CBC.ca | Asunder

Episode 10 - The Settlement

2010-08-30T12:49:28Z

The signing of divorce papers is often described as anticlimactic; tears are more likely to flow than champagne. But it also marks the start of a new life. People have to rediscover themselves and find the courage to move forward. This is a process that can't be rushed. In this episode, people talk about the last day of their acquaintance and how they moved on.

Featured Music: The Last Day of Our Acquaintance/Sinead O'Connor, Call and Answer/Barenaked Ladies, Elephant Gun/Beirut, 1 2 3 Goodbye/Elvis Perkins

Episode 9 - Grown Children

2010-08-23T12:46:12Z

Since the Divorce Act of 1968, many thousands of Canadian children have grown up in broken homes. Many will tell you, they're doing just fine, thank you. But they do regret what they describe as a premature loss of childhood. They say they learned too soon, that some things cannot be put back together and some anger cannot be healed.

Featured Music: Everything is Broken/Bob Dylan, Wonderful/Everclear, Desert Dancer/DJ Nickodemus, On the Road Again/Canned Heat, Absent-Minded Melody/Joel Plaskett

Episode 8 - Alternatives to Family Court

2010-08-16T12:42:10Z

How do you end a marriage without destroying a family? In Canada, couples have options outside the courtroom, including mediation, arbitration and collaborative family law. Meanwhile, some courts are working to reform the way cases are handled, so that conflict and delays are reduced.

Featured Music: Cell Block Tango (He Had It Coming)/Chicago Movie Soundtrack, Lake Marie/John Prine, Mull of Kintyre/Paul McCartney, What'll I Do/Rufus, Martha and Loudon Wainwright, Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off/Hawksley Workman

Episode 7 - Divorce Evolution

2010-08-09T12:38:51Z

Quebec has the highest divorce rate and the highest cohabitation rate in Canada. Some people say this is a natural outcome when society moves away from the church and toward gender equality. Others say Quebec women are only hurting themselves by not getting married. They say Quebec men don't buy the cow, because they're getting the milk for free. What is the future of marriage in Canada? Where is marriage going?

Featured Music: Like a Prayer/Madonna, Malemolencia/Ceu, Don't Stop Believing/Journey, 10 Contados/Ceu, Somebody to Love, Queen

Episode 6 - An Immigrant's Divorce

2010-08-02T12:35:08Z

Divorce is a difficult process, even for people who have every advantage. It's especially difficult for some immigrant women, who come to Canada looking for love and a better life, but find themselves trapped by a bad marriage and then trapped again, by divorce laws that keep these women and their children, imprisoned in a strange land.

Featured Music: Helpless/Neil Young, Sundown/Gordon Lightfoot, Four Strong Winds/Ian and Sylvia, Anthem/Julie Christensen and Perla Battala, Angel/Sarah McLachlan

Episode 5 - Child Custody

2010-07-26T12:30:23Z

Custody battles are probably the greatest tragedy of family court. This is when parents fight over children, and sometimes lose sight of what is best for their children. Custody awards are highly sensitive decisions that should be made quickly, based on good and fair information. But that doesn't always happen.

Featured Music: Where the Streets Have No Name/U2, Motherless Children/Rosanne Cash, The Maker/Daniel Lanois, Now the Struggle Has a Name/Tragically Hip, Early in the Morning/Peter, Paul and Mary

Episode 4 - Family Court

2010-07-19T12:25:37Z

People who work in family court say you would not invent the existing system to move families through divorce with minimal pain. Family court is slow, expensive, adversarial and unpredictable. At least one Canadian judge has been telling people to stay away.

Featured Music: Life is a Carnival/The Band, Wheel of Fortune/Kay Starr, Wild Billy's Circus Story/Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love, Bruce Springsteen

Episode 3 - Sex and Marriage

2010-07-12T12:17:58Z

Popular culture feasts on stories of adultery and broken marriage vows but you might be surprised at how few Canadians say they cheat. Still, some marriages struggle when one partner loses desire. Or maybe the partner loses desire because the marriage is a struggle. This episode features frank conversations about sex, relationships and expectations.

Featured Music: Let's Stick Together/Bryan Ferry, Almost Blue/Diana Krall, Rich Woman/Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues/ Bryan Ferry, Satellite of Love, Lou Reed, Turn Me On/ Norah Jones

Episode 2

2010-07-05T14:35:44Z

Damage When married couples have freshly split, it's often a raw and dangerous time. People don't realize how badly they're hurt while feeling pressured to make important decisions. Tragically, some people lash out in anger and so begins a new downward spiral of action and reaction, that sometimes lasts for years.

Featured Music: The Shape I'm In/The Band, Day in Life/Jeff Beck, Everybody Knows/Don Henley, Milano/Sigur Ros, Hollywood/Angus and Julia Stone

Nancy Johston's website http://myfamilyisnotbroken.wordpress.com/

Episode 1

2010-06-28T18:48:35Z

The Tipping Point People recall the pivotal moment when they realize their marriage is over. This often follows years of agonizing uncertainty. How do you know if it's right to go? Why do marriages break?

Featured music: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off/Harry Connick Jr.,Paranoid Android/Radiohead, When People Go/Craig Cardiff, Nantes/Beirut, Hungry Heart/Wyckham Porteous