The Arab Spring sent Egyptians to the polls this week in the nation's first-ever presidential election. Two days of voting and millions of ballots cast, and the entire country waits to see just how much an impact the revolution will have on Egypt's government.
As of Friday morning, it looked like former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq - a man who served under Mubarak - and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi would be heading for a runoff vote in June.
Omar Ashour voted in this election. He's the director of Middle East Studies at the University of Exeter.
]]>
The 100th day of Quebec's student strike passed this week with over 250,000 people marching in the streets of Montreal. What started as a movement against tuition hikes has swelled to be about much more.
Some believe this kind of social uprising can only happen in Quebec.
William Johnson is a veteran journalist, author and member of the Order of Canada. Here he is with a Day 6 commentary.
]]>
"...Ya Know?" is the new solo album by Joey Ramone, created from unreleased home recordings and demos recorded before his death in 2001 after a long battle with lymphoma. Jim Brown spoke to Joey's younger brother, Mickey Leigh, about growing up with Joey and co-producing the new album. Mickey is the author of the memoir, "I Slept With Joey Ramone", and the leader of bands including The Rattlers and Stop.]]>
According to a recent study, one in three people with autism have had no paid job experience seven years after leaving high school. And with reports that autism diagnoses are on the rise, Temple Grandin is concerned. She's a best-selling author, professor at Colorado State University, and was the subject of the HBO movie Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes. Grandin wants to help inspire kids with the condition to get out and get working, so she's edited a new book called Different: Not Less. It's a collection of essays written by people on the autism spectrum who are employed and living full lives.
When you think about the Taliban, poetry is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But last week a collection of Taliban poems was released in the U.K. Felix Kuehn is one of the editors of the collection and he spoke with guest host Jim Brown about the book and the controversy it's ignited.
You'll also hear from David Rohde, an American journalist who was kidnapped and held captive by the Taliban for seven months, and heard their poetry first hand.
A much longer edition of our interview with Felix Kuehn can be heard HERE.
Web bonus: Hear more of David Rohde's story HERE.
]]>
Masks and Outlaws
One Share of Facebook
Pussy Riot Crackdown
Save Our SIN
Greek Banks Brace
No Bad Jobs
Rick Moody and Guilty Pleasures
Law students in Montreal got a nasty shock this week when they decided to defy the deadlocked student strike and go to class. Masked demonstrators burst into their classroom, allegedly hurling abuse and intimidating the students who were trying to salvage their term.
After 14 weeks of massive and sometimes disruptive protest, the parties in Quebec are no closer to a negotiated settlement. There's frustration on all sides and lawmakers are turning to 
legislation.
On Friday the provincial government brought in a law with stiff fines for organizations that try to prevent students from attending class. New legislation from the other levels of government are targeting the demonstrators, especially the ones wearing masks.
Some of the masked protestors say they have legitimate reasons to hide their face, or that masks are part of their message and constitute freedom of expression. Others say violence would fall dramatically if masked protestors were excluded.
Should protestors be forced to show their face? We have two sides to the mask debate on Day 6.
One Share of Facebook
Facebook launched their IPO on Friday and set the price of their share at $38. That seems reasonable, doesn't it? What else can you do with $38? It barely covers lunch for two. But of course, who would buy just one share of Facebook or any other stock?
It turns out lots of people would. They're into scripophily.
Stock certificate collectors are called scripophiles and the paper stocks they love - from Disney, Apple, Playboy and others - can be elaborate and beautifully printed. You get a certificate just for owning a single share too. In some cases, among collectors, the paper is worth more than the share.
Paper certificates are going the way of all paper: fewer companies issue them. So the scripophile community was ecstatic when Facebook announced they were doing it. We'll tell you how to get one share and the frame-able paper proof.
Pussy Riot on Ice
A Moscow performance/punk band has split public opinion in Russia and sparked a debate about freedom of expression, Vladimir Putin and the rise of the power of the Russian Orthodox church.
Pussy Riot let loose with an impromptu performance/protest inside a church back in January. No one was arrested on the site but weeks later, as outrage grew across the country, members were dramatically rounded up and detained. Human rights organization took notice and cried foul.
Three members of Pussy Riot are charged with hooliganism and face up to seven years in prison. We'll talk to the Canadian husband of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Save our SIN
Getting a SIN card used to be a rite of passage in Canada. You could apply before you were old enough to own a credit card or drive. And you needed a SIN to get paid at your first real job at McDonalds or the car wash.
