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The Current is a meeting place of perspectives with a fresh take on issues that affect Canadians today.
Updated: Daily
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The impact of basketball diplomacy on U.S./North Korean relations - March 1, 2013
Former pro basketball player Dennis Rodman is in North Korea today. His trip has US policy-makers and pundits concerned the visit may undermine the West's policy goals there. We debate whether on the basketball mad Korean Peninsula there's such a thing as basketball diplomacy. Or is Dennis Rodman just shoring up a regime with little regard for human rights?
Download The impact of basketball diplomacy on U.S./North Korean relations - March 1, 2013
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Is there a future for working from home? - March 01, 2013
Cell phones, laptops, tablets and all our other wireless gear have made it easy for companies to let their employees work from home. But now Yahoo -- a telecommuting early adopter -- says it needs its employees to come back to the office. We debate the pros and cons of telecommuting in 2013.
Download Is there a future for working from home? - March 01, 2013
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Why internet addiction is a controversial diagnosis - March 1, 2013
Isaac Vaisberg is a self-described recovering Internet addict. He's getting treatment through a pioneering new program in Washington State. And this spring, Internet Use Disorder will be officially recognized as an area that warrants further study. But not everyone thinks this is progress.
Download Why internet addiction is a controversial diagnosis - March 1, 2013
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Are police targeting elderly drivers in Sudbury? - February 28, 2013
Head to YouTube and you can watch dozens of scenarios to a problem with older or elderly drivers. Statistically,drivers aged 80-plus almost have the accident rate of the most dangerous driving demographic ... the under 24s. And in Sudbury they are the target of a police tip-line urging other drivers to call in to report any seemingly erratic or dangerous elderly driver. Simple public safety in action? Or age discrimination?
Download Are police targeting elderly drivers in Sudbury? - February 28, 2013
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Fort McMurray land leases: Homes vs Bitumen - February 28, 2013
Houses in Fort McMurrary are in such demand they sell at prices a quarter-of-a-million-dollars more than either Edmonton or Calgary. But it is what new houses could be sitting on that really has Alberta's bitumen capital in a bind. A massive tract of land set aside for urban housing development is the same land on which oilsands companies hold mineral rights leases. And the Alberta government has to decide who gets priority.
Download Fort McMurray land leases: Homes vs Bitumen - February 28, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - February 28, 2013
Find out what a comedian-turned political powerhouse named Beppe Grillo has in mind for the European Union's third largest economy. And, we'll remember a man who escaped two Nazi concentration camps, helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and helped inspire the Occupy movement. And as always we hear your thoughts on the stories we've brought you this week in Checking-In.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - February 28, 2013
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Cleaning up the payday loan industry - February 27, 2013
Ontario's new premier may think there's a rein on payday loan companies but their level of creativity appears to be almost as high as the interest rates they charge. In some Canadian provinces and across the U.S., these so-called lenders of last resort are finding new ways to skirt the rules. Today, calls for reform in what one man calls ...the poverty industry.
Download Cleaning up the payday loan industry - February 27, 2013
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The legacy of Pope Benedict XVI - February 27, 2013
Pope Benedict the 16th stood before tens-of-thousands of the faithful at his final audience in St. Peters Square this morning. As he prepares to step away from the Papacy tomorrow ... we're asking about his legacy. Will he be remembered as an outstanding theologian ... or a man mired in scandal, administrative trouble and an early exit?
Download The legacy of Pope Benedict XVI - February 27, 2013
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The east coast lobster wars - February 27, 2013
Most of us would be hard-pressed to notice a four-millimetre difference in the size of a lobster shell. To put that in perspective, four millimetres is the width of four dimes stacked on top of each other. But lobster fishers in PEI and New Brunswick are about to go to war with each other over a bid to increase the minimum catch size by exactly that amount.
Download The east coast lobster wars - February 27, 2013
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Investigating reports of Zimbabwe rapes under 'universal jurisdiction' - February 26, 2013
When Robert Mugabe clung to power after Zimbabwe's 2008 election he was quick to wield the power of the law and the authority of the state. But it is precisely the wider legal and moral authority of States that is now being used against him in a South African plan to prosecute Mugabe supporters for engineering the systematic rape of women in that election fight. And behind this bold legal move was a concerted lobby effort by a group begun by Canada's Stephen Lewis.
Download Investigating reports of Zimbabwe rapes under 'universal jurisdiction' - February 26, 2013
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In search of equal opportunities in sexual expression: Sex and Disability - February 26,2013
Today we have a frank and enlightening discussion on the reality of being disabled and finding sexual intimacy and expression. From a project training sex trade workers to accept disabled clients ... to the debate on who should pay and the many misconceptions.
Download In search of equal opportunities in sexual expression: Sex and Disability - February 26,2013
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Growing up in the Church of Scientology: Jenna Miscavige Hill - February 26, 2013
Lots of people have stepped forward to air their grievances with The Church of Scientology over the years. But most of them aren't the niece of the man who runs the church and a former high-level member herself. Jenna Miscavige Hill joins us to tell us about the Church of Scientology, why she left and why that's going to make for some awkward family reunions.
Download Growing up in the Church of Scientology: Jenna Miscavige Hill - February 26, 2013
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Breach of Trust and the Canadian Military - February 25, 2013
Today's documentary involves a young woman whose name we cannot share and whose allegations have raised troubling questions about the Canadian military, its recruiting and the implications for its chain of command. Our producer, Howard Goldenthal investigates how a young recruit found her life blown apart on a winter's day while trying to become a member of the armed forces.
Download Breach of Trust and the Canadian Military - February 25, 2013
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The implications of the Italian elections - February 25, 2013
Italians are going to the polls today and the austerity-minded E.U. technocrat who was supposed to rescue their economy is running a distant third ... behind Mr. Bunga Bunga himself, Silvio Berlusconi. The stakes for Italy are huge. And the stakes for those trying to manage the E.U. Debt Crisis could be even bigger.
Download The implications of the Italian elections - February 25, 2013
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Ethical dilemmas surrounding medical tourism - February 25, 2013
Not every Canadian heading to Mexico at this time of year is looking to lie on a beach. Increasingly some are stretching out on operating tables for surgery without a long waiting list, at affordable prices. And for some, the ethical question is not should they be going to another country and paying but rather how can Canada be so unethical to keep them waiting. We look at the conundrum and the consequences of an Operation Vacation.
Download Ethical dilemmas surrounding medical tourism - February 25, 2013
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Reddit 's Erik Martin on managing the 'Front Page of the Internet' - February 22, 2013
One of the internet's main viral-enablers: A website where user-democracy votes up, and down, pictures, comments, and videos. Today meet the man who oversees Reddit, the hugely popular, widely influential and highly controversial online community that is often called "The Front Page of the Internet." Erik Martin tells us about his desire for a free and open internet and what - if anything - should be out of bounds.
Download Reddit 's Erik Martin on managing the 'Front Page of the Internet' - February 22, 2013
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Food fraud and the security of our global food supply - February 22, 2013
What's that you're eating? The appearance of horsemeat in products labeled as beef in Europe is raising some uncomfortable questions about the security of our global food supply. And according to some who work in the field ... that's not the half of it. We're looking into the global problem of food fraud today.
Download Food fraud and the security of our global food supply - February 22, 2013
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The world's first corporate city to be built in Honduras - February 22, 2013
The Government of Honduras has signed a deal that would see a private company build a city from scratch ... a city with its own government, laws, courts, police and tax system. The hope is that it could become a shining example to inspire the rest of the country. Could it mean a return to colonialism in the country that helped coin the phrase "Banana Republic"? Could it turn a profit for Canada?
Download The world's first corporate city to be built in Honduras - February 22, 2013
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Parti Quebecois 'Anglo Man' standing up for English speaking Quebecers - February 21, 2013
From snowy Montreal, we begin with a Parti Quebecois government minister who is a French Quebec nationalist and a self-professed anglophile. A man who is standing up for Anglophone Quebecers... even after the former premier and PQ stalwart Jacques Parizeau told him to sit back down. Jean-François Lisée is Quebec's Minister of International Relations and he has now been tasked with building bridges between his government and Anglophone Quebecers.
Download Parti Quebecois 'Anglo Man' standing up for English speaking Quebecers - February 21, 2013
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Is the shortage of male teachers a crisis? - February 21, 2013
You wouldn't normally pick teacher as a profession it takes great courage for a man to enter. But we hear from a male teacher in Guelph who says it can sometimes be tough to be one of the few men in the profession. He speaks about a dark side to the change in social attitudes in Canada about male teachers. Changes that have left their numbers dwindling and educators worried for boy role models. About 80 per cent of all primary school teachers in Canada are women. Now, the biggest school board in the country wants to change that... by giving preference to men in their hiring.
Download Is the shortage of male teachers a crisis? - February 21, 2013
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Checking-In: Behind the rebel lines in Syria, muzzled scientists and your feedback - February 21, 2013
We check in with listeners and talk to the woman who took on the Bush Administration for what she saw as muzzling government scientists and misusing their work. Now, she's got a bone to pick with Ottawa over the same issues. We also hear from veteran journalist Rania Abouzeid about going behind the lines with the people fighting Syrian government forces.
Download Checking-In: Behind the rebel lines in Syria, muzzled scientists and your feedback - February 21, 2013
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Should alleged rapists get anonymity until convicted? - February 20, 2013
In courtrooms around the world today there are trials underway regarding sexual assault. And in Britain there is a fevered debate about identifying those charged with the crime. The argument is those falsely accused are named and shamed unjustly. The other side says real justice demands public transparency. We bring that debate home to Canada.
