As It Happens

A former Conservative Party campaign manager says if Pierre Poilievre wants to be part of the party's future, he'd better get the situation under control fast. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, is being held in terrible conditions in prison. His son tells us that's because of a vendetta by the chief of the army — and he fears it will end in his father's death. A Montreal family doctor is shocked to see himself in videos promoting dodgy cure-alls. He says those AI deepfakes are leading to tense confrontations with people who've been deceived. Parts of Bangladesh are in the dark, as the government deals with oil shortages caused by the US-Iran War. Our guest tells us how that's affecting life in the capital. The editor-at-large of the Merriam-Webster dictionary explains how words like "looksmaxxing" and "rickrolling" made the cut this year, along with more than a thousand other new entries. One summer afternoon in 1972, filmmaker William Greaves invited the biggest names of the Harlem Renaissance to a cocktail party at Duke Ellington's home. Fifty-plus years later, his footage of that gathering is reaching audiences for the first time, thanks to his son and granddaughter. The pair joins Nil for a feature interview about their new documentary, "Once Upon a Time in Harlem." A new study focuses on the bullying behaviour of an Australian dolphin named Bubbles, who torments certain fish around him until they throw up. As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that offers an embarrassment of retches.

A German member of European Parliament reacts to plans for a deeper relationship between Canada and the EU. He tells us the alliance is a long time coming, but making it official is no simple matter. The son of the late Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs remembers a man considered one of the architects of the Nigerian film industry known as "Nollywood." Newly released documents detail shocking corruption allegations against several Toronto police officers — including misusing criminal databases, accepting bribes, and dealing drugs. A researcher tells us a one-of-a-kind Canadian lake of fresh water floating on top of salt water is gone for good, thanks to climate change. We take you to Saskatchewan, where some snappy — and pecky — dressers compete in a costume contest for farm birds. A Wisconsin woman recaptures her world record title with her ever-expanding collection of salt and pepper packets. Turns out a Charlottetown Olympic-size pool is a tiny bit short. And now, they'll have to do extensive renovations to extend it by just a few millimetres. As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that refuses to pick a lane.

We don't know exactly what Canada's new relationship with Europe will look like, but former envoy Stéphane Dion says he welcomes stronger ties — as long as certain strings are not attached. Three people are dead, including a journalist, after an NBC News helicopter crashes in Los Angeles. A witness describes the horrifying moment the chopper fell out of the sky. A building in Gaza City badly damaged in the war collapsed overnight, killing families who were left with little choice but to make it their home. And an aid worker there says the disaster speaks to the territory's desperate need for heavy machinery. A new report says both Alberta and Canada will pay a price if the province becomes a sovereign nation; we'll ask its author to take us through her math. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has an $80-billion plan to revitalize the Port of Churchill. But the CEO of the Indigenous-owned company in charge of the port tells us they can do it for pennies on the dollar. Scientists surprise themselves by combining geography, ecology and linguistics to locate long-lost, native oyster beds in Scotland. Edmonton just got its "Lunchbreak" back. After a beloved statue known as "Lunchbreak Joe" was damaged by would-be thieves, a local artist tells us why it means so much to have it reinstalled. We're all feeling a little lost since the death of Dolly Parton — and now, you can feel lost in at least 20 different corn mazes created in her honour. As It Happens, the Wednesday edition, Radio that knows Parton is such sweet sorrow. CLARIFICATION: This episode description has been updated to reflect that Arctic Gateway's proposal for the Port of Churchill does not encompass the full scale of Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's revitalization plan.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announces plans to open up Canada's four largest airports to private investment, and our guest says that will only mean turbulence for passengers and workers. As police raid several 2SLGBTQ+ businesses in Turkey and detain dozens of people, the editor-in-chief of a gay rights magazine there tells us the government is declaring his very existence to be obscene. The NDP candidate who won an unexpected victory in a provincial byelection yesterday says it proves the debate over Alberta sovereignty is hurting the UCP. Mark Carney is talking about a "unique alliance" between Canada and Europe; we'll ask one researcher why she's spent two decades urging the EU to embrace our bit of North America. A 15-year-old boy is pulled from Alaska's frigid Bering Sea after a fishing trip turns fatal. The captain who saved him describes the miracle rescue. When Lillith Caisse heard of an effort to remove public benches in Saskatoon because of cleanliness concerns, she got to work and cleaned them. But she doesn't believe that was the true crux of the argument. The late Bob Mackie spent a long career costuming the stars. Singer Janet Lennon tells us about sharing the stage with Cher in his custom, glittering, show-stopping gowns.

