(Edmonton) The University of Alberta's 2010 Festival of Ideas brought an international community of performers, writers, visual artists, scientists and public intellectuals together to engage in learning, discussion and dialogue. One of those guests was Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a distinguished political leader and champion of free speech and women's rights.
Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of director Theo Van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next, and made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and resigned from the Dutch Parliament.
When CBC Radio's Writers & Company host Eleanor Wachtel was invited to speak with Hirsi Ali at the University of Alberta's Festival of Ideas, she decided to take the opportunity to follow Hirsi Ali through her personal story, to try to understand how the various forces in her life shaped this controversial figure.
You can hear the conversation podcast here.
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