology at McGill University.  For more info on Willis:  https://willis-klein.com/ 

Article on Willis’ research on gaslighting:  https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/researchers-delve-how-gaslighting-works-367747  

“A Theoretical Framework for Studying the Phenomenon of Gaslighting” by Willis Klein, Suzanne Wood, and Jennifer A. Bartz was published in Personality and Social Psychology Review.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Canada is generally regarded as a safe and peaceful country.  But is that changing?

For the first time, the head of CSIS Dan Rogers, addressed the public last year with these stats: 

1 in 10 terrorism investigations in Canada involves at least one minor under the age of 18.

There have been 20 violent extremist attacks in Canada resulting in 29 deaths since 2014. 

He also warned about Chinese and Russian interference in Canada, and the weaponization of Canadian data and information. 

As we enter a new year, we thought it important to take stock of where we are with national security and the complex threat environment we face with international relations and security expert Stephanie Carvin.

INFO ON GUEST:

Stephanie Carvin is an Associate Professor of Int’l Relations at the Norman Paterson School of Int’l Affairs at Carleton University.  https://carleton.ca/npsia/people/stephanie-carvin/

Her most recent book is “Stand on Guard: Reassessing Threats to Canada’s National Security” which was nominated for the 2021 Donner Prize. https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487524517

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But  it can also be the saddest time for those who are experiencing estrangement.

It’s something many parents don’t talk about.   The pain and the shame that a child is no longer in their lives can be enormous.  But estrangement is common. 

One U.S. study found a significant number of families will undergo some type of estrangement.  

So how do you deal with it?  And not just on a personal level but in a broader social context – especially during the holiday season when getting together with family and friends is expected?

Denise Whitehead knows a lot about conflict in families and teaches a course on it.  I found this to be a valuable, insightful interview on parent/child relationships - whether you’re going through an estrangement or not.   I learned a lot.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Denise Whitehead is an Associate professor in the Dept. of Sexualities, Relationships, and Families, at St. Jerome’s University, the University of Waterloo. 

Denise recommends this book:  Rules of Estrangement by Dr. Joshua Coleman.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/622584/rules-of-estrangement-by-joshua-coleman-phd/9780593290644

and Fault Lines by Dr. Karl Pillemer:

https://a.co/d/5HBC3jI

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t you donate a few dollars to save the life of a child?  Doesn’t it come down to the same thing?  This is the question that a global movement called Effective Altruism asks.

EA does research on where you should donate your money so it has the biggest impact.  The EA approach is to gather data and use specific criteria to determine which charities are saving or extending lives, dollar for dollar.  

Does this sound like a good approach to giving?  Economist Calum Carmichael a retired professor formerly with the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University explores the pros and cons of Effective Altruism.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Calum Carmichael is a retired professor formerly with the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.  https://carleton.ca/sppa/people/carmichael-calum-m/

Carmichael’s articles on Effective Altruism:   “What the Philanthropic Sector can take from the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried and his ties to EA.”   https://carleton.ca/panl/closer-takes/

The Centre for Effective Altruism. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

In less than eight minutes, thieves stole jewellery worth over 130 million dollars from the Louvre in Paris.  It was a daytime job while visitors were admiring the very jewellery that would soon be taken.  

You may think crimes of art don’t happen very often because we don’t hear about them.  But in fact art and cultural property worth billions of dollars are stolen annually.  It’s a significant and costly issue.  

Why do we feel a sense of loss, sadness – even anger – when we lose art?  How does art reflect who we are and our identity?  Sally Hickson, an art historian, explores our complex relationship with art. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Sally Hickson is an Assoc. Professpr of Art History in the School of Fine Art and Music at Guelph University.   She’s also the Director of the School of Theatre, English and Creative Writing at Guelph.  For more on Sally and her work:  https://www.uoguelph.ca/arts/sofam/people/sally-hickson

Her article on eco-activism and art:  https://theconversation.com/eco-activist-attacks-on-museum-artwork-ask-us-to-figure-out-what-we-value-193575

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

According to Stats Canada, it is.  Violent crime has increased by about 50% in the last decade.  

And a new report that compares the rate of police reported violent crime in Canada and the U.S. says the gap between the two countries has narrowed.  It’s the result of decreases in violent crime in the US and increases in Canada over the last 25 years.  

What’s going on and what should we be doing about it?  

Irvin Waller knows what the evidence-based solutions are to reduce violent crime.  He’s consulted with int’l organizations like the United Nations and governments around the world.  Hear what he has to say.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Irvin Waller is Emeritus Professor in the Dept. of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. 

https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/view/profile/members/885?lang=en

He’s the author of a number of books including “Science and Secrets of Ending Violent Crime” and Rights for Victims of Crime.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/irvin-waller-225b7b10/?originalSubdomain=

An article on what Canada should do to reduce violent crime:  https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/05/23/How-Carney-Can-Reduce-Violent-Crime/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It's not a pill, it's not invasive and there's no equipment.  

It's dance!  Sounds hard to believe, right?

But there’s growing evidence on the benefits of dance across a host of conditions.  

Rebecca Barnstaple is a dance researcher and has seen the incredible effects that dance can have on patients.  Even on herself!  

INFO ON GUEST:

Rebecca Barnstaple is an Assistant Professor in the School of Theatre, English, and Creative Writing at the University of Guelph.  For more on Rebecca and her work:  https://www.uoguelph.ca/arts/sotec/people/rebecca-barnstaple.    Video on dance and health:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idqXKYO-YQ

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

One in three deaths around the world is caused by cardiovascular diseases.  

That’s almost 20 million people.  And with aging populations, the problem is increasing.  

What happens if you have heart failure in a remote community -  and the nearest hospital is hundreds if kilometres away?  

How do we ensure everyone gets good care?

These are critical questions that researcher and cardiologist Heather Ross has been grappling with for decades.  

She herself faced a life and death situation with her own heart and that experience had a huge impact on how she sees her work and mission.  

Hope you listen to what this brilliant doctor has to say about heart health and living life to the fullest.   

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Heather Ross is head of the Division of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN.    She’s also a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.  She received the Order of Canada in 2020.  

https://www.uhnresearch.ca/researcher/heather-j-ross

https://kite-uhn.com/fibre/scientist/heather-ross

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_J._Ross

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

In one study, Canadian employees who were recent graduates worked an average of 1.9 days per week from home.  The U.K. and U.S. rounded out the top three.  Asian countries had the lowest levels when it came to remote work.

Many people say remote work is more convenient, more productive, and less hassle with travel and time pressures.

But remote work has its downsides too.  According to the Harvard Business Review and other sources, there’s growing evidence that remote and hybrid work have a dampening effect on job performance.  And there are other issues such as high turnover, isolation and loss of collaboration, managing remote workers, just to name a few.

Nita Chhinzer, an expert on our changing work world, explores current issues and what the future of work looks like!  

INFO ON GUEST:

Nita Chhinzer is an Associate Professor in Leadership & Organizational Management, Dept. of Management at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, University of Guelph.                                                                         For more on Nita and her work:  https://www.uoguelph.ca/lang/people/nita-chhinzer

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Is it gummy worms?  Maybe a bag of salt and vinegar chips?  Or how about a bowl of your favourite ice cream? 

In Canada, we are a nation of snackers.  Surveys show about 80% of us have at least one snack a day.   

But our relationship with snack foods is a complicated one.  

We often feel guilty when we snack.  And we even refer to junk food as a “guilty pleasure.”   

But why all the guilt?  Aside from the health implications, why is there such a strong stigma around snack foods?  And who gets to decide what is a snack or junk food? 

Historian Janis Thiessen has a fascinating look into why snack foods are “loved and reviled.”

Now go grab some popcorn and listen!

INFO ON GUEST:

Janis Thiessen is a Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg.  She’s the author of “Snacks: A Canadian Food History.”  For more on Janis and her books:  https://janisthiessen.ca/about/ 

The Manitoba Food History Project https://www.manitobafoodhistory.ca/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

The emperor in question is Marcus Aurelias who was born in the second century.  

He ruled for almost 20 years and was a leading Stoic. 

Stoicism is a school of philosophy and it’s had a resurgence in popularity around the world.  People are turning to it as a way to approach life and help navigate the various challenges they face.  Cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT which is one of the most widely accepted forms of psychotherapy has its roots in Stoicism.  

We speak with author and former psychotherapist Donald Robertson, a founding member of the organization Modern Stoicism about how this ancient philosophy can guide us towards a calmer and more meaningful life.  

INFO ON GUEST

Donald Robertson is one of the founders of Modern Stoicism, a former cognitive behavioural psychotherapist and the author of nine books including How To Think Like A Roman Emperor. 

For more info on Donald Robertson:  https://donaldrobertson.name/

Interview with Donald Robertson:  https://modernstoicism.com/interview-with-donald-robertson-2/

Modern Stoicism:  https://modernstoicism.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

A warning that the content contains graphic descriptions of the aftermath of the atomic bomb.  