Yesterday, Russian drones hit a passenger train near the Poland-Ukraine border; a journalist tells us what she was thinking as those drones flew over her own train. The Prime Minister is wooing international investors to support Canadian projects -- but NDP leader Avi Lewis says Canadians should be wary of the idea that we need outside investment to strengthen the economy. Over his long career, no one ever knocked the late Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo down; his daughter tells us his main support through the toughest fights of his life was his family. To deal with the stresses of our current moment, a San Francisco woman gathers a hundred people to scream together -- and it's a total shriek show. 23-year-old racecar driver Callum Smith was born without arms, so he steers with his left foot ­­-- and now, he's signed his first contract to be a professional driver. When we say competitors in a New Jersey half-marathon were frustrated to find themselves slogging their way through waist-high water due to flash-flooding yesterday, we mean they had it up to here. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that's sorry to keep you wading.

A woman who filmed the September 11th attacks from her New York City fire escape has finally brought herself to watch her own footage from that day. Two British citizens have been detained in Iran for over 600 days on espionage charges. Our guest says the UK government should be doing more to get his mother released. The president of a B.C. Conservative riding association tells us if MPs are going to cross the floor, they should have to reimburse the party that helped pay for their campaign. New analysis from Amnesty International says Russia has been luring foreign nationals to the country by promising them civilian jobs, and then sending them to the front lines in Ukraine. And the lead researcher says that's human trafficking. An urban planner calls out Loblaw for an advertising stunt that lit up the sky over downtown Toronto last night with a swarm of drones promoting an AI health portal. The Ontario Science Centre has laid off everyone in its science department. One former member of that department tells us that after 25 years on the job, he still can't believe it's over. After analyzing rare skeletal remains from Indonesia, an archeologist says there’s now evidence that our ancestors were sucking on psychoactive betel nuts to feel good. When a Georgia man came upon a bald eagle on the ground, he thought it was dead, but its life was saved after it performed a last desperate act: it defecated. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that celebrates a come-from-behind victory.

The mother of a Black woman, whose body was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, tells us she's desperate for answers about what really happened to her daughter. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Alberta to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney, and shake hands on a hundred-year partnership that will see new investment in energy, security, and defence. An Alberta First Nation defies provincial limits on gender-affirming care – by offering banned medical treatments under provisions of a treaty signed in the 18-hundreds. Oscar Peterson's live performances are documented in a new five-album box set compiled by his wife, Kelly Peterson -- who tells us about the experience of revisiting the art of the late Canadian jazz great. In life, the urban exploration of a beloved mountain-lion known as P-22 captivated the people of Los Angeles -- and now, it has been immortalized in bronze. And… A new study shows that over the past 50-plus years of academic papers, references to Beatles songs show up here, there, and everywhere. As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that always has the Ringo of truth.

Iran and the U.S. continue to escalate their attacks, each hoping the other will blink first, but analyst Farzan Sabet says adding fuel to the fire is a risky strategy. For the first time in almost a millennium, the Bayeux tapestry returns to British soil and our guest tells us the 11th-century masterpiece lends itself to 21st-century sensibilities. It took nearly a decade, but a spacecraft is finally nearing its destination: the tiny planet of Mercury. One of the scientists involved explains how he's managed to stay patient over that long haul. A team of parents calls for stricter health regulations in hockey arenas after their kids are exposed to carbon monoxide. After last night's four-hour-plus U.S. Open Match, a tennis reporter who was on the scene explains how their hard day's night covering the quarter final went into the wee hours of the morning. One of the organizers of an ethics complaint against FIFA's President tells us he has a hundred thousand signatures from people who want Gianni Infantino to get the boot. A researcher discovers pygmy raccoons going through garbage — not for food, but for materials that allow them to make, and have, a ball. One team arrived a week before tomorrow's NFL game in Australia and the other arrived a day before, having ostensibly dozed on the flight. Sleep scientists will be monitoring who prevails. As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that is not to be slept on.

In the midst of a fierce trade war, Ottawa wants to reduce its reliance on the U.S. But Canada's former defence minister says pivoting away from American military hardware is a challenge the government hasn't quite figured out. A former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories praises Canada for joining a ban on imports from Israeli settlements. But Michael Lynk says that move is just a start. Deliberations are about to begin over designs for a revitalized prime minister's residence. The head of the jury, celebrated architect Moshe Safdie, tells us what the future could hold for 24 Sussex. A fungus leaves corn kernels an unappetizing grey-black colour, but those unsightly cobs are a beautiful Mexican delicacy that's now being embraced by foodies north of the Rio Grande. It was in the Smithsonian for more than 150 years, but now, the last known pelt of an extinct woolly dog has finally been returned to its former Pacific habitat. A Sami reindeer herder in Sweden worries about the survival of his culture — as politicians debate whether a desire to mine rare earth minerals trumps his people's land rights. Enter, if you dare, the corn maze of one New Brunswick farm, which celebrates the corn-sistent corn-tributions of PWHL great Marie-Philippe Poulin, by being shaped like her face. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that's always looking at the broader corn-text.