Download Should alleged rapists get anonymity until convicted? - February 20, 2013
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Russian meteorite crash sparks treasure seeking frenzy - February 20, 2013
The meteorite that exploded over Russia last Friday has treasure-seekers scouring the Siberian landscape, looking for space-rocks that could be worth more than 40 times the price of gold. Oh, and if there's anything left over, it'll be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for scientists too. Today, we look at the Indiana Jones of Meteorite Hunters and the economic upside of those fragments from the firmament.
Download Russian meteorite crash sparks treasure seeking frenzy - February 20, 2013
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The ugly truth about violence against women in South Africa - February 20, 2013
The charge of murder against South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius has cast a spotlight on a national problem. The murder rate among South African women is five times the global average. And more than 150 woman are raped every day. In 2009, a survey of South African men revealed that one in four of those asked said they had raped a woman. We ask why violence against women is so common in South Africa.
Download The ugly truth about violence against women in South Africa - February 20, 2013
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Canada's Economic Action Plan ad campaign: Prosperity or propaganda? - February 19, 2013
The federal government has unveiled a new round of Economic Action Plan advertising to give Canadians the tools to improve their own finances and to boost consumer confidence. However, a recent focus group shows most Canadians think the ads are propaganda and misleading. Is this Prosperity or Propaganda?
Download Canada's Economic Action Plan ad campaign: Prosperity or propaganda? - February 19, 2013
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Why did 'Michelangelo Models' cost Canadians millions in tax credits? - February 19, 2013
It was a time of intrigue and high stakes when the art historian and the curator were asked to examine some exquisite pieces of art, terra cotta models of sculptures, the expectation being ... they'd been created by Michelangelo himself. They ended up in the Vancouver Museum but if they come with a History ... they also carry the burden of greed, betrayal, warring brothers, questionable accounting and perhaps mistaken identity. Today, CBC's Jason Proctor brings us a story of great expectations and possible artistic inflation.
Download Why did 'Michelangelo Models' cost Canadians millions in tax credits? - February 19, 2013
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Phiona Mutesi: Teen Ugandan Chess Prodigy - February 19, 2013
She was nine years old when she stumbled upon the game ... dirty, smelly, hungry and transformed ... mesmerized by the tiny smooth pieces - the Knight, the Rook, the Pawn. And so a girl from one of the most destitute places on the planet became a chess champion and found something few kids in the Ugandan slum of Katwe can even recognize … A Dream. Today we bring you the story of how a 16-year-old girl from one of the worst slums in all of East Africa changed her life by mastering a game that doesn't even have a name in her native language.
Download Phiona Mutesi: Teen Ugandan Chess Prodigy - February 19, 2013
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Thousands of untested rape kits lying in storage in Detroit - February 18, 2013
A disturbing story about law and order today. In the city of Detroit, the woman who holds the job of Chief Prosecutor discovered that thousands of sexual assault cases have been in limbo for decades because evidence from so-called rape kits is languishing on forgotten shelves. It is not a problem unique to Detroit, but it is one that has seen serial rapists, and even murderers, exist undetected for years.
Download Thousands of untested rape kits lying in storage in Detroit - February 18, 2013
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Should we save polar bears from starvation by feeding them ourselves? - February 18, 2013
You've seen those oh-so-cute pictures of polar bears with their cubs. Fact is, they are wild, dangerous and now they are at the centre of a debate over whether to protect them from starvation in a habitat so affected by climate change. As the sea ice shrinks around them, polar bears are finding it harder and harder to hunt. Now, some of the world's leading authorities on conservation say it may be time for drastic measures... including the possibility of feeding the bears ourselves.
Download Should we save polar bears from starvation by feeding them ourselves? - February 18, 2013
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'Bad Pharma': Why Ben Goldacre says drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients - February 18, 2013
So, it isn't necessarily what you know about a drug, that can hurt you. Ben Goldacre says it is what neither you, nor even your doctor, can find out about a drug that can complicate things. From drug trials that are tiny or end too soon, to the patients who drop out of them and are never factored in again, the doctor and epidemiologist says it is time for transparency and more public detail.
Download 'Bad Pharma': Why Ben Goldacre says drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients - February 18, 2013
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'Maus' cartoonist Art Spiegelman on finding art in disorder - February 15, 201
Art Spiegelman finds art in disorder, even catastrophe. He can't help it. Calls it his muse. The Holocaust. September 11, 2001. Death in the family. Things some would wish to forget and bury, cartoonist Spiegelman wants you, needs you, to remember. The famed author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novel "Maus" and numerous New Yorker covers explains all with a candour that is darkly hilarious. He also talks about the first ever retrospective of his life's work at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Download 'Maus' cartoonist Art Spiegelman on finding art in disorder - February 15, 201
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The elemental link between leaded gasoline and violent crime - February 15, 2013
For twenty years, people have been arguing over what produced a global drop in violent crime through the 1990s and early 2000s. Some thought poverty-reduction and education. Others said better policing or more jails. But now one writer says the key factor was the rise and fall of leaded gasoline. We find out why more and more researchers think the switch to unleaded gasoline was the best thing we ever did to fight violent crime.
Download The elemental link between leaded gasoline and violent crime - February 15, 2013
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Is the relationship between the RCMP and Aboriginal women broken? - February 15, 2013
The RCMP stands accused of abusing aboriginal women in northern British Columbia. The allegations appear in a report by Human Rights Watch and yet not a single woman has come forward to complain. We explore the past and present state of a tense relationship that is more surprising than it seems.
Download Is the relationship between the RCMP and Aboriginal women broken? - February 15, 2013
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Avoiding heartbreak with science: A Love drug helps couples stay in love - February 14, 2013
What if love is just another neuro-biological process? Like sweating? Oh yes it is Valentine's Day but forget the romance, what about inhaling a puff or two of Oxytocin to keep you out of divorce court. We hear from two scientists convinced they're on the right neurological wavelength to spare people the pain of a break-up with a little medical tinkering.
Download Avoiding heartbreak with science: A Love drug helps couples stay in love - February 14, 2013
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Is courtship dead and gone or just evolving? - February 14, 2013
Courtship, friendship, text-ship ... Love in the Time of Cellular. Are you merely being friended or actually being seduced? A generation weaned on wiki thinks dating is digital but where's the love in that? Today we're asking if courtship is dead.
Download Is courtship dead and gone or just evolving? - February 14, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - February 14, 2013
Today we have stories of disappointment related to the Senate. Desire ... about those searching for-a-doctor. And Destiny ... about the Ghost Ship adrift on the high seas, love on the Lyubov Orlova. We check in on listener thoughts in Checking-In.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - February 14, 2013
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Alberta Angst: Squabbling over pipelines and threatening financial security - February 13, 2013
For years it has been a Bitumen Benefit ... thick tarry crude pulled out of the Alberta Oil Sands at an increasingly dizzying rate, the most significant driver of the Canadian economy. But suddenly it is a Bitumen Bubble worth billions in losses, breaking budgets ... both provincial and federal and triggering urgent warnings that Canadians will pay an unparalleled price without rapid pipeline production to send that product to Asia. How did such a turn around happen seemingly so quickly? Are we on an economic brink?
Download Alberta Angst: Squabbling over pipelines and threatening financial security - February 13, 2013
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Patients without Doctors, Doctors without Jobs - February 13, 2013
There are more than 4 million Canadians who can't find a family doctor. Anecdotally, we know lots of people wait months to see a specialist. And yet unemployment rates are as high as 16% for some recently-graduated medical specialists. Medical students say it is time to change the system, they want access to better data so they know which careers to pursue and where they are wanted and needed.
Download Patients without Doctors, Doctors without Jobs - February 13, 2013
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Ghost Ships: A hazard to shipping and the environment - February 13, 2013
The Lyubov Orlova named for a Russian film star from the 30s once glided through Arctic waters on high-cost tours. Today it is rusty, derelict and - we think - a haven for rats floating aimlessly, dangerously somewhere in the North Atlantic. Today, we look at the Ghost Ship from St. John's that now haunts anyone who cares about marine safety.
Download Ghost Ships: A hazard to shipping and the environment - February 13, 2013
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The Canadian Senate: Keep It, Reform It or Kill It? - February 12, 2013
It has not been a great week and a half for the Upper Chamber. Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau was kicked out of his caucus following his arrest for assault. The NDP's Charlie Angus went after Conservative Senator Mike Duffy over allegations the Senator claimed living expenses he was not entitled to. An outside auditing firm is investigating those claims against Senator Duffy, as well as similar allegations against Senator Brazeau and Liberal Senator Mac Harb. And the rally call to reform, or even eliminate the Senate, is getting louder.
Download The Canadian Senate: Keep It, Reform It or Kill It? - February 12, 2013
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Palestinian and Israeli school textbooks - February 12, 2013
The truth in mathematics textbooks is pretty much accepted in schools around the world. But the history books often don't add up. We hear how students often get a skewed perception of their neighbours from the school texts they rely on. A new study suggests Palestinian and Israeli school textbooks could be more tolerant -- but they're not exactly encouraging mortal combat.
Download Palestinian and Israeli school textbooks - February 12, 2013
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What happened to Tunisia's Revolution? - February 12, 2013
The assassination of a popular opposition leader has some Tunisians wondering if the instability unleashed by their revolution is worth it. We speak to some who believe it is. As Tunisians mourn a popular opposition leader, many wonder what's become of their Arab spring.