This podcast is one of the most deeply affecting interviews I’ve ever done.

On Aug. 6, 1945, 13 year old Setsuko Thurlow experienced a horror previously unknown to the world – the detonation of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.  

She miraculously survived while tens of thousands of people including members of her family and the classmates she was with, died. Some estimate the death toll at 140,000.  Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki causing many more deaths. 

At 93 years of age, she is part of a shrinking group of survivors known as “hibakusha.”  

Today she’s one of the world’s most prominent nuclear disarmament activists, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 on behalf of ICAN, an international organization whose mission is the abolishment of nuclear weapons.

Listen to her incredible story and eyewitness account of the day the bomb dropped. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Setsuko Thurlow is a Japanese Canadian living in Toronto.  She is one of the world’s most prominent voices in the nuclear disarmament movement and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 on behalf of ICAN, an international organization whose mission is the abolishment of nuclear weapons.  She is also a “hibakusha,” a term used to describe survivors of the atomic bomb.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsuko_Thurlow

For more on Setsuko and her work:  https://rise.icanw.org/setsuko_thurlow

SPECIAL THANKS:

Our thanks to Director Susan Strickler and Producer Mitchie Takeuchi for allowing use of the footage from their documentary “The Vow From Hiroshima.”  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

I’m talking about mosquitoes.  Surprised?

Sure those pests cover us with bites, drive us indoors, and keep us awake all night with an itch that drives us crazy.  

But they also pose the much more serious threat as carriers of disease.  Malaria, Yellow Fever and other mosquito-borne diseases kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. 

But what if we could get rid of mosquitoes - permanently?  It’s possible.

Ben Matthews, a neuro sensory biologist, has thought a lot about what’s involved in eradicating mosquitoes and what the consequences might be.  

Info on Guest:

Ben Matthews is a neuro sensory biologist in the Dept. of Zoology at the Univ. of British Columbia https://zoology.ubc.ca/person/ben-matthews

Ben’s Lab:  https://mosquitolab.zoology.ubc.ca/

Ben also served on the expert panel for Health Canada that looked into regulating gene-edited organisms for pest control.  https://cca-reports.ca/reports/gene-edited-organisms-for-pest-control/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Sociologist—and furry—Courtney Plante has spent years studying this growing subculture. In this episode, he tackles big questions:
Is being a furry unhealthy? Who joins these communities?
And is that story about kitty litter in classrooms actually true?

All your furry questions—answered.

GUEST:

Courtney Plante is a professor of social psychology in the Dept. of Psychology at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec.  https://www.ubishops.ca/academic-programs/faculty-of-social-sciences/psychology/faculty-contact/

The Int’l Anthropomorphic Research Project:  https://furscience.com/we-are-scientists-studying-the-furry-fandom/

More on Courtney:  https://blog.ubishops.ca/meet-dr-courtney-plante/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

The brain is still a big mystery – even to scientists who are trying to figure out its puzzle.  

But they’re learning more and more about the brain and dispelling old beliefs about it. 

Are there left brain, right brain people?  Are we born with a finite set of brain cells?  Is it normal to lose memory as we age?

Join us as we dive into the most complex, interesting and important organ in our bodies with neurologist Lorraine Kalia.  

GUEST:

Lorraine Kalia is a neurologist and senior scientist with the Krembil Brain Inst. at the University Health Network in Toronto.  She’s also an Assoc. Prof. in the Dept. of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Video on why she studies Parkinson’s Disease: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6nNS4x8QCg

Her lab: https://kalialabs.org/team/

Research at the University Health Network:  https://www.uhnresearch.ca/researcher/lorraine-kalia

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And here’s another other unsettling fact:  there’s NO good evidence for many common treatments that millions of people undergo.    And yet a huge amount of research has been done in this field and billions of dollars spent on therapies. 

What are these treatments?  Why do people get them?  What actually does work? 

Is it time for a revolution in the way we approach back pain?

Jason Busse who’s an expert on chronic pain gives us the latest evidence.  

GUEST INFO:

Jason Busse is a Canada Research Chair in the Prevention and Management of Chronic Pain.  He’s also a professor in anaesthesia in the Dept. of Health Sciences at McMaster University.  https://experts.mcmaster.ca/display/bussejw

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for men under the age of 50.

Men die by suicide at 3X the rate that women do in North America and elsewhere. 

Why?  What’s going on with men?  And why is there silence around men and suicide?

Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is on a mission to help men and bring more awareness to this issue. 

He created a program at UBC called HeadsUpGuys, a mental health resource designed for men and their families.

If you’re a man who’s finding it difficult to cope, or you have a male in your life - a family member, a friend or a colleague – please listen to this interview.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is a Professor in the Dept of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychotherapy Program at the University of British Columbia https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/john-ogrodniczuk/

Founder of Heads Up Guys, a mental health resource for men: headsupguys.org

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It’s one of THE most watched streaming shows and has sparked a lot of conversation around incel culture.  

A boy living in the UK is accused of murdering one of his female classmates.  

He’s 13 years old. 

The details about his life make the situation even more disturbing.  He does well in school, he’s never been in serious trouble, and he comes from a loving family.  

Nothing unusual except…  his online life.  

Sociologist Eran Shor gives a startling profile of the young 

men who become radicalized.

GUEST INFO:

Eran Shor is a Professor in the Dept. of Sociology at McGill University.  

https://www.mcgill.ca/popcentre/people-0/members/eran-shor

He’s the co-author of Aggression in Pornography:

https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/news/professor-eran-shors-book-presents-some-surprising-results-about-place-aggression-within-pornography-324543

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And that’s because a day doesn’t go by when those tariffs and our reaction to them… make headlines.  

And there’s been intense scrutiny on the way Trump has approached tariffs – his negotiation strategy - which seems unpredictable.  But is it?  

What’s behind Trump’s tactics?  How effective are they?  What can we learn from his actions and how can we better understand different styles of negotiation?   

Shai Dubey is an expert on negotiation and conflict management.  He’s got valuable insight on an issue that’s affecting all of us.    

INFO ON GUEST:

Shai Dubey is a professor in the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University with a focus on negotiation and conflict management.   

https://smith.queensu.ca/faculty_and_research/faculty_list/dubey-shai.php

How to be a better negotiator:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I_9aA5SBD4

TEDx talk on the biggest barrier to negotiation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG9PezyQ0Lo

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But just how credible are they?

It’s one thing if we’re talking about “are we a dog or cat person” but quite another if we’re asked “who will we vote for in the next election” or “should we stop the flow of immigration?”  These are weighty issues.

Like it or not, polls and surveys are important.  What do we need to know about them?  What makes a good or bad poll?  How do they influence our actions?

We speak with an expert on polls who’ll tell us what to watch out for. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme is a sociologist and Associate Professor in the Dept. of Sociology at the Univ. of Waterloo:

https://uwaterloo.ca/sociology-and-legal-studies/profiles/sarah-wilkins-laflamme

 She also runs the International Social Survey Program in Canada.  The survey explores our attitudes in a number of areas incl. the Role of Gov’t, Social Networks, Family and Changing Gender Roles, Work Orientation, Religion, and the Environment: 

https://uwaterloo.ca/statistical-consulting-survey-research-unit/about/projects/issp-canada

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And when they’re good they can stir up all kinds of emotions in seconds.  

On this podcast I interview a guru of the advertising and marketing world – Terry O’Reilly. Terry’s the host of “Under the Influence” on CBC Radio.  He’s won hundreds of awards and is one of the best storytellers I’ve come across.

You’ll be entertained and you’ll learn a ton about the ad world.  

Guaranteed or your money back.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Terry O’Reilly has been an ad man for over 40 years.  He’s won hundreds of awards and is the host of “Under the Influence” on CBC Radio.  He’s the author of three books on advertising with a fourth coming out this fall.  For more on Terry and his work:  https://terryoreilly.ca

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But we don’t know what’s true.

Billions of google searches occur daily, thousands of news items are published, hundreds of hours of content are uploaded on youtube, every minute.  Radio, television, news articles, podcasts.  We’re adrift in a storm of information chaos according to researcher Tim Caulfield who’s an expert on evaluating information and evidence.  

He says what we believe to be true and what is actually true can be miles apart.  And that information can be dangerous.  

How do we steer our way clear of misinformation that can mislead and even harm us?   

INFO ON GUEST:

Timothy Caulfield is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta.  

https://www.ualberta.ca/en/law/faculty-and-research/health-law-institute/people/timothycaulfield.html

He’s the author of the new book “The Certainty Illusion: what you don’t know and why it matters.”   https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/authors/255688/timothy-caulfield

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

How you and I move over our lifetime is not only life-changing.  It’s world-changing.  

