A dissident, deceased. Tens of thousands are in mourning at the death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri -- a leading figure in Iran's reformist movement.

Now what? With the Copenhagen Summit over, Thomas Homer-Dixon tells us how Canada could become a pioneer, instead of a pariah.

Can't win for muezzin. Muslim men who make the call to prayer are about to get shushed in Cairo-- because that city has automated the process.

A philosopher and a dental man. We told you about Charles Dickens' extremely fancy toothpick -- and that set Talkback gnashing its teeth.

Boats against the current. An encore broadcast of our conversation with an Alaska man who struggled to save his girlfriend, his dogs, and himself, when the Yukon River burst its banks.

And...to beep or not to beep -- that is the question. American theatre director Diane Paulus explains why she encourages audience participation -- even in the form of cellphone ringtones.

As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that puts the "we" in "soliloquy".

That's the sound of crowds of Iranians at the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, from an amateur video posted on YouTube.

Tens of thousands of mourners came out onto the streets of the holy city of Qom. They gathered to honour the man who had become the spiritual leader of Iran's opposition movement -- and to re-articulate their criticisms of the government.

Ayatollah Montazeri had long been a leading voice of dissent among the country's clergy. Mohsen Kadivar was once one of his religous students. He now teaches religion at Duke University. We reached Ayatollah Kadivar in Durham, North Carolina.

The Copenhagen summit is over. And there is, at best, a watery commitment from countries around the world to keep trying for lower C-0-2 emissions.

Whatever agreement the international community eventually reaches on carbon emissions, one thing is clear -- climate change is coming. And, so, governments around the world are to starting to recognize the importance of adapting to the coming change.

Now, Canada wasn't exactly the belle of the ball in Copenhagen, but Thomas Homer-Dixon argues we still have what it takes to dazzle the world when it comes to adapting to climate change. Thomas Homer-Dixon is a professor at the Centre for Environment and Business in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. We reached him in Toronto.

You might think a morsel of Christmas turkey, a piece of corn, or a pesky shred of spinach look disgusting when they're stuck in your teeth. But when any of the above is dangling on the end of a retractable gold-and-ivory toothpick engraved with the initials "C-D", it looks positively elegant.

The toothpick isn't mine, unfortunately. It belonged to Charles Dickens. And last week, we told you that someone had paid more than nine thousand dollars at auction for this luxurious dental apparatus.

Well, Talkback let us know that the author of "Bleak House" wasn't the one who had a taste for the finer things in life.

Five times a day, in thousands of cities around the world, that sound is heard. And it's been heard for more than fourteen-hundred years.

The Muslim call to prayer to the adhan, in Arabic, has been recited by men since the beginning of Islam. They climb to the tops of the minarets to inform the congregants and believers that it is time to pray.

But next year, in Cairo, Egypt, the age-old call will sound different. The government has begun what's called a "Unification Project" -- so the call to prayer will be broadcast through the city's four thousand mosques by a single voice through wireless receivers. That will put the muezzins -- the men who make those calls -- out of work, and put an end to a historic custom.

Anna Kipervaser is creating an audio archive of the prayers for Egypt, and she's also making a documentary called "Voices and Faces of the Adhan: Cairo." We've reached her today in Chicago.

And we're out of time for the first part of tonight's program. But after the news, we'll be back with some of our favourite interviews from the past year.

Malone again, naturally. Greg Malone, that is -- whom Carol spoke to after the publication of his memoir, You Better Watch Out.

A river didn't run through it before. But when the Yukon burst its banks, Alaskan Andy Bassich had to save himself and his dogs from a flood.

Phoning in a performance. Why one American artistic director thought it was a good idea to let audiences leave their cells on.

Stay tuned. I'm CO.

And I'm DJ.

And now a holiday encore of one of our favourite feature interviews of the past year: a conversation with Greg Malone.

Throughout his career, Mr. Malone has never been predictable. On the TV show "The Wonderful Grand Band", he vigorously lampooned Canada's pat stereotypes of Newfoundlanders. With the sketch group "CODCO", he alternately outraged, puzzled, and convulsed viewers -- sometimes with his spot-on impersonation of Barbara Frum, the one-time host of this show. He's campaigned for awareness of HIV/AIDS, after his comedy partner Tommy Sexton died of AIDS in 1993. He's run for office, as a member of the federal NDP -- and very nearly won.

And now he's written a book called "You Better Watch Out". It's a memoir of his childhood in St. John's, Newfoundland. And here's the part most people didn't see coming: it's not a work of satire. Sure, it's funny -- but it's also candid -- sometimes shockingly so -- and moving.

Greg Malone joined Carol in our Toronto studio.

A town destroyed by house-sized chunks of ice. Homes torn from their foundations and sent floating. And a man, a woman, and a lot of dogs forced to improvise frantically just to survive.

Earlier this year, an unprecedented ice jam caused the worst flooding on record along parts of the Yukon River. At the beginning of May, riverside resident Andy Bassich and his girlfriend, Kate Rorke, had to battle wildly fluctuating water levels, and extreme currents, to save themselves and their dogs from disaster.

Tonight, we'll rebroadcast our interview with Andy Bassich -- an outdoorsman, a dog musher, and former relief captain of the Yukon Queen -- a tour boat that travels between Eagle, Alaska, and Dawson City, Yukon. Carol spoke with Mr. Bassich, who was in Eagle, on May 6th.

Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in his shoes. And at the end of October, thirteen-year-old Mustafa Ahmed invited everyone who was listening to do just that.

Mustafa Ahmed is a Grade Eight student at Nelson Mandela Park School in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood. It's a community that exemplifies the Canadian mosaic -- but it's also a community that's beset by problems with gangs, drugs, and violence.

Mustafa's family emigrated to Canada from Sudan. He's one of six children. He is referred to as his school's unofficial "poet laureate", and has performed at film galas and school assemblies. On October 29th, he performed his poetry on CBC Toronto's Metro Morning, with host Andy Barrie. It was fantastic. So here it is again: Mustafa Ahmed with his poem "I Walk" -- for the record.

Here's a moment you may have experienced over the holidays: the curtain rises, a hush falls, and you settle into your seat to meet a cast of characters who will whisk you away to that place only great theatre can take you.

Then this...Or this?Or this?When you're not in a theatre, these sounds just fade into the background. When you are in a theatre, they may as well be the screeches of a pterodactyl. But Diane Paulus doesn't think noise from the audience is such a big deal. In fact, she'd like to unleash more of it.

She's the director of the current production of Hair on Broadway, and the artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And this is an encore presentation of her conversation on As It Happens with guest host, Helen Mann.Diane Paulus spoke with Helen Mann in July. She's the Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She's also the director of the current production of Hair on Broadway.

Of course, we've been unleashing our audience for years -- and now we're going to do it again. What do you think about Ms. Paulus's idea? Call Talkback and let loose: 1-866-481-5718.

In the meantime, here's a little music from Hair to help get you in the spirit of letting it all hang out. Throw something at the radio, sing along, or jump on the table and ruin Christmas for your family. Whatever you do: don't just sit there.

DJ:

That was "Good Morning Starshine" from the current Broadway cast recording of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.