Download What happened to Tunisia's Revolution? - February 12, 2013
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Pope Benedict XVI announces resignation - February 11, 2013
The news is surprising and unprecedented in the modern papacy, Pope Benedict the XVI is announcing today that he will step down. Today, we look at the reasons and the implications.
Download Pope Benedict XVI announces resignation - February 11, 2013
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Dual citizenship and the concerns over terrorism - February 11, 2013
As the Harper government considers a policy and legislative change that would strip a terrorist with dual citizenship of their Canadian citizenship, we’re asking how this would work. Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration, Rick Dykstra takes us through the proposed change and a Canadian once accused of al-Qaeda connections gives us his perspective on what is at stake.
Download Dual citizenship and the concerns over terrorism - February 11, 2013
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Canadian mining giant Barrick launches remediation program to help victims of sexual assault but there's a catch - February 11, 2013
The stories of rape and assault coming from women victimized by security guards near a major gold mine site in Papua New Guinea have been persistent and deeply disturbing. Canadian giant Barrick Gold has responded with a program offering medical, psychological and community services. But Barrick's critics question why woman have to sign away rights to legal action later in order to get help now.
Download Canadian mining giant Barrick launches remediation program to help victims of sexual assault but there's a catch - February 11, 2013
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The military campaign in Mali: Too soon for France troops to leave? - February 8, 2013
As France plans to pull forces out of Mali in March, the international community is divided over whether it's too soon and if the country will spiral further into chaos. We look at what is still unresolved and what is still at stake.
Download The military campaign in Mali: Too soon for France troops to leave? - February 8, 2013
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Air pollution in Athens escalates due to government's austerity measures - February 8, 2013
If it smells like pine spirit in parts of Greece these days, they have the smoke from home heating fires to thank for it. And not in a good way. Air pollution is the latest fallout from the Greek austerity measures. People are burning trees from the parks, old furniture -- anything to avoid paying soaring new taxes on heating oil.
Download Air pollution in Athens escalates due to government's austerity measures - February 8, 2013
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Alaa Murabit on sexual violence against women during the Arab Spring revolts - February 8, 2013
The dictators of the Arab world didn't respond with one voice to the protests of the Arab spring. Some left without much urging. Some continue to fight. We hear from one Libyan Canadian woman who's investigated the sexual violence against women as a weapon of war.
Download Alaa Murabit on sexual violence against women during the Arab Spring revolts - February 8, 2013
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Freelance Journalists and War Coverage - February 7, 2013
The story of the Syrian conflict is uploaded by courageous citizens but it is also documented by a knot of determined foreign journalists, many of them freelancers. And now a decision by an influential British newspaper to refuse all work out of Syria offered by freelancers raises questions of liability, responsibility and also of getting critical information out. Today we look at the implications.
Download Freelance Journalists and War Coverage - February 7, 2013
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The emotional and financial costs on military families moving frequently - February 7, 2013
He's been in the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 20 years, the father of five children, a Senior Officer with time in Afghanistan doing a job he loves ... but he's close to broke, a series of mandated moves have left his family deep in debt. Military families know multiple moves are an occupational reality but for some they are a financial and emotional drain. The Military Ombudsman says the Department of National Defence needs to rethink its policy of moving so many families so many times.
Download The emotional and financial costs on military families moving frequently - February 7, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - February 7, 2013
Updating, Uploading and Upbraiding. We have your reaction to the stories we've been following from the mom playing The Heavy with her obese 7-year-old ... to the boss at BlackBerry, from the things that were said to the questions we should have asked. Thoughts, tweets, incredulity ... we look back on the stories of the week.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - February 7, 2013
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Power struggles within Iran - February 6, 2013
The knives may be out for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a fight gone public with a politician maneuvering to succeed him. It involves secret videos, corruption allegations, the arrest, imprisonment and reported sudden release of one of the President's key allies. You want to bet it also involves the real power broker, the country's top cleric. Today, we are looking at the backroom struggle that could ensnare Iran and the rest of the world.
Download Power struggles within Iran - February 6, 2013
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Battling "Revenge Porn" with legal action - February 6, 2013
It is called Revenge Porn, intimate pictures - usually of women - uploaded onto sites by angry ex-lovers or someone who has stolen their pictures. Some of the shots are consensual but the sharing of them is not. And once they are out there on sites that can add identifying details such as names, addresses, emails ... the subjects in the picture can do little about it. It is against that backdrop and that frustration that a Texas lawyer is attempting a class action lawsuit against one website. Today, we look at what the law can and cannot do in the U.S. and here in Canada.
Download Battling "Revenge Porn" with legal action - February 6, 2013
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Is Canada's space program in jeopardy? - February 6, 2013
He's a media darling, the kids love him and face it ... space travel looks pretty appealing with Commander Chris Hadfield checking in, tweeting, floating about and sharing his space chores. But while he's up there, the agency that put him there is out of orbit. The Canadian Space Agency faces serious cuts, its leadership is unexpectedly vacant and its goals and future are unclear. Is it rocket science or politics?
Download Is Canada's space program in jeopardy? - February 6, 2013
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Thorsten Heins: Can new phones save BlackBerry? - February 5, 2013
When BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins stood on a New York stage last week that wasn't just any new smartphone he held up. That device has to turn into a Saviour. So one week on what is Thorsten Heins thinking? We're asking.
Download Thorsten Heins: Can new phones save BlackBerry? - February 5, 2013
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The S.E.C.R.E.T to selling erotic fiction beyond "Fifty Shades of Grey" - February 5, 2013
She calls herself L. Marie Adeline and her first erotic novel sent her Canadian publishers into 50 Shades of Ecstasy when - even before it was actually finished, the book was snapped up by publishers in more than 30 countries. The author of S.E.C.R.E.T still has the book world trying to guess who she really is but the book Industry knows what she's got. Today we're looking at the resurgence of erotica. It has leapt off the e-pages, propped up publishers and shown us the real seduction may be in the marketing. L. Marie Adeline exposes her secret and tells us her real name.
Download The S.E.C.R.E.T to selling erotic fiction beyond "Fifty Shades of Grey" - February 5, 2013
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Boy Scouts of America consider changing their policy on accepting gay members - February 5, 2013
If you're gay there is no place for you in the Boy Scouts of America, either as a leader or a youth member. It is a long-held rule supported by sponsoring church groups. But this week the national organization is deciding whether to change. The very fact that the group is even considering inclusion .. has led some to call this a Watershed moment for gay rights in the U.S. Others aren't so sure, especially since the National group can't tell the local groups what to do.
Download Boy Scouts of America consider changing their policy on accepting gay members - February 5, 2013
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Does the 'Responsibility to Protect' doctrine mean Canada is obligated to intervene militarily in Syria? - February 4, 2013
The ability to get any food to those displaced and fleeing is a serious problem in Syria. And the food isn't the half of it ...
Syria continues a downward spiral while an international community talks ... threatens ... muses ... worries and remains unmoving. What ever happened to Responsibility to Protect? And how irresponsible would military intervention be?
Download Does the 'Responsibility to Protect' doctrine mean Canada is obligated to intervene militarily in Syria? - February 4, 2013
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How the exploding popularity of quinoa is both good and bad for Andean farmers - February 4, 2013
There are few grains as giving as Quinoa with its high protein content of up to 18-percent. A few years back, few could even pronounce it, let alone buy it, but its growing popularity across North America, Europe and Asia has affected the South American countries where it grows. Today we look at the unintended consequences of a once lowly grain turned international nutrition superstar.
Download How the exploding popularity of quinoa is both good and bad for Andean farmers - February 4, 2013
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The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet - February 4, 2013
When she put her 7-year old on a diet, the child's weight had spiked almost 30 pounds in a year and her appetite was seemingly insatiable. Armed with a specialist-approved eating plan, Dara-Lynn Weiss became an enforcer - in her words, The Heavy. The mother was very vocal about it, socially, publicly ... even writing in that tribute-to-thin-dom Vogue Magazine where she was excoriated. But her story exposes just how confused and conflicted a parent can be in trying to change the habits of a child diagnosed Obese. We hear from the author of The Heavy, Dara-Lynn Weiss and then from others on everything from eating healthy ... to "fat shame" ... to the merits of publicizing it all.
Download The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet - February 4, 2013
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Should the RCMP train police in Saudi Arabia? - February 1, 2013
Canadian police may soon be teaching the Saudis all they know. Both countries are working on a deal to provide investigative training to the petro-Kingdom of many thousand Princes. It's also a country with a checkered human rights history which has some asking if the RCMP should be just a little more rigorous in choosing partners. On the other hand, maybe there's much to be learned from the experience of the state that sourced so many of the 9/11 hijackers.
Download Should the RCMP train police in Saudi Arabia? - February 1, 2013
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US mayors plead with TD Bank to stop loans to gun manufacturers - February 1, 2013
After many senseless mass shootings, a new voice of stricken outrage is moved to strike at the very heart of America's free market ethos. The Mayor of Chicago wants banks -- including Canada's Toronto-Dominion bank -- to cut off cash flow to manufacturers who don't endorse gun control. A call to corporate responsibility? Or to corporate intervention?
Download US mayors plead with TD Bank to stop loans to gun manufacturers - February 1, 2013
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Are weaponized drones responsible for human rights abuses? - February 1, 2013
Unmanned aerial vehicles make it possible to rain death from above with little regard for what's down below. Missile-bearing drones often take out more civilians than targets. Now the UN is looking into how the secretive states that fly these weaponized aircraft are conducting themselves, or should. We ask the lead investigator how much co-operation he expects.
