Ideas

You likely have never heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage. Gloria Steinem calls her “the woman ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.” Matilda worked side by side with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to get women the vote in the United States and co-wrote the history of the women’s movement with them. IDEAS producer Dawna Dingwall looks into why the towering figure was erased by her peers, and the work that is being done to write Matilda back into history. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 26, 2026.

"The Matilda Effect" was a term coined by a historian Margaret Rossiter to describe women whose work had been overlooked and erased from history, like Matilda Gage. Listen to this podcast to hear about the lost women of science and how Rossiter gave them the credit they deserved.

Guests in this episode:

Angelica Shirley Carpenter, author of Born Criminal: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Radical Suffragist
Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the Annotated Wizard of Oz
Gita Dorothy Morena, great-great-granddaughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage
Ciarrai Eaton, executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation
The late Sally Roesch Wagner, former ED of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation appears courtesy of The Book Dreams Podcast, WCNY's Repeating History podcast, the International Wizard of Oz Club and filmmaker Jeremy Kagan.

For thousands of years, genetic inheritance was an observation in search of a theory. While some once thought of genetic code as fate, we now know that our genes are in a complex dance with each other and the world around us. Dr. Jehannine (J9) Austin, head of the department of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia, delivered the 2026 Boehm Lecture in Public Health and Healthcare, called "Our Wellness Codes." They spoke about how genetic counselling can help reduce risk of illness and disease — and live a better life.

"What is good?" is at the heart of philosophy. Asking the question helps us move toward answers about inclusivity, equality, and who gets a voice at the table. Last year, The Munk School at the University of Toronto hosted philosophers and writers and put philosophy to the test. When it comes to the good, they asked, what good is philosophy? *This episode originally aired on Sept. 8, 2023.

In a world swirling with crisis upon crisis, historian Kevin Gannon contends that, even in our darkest days, hope persists. It might be far in the background sometimes, but it's always there. Gannon also argues that hope cannot exist without the oxymoronic twinning of love and rage.

Magician Harry Houdini crusaded against for-profit psychics and séances in the years before his death. He deplored the tools of his own art being used to exploit grief, says author David Jaher. Now those same tools are being used in politics, marketing, and scams, say psychologists Massimo Polidoro and Alice Pailhès.