Think for example about the waves of migration after the two world wars.   They dramatically changed the composition and character of countries.  And migration changed us – our identity -  in the most fundamental way.  

When and why do we move from one place to another?  How has that changed through history and over our lifetimes?  And what will migration look like in the future? 

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion!

INFO ON GUEST:

Michael Haan is an Assoc. Prof. and Director of the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre at Western University. https://sociology.uwo.ca/people/profiles/Haan.html

Research on home ownership among second generation immigrants: https://sociology.uwo.ca/research/research-areas/social-demography-and-migration/researcher-haan.html

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

INFO ON GUEST:
Daryl Haggard is an Assoc. Professor of Physics at the Trottier Space Institute at McGill
University. https://www.dhaggard.physics.mcgill.ca/
She’s also the co-leader of the AXIS mission, a space probe that aims to increase our
understanding of black holes and the evolution of our galaxies. AXIS is one of two
finalists in the NASA $1 billion space probe competition.
For more on AXIS: https://www.mcgill.ca/science/channels/news/mcgill-linked-axis-
mission-one-two-finalists-nasa-selection-process-361498

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Its connection to allergies, auto-immune diseases like lupus and inflammatory bowel disease.  Its relationship to heart disease, cancers – and even mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

Did you know how you were born – whether a vaginal birth or a C-section – affects gut development?   

Whether you went to daycare and how dirty you got as a kid - these too affect the health of your gut microbiome.  

And diet has a major impact on your gut which in turn affects your overall health.

Listen in on a super informative discussion about your “second brain!”

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Deanna Gibson is a microbiologist and professor in the Dept. of Biology at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan campus.  For more info on Deanna and her work:   

https://biology.ok.ubc.ca/about/contact/deanna-gibson/

Here’s a short video about Deanna:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmNfHPE3MFA

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

You may not like the answer. Or maybe you will.

And if you’re working a typical eight hour workday – that’s probably an inefficient way to work according to Dr. Brynn Winegard. 

You could do so much better in terms of productivity and satisfaction.  

Brynn is an applied neuroscientist who’s looked at the evidence around how our brain works and how we work best.  

The results are fascinating and will dispel the myths and beliefs you have about your working brain!

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Brynn Winegard is an applied neuroscientist who focuses on brain health and how we work best.  

She’s part of Faculty at Schulich School of Business and Lang School of Business & Economics

Her new book is called The Working Brain:   Optimize Your Workday Performance.

For more info on Brynn and her work:   https://www.drbrynn.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Their aim was to bring two people in a lab – strangers in fact – closer together by having them answer a series of questions.   But the miraculous thing is that some couples who’ve tried the 36 questions have actually fallen in love!

As in the case of Mandy Len Catron, a Canadian who wrote about her falling-in-love-on-the-first-date experience.  Her essay appeared in the New York Times and became a sensation.  

It’s been over 25 years since the original study was published and I was curious to hear Dr. Arthur Aron’s thoughts on it.  Why do these questions create closeness among two people?  Does it have the same effect on men and women?  Have they discovered anything more powerful at creating intimacy since their original study?  Join me for a surprising conversation on love and keeping passion alive. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. Arthur Aron is a Social Psychologist and Research Professor at Stony Brook University in New York:  https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/faculty/faculty_profiles/aaron  

He’s also an Affiliate at the University of California, Berkeley.  

The 36 questions are in this NY Times column:  

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

Mandy Len Catron’s essay “To Fall In Love with Anyone, Do This:”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/style/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html

Dr. Aron’s study: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167297234003  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And what if there was a “clock” that gave you a more accurate picture of how old, biologically,  you really are?   That’s what’s known as an epigenetic clock.  

Even celeb Kim Kardashian is into it.  She’s 43 but her epigenetic clock says that biologically, she’s more like a 34 year old.  Lucky her.  

There are different kinds of epigenetic clocks that give us a window into our health – and the future.  

There’s even a clock that will tell us when we’ll die!   Sounds creepy right?

But it’s all part of the growing field of epigenetics which microbiologist Michael Kobor researches.  

Whether it’s identifying social influences early on that affect us years down the road or why people who live in Blue Zones have healthier, longer lives, Michael is looking for answers on how we age and how we stay healthy.  Hope you listen to this fascinating conversation! 

INFO ON GUEST:

Michael Kobor is a microbiologist and a Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in Social Epigenetics:    https://biochem.ubc.ca/fac-research/faculty/michael-kobor/

Epigenetics and the Human Life Course:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IhXE5Lfoso

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for men under the age of 50.

Men die by suicide at 3X the rate that women do in North America and elsewhere. 

Why?  What’s going on with men?  And why is there silence around men and suicide?

Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is on a mission to help men and bring more awareness to this issue. 

He created a program at UBC called HeadsUpGuys, a mental health resource designed for men and their families.

If you’re a man who’s finding it difficult to cope, or you have a male in your life - a family member, a friend or a colleague – please listen to this interview.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is a Professor in the Dept of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychotherapy Program at the University of British Columbia https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/john-ogrodniczuk/

Founder of Heads Up Guys, a mental health resource for men: headsupguys.org

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

According to anthropologist Treena Orchard, there’s been a rise in younger men dating older women.

And it’s not just about sex.  

Recent movies like Idea of You starring Ann Hathaway, Lonely Planet with Laura Dern and A Family Affair with Nicole Kidman are reflecting this trend.  

So what’s going on?  What are young men looking for?  What are older women looking for?  And how is this part of the larger scene of people looking for connection and meaning in their lives? 

Treena Orchard has been exploring this and has a lot to say!

She herself ventured into the online dating world, and yes, she had relationships not just with younger men, but all kinds of men.  She gives a frank and revealing take on what she learned.  

Her insights into relationships and the dark side of dating apps is well worth a listen.  

INFO ON GUEST:

Treena Orchard is an anthropologist and Assoc. Professor in the School of Health Studies at Western University:   https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/shs/about/faculty/orchard_t.html

Article on age gap relationships:  https://news.westernu.ca/2024/08/relationships-millennial-gen-z/

She’s also the author of “Sticky, Sexy, Sad:  swipe culture and the darker side of dating apps.”  

Check out her website:  https://treenaorchard.com/

ADD’L INFO:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast, subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  If you like what you hear, please share our podcast with others!   Thanks for listening!

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We explore TRUE crime – not the Hollywood, sensationalized version of true crime  -  but the facts behind real cases with Michael Arntfield.  As a former police officer,  he’s had on-the-ground experience with crime and killers.   And as a renowned criminologist, he speaks with knowledge and insight as to why murder investigations fail, what motivates serial killers and how they operate, and how cold cases have been solved by amateur sleuths. 

This was an eye-opening podcast for me.  You’ll hear the story behind North America’s most prolific serial killer – a name unfamiliar to many people.  And the game changing technology that may make cold cases a thing of the past. 

INFO ON GUEST:

Michael Arntfield is a criminologist and professor at Western University in London, Ontario where he founded the Cold Case Society.  For info on his research and teaching at Western University:  https://www.uwo.ca/english/people/arntfield.html

Michael is also a director at The Murder Accountability Project in Washington:  https://www.murderdata.org/

He’s had numerous television shows on crime and has written over a dozen books including “How to Solve a Cold Case:  And Everything Else You Wanted to Know about Catching Killers.”  https://michaelarntfield.com/

ADD’L INFO

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

War,  political upheaval, unstable economies, and increasing division and hate among people.  Democracy is in trouble according to a number of experts who say we’re heading towards a crisis – if we’re not in one already.

Currently less than 8% of the world’s population live in a full democracy.

 2024 is a pivotal year in elections with the majority of the world’s population going to the polls.

That includes the most anticipated election of all – the U.S. Presidential election in November whose outcome will have global impact. 

Listen to what Lucan Way, an expert on democracy, has to say about the state of democracy in the world - and its future.

INFO ON GUEST:

Lucan Way is a Distinguished Professor of Democracy with the Dept. of Political Science at the University of Toronto.  For more on Lucan and his work:

 https://politics.utoronto.ca/faculty/profile/95/;   

His award winning book, co-authored with Stephen Levitsky, is “Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism” was one of TIME's 33 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2022:

 https://politics.utoronto.ca/publication/revolution-and-dictatorship-the-violent-origins-of-durable-authoritarianism/

ADD’L INFO:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast, subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks a lot for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

If there’s anyone who’s got an informed answer, it’s Dr. Mike Evans. He’s the former Lead of Digital Healthcare for Apple. He ran health experiments and gathered data from a billion users. It’s a fascinating and super informative conversation based on the latest evidence.  

You want to live a healthy, long life?  Listen to what Mike Evans has to say.

Info on Guest:

Dr. Mike Evans is the former Lead of Digital Healthcare for Apple.  He was also an inner city family doctor and professor of medicine in Toronto for twenty-five years.  