Download Are weaponized drones responsible for human rights abuses? - February 1, 2013
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Protecting culture in times of war - January 31, 2013
Tens of thousands of delicate, embellished, embossed writings from ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu haven't even been translated, but those that have offer a treasure of information - from the banal to the brilliant ... dating back centuries. Initial reports that most of the manuscripts were destroyed by Islamists in Mali now seem exaggerated, some have been spirited away, protected ... others likely looted. Today, we look at the toll war has taken on some of the world's greatest cultural treasures.
Download Protecting culture in times of war - January 31, 2013
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Civil Disobedience to stop the Keystone pipeline - January 31, 2013
The U.S. Sierra Club announced plans for Civil Disobedience
for the first time in its history over of the Keystone XL pipeline. Today the board of the Sierra Club of Canada decides whether it will follow suit on the Gateway pipeline, each responding to the Oil Sands with a Line in the Sand. Today, our project on the Dilemmas that Define Us asks about the ethics and the efficacy of Civil Disobedience.
Download Civil Disobedience to stop the Keystone pipeline - January 31, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - January 31, 2013
When we invite feedback our listeners don't hold back. We have a proliferation of opinions on stories of the week from E-cigarettes ... to Selfies in cyberspace ... to Women in power.
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BlackBerry: Reinvention and Canadian Pride - January 30, 2013
If Canada's signature tech company RIM, now known as BlackBerry, is to revive its fortunes, it will need to straddle both the business and the consumer market with the BlackBerry 10 to appeal to everyone from teens to bosses. But while there's a lot riding on this, how much of our collective Canadian identity is also at stake? Today, we explore our emotional connectivity to BlackBerry.
Download BlackBerry: Reinvention and Canadian Pride - January 30, 2013
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State of Care Documentary: Canada's segregated health care - January 30, 2013
Native Canadians who fell ill used to be able to count on one thing --not sharing a hospital ward with a white Canadian. Today we air a documentary on the story of segregated health care in Canada -- and it's not that old a story.
Download State of Care Documentary: Canada's segregated health care - January 30, 2013
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Selfies: Narcissistic, Empowering, or Just Fun? - January 30, 2013
Rembrandt painted dozens of self-portraits over a lifetime, but a kid with a smartphone can match that output in an afternoon. And it's not just teenagers feeling the need to paint their masterpiece with camera flash and wall mirror. Today, we look at the Selfie phenomenon ... those ubiquitous, self-conscious, posed and preening self-portraits that litter the internet through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and we're asking about the consequences of pop culture turned peep culture.
Download Selfies: Narcissistic, Empowering, or Just Fun? - January 30, 2013
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HarassMap: Mapping sexual assaults as they happen in Egypt - January 29, 2013
Even covering up doesn't protect women from being harassed or assaulted on the frenzied streets of Egypt's troubled cities these days. And since the police and even bystanders have passively watched far too many Egyptian women targeted and groped and worse, a new group of empowered women is fighting back with "HarrassMap". They message the location of an assault which is then marked on a map on a website for all to see. Today, the creator of HarrassMap on the idea and the result.
Download HarassMap: Mapping sexual assaults as they happen in Egypt - January 29, 2013
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Diagnosis through medical apps: Should you trust them? - January 29, 2013
Got a mole? Think it's looking a bit suspicious? Well ... there's a App for that, several specific apps actually ... all with varying functions that purport to detect possible skin cancer. Trouble is, a test of those apps has raised concerns about their accuracy and about just how vulnerable someone who need treatment may be.
Download Diagnosis through medical apps: Should you trust them? - January 29, 2013
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The Rise of E-cigarettes: Helping to quit or encouraging to smoke? - January 29, 2013
We haven't seen cigarette ads on tv for decades. Now the E-cigarette is out there and on the air. It doesn't burn tobacco, it lasts as long as two packs, it doesn't smell. Proponents say the Electronic Cigarette can help smokers quit. Opponents say the vapour is untested, the devices unregulated. The one thing not in debate is just how lucrative this product is.
Download The Rise of E-cigarettes: Helping to quit or encouraging to smoke? - January 29, 2013
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Are we ready to stop asking "Are we ready?" - January 28, 2013
Even before this weekend's leadership convention that made history by choosing her as Ontario's first female premier and Canada's first openly gay premier, Kathleen Wynne has been transparent about her politics and her life. And yet the question "Are We Ready?" was asked about her just as it has been asked about others among the pundits for decades. If it isn't sexual orientation, its race, ethnicity, religion or gender. It is always something. So in 2013, Are we finally ready to stop asking ... Are We Ready?
Download Are we ready to stop asking "Are we ready?" - January 28, 2013
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Historical Morgentaler decision marks 25th anniversary - January 28, 2013
It was 25 years ago today that the Supreme Court of Canada handed down the landmark ruling that decriminalized abortion and set a precedent for other medical social issues confronting us today. The Morgentaler decision, as it is known, resulted in what is an absence of an abortion law in Canada. But that wasn't the plan when the then-Mulroney government first reacted to 5-2 decision of the highest court. Today, we hear from former Tory Justice Minister Doug Lewis
on the backroom and parliamentary efforts that followed the decision.
Download Historical Morgentaler decision marks 25th anniversary - January 28, 2013
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Cryopreservation: A freezing way to beat death? - January 28, 2013
It is called Cryopreservation - the process of freezing the dead to bring them back to life in a future full of cures. Two weeks ago, a 23 year old with brain cancer died in the U.S. after raising money online to be preserved, setting off a debate not just about the science but of the acceptance of death.
Download Cryopreservation: A freezing way to beat death? - January 28, 2013
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Idle No More: Does Every Revolution have a Soundtrack? - January 25, 2013
The ideas of the Idle No More protests may nor may not catch on, but some of the music it's inspired is already part of a new aboriginal songbook. With Idle No More protesters calling for a Global Day of Action on Monday to mark the return of the House of Commons, we chat with three Indigenous artists behind the Idle No More soundtrack.
Download Idle No More: Does Every Revolution have a Soundtrack? - January 25, 2013
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First Nations Divided: Idle No More and AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo - January 25, 2012
Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation ended her 44-day hunger strike yesterday with a plea. For indigenous people to unite and keep pressing the Crown to honour Aboriginal and treaty rights. At about the same time, Shawn Atleo was making the same point about unity to chiefs in British Columbia. We haven't heard from the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations since his big meeting with the Prime Minister on January 11... after which Atleo took sick and took a leave of absence. Questions have swirled ever since and today Atleo is sitting down with me to answer some of them.
Download First Nations Divided: Idle No More and AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo - January 25, 2012
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Idle No More and tensions in Thunder Bay - January 25, 2013
Why are Aboriginal women in Thunder Bay equipping themselves with hand-held safety devices, and why are some Aboriginal parents in that Northern Ontario city choosing not to send their children to school? Some say it's because Idle No More is inflaming long-standing tensions between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. In Thunder Bay, police investigate a possible hate crime and the mayor regrets that his plan to keep people safe has failed. We look at concerns that native activism isn't the only thing on the rise.
Download Idle No More and tensions in Thunder Bay - January 25, 2013
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Should Münchausen By Internet be considered a mental illness? - January 24, 2013
If you've heard of Münchausen syndrome where someone goes to great length to fake an illness to get attention, you'll understand Münchausen By Internet, essentially feigned sickness in cyberspace. Today, we hear from the doctor documenting the cases and a woman who's become an online sleuth exposing the hoaxes.
Download Should Münchausen By Internet be considered a mental illness? - January 24, 2013
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Davos: A Playground for the World's Elite? - January 24, 2013
We're off to one of the highest mountain towns in Europe where for several days you can find more millionaires in one place than anywhere else in the world, not to mention a gaggle of Nobel laureates, a posse of presidents and prime ministers - past and present - and even sprinkling of rock stars and actors. The World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland unites the accomplished and the acquisitive at a high altitude but are they doing anything that matters to the rest of us?
Download Davos: A Playground for the World's Elite? - January 24, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - January 24, 2013
From pipelines to blood lines, we're following up on stories on everything from Keystone XL to the genetic predisposition to be bullied. Plus letters on proper names and family support lifelines when we go through your email, postings tweets and tape with Friday host Duncan McCue.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - January 24, 2013
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General Stanley McChrystal: My Share Of The Task - January 23, 2013
General Stanley McChrystal had already run afoul of the Obama White House publicly questioning the counter-terrorism mission in Afghanistan, even before the Rolling Stone article that quoted him and his aides making unflattering remarks about the Vice President. But if that caused his sudden resignation and subsequent retirement, his new-found freedom-of-speech as a civilian-with-a-book is no kinder to the Bush administration. Today, we speak with Stanley McChrystal on the wisdom of the Iraqi invasion, the realities of Afghanistan and that friendship with Karzai.
Download General Stanley McChrystal: My Share Of The Task - January 23, 2013
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As temperatures rise, will costs follow? - January 23, 2013
A decade ago, the insurance industry's biggest payouts to homeowners were for fire or theft. But for the past five years or so, damage payouts related to heavy rain and high winds are more common, just one very concrete example of the consequences of rising temperatures. Today, we're asking about what's changing ... and what has to change in agriculture, business, construction and infrastructure to accommodate what Environment Canada says will be a hotter, wetter nation.
Download As temperatures rise, will costs follow? - January 23, 2013
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Who qualifies for victim assistance from the government? - January 23, 2012
When someone is murdered, provincial programs offer payments worth thousands-of-dollars to grieving children, spouses, parents or siblings. But if the murder victim has a criminal connection, those same relatives are ruled ineligible. Should they be? Some victims groups are arguing for equal treatment. Others insist crime should never pay anyone, including the relatives.
