Ideas Folgen

Numbers get their due credit in this podcast. Even if we're not aware of them, numbers are essential to how we experience the world. IDEAS explores the most bizarre, surprising, mind-blowing and fundamental numbers in the universe.This panel discussion was recorded live at The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario.Guests in this episode:Asimina Arvanitaki is a particle physicist and the aristarchus chair in theoretical physics at the Perimeter Institute.Ben Webster is an associate professor in the pure mathematics department at the University of Waterloo, and he’s also an associate faculty member at the Perimeter Institute.Matthew Johnson is a professor of physics and astronomy at York University, and he's also an associate faculty member at the Perimeter Institute.

For the past decade, Canadians have been split 50/50 on new pipelines — that's changed. Two recent opinion polls found roughly three quarters of eligible voters in Canada want at least one new pipeline built to export more fossil fuels. Yet, 70 per cent of people consider climate change a serious threat. IDEAS producer Tom Howell explores the incompatibilities and future scenarios. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 7, 2025.If you liked this episode, you may want to listen to this podcast: A machine that could save us from war — and global warming

Alexandria has been the source of invention, innovation, and beauty for millennia — capturing the imagination of Napoleon, the Prophet Muhammad and, of course, Alexander the Great. He envisioned a place that thrived on cultural, intellectual, economic, political and religious exchange. IDEAS examines the big ideas of this port city in Egypt with Islam Issa, author of Alexandria: The City That Changed the World.Part three in our ongoing series about how port cities shaped the world as we know it.Listen to Part Two: How port cities of Elmina shaped the worldListen to Part One: How port cities like Singapore shaped the world