For more on Dr. Mike Evans and his health videos:   https://www.youtube.com/@DocMikeEvans

His most popular health video that’s had almost 7 million views:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  You’ll keep up to date on all our fascinating topics.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

I’m talking about the ethical and moral implications.  Do you know where and how your clothes were made?  Is your shampoo filled with toxic chemicals? What kind of additives are in your cereal?  Are the companies behind the brands you purchase good corporate citizens? 

Life is already complicated and we’re confronted with millions of choices everyday.

We’re asked to choose wisely, conscientiously, ethically.  

But are we really making informed choices?  How do we know?  

Aya Aboelenien, a marketing expert, navigates the murky world of ethical marketing.  

Info on Guest:

Aya Aboeleneien is an assistant professor in the Dept of Marketing at HEC Montreal, the graduate school of business at the University of Montreal. For more info on Aya and her work:  https://www.hec.ca/en/profs/aya.aboelenien.html 

Her article on entertainment brands adapting to Gen Alpha: https://theconversation.com/from-barbie-to-thomas-the-tank-engine-how-entertainment-brands-are-adapting-to-generation-alpha-228682

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  You’ll keep up to date on all our fascinating topics.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It’s not an outlandish question – at least not to a growing number of people who are interested in high tech intimacy.   

According to philosopher Neil McArthur, millions of people around the world are already having relationships – and not just with robots – but with chatbots and other forms of A.I.   

And AI is rapidly evolving and becoming more and more sophisticated and human-like in its thinking.    So could our deepest and most meaningful relationships be with A.I. partners?  

What would this mean for the future of human relationships?  Will we still need each other?

Info on Guest:

Neil McArthur is a Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba:   https://umanitoba.ca/arts/neil-mcarthur

Check out his website for articles, interviews and his blog:  https://neilmcarthur.com/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  You’ll keep up to date on all our fascinating topics.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But it’s not – they are not us.

Animals have their own language and their own behaviours which can confound us and leave us scratching our heads.  

Psychologist Suzanne MacDonald has long been fascinated by animals and studies their behaviour to gain more insight into how their worlds work.

Let’s delve into the minds of Rover, Fluffy and a whole host of fascinating animals.  

You won’t look at them the same way again!

Info on Guest:

Suzanne MacDonald is a psychologist who studies animal behaviour (a rare breed!) in the Dept. of Psychology at York University.

For more info about her:  https://health.yorku.ca/health-profiles/index.php?mid=4702

Check out her website and the cute racoon!   https://suzannemacdonald.ca/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Chris Kerr, a physician and palliative care researcher, with his team, interviewed over 1500 patients who were dying – and was amazed by what he heard. 

You’ll hear from some of these patients who are dying.  With very little time left,  they describe with clarity and confidence, a transformative recurring event.  

Truths that were buried are acknowledged.  Those who loved unconditionally are cherished. 

It is a profoundly moving meditation about an experience all of us will face.

Info on Guest:

Dr. Christopher Kerr is a physician and Chief Exec. Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Hospice and Palliative Care of Buffalo in NYState.  He’s a Canadian originally from Toronto.  He’s also the author of “Death Is But A Dream.”  Dr. Kerr’s research is also featured on the Netflix series “ Surviving Death” Episode 5.   For more on him and his work:  https://www.drchristopherkerr.com/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

 Maybe not but a lot of people do.   And not just fans – those people who follow their every move and every word.  Politicians – presidents! - business leaders, economists,  stock market analysts, and yes even academics are interested in the Taylor Swift and Beyonce effects.     

And that’s because their impact is huge.  In terms of the economy,  we’re talking billions of dollars.  And their influence is felt in other ways around the globe.  

Sarah Olutola, a professor at Lakehead University has always been interested in pop culture and digs deep into its history, influence and meaning.  Hear what she has to say about two of the biggest artists in entertainment - Beyonce and Taylor Swift.  

Info on Guest:

Sarah Olutola is an Assistant Professor of Writing, in the Department of English at Lakehead University.  For more info on Sarah and her work:  https://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/O/solutola/node/65634

Check out this article:  https://theconversation.com/the-humiliating-downfall-of-japans-johnny-and-associates-fans-reckon-with-sexual-assault-in-entertainment-214831

Sarah also writes YA novels and children’s books under the pen name Sarah Raughley. 

https://sarahraughley.com/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening! 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

They have views you don’t agree with and make decisions that make no sense. And maybe you even feel irrational people are on the rise.  And that makes you nervous.  

But just who is a rational person?  What constitutes rational thinking?  And can we use this form of thinking to make better decisions and live better lives? 

Let’s turn to a philosopher for answers.  Duncan McIntosh is a Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax and teaches a course on the Theory of Rational Decision.  

Info on Guest:

Duncan McIntosh is a Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax and teaches a course on the Theory of Rational Decision.  To find out more about Duncan’s work: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/philosophy/FacultyandStaff/our-faculty/duncan-macintosh.html

Check out this article on his involvement with the Center for Ethics and Rule of Law:

https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/philosophy/FacultyandStaff/our-faculty/duncan-macintosh.html

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Thanks for listening!

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Women, like men, are also capable of bad behaviour. Very bad behaviour.   

Just look back at the Roman Empire. Women were expected to be good girls, wives and mothers.  But there were notable bad-ass women who stopped at nothing to gain power.

Their stories are shocking and gruesome.  They reveal what happens when power or control is taken away from women.  And what the drive for power can do.

Classics professor Alison Keith gives a fascinating and revealing exploration of human behaviour.  

Info on Guest:

Alison Keith is a Prof. of Classics at Victoria College and Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto.  If you’d like to know more about Alison and her work: https://www.classics.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/alison-keith

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening! 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

There’s war, racial conflict, huge economic disparity, political extremism, growing societal discord.  And of course climate change.  

You wonder – are we on a path to complete self-destruction? 

It’s the ultimate question that researcher Luke Kemp has been studying.   He’s an expert on global catastrophic risk.  He’s looked at the collapse of past civilisations and applies this knowledge to the present day. 

Normally our podcast features the work of Canadian researchers but Luke’s work and ideas were so compelling we wanted to have him on to share his views.  What are the signs that a civilisation is coming to an end? Do we see those signs now?  

What CAN we do about it?

Info on Guest:

Luke Kemp is a Research Affiliate with the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, in the UK.  But currently he’s a faculty fellow with the Notre Dame Inst. for Advanced Studies in Indiana, U.S.A.  For more info on Luke and his research:  https://www.cser.ac.uk/team/luke-kemp/ and https://ndias.nd.edu/fellows/kemp-luke/

Check out his article on the collapse of societies:  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240424-do-societies-civilisations-grow-old-frail-and-vulnerable-to-collapse

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But a number of years ago, the annual physical was replaced with the periodic health exam.  Based on the evidence, the medical profession said an annual checkup wasn’t necessary for everyone and might even be detrimental. 

But even after all these years, not everyone is convinced incl. some doctors.  Why?  And there are still questions among patients - esp. after the pandemic - and what to expect from a periodic health exam, what tests you should be getting, and whether doctor visits should be virtual or in person.

Listen to what family physician and researcher Dr. Aisha Lofters has to say about the pros and cons of the periodic health exam and what you should know before getting one.

Info on Guest:

Dr. Aisha Lofters is a family physician and researcher at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto and Assoc. Prof in the Dept. of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto.  For more info on Dr. Lofters and her work:  https://www.womensacademics.ca/staff-members/aisha-lofters-md-phdaisha-lofters/

https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/43-aisha-lofters

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

You’ll find it everywhere – on social media, online articles, talk shows, documentaries.

And it seems everyone knows someone who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder – or they think they have it themselves!

Even if you know someone who genuinely has NPD.. well then what?

Can you have a successful relationship with them and if not, what are the signs to leave?

This is an important discussion and we invited Dr. Martin Drapeau for some answers.  He’s a clinical psychologist and and professor of Counselling Psychology and Psychiatry at McGill University.

Info on Guest:

Dr. Martin Drapeau is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Counselling Psychology and Psychiatry at McGill University.  For more information on his research and work, please check out these links:

https://www.mcgill.ca/edu-ecp/martin-drapeau

https://www.drmartindrapeau.ca/  Dr. Drapeau also has some helpful videos on his website that cover different aspects of psychotherapy and mental health incl. this one on how to choose a psychotherapist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQNtQA9Lg0

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And on April 8, 2024, at least 30 million people will be able to experience it.  They’ll be plunged into darkness as the moon completely blocks the sun.  Even if you’re not going to experience the eclipse, it’s a fascinating journey of discovery to hear science writer Andrew Fazekas talk about it.  

Andrew explains what we’ll see, the science and history around solar eclipses, and what makes them unique and unforgettable.  