Download Who qualifies for victim assistance from the government? - January 23, 2012
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Canadian connection to Algeria attack - January 22, 2013
While some Canadians might be shocked to hear that at least one Canadian citizen was involved in last week's terrorist attack on a gas plant in Algeria, experts are not surprised. They say the region is becoming a recruitment ground for Islamist extremists from all parts of the world. Today, we're asking about the name uttered by the Prime Minister of Algeria referencing Islamists responsible for last week's dramatic hostage taking, the name of a man alleged to be Canadian and complicit.
Download Canadian connection to Algeria attack - January 22, 2013
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Roe vs. Wade: 40 years later - January 22, 2013
It was indeed historic but the day the judges of the US Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade was also the day the opponents who lost that case began fighting anew. And now 40 years on, the wins on the abortion issue in legislatures and state courtrooms lean toward limiting access.Today, we hear from two people whose careers have been defined by Roe vs. Wade.
Download Roe vs. Wade: 40 years later - January 22, 2013
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Naming a baby: rituals, rights and regulations - January 22, 2013
Shakespeare famously wrote "What's In a Name?" but he was writing about Romeo and Juliet lightyears before children named Moon Unit, Diva Muffin and ESPN - like the channel were frolicking forth. We know those kids weren't Icelandic because Iceland has rules on what's appropriate when it comes to naming children. Then again so does Quebec. As an Iceland teen goes to court to try to reclaim a name that means Breeze, we're asking about the pressure, legal ... cultural ... social ... personal, that confronts parents as they choose names for their babies.
Download Naming a baby: rituals, rights and regulations - January 22, 2013
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SCOC calls it an "exceptional situation": Nicole Doucet's Story - January 21, 2013
She says she knows it was the wrong thing to do but turned away multiple times by police, feeling increasingly vulnerable and alone. Nicole Doucet - then Ryan - was caught in a sting ready to hire a hitman to kill her abusive husband. Last week .the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously agreed her defence was flawed and overturned her acquittal.
Still today Nicole Doucet is free and in the only interview she has given, she speaks to The Current.
Download SCOC calls it an "exceptional situation": Nicole Doucet's Story - January 21, 2013
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President Again: Will a Tougher Obama Be Better? - January 21, 2013
Remember Barak Obama four years ago? An inaugural moment in history steeped in a new language of Hope and Change and Conciliation. Four years on, it is as if he's borrowed a phrase from one of his best-known critics: "Go ahead, make my day." Despite the inaugural pomp and partying scheduled for today, this President Obama appears to be spoiling for a fight. Today, we have a panel of Washington insiders pronouncing on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly side of what is expected to be a rougher, tougher second Obama administration.
Download President Again: Will a Tougher Obama Be Better? - January 21, 2013
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Robert Fisk on Al-Qaeda in North Africa and the Legacy of the Arab Spring - January 21, 2013
In yet another disturbing twist, the seeming rise of jihadi activity in Algeria and Mali has spread the stain of conflict from the Middle East to across North Africa. Today, veteran journalist Robert Fisk connects the dots between what you're hearing in the news and the uprising called the Arab Spring.
Download Robert Fisk on Al-Qaeda in North Africa and the Legacy of the Arab Spring - January 21, 2013
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War and Extremism in Algeria - January 18, 2013
The attack on the gas facility in Algeria by Islamic militants is just the latest outrage in a decades old bloody conflict between the government and extremists. We look at the continued chaos regarding the hostage drama in North Africa and the many questions about Algeria, terrorism, and international connections.
Download War and Extremism in Algeria - January 18, 2013
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Gun Violence and Mental Illness - January 18, 2013
The Colorado movie theatre where 12 were shot dead has just reopened. And so has America's gun debate. New York passed legislation giving it the toughest gun control laws in the US. It requires alerting officials about mental health patients deemed to pose a violent risk to themselves or others. A provision that's outraged many mental health professionals.
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Quebec's Right to Die Legislation: Will other provinces follow? - January 18, 2013
Craig Ewert took intense interest in the technology that was about to kill him. A 2008 documentary showed the retired professor-alert--but unable to endure his paralysing motor neuron disease. He travelled to Switzerland to die at a euthanasia clinic. In Canada, Assisted suicide is illegal , but perhaps not for much longer, at least in some parts of the country. The right to die debate has been reignited by a recent recommendation in Quebec, we examine it and its implications.
Download Quebec's Right to Die Legislation: Will other provinces follow? - January 18, 2013
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Algerian hostage-taking and gas plant raid - January 17, 2013
Reporters can't get anywhere near the natural gas installation in the Algerian desert where a hostage-taking of foreign oil workers has been underway. But the man calling the shots is believed to be Moktar Belmoktar … once a key leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Megrab before breaking off to go solo ... so-to-speak with his own band of Algerian Jihadists. And there's one Canadian who can give us some insight into this guy, Robert Fowler was Moktar Belmoktar's captive and we hear from him. * This segment only aired in the Central Time Zone and points West *
Download Algerian hostage-taking and gas plant raid - January 17, 2013
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Ethical Hacking - January 17, 2013
If you're dedicated, hacking offers all sorts of rewards and threats depending on whose hacking whom. Which brings us to the "Ethical Hacker" ... the Hacktivist whose intentions are well-meaning, intruding just like the other guys but only to expose internet vulnerabilities so that someone far more nefarious doesn't get in there. When Henk Krol tapped into the world of Ethical Hacking he didn't even know the term but he did invite the TV cameras. Now the Dutch MP faces charges that could cost him his career. So what's digital trespassing and what's a public service? * This segment only aired in the Atlantic and Eastern Time Zone *
Download Ethical Hacking - January 17, 2013
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Make room in the workplace for people with Autism - January 17, 2013
Jeff is a 19 year old high school grad who spends a whole lot of time playing video games in his mom's basement. He is also autistic and that ease with the computer may be just the thing that will allow him to find meaningful work. Today we look at the employable side of Autism and the entrepreneurs changing the lives of autistic young people by recognizing their potential.
Download Make room in the workplace for people with Autism - January 17, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - January 17, 2013
We're talking survival today on Checking-In as we sort through emails, tweets, postings and rants. From surviving North Korean prison camps … to surviving adverse drug reactions from contraceptives … to planetary survival, we share your thoughts on some of the stories of the week.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - January 17, 2013
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From pipeline to railway: B.C. company pushes to carry oil sands crude by rail - January 16, 2013
With opposition to the proposed Gateway Pipeline ... with the volume of oil from new wells in the U.S. northwest plugging the pipes already running south, the old way - the railway is looking new again, with a proposal for a rail line between the Alberta oilsands and Alaska. Trains can move hundreds-of-thousands of barrels of crude but will they extinguish the environmental opposition or inflame it?
Download From pipeline to railway: B.C. company pushes to carry oil sands crude by rail - January 16, 2013
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Minimal Risk: Documentary - January 16, 2013
She was 24, she had a blood clot the length of her arm and days later an ER doctor identified another. Today we bring you a documentary about the risks associated with a contraceptive using Third Generation hormones.
Download Minimal Risk: Documentary - January 16, 2013
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Former Iraqi diplomat: Adnan Al-Pachachi - January 16, 2013
He had one of the last conversations with a captured
Saddam Hussein. He's lived the politics and conflict of Iraq for close to a century. Ninety-year-old former Iraqi diplomat Adnan Al-Pachachi looks back on a Middle East he thought would be far different by now.
Download Former Iraqi diplomat: Adnan Al-Pachachi - January 16, 2013
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Should Canada be intervening in Mali? - January 15, 2013
As French jets screamed over northern Mali dropping bombs and sending in troops to fight Islamist insurgents, Islamist leaders warned it has Opened The Gates of Hell for French citizens. Canada is offering limited support, a move one of its most pointed and military critics says isn't enough given Canada's role in bolstering Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb.
Download Should Canada be intervening in Mali? - January 15, 2013
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Hitting the Glass Ceiling: Sherry Cooper - January 15, 2013
It is 2013 and the glass ceiling that once hindered so many women in corporate careers is supposed to be broken by now. And yet one of Canada's top banking executives says that ceiling is still there, even at her level. Today, Sherry Cooper ... out-going Chief Economist and Executive Vice-President of BMO shares thoughts on the testosterone-driven financial services industry where even a glittering career can have its limits.
Download Hitting the Glass Ceiling: Sherry Cooper - January 15, 2013
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Refugees from Somalia's civil war not welcome - January 15, 2013
Somalis living in Kenya ... be they refugees or long-time business leaders have been ordered out, tarred collectively with suspicion and blame for terror attacks by Somalia's Al-Shabab fighters. From cops looking for bribes ... to politicians looking for scapegoats ... to be Somali in the Kenyan capital these days is to live in fear.
Download Refugees from Somalia's civil war not welcome - January 15, 2013
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Can the Liberal Party rise again? - January 14, 2013
The deadline was midnight. And one candidate entered the race just moments before it struck. There are now 9 candidates in the Federal Liberal Leadership Race. Some predict it is a race to nowhere while others see it as a defining chance to renew a battered party.
Download Can the Liberal Party rise again? - January 14, 2013
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A plan to stop an Antarctic whale hunt: Paul Watson - January 14, 2013
The Sea Shepard Society's own website makes it clear that Paul Watson and those who share his vision of saving whales are deadly serious. Today, Paul Watson who jumped bail conditions and left Germany without his Canadian passport is back in the Southern Ocean as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, equipped with four ships, a helicopter and two drones prepared to confront Japanese ships headed toward them for what the Japanese government says is a scientific whaling operation aimed to killing 900 whales.
