Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchMassey Lecture Part 4 | How people power makes human rights real
Eleanor Roosevelt once said that universal human rights begin in “small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world.” In his fourth Massey Lecture, …
Published on 2 weeks ago
Massey Lecture Part 3 | Human rights don’t have to be earned
Our inherent human rights belong to us from the moment we are born. There is nothing we need to do to earn them, and they are supposed to apply to us until the day we die. But in his third Massey Lec…
Published on 2 weeks, 1 day ago
Massey Lecture Part 2 | The six years that remade human rights
The ideals behind the concept of human rights — such as the sacredness of life, reciprocity, justice and fairness — have millennia-old histories. After the carnage of the Second World War and the Hol…
Published on 2 weeks, 2 days ago
Massey Lecture Part 1 | Renewing the promise of human rights
Universality is the core promise of human rights: these rights extend to everyone, everywhere. But above all else, this is where we have failed. In his first CBC Massey Lecture, Alex Neve explores ho…
Published on 2 weeks, 3 days ago
The people who inspire Alex Neve to fight for human rights
When he was eight, 2025 CBC Massey Lecturer Alex Neve watched his mother fight for daycare in Alberta. It’s shaped how he thinks about human rights. Ahead of his Massey Lectures next week, Neve share…
Published on 3 weeks ago
Buttons give the illusion of power but hide the consequences
Whether mechanical or digital, a button delivers the promise of power — but it's far from simple. The small and mighty technology has a riveting history, a story of control, power, freedom and oppres…
Published on 3 weeks ago
How overlooked veterans make history in their own words
There’s history, and then there’s oral history. And when it comes to the impacts of war on those who fight them — oral history opens doors to the past that would otherwise stay firmly shut. Michael P…
Published on 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Why Canadian veterans are conflicted about Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day. Every year we are called on to remember, to reflect on the sacrifices of those who fought in Canada’s wars. Veterans of those wars have a conflicted relationship with Remembrance Day…
Published on 3 weeks, 2 days ago
Not a war story. This is about what comes after for veterans
Even when wars end, they go on — transforming the people who fought them, their families, and even society. A former war correspondent interviewed more than 200 veterans of all of Canada’s wars for a…
Published on 3 weeks, 3 days ago
What it takes to become a ruthless tyrant
Look back about 3,000 years and you will find the playbook on authoritarianism remains pretty much the same as it is today. Back in the 5th century BCE, when Herodotus travelled the ancient world gat…
Published on 3 weeks, 6 days ago