When Hurricane Helene destroyed an American tea producer's operation, a Canadian counterpart stepped in. They tell us rising costs and a trade war won't put an end to their cross-border friendship. Germany’s AfD becomes the first far-right party since the Nazis to win a state election. We ask a Christian Democratic politician how his party should meet this moment. A friend of the late Georgina Lightning tells us the Cree filmmaker didn't just do amazing work herself -- she supported the work of the young Indigenous artists who are following in her footsteps. A metal detectorist in Finland discovers what’s believed to be the country's largest Viking-era hoard of silver -- containing thousands of coins. Scientists have used fossilized insect wings to reconstruct insect sounds from 165 million years ago. A bioacoustician tells us what ancient cricket love songs might have sounded like. And… In case you weren't already disgusted by the chaos climbers have wreaked on Mount Everest, a new study reveals that the mountain's glacier is being melted by a vast volume of human urine. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that considers the number one problem to be the number one problem.

The judge in the Massachusetts mother’s high profile murder trial declares a mistrial and a criminal defence lawyer tells us he’s never seen a day in court quite like this. It’s been 66 years since the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, when police officers killed dozens of protestors. And our guest says far too many people are still waiting for proper compensation. Emergency workers in Nepal rescue two people who had been trapped in a tunnel for nine days after the floods. A local politician describes the astonishing moment they emerged. Catalina Island has a controversial plan to cull its deer population — all in the name of restoring native plant species. A member of the local nature conservancy assures us they've exhausted all other options. From the team that brought us the best small town, lake, and symbol in British Columbia, comes the heated competition for the best roadside attraction. German researchers have determined that taking a long deep breath before making a choice can lead to bolder decision making. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that makes a lung story short.

The journalist and social activist is being remembered for her wisdom, wit, optimism, and tireless pursuit of equality. Ms. Magazine co-founder Letty Cottin Pogrebin tells us it was an honour to see that feminist force up close. Canadian writer and feminist Michele Landsberg recalls meeting Gloria Steinem for the first time at a Toronto Planned Parenthood event — and says she always made time for anyone working to further the cause. For the first time ever, Élections Québec will only mail out voter information in French — a move that's already causing a contretemps. A Halifax woman living in an encampment was hopeful a recent court decision would qualify her for a higher income assistance rate. Then the government changed the rules to make it clear that her campervan is not actually considered a home. Still more MLAs leave British Columbia's Conservative Party, and one of the most recent defectors says he'd rather sit as an Independent than remain in a party led by Kerry-Lynne Findlay. A PhD student tells us how he figured out the exact angle — and rate — someone's stream must hit a urinal to minimize the splash zone. As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that presents a true wizz kid.

A former Canadian Armed Forces officer who served alongside Americans in Afghanistan tells us the constant anti-Canada rhetoric from the Trump administration is disturbing. Florida is executing death-row inmates at a record-breaking pace. A priest who counsels those inmates says state politicians are politicizing people's lives — and deaths. As investors sell off their government bonds at breakneck speed, one economist tells us the Bank of Canada is right to hold interest rates steady, even as a trade war and real wars shake the foundations of the global economy. Canadian scientists spent years investigating what's killing billions of sea stars in the Pacific. Now, they know what's responsible; they just have to figure out how to stop it. For the second time, now, 91-year-old Dale "Grey Beard" Sanders becomes the oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail. He tells us that even after more than seventy falls along the way, he's feeling pretty good. The population of the comical flightless parrot known as the kakapo is bouncing back — after what's been referred to as a "mating frenzy." As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that's glad they're not afraid to ruffle some feathers.

A Canadian tells us about her efforts to track down her brother and sister-in-law — who went missing during the flash floods in Nepal. A new school year begins in Ukraine, but a lot of students are making do without textbooks — because of ongoing Russian strikes that have destroyed millions of books. After a jury delivers a guilty verdict in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, we reach the man who snapped an iconic photo of the rapper moments before he was shot. Wyatt Esbaugh was fishing when a bald eagle snatched his lure, and got snagged in the process. The Nova Scotia teen walks us through the tricky process of freeing the bird. A mathematician spent the last 15 years trying to create a theoretical set of dice to solve the problem of who goes first in a board game — a problem he admits isn't actually a problem. A Virginia doctor shares a story you'll wish she hadn't shared — of waking up in a flap to find a flapping thing trying to flap its way into the dark cave in her face. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that leaves a bat taste in your mouth.