Download A plan to stop an Antarctic whale hunt: Paul Watson - January 14, 2013
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What we know of breast cancer drugs may be spin and bias - January 14, 2013
A senior scientist at a Toronto Cancer Centre who examined 164 drug trials for breast cancer treatment over a 16 year period says as many as two-thirds showed a bias in the way they reported adverse or negative effects and in how they tried to make the study look more positive than it was. We hear from Dr. Ian Tannock and from other doctors immersed in the oversight and publication of clinical trials.
Download What we know of breast cancer drugs may be spin and bias - January 14, 2013
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Let me clear my throat: Elena Passarello - January 11, 2013
Comedian Michael Winslow can likely get more sounds out of his vocal chords than anybody else. But even the star of the Police Academy movies can't begin to replicate the full potential of the human voice. And it's that potential - to soothe, to entertain, to anger and perhaps to connect us - that so fascinates Elena Passerello. She has penned a series of essays - some funny, all fascinating - about voices in all their glory and their gusto.
Download Let me clear my throat: Elena Passarello - January 11, 2013
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The Healing Place: Documentary - January 11, 2013
A rare glimpse into the struggles facing Canada's Inuit people... a population with a rapidly growing drug problem and the highest suicide rate in the world. David Ridgen is an investigative filmmaker who embedded himself in one of Canada's few Inuit-only treatment centres in Ottawa. The result is a raw look at the lives of three people with addiction who desperately want to get clean.
Download The Healing Place: Documentary - January 11, 2013
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Is official Indian status good or bad for Metis people? - January 11, 2013
It's the other aboriginal story of the week. Overshadowed by the Idle No More protests and drama leading up to today's meetings in Ottawa, the Metis are reconsidering their own place in Canadian society. A judge says they should be treated as Indians. But given the deteriorating state of relations between first nations and the federal government, the Metis may want to think twice about joining that club.
Download Is official Indian status good or bad for Metis people? - January 11, 2013
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Military considering charging for emergency relief services - January 10, 2013
Toronto's Mayor Mel Lastman called in the army.to move the snow around back in 1999 and though that may have had a political cost, he didn't have to pay the military. That could change with the next natural disaster in Canada - a Real one - because the Defense Minister says budget cuts may force the department to charge communities and provinces for sending in its troops to help and to rescue. Today, we're asking what the other costs of that decision might be.
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Canada's hospitals strained caring for elderly patients with no where to go - January 10, 2013
The whispered word for them in hospital circles is "Bed Blockers". People - most times elderly - whose conditions though not acute mean they cannot go home and who must wait for a bed in a long term care facility to open up. Now at the end of October this past year, national statistics show
there were 42-hundred so-called Bed Blockers across the country, half of them waiting to get into Long Term Care. Today, we speak with a woman who spends her entire time advocating for the elderly caught between hospitals and homes and she takes us through the numbers, the problems and ideas for change.
Download Canada's hospitals strained caring for elderly patients with no where to go - January 10, 2013
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Checking-In: Listener Response - January 10, 2013
If you were watching TV last night, he was starring in the start of the second season of CBC's Arctic Air. From Hollywood to HBO, Adam Beach is an actor in demand but he is also the boy who grew up in and around Dog Creek First Nation. We hear his thoughts on the Idle No More Movement. Plus sick- literature, feverish athletes and ailing wildlife; our listeners get-well thoughts on some of the stories of the week.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - January 10, 2013
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President al-Assad: Delusional or Sane? - January 9, 2013
An estimated 60-thousand of his citizens are dead. Half a million have fled. Key officials have deserted him. Rebel fighters hold strategic locations. And yet Syria's Bashar al-Assad stood before an adoring audience just days ago both defiant and confident. Is he also Delusional? Or almost two years into an armed uprising, still in power .. still backed by powerful Russia and China ... does the President, once trained as an Ophthalmologist see something the rest of us can not?
Download President al-Assad: Delusional or Sane? - January 9, 2013
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Scientists use robots to study Norovirus - January 9, 2013
Remember Rosie the Robot? The Jetsons friendly, efficient fictitious servant? Forget about her and make room for Vomiting Larry - a Real Robot serving to understand the trajectory of what happens to people with Norovirus. Today, we're exploring the creation of Robots to cure us but we may have to give up on the idea of Robots to serve us.
Download Scientists use robots to study Norovirus - January 9, 2013
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Questioning Teen Sick-Lit - January 9, 2013
From suicide ... to cutting .. to cancer ...the young adult literature flying off bookstore shelves features terminally-ill and depressed teens with titles such as "By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead" ..."Never Eighteen" ..."Before I Die" ... "Vampire stories are so Yesterday". Welcome to the world of Sick-Lit, a genre that has critics questioning and others grateful that plots concerning illness, depression and sexuality are finally reflecting their young worlds.
Download Questioning Teen Sick-Lit - January 9, 2013
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Idle No More and Accountability - January 8, 2013
As Chief Theresa Spence approaches the one month mark in her hunger strike and days before Aboriginal leaders are set to meet with the Prime Minister, the audit of the Attawapiskat band council's spending has raised questions of accountability for the very leaders who are demanding it from Ottawa. Political distraction or awkward reality that can't be ignored?
Download Idle No More and Accountability - January 8, 2013
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Killer Genetics: Investigating Adam Lanza's DNA - January 8, 2013
What can you learn from the DNA of a mass murderer? And how will any information you might find affect others? As researchers in Connecticut prepare the study the DNA of the Newtown killer Adam Lanza, there is both excitement and unease among the experts who see everything from potential to medicate others with possible genetic markers to danger in making judgements and assumptions.
Download Killer Genetics: Investigating Adam Lanza's DNA - January 8, 2013
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A Canadian says he's invented an invisibility cloak - January 8, 2013
From Claude Rains in the 1933 film "The Invisible Man" to Harry Potter at a theatre near you, the very idea of cloaking oneself in invisibility is deliciously, tempting, empowering and threatening. But forget about the movies ... let's focus on the military where the quest for invisibility opens up a world of possibilities and worries. And it is not only ongoing, it is conspiratorially difficult to pin down. One man in Maple Ridge, B.C. claims to be close, others say the science is essentially there. So how can we resist?
Download A Canadian says he's invented an invisibility cloak - January 8, 2013
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Will Idle No More Succeed? One Aboriginal leader doubts it - January 7, 2013
From bridges over borders ... to highways and railways … From Moncton ... to the Mirimachi ... from Saskatoon to Salt Spring Island, Idle No More had a busy weekend of demonstrations. We have seen weeks of rallies, actions, blockades and flashmob. Can the Idle No More Movement force Real Change for Aboriginal Canadians? Will taking to the streets lead to taking back the power?
Download Will Idle No More Succeed? One Aboriginal leader doubts it - January 7, 2013
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To Have and To Hold: Evelyn Amony's Story - January 7, 2013
What do you do when you're 14 years old and a warlord takes you as his wife? Of course .. the more relevant term is sex slave. You are victimized and at times strangely protected by someone you both hate and on some level learn to live with. Evelyn Amony was a Ugandan schoolgirl when she was abducted by Joseph Kony's Lords Resistance Army. She wasn't the only one but by speaking out she reveals a world Kony controls and a man no one has been able to stop. She is free of him now but her children are his children and she hides their identities from a public she fears would victimize her - and them - again.
Download To Have and To Hold: Evelyn Amony's Story - January 7, 2013
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NHL Deal: Too little too late? - January 7, 2013
As labour disputes go, this was in a league of its own. A lockout that saw players dig in, hundreds of games cancelled and millions of fans frustrated and infuriated. With a weekend deal in the NHL, it is just a matter of time before favourite players are back on the ice. But after months of finding other noble distractions, will the fans coming flocking back? A panel of pundits pronounces on all things NHL.
Download NHL Deal: Too little too late? - January 7, 2013
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Battling Cancer in Africa - January 4, 2013
For years, the fight against disease in Africa has been synonymous with the fight against two main illnesses: malaria and HIV-AIDS. Now, doctors are battling to save an increasing number of Africans from another killer. Cases of cancer are on the rise. It's partly due to increased awareness, partly to changes in lifestyle and diet and also, in part to the fact some are more vulnerable to cancer because of HIV. Whatever the reasons, there are some stiff challenges ahead as Africa faces down a new killer.
Download Battling Cancer in Africa - January 4, 2013
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David Suzuki's Andean Adventure - January 4, 2013
Dr. David Suzuki has, for years, brought his own appreciation of the value of nature to Canadians. Now, he's gone on what he's calling an Andean adventure. Suzuki has taken a closer look at what he says are new ideas and new ways to value nature in both Ecuador and Bolivia. Often provocative, always enlightening, this time Suzuki tells of a place where nature has constitutional rights and where a government is urging the world to pay to keep a rainforest untouched.
Download David Suzuki's Andean Adventure - January 4, 2013
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10th Anniversary Interview: Robert Croke - January 4, 2013
Today we rebroadcast an interview with a man who survived after being kidnapped and held hostage for 10 days. Robert Croke was held captive my militants in the Niger Delta. The oil rig worker from Newfoundland was captured in the middle of the night, shot and taken to a remote camp along with six other foreign nationals. Once home, he spoke to Anna Maria Tremonti about his ordeal and his captors.