Info on Guest:

Andrew Fazekas is a science writer, broadcaster and lecturer known as the “Night Sky Guy.” He works with National Geographic, CBC Radio and CTV News.  He’s past president of the Montreal Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and author of National Geographic’s “Backyard Guide to the Night Sky.”  For more info on Andrew and his work, check 

out his website:   https://thenightskyguy.com/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Whether it’s a nightmare, a night terror or sleep paralysis, they all happen while we sleep.

But they can feel very real.

Why do we have nightmares, and what does it mean when they recur over and over again?  

Did you know there’s a difference between nightmares and night terrors and when they occur?  Should you awaken a sleepwalker?  And what is sexsomnia?  

So many mystifying questions about what happens while we sleep!

Elizaveta Solomonova has been studying sleep and dreams for many years and sheds light on this puzzling phenomenon we all experience.  

Welcome to your dream world.

Info on Guest:

Elizaveta Solomonova is a cognitive scientist who teaches a course called The Science of Dreams at Concordia University in Montreal.  She’s also a researcher with the Neurophilosophy Lab at McGill University.  For more info:   https://sociabilityofsleep.ca/elizaveta-solomonova/

Cross-cultural sleep & dreams study: https://www.neurophilosophylab.org/s-projects-basic-2

Psychology Today:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/contributors/elizaveta-solomonova-phd

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Think of former U.S. President Donald Trump.  NY financier Bernie Madoff.   Serial killer Paul Bernardo.  

Each of them has at least one of these traits according to a researcher who studies personality disorders.     

And there’s even a fourth dark trait – sadism.  Put them all together and they form a tetrad of the most dangerous qualities a human can possess.

Renowned personality researcher Delroy Paulhus gives a compelling overview of why we have these human traits, how they’re exhibited, and even more shocking - why no one is exempt from any of these behaviours.  

Info on Guest:

Delroy Paulhus is a personality researcher and professor emeritus of the Dept. of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.   For more info:  https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/del-paulhus/

An article on the four “dark personalities”:  https://paulhuslab.psych.ubc.ca/research/dark-personalities/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And one of the most perplexing puzzles that John McPhee is trying to figure out –  is how we move.  

It’s a question that’s fascinated him for most of his life.

And during his 30+ years as a systems design engineer, he’s come up with remarkable achievements:

everything from improving electric and autonomous vehicles,  developing exoskeletons for stroke patients,  and increasing the performance of Olympic  and pro athletes. 

His lab even developed a hockey blade that allows hockey players to skate faster.

As well as a baseball pitching machine that can replicate every baseball pitch ever produced in the last ten years.  Even Garrit Cole’s. 

Canada's leading expert in systems dynamics John McPhee shares his amazing inventions and how he’s advancing the way we move. 

Info on Guest:

John McPhee is the Canada Research Chair in Biomechatronic System Dynamics and Professor in Systems Design Engineering at the U of Waterloo.   In 2021, Stanford University named him among the top 2% of scientists in the world.  

For more on his research and inventions:  https://uwaterloo.ca/systems-design-engineering/profile/mcphee

To watch a video on his work:  https://uwaterloo.ca/systems-design-engineering/contacts/john-mcphee

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Or you’ve been in one bad relationship after another and you want this pattern to stop. You’ve wondered about going for counselling.  But you’re skeptical.  Maybe even scared. Can psychotherapy, or as some people call it – talk therapy - REALLY help??

Who needs it?  What are the different approaches?  And how often do you need to go to benefit? We cover that and a lot more with clinical psychologist Martin Drapeau.  

He’s knowledgeable, thoughtful, and open to discussing some of the troubling issues he’s seeing.  I learned a lot!

Info on Guest:

Dr. Martin Drapeau is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Counselling Psychology and Psychiatry at McGill University.  For more information on his research and work, please check out these links:

https://www.mcgill.ca/edu-ecp/martin-drapeau

https://www.drmartindrapeau.ca/  Dr. Drapeau also has some helpful videos on his website that cover different aspects of psychotherapy and mental health incl. this one on how to choose a psychotherapist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQNtQA9Lg0

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And you can witness this just about anywhere.  On the street with strangers, shopping in a store, when you’re driving – all kinds of rude behaviour.  And you see it with politicians, corporate leaders, celebrities.  And let’s not even get into social media.  

The world seems less welcoming. .. even dangerous.  

What’s happened to good manners, politeness, and behaving respectfully towards others?

We explore the question of bad behaviour,  what it means, and what could be behind it.

Info on Guest:

Mervyn Horgan is a sociologist and professor with the Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph.  For more info:     https://socioanthro.uoguelph.ca/people/mervyn-horgan-0

Sociable Cities Project:  https://www.sociablecities.uoguelph.ca/

The Civil Sphere in Canada: https://csahs.uoguelph.ca/news/2022/05/the-civil-sphere-in-canada

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

There are scary dreams, happy dreams, erotic dreams.. and everyday, run-of-the-mill dreams.  But what do they mean?  

How do we remember them, analyse them, even CONTROL them?  (yes it’s possible) By studying how we sleep and dream we can better understand ourselves and our lives. 

Listen to cognitive scientist Elizaveta Solomonova on the world of dreams. It will open your eyes.   

Info on Guest:

Elizaveta Solomonova is a cognitive scientist who teaches a course called The Science of Dreams at Concordia University in Montreal.  She’s also a researcher with the Neurophilosophy Lab at McGill University.  For more info:   https://sociabilityofsleep.ca/elizaveta-solomonova/

Cross-cultural sleep & dreams study: https://www.neurophilosophylab.org/s-projects-basic-2

Psychology Today:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/contributors/elizaveta-solomonova-phd

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And though he’s witnessed the very worst of human behaviour, he has also witnessed the best.  People willing to sacrifice the greatest gift of all – their life – to help those in need.  

James spent years with the int’l aid organization Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) that received the Nobel Peace Prize under his leadership in 1999.  Today he’s director of the Dadaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University.

He continues to work for a better tomorrow – for everyone.

Info on Guest:

Dr. James Orbinski is a medical doctor, humanitarian, activist, and currently the Director of the Dadaleh Inst. for Global Health Research and York University in Toronto.  Dr. Orbinski received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Médecins sans Frontières in 1999 when he was President.  

For more on his background:  https://www.yorku.ca/dighr/person/james-orbinski/

He is also the author of the bestseller “An Imperfect Offering:  Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century.”  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/124758/an-imperfect-offering-by-james-orbinski/9780385660709  A must read book!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But there’s actually a science around happiness and some answers as to what makes us happy.

Some of the findings seem obvious.  But others may be surprising including the fact that many people think they know what makes them happy.  But they’re wrong.  

Are you one of them?

Info on Guest:

Lara Aknin is a social psychologist and a professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University.  She’s also a co-editor for the United Nations World Happiness Report which comes out every year.  For more info on Lara and her work:

https://www.sfu.ca/psychology/about/people/current-faculty/laknin.html;

Lara’s Helping and Happiness Lab:  https://www.sfu.ca/psychology/research/hhl.html

The UN’s World Happiness Report:  https://worldhappiness.report/

Add’l Info:  

Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  And if you’d like to check out our website:  https://cramideas.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Obligations to family, responsibilities at work, commitments to friends and so on.    And it’s all a race against the clock.  

As a society,  we seem to be stressed out.  

And what makes this dilemma even more problematic is that stress is contagious!  That’s right.  The research on this is fascinating.  Just listen to neuroscientist Jaideep Bains.  

We take a deep dive into our brains to find out what’s happening to us when we’re on stress overload.

Info on Guest:

Jaideep Bains is a neuroscientist,  Director of of the Krembil Research Institute and Senior Scientist at the Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network in Toronto.  He’s also a Professor in the Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary.  For more info on Jaideep’s work:  https://www.uhnresearch.ca/researcher/jaideep-bains 

and https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/jaideep-bains.  
and https://stressynomicslab.ca/

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  And if you’d like to check out our website:  https://cramideas.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Here’s one: You believe you’re the star of a movie and that your life is being watched and recorded.  Every second of it.  And everyone around you – your family, friends, even strangers – they’re in on it.  This is your life and it’s hell.

This unusual mental disorder, dubbed The Truman Show syndrome (after the movie starring Jim Carrey), was observed by psychiatrist Joel Gold in a number of patients.  He along with his brother, neurophilosopher Ian Gold wrote about it.  

On this podcast, Ian Gold explores this disorder and other kinds of delusions. The Truman Show syndrome is a serious condition.  But what about delusions a lot of people seem to have –  who aren’t necessarily mentally ill?  How and why does this happen?

Is this someone you know?  Could it be you?

Info on Guest:

Ian Gold is a neurophilosopher.  He’s a Professor of philosophy and psychiatry,  and Chair of the Dept. of Philosophy at McGill University.  For more info about his work and research, check out these links:  https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/faculty/iangold

Ian Gold’s lab:   https://www.neurophilosophylab.org/

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  And if you’d like to check out our website:  https://cramideas.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

It’s such an incredible story that I reached out to Dr. Howard Chertkow, a cognitive neurologist. I wanted to find out how this could happen, and to explore more about memory’s function, how we can preserve it, and how it affects who we are.  