Hundreds of workers in Nepal are believed to be trapped underground in hydropower tunnels, after last week’s floods. Their families are angry -- but still hopeful they'll be rescued. Icelanders vote against restarting talks to join the European Union. A No supporter tells us that it wasn't about pushing the EU away, but embracing her own country's sovereignty. Rescuers swoop in to save a mountain climber who's stranded on a six-inch ledge, ten thousand feet above the ground. A firefighter tells us the nighttime rescue could easily have ended very badly. An astronomer is delighted at the launch of NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman telescope -- which he says will help us better understand the universe and our place in it. Voters have chosen the winner of the inaugural “Fat Marmot Week”. We’ll hear how a “special boy who likes to eat rocks,” managed to tip the scales in his favour. After conducting a study of fans at a German rock festival, scientists announce that listening to heavy metal might actually increase your pain threshold. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that finds poetry in moshin'.

We reach an aid worker in Kathmandu whose teams are working nonstop to reunite children separated from their parents by this week's flash floods. An Ottawa company rushes to create a hat emblazoned with "Lake Ontario," and tells us they're finding plenty of customers in Canada... and beyond. A reporter untangled the complex criminal web that is fueling a car theft boom in Canada — and reveals where those pilfered vehicles are ending up. For years, archaeologists in Nova Scotia have tried to find the remnants of one of the first grain mills in North America. An amateur historian tells us why he thinks he's getting very close. One New Yorker shares why he's made it his mission to measure exactly how sweltering it is in the subway stations below the city's streets — and to offer some relief to sweltering commuters. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that's never afraid to break a sweat.

Ontario-based ice cream maker Chapman’s says in the face of tariff threats, they're replacing American products with Canadian-sourced ones wherever possible. As Puerto Rico's worsening droughts push the U.S. government to declare a state of disaster in many communities. A farmer tells us his crops are dying — and he's been left high and dry. Quebec's provincial election campaign kicks off and a political reporter walks us through the hotly contested race, where sovereignty and U.S. tariffs loom large. A new study finds Black Canadians face barriers to donating blood — and one of the researchers involved tells us that has consequences for prospective recipients as well as would-be donors. A male Montagu's Harrier is playing a key role in repopulating the raptor species by taking up with two female birds. And a U.K. man who has been following this prolific fellow can't get enough of his golden boy. As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that hopes everything works out for the nest.

As the social media giant settles a lawsuit with American states the mother of a 17-year-old who died by suicide after enduring cyberbullying says Meta's platforms still need to be regulated by the feds. Hundreds of people are missing after flash floods near the border between Nepal and Tibet. A tour operator there tells us he fears for those who aren't yet accounted for. Comic book artist Art Spiegelman remembers Len Brown, who helped him create "Wacky Packages" and "Garbage Pail Kids" — the satirical stickers and cards beloved by kids of the '70s and '80s. A reporter describes the horrific scene at a maternity ward in Islamabad, where a fire killed more than a dozen newborn babies this morning. Scientists in Washington are working tirelessly to bring back the endangered sunflower sea star. A researcher describes the bittersweet feeling of finally releasing the stars she raised into the wild. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that applauds them for going out on several limbs.

Bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent remembers her friend, Dolly Parton. And recounts the many times she got the chance to share a stage with her idol. As Ottawa announces a slew of retaliatory tariffs on American products, jobs minister Patty Hajdu tells us what her government can offer Canadian workers caught in the middle of an escalating trade war. Canadians hoping to do their part are still striving to buy local, but the lawyer behind a proposed class action lawsuit says the maple leaf is sometimes slapped on products that aren't Canadian at all. A small business owner in Ontario who imports aluminum building products from the U.S. says he understands why everyone is upset, but he wants Canada back at the negotiating table. Renowned queer lawyer barbara findlay may have spelled her name in lower case, but she lived her life in all-caps — and wasn't afraid to fight for the rights of gay, lesbian and trans Canadians. A Wisconsin cat has a certified record-breaking 29 toes...and we'll dig into the archives to hear from a feline that said 'hold my catnip' — when it came out with four ears. As It Happens, the Tuesday edition, Radio that always gives you time to paws and reflect.

An opposition critic says MPs should be back in the House of Commons to debate the threat posed by U.S. tariffs — and to get a full accounting of how a proposed trade deal collapsed. A Manitoba honey farmer tells us he feels like collateral damage in a "petty trade war." He says the new U.S. tariffs may spell bankruptcy for his family business, which sends almost all of its products south. A skin cancer survivor lobbies the U.K. government to stop taxing sunscreen, which it classifies as a cosmetic. She says the move could save lives. A teen from Nova Scotia reels in a behemoth weighing many times what she does. She describes the long hour she spent trying to land the fish. Nine sets of twins are starting school in a legendarily twin-tastic Scottish town. We'll hear from a teacher with two sets of twins in her class...and is still working out how to tell them apart. One L.A. theme park went to great lengths to make their new Fast & Furious roller coaster whisper-quiet, which totally worked — until it opened to the enthusiastic shrieks of riders. As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that guesses they couldn't see the forest for the “WEEEEEEES!”