Ideas for a New Century »

Bernie Lucht has been the executive producer of Ideas since 1984. He is also the executive producer of Tapestry, the Sunday afternoon program of religious and spiritual exploration. Born and raised in Montreal, he earned a BA from Concordia University in 1966. That same year, he joined the CBC as a producer for Radio-Canada International, and in 1969 went on to produce Cross-Country Checkup. Later that year, Lucht left for West Africa to work as a CUSO volunteer teacher in rural Nigeria. He returned to Canada in 1971, starting work as a production assistant at Ideas, then rising to become the program's executive producer in 1984. Under his direction, Ideas has won many national and international awards.

An electrifying collection of thought-provoking interviews from recent broadcasts of CBC Radio's Ideas. In these remarkable dialogues — most of them in the company of Ideas host Paul Kennedy — some of the great intellectuals of our time reflect, interject, and project on the course of human civilization, addressing topics such as social engineering and human rights, the directions of science and technology, the influence of art, music, and literature, and the quest for truth. Compiled and edited by Bernie Lucht, this volume explores the ideas of nineteen inspiring international and Canadian thinkers, including Louise Arbour, David Schindler, Jerome Kagan, John Gray, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Lenore Tiefer, Nat Hentoff, Theodore Dalrymple, Mark Lilla, and many others.

The "Idea" of the Interview Paul Kennedy Kennedy, Paul 9

Introduction Bernie Lucht Lucht, Bernie 11

1

What Is an Idea Lister Sinclair Sinclair, Lister 19

2 The Culture of Society

Radical Imperfection John Gray Gray, John 57

Political Theology Mark Lilla Lilla, Mark 77

Novelty and Coherence Jerome Kagan Kagan, Jerome 97

The "Vulgarity" Correspondent Theodore Dalrymple Dalrymple, Theodore 116

Cognitive Dissonance Elliot Aronson Aronson, Elliot 139

Phallocentrism Leonore Tiefer Tiefer, Leonore 158

3 Canada and the World

Breaking the Bargain Donald Savoie Savoie, Donald 181

Mission Possible Anne Golden Golden, Anne 202

From Charity to Entitlement Louise Arbour Arbour, Louise 224

4 The Eye, The Word, and The Ear

The Light that Filled the Bed Mary Pratt Pratt, Mary 249

A Beautiful Nasty World Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Yuxweluptun, Lawrence Paul 268

Freedom and All that Jazz Nat Hentoff Hentoff, Nat 283

5 Futures

We Do Invention Here Stewart Brand Brand, Stewart 305

Immortality Guaranteed Ray Kurzweil Kurzweil, Ray 325

Research without Walls Joseph Martin Martin, Joseph 347

Hooked on Water David Schindler Schindler, David 366

6

Three Great Ideas Peter Watson Watson, Peter 387