Welcome to the Big Thinking Podcast, where we talk to leading researchers about their work on some of the most important and interesting questions of our time.

Gabriel Miller, President and CEO of the Federation, is our host.

Every day we are bombarded by words and images telling us what we should find beautiful, and what we should aspire to look like. Black Canadians are subject to specific beauty ideals – but where do those expectations come from and how do they affect peoples’ lives?

Miller is joined by Cheryl Thompson, Associate Professor in Performance at the Creative School of Toronto Metropolitan University and author of the book “Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada’s Black Beauty Culture.”