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The Great Animal Orchestra: Bernie Krause

The Great Animal Orchestra by Bernia Krause (Hatchette Book Group)

The Great Animal Orchestra by Bernia Krause (Hatchette Book Group)

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Some people can find harmony in the wonders of the wild. Bernie Krause's fascination with sounds in the wild has inspired him to record soundscapes where the wind, the trees and the beasts create their own soundscapes, literally find their own bandwidths for what becomes The Great Animal Orchestra ….a veritable symphony that has influenced what we call music.

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Snakehead Fish Invasion

You'd be forgiven for thinking the Snakehead fish is a Hollywood Horror invention, it prefers swamps and stagnant water. It is a fish that can slither along on land for a bit and with its big mouth and sharp teet. Snakeheads worried federal officials enough to commission a report on how to keep them away which is why a possible - not even confirmed - sighting of a Snakehead in the wild has the authorities in Burnaby a bit concerned. Today, we're on the trail of an invasive species to avoid.

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Facebook Defamation Case

Canada prides itself on a transparent justice system, its courts open to the public. Which is why a Halifax case awaiting a Supreme Court decision is such a lightening rod. At issue is the question of whether a teenage girl can sue anonymously for defamation over a case of cyber-bullying on Facebook, even while keeping the actual words written about her also secret. It is a case that has civil libertarians intervening worried about the message this would send.

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Employment Insurance: No such thing as a bad job

Is a bad job better than no job? How far would you travel, where would you move to get work? And since workers pay into Employment Insurance, should they have any qualms about accepting EI payments while they search for, wait for ... the right job? Who decides how many times you draw on EI? Who draws the line on what employment is acceptable and what job is not worth pursuing? As Ottawa prepares to tighten eligibility for Employment Insurance, we're debating work everyone needs and jobs many don't want.

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Simon Fraser University Men's Centre

There's controversy brewing at BC's Simon Fraser University. The Student Union has earmarked tens-of-thousands of dollars for a Men's centre to offer a safe space for men to discuss issues. The Women's Centre response was curt - suggesting the Men's Centre already exists everywhere else. But the man who runs one of the few Men's Centres in the country says it is time to acknowledge that men need shelter and space to confront everything from spousal abuse to mental health.

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Difficulties North Korean refugees face in Canada

The tweets and emails kept popping up yesterday in reaction to the compelling story of Shin Dong-hyuk, his harrowing life and his escape from North Korea's Camp 14. One of the reasons his story is so jarring is that few North Koreans ever talk about the life from which they manage to escape, the fear of retribution keeps them silent even here in Canada. Today, we hear from a North Korean man who managed to come to Canada and the Canadian from South Korea who helps others like him adapt to a life away from the oppressive control of North Korea's unflinching leaders.

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Public trading of Facebook shares

It Changed the Game by making the medium social but will all those Likes translate into investor Love for Facebook? As the Social Media juggernaut prepares for an Initial Public Offering Friday, there is speculation that a publicly-traded Facebook could be Bigger than Boeing and more bountiful than the big banks combined.

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ExxonMobil and American Power: Steve Coll

The joke in the polished halls of Exxon Mobil is that its P.R. strategy is to say "no comment" in 50 languages. It is said to have a system of secrecy akin to an intelligence agency. After four years of journalistic digging, Steve Coll documents the inner workings of one of the most profitable and powerful corporations in the world, one that he says has affected wider foreign policy to the fight over climate change.

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Escape from Camp 14 (Part Two)

We continue our conversation with Shin Dong-hyuk and hear why Shin came to the end of his endurance and decided to risk everything to escape. It very nearly did cost him everything and defeating the high voltage fence was just the beginning.

Blaine Harden details Shin's harrowing story in his book, Escape From Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West.

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Health Care for Refugee Claimants

Canada is well-known for offering protection to refugee claimants. It's less anxious to offer the same people health care if they get sick. It's the reason doctors occupied federal offices last week. We hear from doctors and a former refugee claimant about a federal change that will restrict health care for refugee claimants and we hear from the Minister responsible.

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Post-Poned Pardon

The federal government's new crime bill changes how long it takes to apply for a pardon. We hear from a Nova Scotia man who says he did the crime but he's done the time and now he wants a clean slate. And why Ottawa says...not so fast.

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