The enormous impact of the birth control pill on our culture, society, and human rights.

Butterfly Effect 7 - The Pill

The lasting influence of the compass and the evolution and future of navigation technology.

Butterfly Effect 6 - The Compass

How the 6,000-year-old invention has come to shape how we keep our valuables safe — physically and digitally.

Butterfly Effect 5 - The Lock & Key

The surprisingly long history and bright future of the light-emitting diode, or LED.

Butterfly Effect 4 - The LED

How the Sony Walkman paved the way for the iPod and streaming a million songs, TV shows and movies from our smartphones.

Butterfly Effect 3 - The Personal Audio Player

The evolution of the battery, and how the need for stored energy became one of the biggest demands of our time.

Butterfly Effect 2 - The Battery

How the integrated chip changed the world, powering nearly every device we use, from toasters to Telecasters.

Butterfly Effect 1 - The Microchip

Tackling technology overuse with a toolkit and a challenge to digitally disengage. Just in time to get out and enjoy the summer.

How to stop the scroll and enjoy this summer

From the phonograph to field recordings to the cultural impact of mixtapes — a look at how recorded sound gives us access to history, fantasy, joy, and moments of genuine awe from around the world.

Butterfly Effect 10 - The Audio Recorder

A designer, an environmental psychologist and an AI expert to help us get better at workplace collaboration: understanding why it matters, and where it's going.

How to improve workplace collaboration

Spark on CBC Radio One Nora Young helps you navigate your digital life by connecting you to fresh ideas in surprising ways.

From inspiring innovation, to framing collective visions of the future — a look at the imaginative power of science fiction.

How science fiction helps us harness the power of imagination

The impact of the camera — from its technical evolution, to the changed way we see ourselves and historic events.

Butterfly Effect 9 - The Camera

Data centres are enormous facilities that store and give us access to our digital lives. But as the amount of digital data we produce soars, so does the energy data centres demand. This week, an updated episode from November 2022.

Digital data's environmental cost

The new movie, BlackBerry, has us thinking about the dizzying heights, and seemingly inevitable decline, of innovation in organizations. The film's director talks about what really happened there, and we look at why it's so hard to keep up the pace of innovation.

Why is innovation so difficult to sustain?

One of civilization's oldest technologies, textiles have long been linked to money, power, and politics. Now, researchers are looking to produce novel, more sustainable textiles using organisms like yeast, fungi, and bacteria.

Power, politics, fungi, bacteria: the surprising history and creative future of textiles

How influencer culture has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry  and shaped the way we present ourselves online.

The influencer industry, 15 years on

How the ability to create cold on demand changed our relationship with food forever.

Butterfly Effect 8 - Refrigeration

From constructing whole buildings out of fungal threads, to growing furniture in orchards, to storing our data in living cells, we take a special look at 'living' design.

Wild and innovative materials are revolutionizing design

From the sophisticated, social squeaks of bats, to the ability of plants to 'hear' where water is, digital technology allows researchers to listen in on the extraordinary sounds of animal and plant life and may hold the key to protecting biodiversity. This week, an updated episode from October 2022

Understanding the language of plants and animals

A look at the pervasive age-related stereotypes that have seeped into the technologies we use and the implications of that on aging populations.

Ageism in tech

I &lt;3 Spark.This is a nice way to keep up with tech and trends in electronic media. So good to say she makes my day.

Nora is the Bomb

Nora is a great writer and the content is consistently very good.

The writing is excellent

Spark

The best podcast episodes on global issues affecting everyone. Covering topics such as the #metoo movement, climate change, the impact of technology and some of the biggest global issues facing us right now. For anyone interested in learning more about the world, and some of the issues we're facing, pick an episode below and start listening! Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Episodes on Global Issues

The best podcast episodes on physical health. Episodes talk about your diet, sleep, exercise and all the things that people do to improve their physical health and live a healthier life. This topic is for everyone, with applications in all of our everyday lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!