Download 10th Anniversary Interview: Robert Croke - January 4, 2013
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Who will run Venezuela after Hugo Chavez? - January 3, 2013
Hugo Chavez came to power 14 years ago promising a revolution in Venezuela. His mix of socialism and populism along with his personal appeal was dubbed "chavism". To some, he is a hero standing up for the downtrodden, to others he has run roughshod over the rights of many. Today he lies ill in Havana, his exact condition unknown after treatment for a recurrence of cancer. Before he left for Cuba, he named a successor in the event of his death. So today we ask what would life and politics be like in Venezuela after Chavez.
Download Who will run Venezuela after Hugo Chavez? - January 3, 2013
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Following the footsteps of humanity's ancestors: Paul Salopek - January 3, 2013
Paul Salopek is going for a walk. A very long walk. The Pulitzer prize winning journalist is about to set off on a seven year long stroll around the world. It's all in pursuit of something he calls "slow journalism":. In this age of blogging and tweeting and 24 hour news, Salopek wants to take the time, as much time as it takes, to tell the stories of the places he will travel to on this ambitious and almost certainly arduous trek across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.
Download Following the footsteps of humanity's ancestors: Paul Salopek - January 3, 2013
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10th Anniversary Interview: Monique Lepine - January 3, 2013
With the New Year underway, another painful anniversary has passed for Monique Lepine. At the beginning of December in 1989, her son Marc shot and killed 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. The shock and horror of that day sparked a nationwide debate about guns, gun control and violence against women. Today we replay Anna Maria's interview with Monique Lepine - how she tried to make sense of what her son had done.
Download 10th Anniversary Interview: Monique Lepine - January 3, 2013
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Elephant poaching in Africa - January 2, 2013
Conservationists say Africa is undergoing an epic elephant slaughter because of a soaring demand for ivory in Asia. After a record year in 2011, 2012 numbers are not expected to be much better. We hear from Paul Mbugua from the Kenya Wildlife Service and Tom Milliken, director of the Elephant Trade Information System.
Download Elephant poaching in Africa - January 2, 2013
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Becoming Victoria (Documentary Repeat)
Argentina's Dirty War left stains that won't fade for generations; lost lives, lost hopes and lost families. The Current's Kathleen Goldhar brings us the story of an adopted Argentinian woman struggles with a terrifying truth -- the family that raised her was complicit in the murder of her parents.
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10th Anniversary Interview: Maher Arar
We're marking The Current's tenth anniversary this year. And to celebrate, we've chosen the top ten interviews from the last ten years. Anna Maria Tremonti spoke with Maher Arar in November of 2003, just a month after he finally returned to Canada. Despite the fact that he is a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar was detained and sent to Syria, where he was jailed and tortured for nearly a year. The long journey of Maher Arar, a special reprise of an important conversation.
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The New Year's Day Edition of The Current - January 1, 2013
As The Current celebrates ten years on the air, we're revisiting our top ten interviews from our first decade. Coming up, Anna Maria Tremonti's conversations with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Patient Number Three, the third Canadian diagnosed with SARS. But we begin with literary legend Kurt Vonnegut.
Download The New Year's Day Edition of The Current - January 1, 2013
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Year in Review - Political Panel - December 31, 2012
This year has been one of triumphs and unspeakable tragedy. So as we count down to the end of 2012, we are joined by three Canadian politicians who have watched the year unfold from inside the political arena.
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The Fiscal Cliff and Canada - December 31, 2012
Will this New Year's eve bash cause the world economy to tank? Despite last-ditch talks and a hint of optimism from some quarters over the weekend, the political stalemate between the Democratic White House and Republican dominated House of Representatives continued in Washington this morning. And if nothing changes, the United States will go over the so-called fiscal cliff. What this means for the American and world economy is unknown. How hard will Canada fall if the United States goes over the fiscal cliff?
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10th Anniversary Interview: Shannon Moroney - December 31, 2012
Barely a month after her wedding, Shannon Moroney's world was turned upside down. She was out of town at a conference when a police officer knocked on her hotel room door and told her that her husband Jason was in custody, accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women. The officer also told her that Jason had confessed to the crimes. In that moment, Shannon Moroney also became a victim, but one who didn't have an easy or comfortable place in the criminal justice system. She writes about her experience in her memoir, "Through The Glass." Anna Maria Tremonti spoke to Shannon Moroney in October of 2011. As The Current celebrates its tenth anniversary on the air, it's one of the top ten interviews we've aired.
Download 10th Anniversary Interview: Shannon Moroney - December 31, 2012
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The End of Baby Boxes - December 28, 2012
All over the world, children are abandoned within hours of being born. Some, sadly, are left to die. Other foundlings though, are left in what are known as baby boxes: safe, secure places, usually at hospitals or clinics, where a desperate mother can drop off her child anonymously and know he or she will be cared for. But now, there are calls for an end to baby boxes and claims that they do more harm than good to those most vulnerable among us.
Download The End of Baby Boxes - December 28, 2012
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Saskatchewan's 1962 Medicare Strike - December 28, 2012
In Saskatchewan 50 years ago, the province was in the grip of a controversy that lead to fears of violence. The issue was medicare: It came into existence there on July 1st, 1962. The same day, doctors went on strike, beginning a 23 day standoff with the government. We revisit the birthplace of Medicare in Canada and rediscover the truth: that it was a messy, troubling, divisive moment that pitted physicians against politicians.
Download Saskatchewan's 1962 Medicare Strike - December 28, 2012
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Shin Dong-hyuk: Escape from Camp 14 - December 28, 2012
The horrors were so normal, the brutality so casual for Shin Dong-hyuk. He was born in prison camp in North Korea and so never knew comfort, freedom or love. He was so hardened by the appalling conditions he felt nothing for his mother and brother. And because of that, he committed what many of us would consider an unspeakable act But Shin Dong-hyuk escaped from that camp and is now able to tell the awful tale, giving us a rare glimpse inside the hermit kingdom.
Download Shin Dong-hyuk: Escape from Camp 14 - December 28, 2012
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Protests in India in response to gang rape - December 27, 2012
Just over a week ago, a 23 year old woman was brutally raped after she boarded a bus with a male friend. He was also beaten. They were dumped naked, by the roadside and she is now on life support in Singapore. Now there are massive protests. It's not just about this case, but also about the prevalence of sexual assault in India - and the attitude of police and politicians who are quick to blame the victim.
Download Protests in India in response to gang rape - December 27, 2012
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Heads in Beds: Jacob Tomsky - December 27, 2012
A new book, penned by a former hotel employee, spills some of the behind the scenes intrigues. A few hints: why you want to be careful about drinking from a glass in your room. Why you should worry when the valet drives off to park your car. All that and a strategy for getting the most out of your mini-bar.
Download Heads in Beds: Jacob Tomsky - December 27, 2012
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Straightening the Record: Documentary Repeat - December 27, 2012
A noted American psychiatrist has found his way back to the center of controversy because of a choice he made late in his life and his career. Dr. Robert Spitzer authored a study that supported attempts to "cure" people of their homosexuality. He was hailed by social and religious conservatives. But months ago, he made a public apology, calling that study fatally flawed. Today we rebroadcast a documentary on Dr.Spitzer's decision to say he's sorry.
Download Straightening the Record: Documentary Repeat - December 27, 2012
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10th Anniversary Interview: Jean Chrétien - December 26, 2012
The Current is celebrating ten years on the air by bringing you our top ten interviews of all time. Today, we revisit our conversation with the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien. He reveals why he decided to stay for a third term and why no one pushes him around.
Download 10th Anniversary Interview: Jean Chrétien - December 26, 2012
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The Contender: Documentary Repeat - December 26, 2012
London, England is a city steeped in history ... awash in stories ... a place where ghosts linger in every cathedral and pub. The dedication and training required to tell those stories at an elite level, to master the minutia of 1,500 years of history is almost as extraordinary as the history itself. Our documentary takes us inside the fierce competition for the highest honour that city can bestow upon a tour guide ... the coveted Blue Badge.
Download The Contender: Documentary Repeat - December 26, 2012
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A Kosher Christmas: Rabbi Joshua Plaut - December 24, 2012
This is a complicated time of year for many Jews in our part of the world who can often feel like outsiders whether they decide to participate or not. One American rabbi - who sat on Santa's knee as a child - has penned a detailed look at just how Jews have both marked and helped shape the festive season. Part of it involves Chinese food and a sense of humor.
Download A Kosher Christmas: Rabbi Joshua Plaut - December 24, 2012
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Leonardo and The Last Supper: Ross King - December 24, 2012
Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper is regarded by many as his greatest painting. It took three years of painstaking effort and there are many tales of intrigue that lie behind the magnificent mural painted on the wall of a refectory in Milan. We share the story of an artist's work that was nearly lost -- more than once.
Download Leonardo and The Last Supper: Ross King - December 24, 2012
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Auschwitz Artist: Dina Babbit (Repeat) - December 24, 2012
Today, we revisit a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz. Hers is a remarkable story - chosen by the Angel of Death, Josef Mengele to paint portraits of those in the camp, she lived only because of her talents as an artist. We reprise a powerful interview done with Dina Babbit.
Download Auschwitz Artist: Dina Babbit (Repeat) - December 24, 2012
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Should polar bears be banned from international trade? - December 21, 2012
Today we look at the case being made -- mainly by the U.S. and Russia -- for an international ban on the trade of polar bear pelts. And the counter case, being made by Canada's Inuit, that the polar bear hunt is crucially important to their livelihood.
