May 20, 2012
 
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February 6, 2012

Mark Tewksbury

It's one of those feel-good Olympic stories that dreams of made of... or so we thought. The '76 Summer Games inspired Mark to get into swim racing competitively and 12 years later, he won a silver in Seoul. Four years later, in Barcelona, Mark broke the Olympic record for the 100-metre backstroke. Not only did he capture gold, but the hearts of people all over the country. When he retired from competition Mark started what looked like a promising career with the International Olympic Committee. But inside, Mark was drowning. He was gay. And the IOC, his peers, and even his coaches were discouraging him from coming out. It took some time, but Mark eventually took a very bold and brave step in 1998 and came out, becoming Canada's first openly gay Olympian. While he lost a few endorsement deals and faced some very real criticism, he also found new meaning in life. He spoke out against IOC corruption, founded the first-ever World Out Games, and became a mentor to athletes who felt stuck in the closet. Now Mark finds himself back on the Canadian Olympic team, as Canada's Chef De Mission. His role is to provide young Olympians with leadership, support, and inspiration.



February 6, 2012

Michelle Shephard

On September 10, 2001, Michelle Shephard was in Toronto reporting on a purse-snatching for The Toronto Star. It seemed like an important story at the time. But on September 11, Michelle stood in Manhattan at Ground Zero, breathing in dust from the fallen World Trade Center. Michelle didn't know it then but that moment was the beginning of a 10-year journey - a journey she's written about in a book called 'Decade of Fear'. Along the way she's met the perpetrators of violence. But 'Decade of Fear' also tells the story of the victims of that violence - ordinary people caught up in wars and political conflicts. The book also poses some tough questions: we're safer now, but at what cost to the world? Have security policies, meant to make life better, actually made life more vulnerable? And given all the money spent and lives lost n the war on terror, is the West any better off?



February 7, 2012

Clara Hughes

Clara Hughes is the only Canadian athlete in history to win medals in both the winter and summer Olympic Games. It's a phenomenal achievement. But over time, Clara began to feel lonely, isolated, and sad. She was a two-time Olympic medalist suffering from depression. She found the courage to reach out to a doctor. And while the darkness never totally vanished, Clara learned how to listen to it and manage it. After winning four more medals at the 2010, 2006 and 2002 Olympics, she became an ambassador for Right to Play. And when the Canadian team entered B.C. Place for the 2010 Winter Olympics, it was Clara who carried the flag. Clara's shared some of her happiest moments with the country, and now she's sharing the difficult ones, too. She's become the spokesperson for the 'Let's Talk' Campaign: a program designed to spark a national conversation about the realities of mental health.



February 7, 2012

Dave Bidini

Dave Bidini is concerned about Canada. Not concerned like, he's worried we're all about to keel over and die; more like, he wants to understand what makes us tick. Back in high school, Dave and his friends formed a band called The Rheostatics. In 1996, The Rheostatics went on tour with the Tragically Hip. Dave took the experience and turned it into his first book, 'On a Cold Road', a blow-by-blow account of life as a travelling musician. Published in 1998, the book became a Canadian classic. In fact, it's finalist for this year's 'Canada Reads'. Since then, he's published 10 books, mostly focused on his two biggest passions: sports and music. These days, not only is Dave still making new music - he just released 'In the Rock Hall', his second album with his current group, Bidiniband - he's also got a new book: 'Writing Gordon Lightfoot', a kind of unauthorized biography, written without Gordon's consent. It's a portrait of Canada in the early 70s, as well as an attempt to unlock one of Canada's most private, enigmatic heroes. It makes you wonder, is it possible for Dave - or anyone - to get inside the mind of an icon, when you haven't been invited?


February 8, 2012

Alan Thicke

For years, people have thought of Alan Thicke as the ultimate father figure: first, he was Kirk Cameron's TV dad on 'Growing Pains'; lately, he's been better known as R&B singer Robin Thicke's actual dad... But if there's one thing all awesome dads have in common, it's those crazy stories from their past - the stuff you never knew that make you see them in a whole new light. Alan Thicke? Well, he broke into show biz with the CBC, where he wrote musical segments for Tommy Hunter and did some comedy with SNL creator Lorne Michaels. After moving to LA, he worked as a TV writer for a list of Hollywood legends: Richard Pryor. Flip Wilson. Bill Cosby. Plus, he never stopped writing music. Theme songs for "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life"? Written by Alan. And once he found his role as Dr. Jason Seaver on 'Growing Pains', Alan found a career-defining role. Now, he's back on CBC to talk about another lifelong passion: hockey. He's defending 'The Game' by Ken Dryden, in this year's edition of Canada Reads. It might just be the greatest hockey book ever written, but it's also raises universal questions about character, toughness, and what it takes to succeed.


February 8, 2012

Brad Peyton

In our great nation, "gander" can mean many things: an adult male goose, a glance, a city in Newfoundland best known for its airport. But that's about to change, because Gander is also about to be renowned as the hometown of Brad Peyton, one of Canada's most promising young directors. Currently, Brad's at the helm of a huge Hollywood family feature, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. It's an adventure movie that sends a teen (Josh Hutcherson) and his stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) on a quest to rescue his granddad (Michael Caine) from a fantasy world inspired by Jules Verne.


February 9, 2012

Jill Hennessey & Caroline Rhea

It's a well-known fact that some of the busiest actors in Hollywood are, in fact, Canadian (you know who you are, Ryan Gosling). And our comedians rank with the best in the world (Russell Peters, Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, et al). Now a new CBC TV-movie weds two of our greatest arts exports in a distinctly Canadian way with Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Based on the great Stephen Leacock book -- celebrating its 100th anniversary this year -- Sunshine Sketches adds a little biography in between the skewering of social mores of small-town Canada, and stars Jill Hennessy and Caroline Rhea. Jill and Caroline forged solid careers south of the border (Jill anchored Crossing Jordan for six seasons and is now in HBO's Luck, while standup comic Caroline appeared in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and hosted her own talk show) but Sunshine Sketches is their first major project together. Ah, humour, good acting and community-building - how Canadian can you get?


February 9, 2012

Jeff Ross

Do you ever look around at some of today's celebrities and want to punch them all in the neck? But then you take a deep breath and acknowledge that kind of behavior isn't really encouraged in society, and really the next best thing would be to publically humiliate them with endless blistering insults? If you answered "yes!" to the two mandatory questions above, Jeff Ross is your guy. Donald Trump. Charlie Sheen. Pamela Anderson. Joan Rivers. Jeff Ross has roasted them all - you may have caught one of his well-known zing-fests on Comedy Central. As a kid growing up in New Jersey, Jeff was often the butt of jokes. He worked his way through the tough-talkin' Jersey stand-up comedy circuit and after years of hard work, he now holds the prestigious title of 'Roast Master General'.








February 10, 2012


Best of The Week and Adam Cohen


Fridays on the show, we play our best interviews of the week, plus a musical performance from Adam Cohen. What's it like to grow up as the son of a Canadian - and international - musical legend? And if you decide to go into the music biz, how do you define yourself as an your own man while paying tribute to the genius of your father? Well, Adam Cohen, son of Leonard, makes it look easy. He started out by proving his skill as a songwriter for other artists, but quickly moved into his own material, releasing his self-titled debut to critical acclaim in 1998. And over the years, Adam's done plenty to reinforce both his talent as a singer and songwriter and his Canadianness: his second record, 'Melancolista', is made up entirely of French songs. And his latest, 'Like A Man', pays tribute to his father and reinforces Adam's recognition that he is, in his own words, "in the family business".





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