Info on Guest:

Dr. Howard Chertkow is a cognitive neurologist and Chair in Cognitive Neurology and Innovation at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, and senior scientist with the Rotman Research Institute:

https://www.baycrest.org/Baycrest/Research-Innovation/People/Researchers/Scientists/Dr-Howard-Chertkow

Dr. Chertkow on reducing your risk of dementia:  https://www.facebook.com/baycrestcentre/videos/15-things-you-can-do-now-to-reduce-your-risk-of-dementia-11-protect-your-heart/254144695551740/

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  And if you’d like to check out our website:  https://cramideas.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

But what is truly frightening in our lives?  Perhaps it’s something far deeper and darker.  A haunting that you can’t run away from in the light of day or even while you sleep.

Suzette Mayr has thought a lot about what haunts us as a writer and teacher - how it can prey on us, unsettle and unravel us, and even destroy us.  

I loved this far ranging, imaginative conversation on haunted houses (she lived in one), why we run to and away from horror, and what it means when you are “the monster” or the other.  

And yes she believes in ghosts.  

Info on Guest:

Suzette Mayr is the award winning author of six novels incl. The Sleeping Car Porter which won the Giller Prize in 2022.   She’s also a Professor of English at the Univ. of Calgary.  https://english.ucalgary.ca/profiles/suzette-mayr

For more info on Suzette and her work:  https://www.suzettemayr.com/

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  And if you’d like to check out our website:  https://cramideas.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

If there’s anyone who’s thought deeply about this topic, it’s Waller Newell, a professor of political science and political philosophy at Carleton University.

Listen to this compelling conversation by one of the leading authorities on tyrants and tyranny and his concerns about the state of the world today.

Info on Guest:

Waller Newell is a professor of political science and political philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa.  He’s also the author of seven books including three on tyrants and tyranny.  He’s currently a visiting faculty fellow and professor at the Hamilton Center for Civic and Classical Education at the University of Florida.  For more information on Waller, his books and other work:  https://www.wallernewell.com/

https://carleton.ca/bhum/people/waller-newell/

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Lifestyle factors such as what you eat and whether you exercise can affect your risk of cancer by as much as 50%!!

But there’s so much confusing info when it comes to food.  And we all want that magic bullet.

One week it’s tofu.  Then it’s acai.  Then it’s goji berries.   

We try the latest dieting craze hoping it’ll make us healthier and give us a longer life.

But it’s time to separate fact from fiction.  

Listen to nutrition expert Rachel Murphy who’s got the hard evidence on food and its relationship to cancer.   

Get the lowdown before you eat another edamame!!!

Info on Guest:

 Rachel Murphy is a nutrition scientist and an Ass’t Prof. School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, UBC.  For more info on Rachel and her work, check out these links:

 https://www.bccrc.ca/dept/ccr/people/rachel-murphy  and https://spph.ubc.ca/faculty/rachel-murphy/

Add’l Info:

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

And their worries seem all encompassing:  school, relationships, jobs, money, their health, the economy, the environment, global instability. They worry about their future and the future of the planet. 

I’m sure my friends and I had similar worries when we were young but I’m not sure our worries were as many and as consuming as they are for today’s young people.  

What’s going on and what can we do about it?  We take a deep dive into this issue with Jo Henderson, a clinical psychologist who’s worked with many children and young adults. 

If you’re a Millennial or GenZ,  or a parent of one, you’ll want to hear this conversation. 

Info on Guest:

Dr. Jo Henderson is a clinical psychologist and Director of the Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health at the CAMH in Toronto.  For more info on Dr. Henderson: 

https://www.camh.ca/en/science-and-research/science-and-research-staff-directory/joannahenderson

Add’l Info:

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

You might think working remotely is easier and more productive.  And maybe it is. You have control over your day.   And as far as relationships go, let’s just text or maybe zoom. Less complicated.  But are we losing something important?  As messy as life can be, it’s the messiness that makes us human and gives meaning to our lives.   A.I. is not messy.

 So we’d like to replay this podcast from a year ago as we think it’s especially relevant today.

 How vital is serendipity to your life?

 Info on Guest:

Anabel Quan-Haase is a Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and the Dept. of Sociology at Western University.  For more information about Anabel and her work:  https://sociology.uwo.ca/people/profiles/Quan-Haase.htm

 Add’l Info:

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

What do you think of when you hear the term baby boomers, millennials or any other generation?  They bring to mind a specific group of people who share a common set of characteristics.

Competitive, selfish, innovative?  Oh those are Baby Boomers,

Lazy, self-entitled, environmentally conscious?  Got to be Millennials.

Anxious, unfocussed and multi-tasking?  You’re talking GenZ.   

Every generation has certain characteristics that have been ascribed to them. But is there any truth to these descriptions?  Listen to what sociologist Lisa Strohschein says!

Info on Guest:

Lisa Strohschein is a Professor in the Dept. of Sociology at the University of Alberta.  She is one of the  coauthors of the textbook “Sociology: Your Compass in a New Social World” which comes out in Feb. 2024.  For more info on Lisa and her work, go to https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/las5.

Add’l Info: 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

As humans, we form tribes or groups we belong to.  And they can be divisive and lead to rejection, isolation, and violence to those on the “outside.”   

But tribalism can also mean family, community, solidarity. 

David Samson is an evolutionary anthropologist who studies our “tribe drive.”  How does it work and what do we gain or lose from it?  How can it explain heroic acts done for strangers?  And can it be used for the good of the human race, rather than something that pits us against each other? 

A fascinating and timely conversation on one of the most important aspects of human nature.  

Info on Guest:

David Samson is an evolutionary anthropologist with the Dept. of Anthropology at the University of Toronto.  He’s also the author of “Our Tribal Future:  How to channel our foundational human instincts into a force for good.”      

For more on David Samson’s work:  https://davidrsamson.com/

University of Toronto site:  https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/anthropology/people/david-samson

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  Thanks for listening!  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Very few people have led the life that Thupten Jinpa Langri has experienced. 

At 11 years of age, he entered a Buddhist monastery after his parents fled Tibet and became refugees in southern India.  

Soon after he met the Dalai Lama who noticed the brilliance and curiosity of this young student.  It was the start of a life-long relationship.  He’s been the Dalai Lama’s interpreter for almost forty years and translator of many of his books.  

Jinpa eventually left monastic life and has become a world renowned scholar, researcher, speaker and writer on Tibetan Buddhism and the vital role of empathy and compassion in our lives.   

I recently had a chance to interview this remarkable man at the 2023 Roots of Empathy Symposium in Toronto.  

Here’s my conversation with him on what it means to live a meaningful life… and death. 

Info on Guest:

Thupten Jinpa Langri is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, researcher and interpreter for the Dalai Lama.  He is the Founder and President of The Compassion Institute,  an adjunct professor at the School of Religious Studies at McGill University, and visiting research scholar at the Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences.  He’s the author of several books incl. “A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to be Compassionate can Transform Our lives.”

For more info on his work:    

https://www.mcgill.ca/religiousstudies/people/emeritus-and-affiliated-faculty/thupten-jinpa-0

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.  A special thank you to Roots of Empathy and Thupten Jinpa Langri for permission to use this broadcast.  

To view the full broadcast of the 2023 ROE symposium, go to:   https://youtu.be/SfaEeVSMSVs

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

They’ve seen all kinds of specialists.  They’ve tried all kinds of therapies and drugs.  They’ve even had surgery.  But they still have pain.  

Doctors have told them it’s “all in your head.”   It’s not.

That’s according to Dr. Andrea Furlan, a pain specialist who’s made it her life’s work to research the mechanisms of chronic pain and what actually works to alleviate it.  

She’s been one of our most popular interviews and we’ve asked her back to talk about her new book: “8 Steps to Conquer Chronic Pain.”

Yes there is hope.  

Info on Guest:

Andrea Furlan is a physician, and senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute; scientist at the Inst. For Work & Health; and senior scientist at the KITE Research Inst., University Health Network.  She’s the author of “8 Steps to Conquer Chronic Pain: A Doctor’s Guide to Lifelong Relief.” 

Check out Andrea’s videos on pain on her youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnFys9ZXBE0uyDhKHUi-dA

Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We can live together – cohabit.  Or we can live apart but have some kind of commitment, or understanding, or arrangement.  There are so many options for people in relationships today. 

Why do we need the stamp of marriage?

Take this unexpected and eye-popping journey through the history of marriage and discover why people around the globe have said – and continue to say - “I do!” 

Award winning historian Elizabeth Abbott looks at some of our strangest customs:  from babies being betrothed, to couples marrying themselves to people marrying others who aren’t even alive.   

