Show Notes
As sustainability challenges grow more complex and urgent, who will lead the search for solutions? In our season opener, we explore why meaningful progress requires collaboration across sectors, and how the future McGill Sustainability Park is poised to help lead the way.
Featuring: Grégoire Baillargeon, BCL/ LLB’98, President, BMO Quebec Rees Kassen, PhD’01, Academic Director, McGill Sustainability Park
Recommended Reading: Want to dig deeper? We asked our guests to recommend some of their favourite resources on this topic: Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now_ by John Doerr Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet_ by Hannah Ritchie What We Owe the Future_ by William MacAskill The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future_ by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
To stream previous episodes and learn more about McGill, visit the McGill News website.
More from Mark my words
Social media bans for children are coming into effect around the world, with the aim of protecting young people’s mental health and keeping them safe online. But is social media really causing a mental health crisis in young people? And do age restrictions actually work? In this episode, we sit down with Prof. Sara Grimes and Dr. Vincent Paquin to explore how social media use impacts kids, and what Canada’s Bill C-34 gets right (and wrong) about protecting their online safety. Featuring: Sara Grimes Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy Dr. Vincent Paquin, MSc’25 Psychiatrist, Jewish General Hospital and Assistant Professor, McGill University
Clinical trial results have sparked real excitement about the potential of mRNA) vaccines to revolutionize cancer treatment – even in cancers that resist conventional therapies. Will these personalized vaccines be a gamechanger in cancer care? We sit down with Professor Thomas Duchaine and Dr. Ramy Saleh to talk about how mRNA cancer vaccines differ from existing cancer treatments, when they might become available to the wider public, and the leading research role that McGill University plays in this field.
The hallmarks of liberal democracy are in decline as autocrats gain popularity and power. How did this happen – and what can we do about it? We sit down with Gerald Butts and Prof. Dietlind Stolle to talk about the biggest threats to democracy today and how we can defend against them. Featuring: Gerald Butts, BA’93, MA’96, Chairman, Eurasia Group Dietlind Stolle , James McGill Professor of Political Science at McGill University
Health policy expert Amélie Quésnel-Vallée explains why health care in Canada feels like it is eroding, how we can make it more accessible and equitable, and why we should still be proud of our national health care system despite its challenges.
Political Science professor Catherine Lu explores how we might reimagine foundational concepts such as freedom, human rights and global justice in an era marked by deepening political polarization and global unrest.