Sunday September 24, 2017

Listen to Full Episode 2:36:26 Listen 4:15

Michael's essay — Why don't people have nicknames anymore?

"I’ve always loved Mafia nicknames. My favourite was the wise guy nicknamed Eight O'Clock, as in 'If anybody asks for me, I was here 'til eight o’clock'..." More Sep 22, 5:03 PM ET read comments

more stories from this episode

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  A citizen's guide to the NDP leadership race

  If you’re just now tuning in, veteran political journalists Tonda MacCharles, Hélène Buzzetti and John Ibbitson will bring you up to speed on the candidates, the issues, the drama and the state of the party today. More Sep 22, 5:03 PM ET read comments

  Listen 29:56
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  'Time is the great editor': Brian Brett chooses his literary executor

  The award-winning memoirist, journalist and poet is facing a difficult health challenge, so he asked a young friend, writer Chris Oke, to be his literary executor. Chris’s documentary is called "The Great Editor." More Sep 22, 5:04 PM ET read comments

  Listen 18:47
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  Novelist Sarah Perry on faith, fear and our fascination with monsters

  In British writer Sarah Perry's latest novel "The Essex Serpent," a mythic beast terrorizes the village and science and superstition hold equal sway. This rich and compulsively readable novel was Book of the Year at the 2017 British Book Awards. More Sep 22, 5:04 PM ET read comments

  Listen 22:16
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  How close are we to the end of the world?

  Earlier this year, just after Donald Trump's inauguration, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock 30 seconds forward, to two and a half minutes to midnight. Michael spoke to Sharon Squassoni, director of the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. More Sep 22, 5:04 PM ET read comments

  Listen 24:02
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  Corks versus screw-caps

  There’s no doubt a screw-cap is easier to use — so why do some vintners insist on continuing to seal their wine bottles with cork? Michael talks to Belinda Kemp, Senior Staff Scientist in Oenology and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University. More Sep 22, 5:04 PM ET read comments

  Listen 13:47
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  Andrew Weaver: 'I could not look my children in the face and say I did nothing'

  The B.C. Green Party leader explains why he left his job as a climate scientist to become a politician, and how he balances his concern for the environment with the realities of the province's resource-based economy. More Sep 22, 5:05 PM ET read comments

  Listen 29:55
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  'Do you know who I am?'

  In her essay, Pauline Buck describes a terrifying moment as wife and caregiver to the man she loved. He had Alzheimer's disease. More Sep 22, 5:05 PM ET read comments

  Listen 6:48