You’ll never look at marriage the same way again!

 Info on Guest:

Elizabeth Abbot is a historian and Senior Research Associate in the Arts with Trinity College at the University of Toronto.  She’s the award winning author of a number of books incl. A History of Marriage, A History of Celibacy, A History of Mistresses, and Sugar: A Bittersweet History.  For more info on Elizabeth and her work:  https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/directory/abbott-elizabeth/

 Add’l Info:

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

There are very few people who’ve experienced life like James Orbinski - doctor, humanitarian, activist .  He’s had unforgettable experiences on the front lines of aid:  Somalia during its civil war and famine, Afghanistan as the Taliban came to power, and Rwanda during its horrific genocide.  

And though he’s witnessed the very worst of human behaviour, he has also witnessed the best.  People willing to sacrifice the greatest gift of all – their life – to help those in need.  

James spent years with the int’l aid organization Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) that received the Nobel Peace Prize under his leadership in 1999.  Today he’s director of the Dadaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University.

He continues to work for a better tomorrow – for everyone.

Info on Guest:

Dr. James Orbinski is a medical doctor, humanitarian, activist, and currently the Director of the Dadaleh Inst. for Global Health Research and York University in Toronto.  Dr. Orbinski received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Médecins sans Frontières in 1999 when he was President.  

For more on his background:  https://www.yorku.ca/dighr/person/james-orbinski/

He is also the author of the bestseller “An Imperfect Offering:  Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century.”  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/124758/an-imperfect-offering-by-james-orbinski/9780385660709  A must read book!  

Additional Info:

Dr. Orbinski is the keynote speaker at the Roots of Empathy int’l symposium on June 20, 2023.

The symposium is in person and virtual. For more info:  https://rootsofempathy.org/2023-symposium/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

There’s all the talk around chatbots like ChatGPT.   These LLMs (large language models) can write code, lawyer a document, train a doctor, plan a military operation.   Its uses seem limitless.  Scary, right?

So what’s next?

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence,  is warning us of the possible “end of people.”   But other experts say these doomsday scenarios are overblown,

Acclaimed sci-fi writer Robert J. Sawyer has been writing about the possibilities of A.I. for years.  Listen to this fascinating conversation on the future of A.I., whether he believes it can develop consciousness,  and what could be the outcome for humankind. 

Info on Guest:

Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's most popular and prolific science fiction writers. He’s the only Canadian to have won all three top international awards for science fiction:  the Nebula, the Hugo, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. His most recent book is “The Oppenheimer Alternative.”   Rob will soon be releasing his 25th book called The Downloaded.  For more info on Rob’s work, visit his website at https://www.sfwriter.com/.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

“You are equipped with the versatility and the tools to overcome practically any obstacle that prevents you from being healthy.”

  That’s according to Alex Jadad.  It sounds incredible but Dr. Jadad believes you can feel healthy despite having illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, even cancer.  He’s conducted large scale health studies and consulted with heads of states and leading organizations for many years.  Dr. Jadad is the co-author of “Healthy No Matter What.” 

This is an eye opening interview that challenges long held beliefs about what health is and how we achieve it.  If the status quo is no longer working for you, you need to listen to this podcast!  

Info on Guest:

Alex Jadad is a physician, researcher, innovator and philosopher.  He’s also the co-author, along with his daughter Tamen Jadad-Garcia of “Healthy No Matter What: How Humans are Hardwired to Adapt.” He is the founder of the Centre for Digital Therapeutics in Toronto, a simulator to design and develop prototypes of the future. He is also the creator of the Jadad Scale, the most widely used tool in the world to assess the quality of controlled clinical trials, and the author of 12 books and hundreds of scientific publications.   In 2021 he became one of the members of the global Public Health Leadership Coalition, which focuses on finding answers to the most pressing challenges for the health of humanity.
For more information on Alex: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jadad

Check out his article on toxic stress load in TIME: https://time.com/6255795/toxic-stress-life-expectancy-how-to-reduce/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

What do all these failures have in common?  And is there actually a formula for success?

Bent Flyvbjerg, a Danish researcher who studies mega projects around the world thinks there is a way for projects to come in on budget, on time and on vision.  He along with Canadian journalist Dan Gardner have co-authored a new book called “How Big Things Get Done.”  

This is one of the most informative books I’ve read this year and I’m really excited to share this interview with you.   You will never look at big (or small) projects the same way again!

Info on Guest:

Dan Gardner is a Canadian journalist, Honorary Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and Int’l Affairs at the University of Ottawa, and best selling author of four books including his latest with coauthor Bent Flyvbjerg, “How Big Things Get Done.”  For more info on Dan including his books and articles, visit his website https://www.dangardner.ca/.  

For more info on Bent Flyvbjerg, a Danish economics geographer and professor emeritus with the University of Oxford:  https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/bent-flyvbjerg

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

To know our identity and where we came from has been a powerful driving force.  And it was a force in Norma Dunning, a professor at the University of Alberta,  to find out about her Inuit heritage that was never spoken about in her family.

Norma spent years doing research that revealed practices of a colonial system that had devastating consequences for her ancestors.  One such practice was known as the Eskimo Disc System whose impact is still felt today.

Norma’s story highlights a little known part of Canadian history.  In her search for the answer of “who am I?” it also raises the troubling question of “who are we?” to Canadians.

Info on Guest:

Norma Dunning is an Ass’t Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.  She’s written several books and is the Governor General’s Award winner for “Tainna: The Unseen Ones”

Her latest book is called “Kinauvit: What’s Your Name?”  The Eskimo Disc System and A Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother.”  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

They have views you don’t agree with and make decisions that make no sense. And maybe you even feel irrational people are on the rise.  And that makes you nervous.  

But just who is a rational person?  What constitutes rational thinking?  And can we use this form of thinking to make better decisions and live better lives? 

Let’s turn to a philosopher for answers.  Duncan MacIntosh is a Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax and teaches a course on the Theory of Rational Decision.  

Info on Guest:

Duncan MacIntosh is a Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax and teaches a course on the Theory of Rational Decision.  To find out more about Duncan’s work: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/philosophy/FacultyandStaff/our-faculty/duncan-macintosh.html

Check out this article on his involvement with the Center for Ethics and Rule of Law:

https://www.dal.ca/news/2015/08/24/-in-the-tank---how-duncan-macintosh-brings-real-world-debates-to.html

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Sarah Bay-Cheng is a lover of cinema.  Join us for an insightful and entertaining look at the meaning of movies and their impact from the 70’s to today.

Info on Guest:

Sarah Bay-Cheng is the Dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, and Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at York University. For more on Sarah’s background: https://ampd.yorku.ca/profile/sarah-bay-cheng/   Her website:  https://sarahbaycheng.net/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

So how does our perception of beauty develop?  Why does it differ from one person to the next?  And how does it change over time?

These are questions that Daphne Maurer, an experimental psychologist, has been exploring for over three decades with her husband, science writer Charles Maurer.  Hear about the fascinating studies she’s done that can help explain the way we see ourselves and the world.

Info on Guest:

Daphne Maurer is an experimental psychologist;  a Professor Emeritus in psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour with McMaster University.  She and her husband science writer Charles Maurer are the authors of “Pretty Ugly: Why We Like Some Songs, Faces, Foods, Plays, Pictures, Poems, etc. - and Dislike Others.”

More about Daphne Maurer and her work: https://experts.mcmaster.ca/display/maurer

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

So is there anything wrong with that?

Philosopher Carrie Jenkins thinks so.  She believes THAT romantic ideal can be limiting and even damaging to ourselves and our relationships.  In her new book called “Sad Love:  Romance and the Search for Meaning” she offers a new approach to the “happily ever after” tale.   

Info on Guest:

Carrie Jenkins is a professor in the Dept. of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia.  She’s the author of “Sad Love:  Romance and the Search for Meaning,” and other books including “What Love Is:  And What It Could Be” and the novel “Victoria Sees It.”  

For more info on her research and work, check out these links:  https://www.carriejenkins.net/

and https://philosophy.ubc.ca/profile/carrie-jenkins/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   And check out our literary podcast, Passage to Wonderland.  Compelling passages from books, old and new, about discovery, insight and revelation. To give you a sense of completion at the end of your busy day.  Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Music is found in every culture around the world.  Are there universal aspects to the way music is expressed and in the way we respond? Why do some people love one kind of music, say jazz,  while others love pop?  Why do we feel the need to move or dance when we hear a particular piece of music?  And what is the potential of music to heal? 

So many fascinating questions to explore with cognitive neuroscientist Robert Zatorre who’s

spent much of his life trying to solve some of the mysteries of music by studying its effects on the brain.  