But now, in the name of austerity, this low tech piece of plastic is being phased out.
No big deal, right? You have your number memorized along with your passwords, PIN numbers and best jokes. Who cares?
Mike Balazo. That's who.
Greek Banks Brace
This week there was mini-run on Greek banks. Worried by the uncertainty as their coalition government turned them back to the polls, Greeks withdrew nearly a billion in savings from the banks.
It's not a crisis, but it's a real harbinger of what could happen next. If Greece seems likely to exit the EU- the fabled "Grexit" - everyone would pull out all the euros they can get.
We go to Athens to talk about the cost of instability.
On the Dole
Have you ever had a bad job? Jim Flaherty the finance minister says they don't exist. In mulling over changes to Employment Insurance, Flaherty said the unemployed should reconsider work they may view as demeaning. It's work.You'll love it.
Instead of looking for a job you're qualified for in the city you want to live in maybe you should move somewhere far away and do something completely different. What's wrong? It's a job!
Actually since he made his remarks the government seems to have moved slightly away from Flaherty's idea of the great EI diaspora.
Alexandra Molotkow is optimistic about suitable employment. See you on the seal hunt.
Rick Moody and Guilty Pleasures
The music you loved passionately as a teenager might not sound so great in 20 years. Usually it's hugely embarrassing. But maybe our teenage ears were more perceptive than we remember.
Rick Moody author of The Ice Storm and Garden State has opened the vault on the music punk convinced him to abandon, the music of his past. He's worked through the shame and he's found stuff to love in the rock genre he adored in his adolescence.
And what is that genre? The form that dare not speak its name? It's prog.
We explore Rick's youth and progressive music of the '70s as we talk about guilty pleasures.
And that's it for this Victoria Day weekend. Mr. Jim Brown is with you next week, I'm back in two weeks.
Break out the fireworks, put on some Jethro Tull and toast the Queen. The Queen part is optional in Quebec.
Have a great weekend.
Brent Bambury @CBCDay6
Subscribe to the podcast: 
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced this week that "there is no bad job" which came on the heels of the government's plans to reform employment insurance. This was seen as a very controversial statement and still no one seems exactly sure what changes could be made to the system.
Still, Day 6 contributor Alex Molotkow remains optimistic about the future of employment in Canada.
This week the federal government announced it was going to phase out the SIN card, a fixture of wallets across the country. They say it's a bid to save money and avoid identity theft but Day 6 contributor Michael Balazo isn't chomping at the bit to part with his long-time friend.
Did the songs fly by too quickly? Take another listen to this week's tunes, and let us know what news story ties them all together.
Send your answer to day6@cbc.ca. We'll pick winners at random to each score one of our beauty Day 6 tote bags. Don't forget to put "Riffed From The Headlines" in the subject line and include your mailing address.
Here are last week's winners:
- Ryan Baker from Middle Sackville, NS
- Martin Mckenna from Hong Kong, China
- Benjamin Eisman from Seattle, WA
- Sybil Hebert from Ottawa, ON
- and Tabatha Canistro from Miramichi, NB
Three members of Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk band, are behind bars facing seven years in prison for performing an anti-Putin "Punk Prayer" in an orthodox cathedral in Moscow in February. The prosecutor in the case has appeared on Russian television displaying a Canadian Permanent Resident ID and Ontario Health Card belonging to Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokkonnikova. Nadia's husband, Peter Verzilov, spoke to Brent about how her connection to Canada has been spun by Russian authorities.]]>
Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm and the new collection of essays On Celestial Music, joined Brent to talk about musical guilty pleasures and his love-hate relationship with Progressive Rock bands of the '70's like Jethro Tull and Yes. Special thanks to the Day 6 listeners who called in with their guilty pleasures too - Day 6 tote bags are on the way to Maria, Maureen, Rory, and Reid.
]]>You might have considered getting yourself a little piece of FB, but hesitated to jump into the market game.
Brent spoke with Rick Roman about his site, Give A Share, and how people come to him when they want to buy one single share certificate to hang on their wall.
Rick's interview was trimmed for broadcast, but you can hear a longer version HERE.
Want to see what some of these certificates look like? Click on the image for the gallery.
]]>