September 6, 2010

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Whole Show Blow-by-Blow

It's Monday, September 6th.

Fort McMurray, Alberta has officially banned plastic bags in order to be more environmentally friendly.

Currently, Customers can now choose between "Paper" and "tar bucket".

This is The Current.

Electronic Addiction - Tim Jones

Populist politics is an anti-intellectual, angry brand of populist politics based on emotional appeals and anti-government sentiment. It is also an emerging political philiosphy in Canada, which seems to be leading to greater engagement of Canadians with politics, but it will need to transcend anger if it's going to be a force for better government. For their thoughts on the current wave of populism in Canada, we were joined by three guests. Christopher Hume is an urban affairs columnist with the Toronto Star. Janet Ecker was a cabinet minister under Ontario Premier Mike Harris. She's now the President of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance. They were both with Anna Maria in Toronto. Thomas Frank has written extensively about populism in American politics. He's the author of, The Wrecking Crew as well as, What's the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. He was in Bethesda, Maryland.

Bed Bugs

There was a time when bed-bugs were pretty common. Then, in the 1940s, DDT came along and bed-bugs were pretty much eradicated from the western world. But DDT was banned. And bed bugs are making a comeback. So now, we have to figure out how to get rid of them again. That's one of the things Dini Miller is working on. She's one of North America's top bed-bug researchers. She's an urban pest management specialist at Virginia Tech University. She was in Blacksburg, Virginia for the show.

Gzowski Biographer: R.B. Fleming

And this is the man who used to be on in this time slot. I think you might know him. For 15 years, Peter Gzowski hosted Morningside on the CBC airwaves, and for several years before that, he was the host of This Country in the Morning. As the years went by, many of his listeners developed a very personal connection to Gzowski. And both he and Morningside became symbols of a particular way of thinking about Canada. To many, Peter Gzowski was a hero - "The glue holding Canada together" in the words of one listener. But according to Rae Fleming, Peter Gzowski's off-air personality and his private life didn't always match his public persona. Rae Fleming is the author of a new book called, Peter Gzowski: A Biography. He was with Anna Maria in studio.

Last Word

We left you today with Stuart McClean, someone who knew Peter Gzowski well. The clip we aired was from CBC Radio's, The Vinyl Cafe.