Info on Guest:

Robert Zatorre is Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and a Professor in the Dept. of Psychology at McGill University.  For more on Robert and his work at McGill:    https://www.mcgill.ca/neuro/robert-zatorre-phd  For more on the Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory:  https://www.zlab.mcgill.ca/  

We really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Timothy Caulfield is the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, and professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. He’s the author of five books including his latest “Relax: A Guide to Everyday Health Decisions with More Facts and Less Worry.”  

For more on Tim’s work:  

https://www.ualberta.ca/law/faculty-and-research/health-law-institute/people/timothycaulfield.html

*And congratulations to Tim who was recently named a Member of the Order of Canada!

We really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

 Info on Guests:

Renee Hlozek is a cosmologist with the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at U of T.   She studies the greatest puzzle of all - the universe, its structure and eventual fate.  Renee is also an Azrieli Global Scholar with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a Senior TED Fellow.  For more on Renee’s work: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/dunlap-people/prof-renee-hlozek/

Watch her TED-ed video “The Death of the Universe:”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSzCS_5qtVY

Maydianne Andrade is an evolutionary biologist in the Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto – Scarborough who’s an expert on black widow spiders.  She’s also the founder of The Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence (TIDE), and the cofounder and president of The Canadian Black Scientists Network.  

For more on Maydianne’s work:  https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/biosci/maydianne-andrade  

The Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence:  https://www.toronto-tide.ca/about-us/

Canadian Black Scientists Network:  https://blackscientists.ca/

Ronald Diebert is a political scientist and Director of The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, U of T.  Their work has been at the forefront of landmark research into cyber espionage, commercial spyware, internet censorship and human rights.   

For more on Ron’s work:  https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/person/ron-deibert

The Citizen Lab:  https://citizenlab.ca/

His latest article “The Autocrat in your iPhone:  How mercenary spyware threatens democracy:  

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/autocrat-in-your-iphone-mercenary-spyware-ronald-deibert

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support.  

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

 Info on Guest:

Robert Sawyer is one of Canada's most popular and prolific science fiction writers. He’s the only Canadian to have won all three top international awards for science fiction:  the Nebula, the Hugo, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. His most recent book is The Oppenheimer Alternative.   Rob is releasing his 25th book called The Downloaded in March of 2023 on Audible.   The print version will be out in the fall.  For more info on Rob’s book and other work, visit his website at https://www.sfwriter.com/.

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Nina-Marie Lister is a Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning,  and Director of the Ecological Design Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University.  She’s also a Visiting Professor with the Graduate School of Design at Harvard.  For more information on her work: 

https://www.torontomu.ca/school-of-urban-and-regional-planning/about/people/faculty/nina-marie-lister/  Her Ecological Design Lab:  https://ecologicaldesignlab.ca/ 

Plandform:  https://plandform.com/ 

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Stephen Hart is a Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University and Director of the Terrorism, Risk and Security Studies Program.  His expertise is in the field of clinical-forensic psychology, with a special focus on the assessment of violence risk and psychopathic personality disorder.  For more info on his work: http://www.sfu.ca/psyc/faculty/hart/Hart,_SFU_Website/

Book recommendation:   “Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us” by Robert D. Hare

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Kang Lee is a professor in applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute For Studies in Education.  He studies moral development and the development of lying in children and young adults.  For more on his work:  https://www.kangleelab.com/

Check out this video that’s had more than 11 million views on whether you can tell if a child is lying:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6diqpGKOvic

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Sharon Wright is a professor of late medieval history and the Director of Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies at the Univ. of Saskatchewan. For more on Sharon’s research 

https://artsandscience.usask.ca/profile/SWright  Publications include: 

“Everyday Magicians: Legal Records and Magic Manuscripts from Tudor England”

https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09393-2.html

“The Magic of Rouges: Necromancers in Early Tudor England”

https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08929-4.html

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

When former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize, he referred to a meeting with Adam Kahane as one of the most significant events in the country’s search for peace.  Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela also credited Kahane’s work in helping his country post-apartheid.  

How do you collaborate with the enemy?  How do you work with people you don’t like or trust?

Adam Kahane talks about how it’s possible for organizations, governments, and workplaces to achieve this.  

Info on Guest:

Adam Kahane is a Director of Reos Partners, an international social enterprise that assists people in moving forward together on important and intractable issues.  For more info on Adam and the work that Reos does:  www.reospartners.com  Adam’s books include:  “Facilitating Breakthrough” and “Collaborating with the Enemy.”            

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

You may think of it as a happy accident or an unexpected outcome that’s good. And though it gives you pleasure, you may see it as random and something not worth thinking about.  

But sociologist Anabel Quan-Hasse says serendipity plays a very important role in our lives. And she’s concerned that we’re losing opportunities for serendipity – especially in our online lives.  Why is this happening?  And what exactly do we lose?  

Info on Guest:

Anabel Quan-Haase is a Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and the Dept. of Sociology at Western University.  For more information about Anabel and her work:  https://sociology.uwo.ca/people/profiles/Quan-Haase.htm

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

And check out our literary podcast, Passage to Wonderland.  Compelling passages from books, old and new, about discovery, insight and revelation. To give you a sense of completion at the end of your busy day.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Jim is a cognitive scientist and Director of the Science of Imagination Lab at Carleton University in Ottawa.  https://carleton.ca/cognitivescience/people/davies-jim/

He’s also the author of several books including “Being the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are” and the cohost of the award winning podcast “Minding The Brain.”

For more info on Jim and his work: http://www.jimdavies.org/

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

And check out our literary podcast, Passage to Wonderland.  Compelling passages from books, old and new, about discovery, insight and revelation. To give you a sense of completion at the end of your busy day.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

An eye-opening exploration of black beauty culture in North America – and its ties to colonialism, slavery, political unrest, power and money.  

Communications researcher Cheryl Thompson gives us a fascinating and unique lesson in history – examining social, political and economic influences on black women and what’s been perceived as “beautiful.”  What is beautiful and why?  Thompson wants us to examine our own beliefs about beauty and where they come from.  

Cheryl Thompson, is an Ass’t Professor in the School of Performance at Toronto Metropolitan University.  She’s the author of Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada’s Black Beauty Culture as well as Uncle: Race, Nostalgia and the Politics of Loyalty.  For more on Cheryl and her work:  https://www.drcherylthompson.com/about

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

And check out our literary podcast, Passage to Wonderland.  Compelling passages from books, old and new, about discovery, insight and revelation. To give you a sense of completion at the end of your busy day.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Some of us rarely think about these questions – if ever.   Others have pondered them deeply over the millennia.  Like philosopher Chris Howard.   He believes there is value in the examined life.  

Info on Guest:

Chris Howard is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Philosophy at McGill University.  

https://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/chris-howard

For more on his research and work, check out his website: 

http://www.chrismhoward.com/

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Could you?  

We delve into the fascinating world of personality and its possibilities with Brian Little, a pioneer in the study of human personality and well-being.  

Info on Guest:

Brian Little is a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at Carleton University, and has taught at many schools including Oxford, Cambridge, McGill, and Harvard where graduating classes voted him Favourite Professor.  He is the 2020 winner of the Henry A. Murray Award for distinguished research on the study of lives awarded by the Assoc. for Research in Personality. 

For more info check out his website:  https://www.brianrlittle.com/

Carleton University:  https://carleton.ca/psychology/people/brian-little/

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Kristen Mark is a Canadian sex and relationship researcher, a professor at the Inst. For Sexual and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota.  

For more on Kristen:  https://med.umn.edu/bio/familymed/kristen-mark

Her website:  http://www.kristenmark.com/

We appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast.  And subscribe and follow us on social!  @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Sex and relationship researcher Kristen Mark explores what’s out there – and the possibilities.

Info on Guest:

Kristen Mark is a Canadian sex and relationship researcher, a professor at the Inst. For Sexual and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota.  

For more on Kristen:  https://med.umn.edu/bio/familymed/kristen-mark

Her website:  http://www.kristenmark.com/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

And check out our literary podcast, Passage to Wonderland.  Compelling passages from books, old and new, about discovery, insight and revelation. To give you a sense of completion at the end of your busy day.

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.

CRAM is a registered charity, and Canadian donors will receive a tax receipt. Help us share the research that matters and donate using the link below. Thank you!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/124993 

Info on Guest:

Simon Sherry is a psychologist and Professor in the Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University, and an internationally recognized expert on perfectionism.  

For more on his work:   https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/psychology_neuroscience/faculty-staff/our-faculty/simon-sherry.html

For info on his clinical practice:  https://cruxpsychology.ca/team/simon-b-sherry/

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas.   Our thanks to the Temerty Foundation for their generous support. 

We’d really appreciate your support!  Please rate our podcast and subscribe and follow us on social @CRAMideas. 

Support the CRAM Podcast!
Research shapes our lives, yet so much of it doesn’t reach the public. CRAM bridges the gap, bringing groundbreaking Canadian research to everyone. To keep this important work going, we need your support.