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How Hallelujah became the anthem of everything - December 21, 2012
If you loved the song -- in one of its dozens of cover versions -- perhaps you'll love the book. A tune that barely shook turntable needles back in 1984 now thunders across soundtracks, concerts, funerals and weddings. Today we focus on a song with a title that praises the Almighty from the author of a new book that charts its rise from obscurity. *Note* This podcast has been edited for download.
Download How Hallelujah became the anthem of everything - December 21, 2012
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Newtown shooting media mistakes: Is it okay to get facts wrong? - December 20, 2012
In the first hours after Friday's massacre in Newtown, there was a volley of information and a flurry of corrections. Two shooters ... one ... a mother who taught there ... who didn't ...a name that was wrong ... the gunman buzzed in ... broke in... And so it continued. Breaking news with all-news television, ready radio and online updates, tweets, postings and blogs can be a cacophony. Yes, journalists can make mistakes and correct them but in this era of information-surround ... Is it okay to get facts wrong? Again? And again? And still?
Download Newtown shooting media mistakes: Is it okay to get facts wrong? - December 20, 2012
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Checking-In: Listener Response - December 20, 2012
So much to follow up on from the stories of the week. We've got your emails, tweets, thoughts and outrage on everything from Guns-in-America ... to a Smoking Santa ... to today's Supreme Court Ruling on the Niqab in Court.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - December 20, 2012
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University students calling for a divestment from fossil fuel industry - December 20, 2012
It is being called the biggest student movement in the U.S. in years. Students at 192 university campuses across North America want their schools to step up on the issue of climate change by divesting what would be millions-of-dollars worth of endowments from the fossil fuel industry. Their campaign parallels the actions of universities back in the 80's when they used the same tactic to fight apartheid in South Africa. The founder of 350-dot-org, Bill McKibben will Do The Math on the campaign he's encouraging.
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Idle No More gains momentum across Canada - December 19, 2012
Idle No More is a growing grass roots movement. It has turned into a social media movement embracing everything from flashmobs; to protests. It's founders are outraged over the omnibus budget bill c-45 and are calling for a new conversation on First nation treaty rights We speak with Sylvia McAdam and Chelsea Vowel, two members of Idle No More.
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The end of organized labour? - Dece,ber 19, 2012
Federal legislation is forcing all unions to publicly disclose salaries and expenses. And across Ontario teachers are striking over legislation that allows the province to suspend the right to strike and impose collective agreements. And in the US there are a growing number of states bringing in anti-union "Right-To-Work" laws. Our experts weigh in this morning on whether organized labour can survive these economic times.
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Roy Bourgeois, excommunicated priest on the ordination of women - December 19, 2012
For years Roy Bourgeois mixed activism with his religion as a Roman Catholic priest. He was a vocal proponent of human rights in Latin America. Then he took up the struggle for the ordination of women. For the Vatican that was one struggle too many. Roy Bourgeois has been excommunicated and today as part of our project Line in The Sand,the Dilemmas that Define Us, we hear from him.
Download Roy Bourgeois, excommunicated priest on the ordination of women - December 19, 2012
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Gun Rights or Gun Control? - December 18, 2012
Last week .. the week that ended so tragically in Newtown Connecticut saw a series of political gun victories: Michigan passed a bill allowing concealed guns into schools. Ohio passed a bill allowing guns in cars in the Statehouse garage. The Illinois ban on concealed weapons was struck down in court. And Florida moved closer to issuing its one-millionth concealed weapon and firearm license. From the ads ... to the laws ... a lot of Americans want their guns. An estimated 300-million guns in a country of 330 million people. Today, a former lobbyist with the NRA suggests some middle ground.
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Regulating access to Medical Marijuana - December 18, 2012
Some 26, 000 Canadians have been given Health Canada's approval to use medical marijuana ... many of them growing their own. The rules start to change this coming Spring when only sanctioned commercial operations will be able to provide medical marijuana. It could be a boon for research - no one can track effectiveness now. But it could also present real pain management crises for those who need specific genetic strains of marijuana.
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Missing Women Commission of Inquiry: Wally Oppal - December 18, 2012
From ineffective police leadership at virtually every stage ... to a systemic bias in police responses to missing women. The inquiry that grew out of the mass murders of Robert Pickton paints a devastating picture over how vulnerable women in B.C. were ignored. We hear from commissioner Wally Oppal.
Download Missing Women Commission of Inquiry: Wally Oppal - December 18, 2012
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Sandy Hook, Columbine and Taber: Life after a mass shooting - December 17, 2012
On the Monday after the Friday … after a weekend of evocative stories, images, analysis about a small-town in America saturated in sorrow ... some people know what the rest of us can never know. Today, amidst the grief .. the calls for change ...the fallout that put a little place called Newtown on the world map, we hear from three people whose own encounter with the horror of a school shooting shapes what they need us to hear.
Download Sandy Hook, Columbine and Taber: Life after a mass shooting - December 17, 2012
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Senator Doug Finley on politics and cancer - December 17, 2012
His opponents dubbed him Harper's pit bull but Senator Doug Finley defends his political strategies and talks about a struggle larger than the politics he loves. Doug Finley is confronting a cancer his doctors tell him he cannot survive. Between the chemo, he continues work on issues dear to him in the Senate. Today, Doug Finley reflects on parliament, politics, life and death.
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Mali on the Brink: Should there be intervention? - December 17, 2012
It is a very difficult time to be a citizen of Mali. In the North, Islamist rebels rule with an iron and religious fist and a fighting force entwined with al-Qaeda. In the South, the army that might fight them is unstable and in disarray. Into this uncertainty, Western Nato nations including Canada are considering some kind of intervention.
Download Mali on the Brink: Should there be intervention? - December 17, 2012
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Truth and Reconciliation lawsuit wants records to residential school program - December 14, 2012
Four years ago, all the talk was of reconciliation, of respect and of a new start for Canada and its aboriginal people. A Prime ministerial apology marked the birth of the Truth and Reconciliation commission. It's mission? To try to come to terms with the painful legacy of the more than 150 thousand aboriginal children who were forced into residential schools between the 1880's and the 1980's. Now, the Commission is taking the federal government to court, saying truth itself is at stake.
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Santa quits smoking in edited version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' - December 14, 2012
A small re-write of a beloved holiday poem has a lot of creatures stirred up. T'was the night before Christmas, and traditionalists choke at changes that make Santa give up the smokes. A Canadian publisher's attempts to weed out tobacco from Clement Moore's poem has made some readers ashen ... even Santa Claus himself argues it is censorship and political correctness gone wild.
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The story of Shabeen Zareen, a brave school principal in Pakistan - December 14, 2012
Malala Yousufzai continues to recover from the shooting that almost ended her life and brought her fight for girls' education in Pakistan to worldwide attention. That struggle simply to go to school in parts of the country has been a fact of life for years. It's not only the Taliban that make it so difficult. Even in villages where militants pose no immediate threat, girls must fight their own families for the chance to learn. We take a closer look at one school and one remarkable woman trying to make a difference in northern Pakistan.
Download The story of Shabeen Zareen, a brave school principal in Pakistan - December 14, 2012
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Fighting words over F-35 Fighter Jets - December 13, 2012
For the past two-and-a-half years, the Harper government
has insisted 65 new F-35 fighter jets would be affordable, that warnings of cost overruns were wrong and that these particular Lockheed Martin models were the best stealth fighter jets for Canada. As the government now confronts costs that are three times higher and reviews its options, the man in the U.S. tracking costs on the same planes there warns the numbers could climb even higher. Today we get the the view from Ottawa.
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What's behind North Korea's long range missile launch? - December 13, 2012
We're staying high in the sky to try to assess what that satellite launch in North Korea says about its new leader. One year after inheriting power, Kim Jong Un has shown some national scientific prowess to a wary world, burnished his image with publicity photos and Facebook posts even while closing the border to China and keeping his own people locked in a cycle of repression and hunger. Can the son and grandson of dictators be anything but? We look at Kim Jong Un.
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Checking-In: Listener Response - December 13, 2012
Worried about that doomsday thing coming up? We are happy to report that those seers convinced the Mayan calendar signals our end-of-days in-a-matter-of-days are projecting. Not predicting. We're talking perspective on everything from pranks ... to family planning ... to that calendar as we check your pulse on reaction to the stories of the past week.
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Still living in limbo after the Manitoba flood of 2011 - December 12, 2012
Today we take a look at one province's attempt to get ahead of natural devastation led to controlled flooding, forced evacuations and now more than a year-and-a-half later ... whole neighbourhoods that still have nowhere to call home.
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UN declares contraception as a human right - December 12, 2012
Citing statistics of tens-of-millions of unwanted pregnancies in the poorest countries, millions of abortions and tens-of-thousands of women dying in childbirth, the UN's Population Fund is asserting that access to family planning and contraceptives is a Universal Human Right. It is a designation that has outraged conservative and religious critics who accuse the UN of colonialism and of misguided policies that will infringe on basic rights and fob western drugs onto unsuspecting women. Proponents argue family planning rights will reduce infant and maternal death, enable women and bring prosperity. Today we take on this debate.
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Hugh Brody: From Nunavut to Kalahari - December 12, 2012
The Bushmen of the Southern Kalahari were dispersed, forced off their land under South African apartheid, only to be identified decades later in squalor. Some posing as token natives for tourists on the very land they lost. It was a long way from the people of Northern Canada with whom Hugh Brody worked for land claims. His invitation to work with those in the Kalahari for land claims settlements began an odyssey that lasted a dozen years and saw broken people transformed into effective leaders for change. Today, Hugh Brody's long journey with the Khomani San people.
Download Hugh Brody: From Nunavut to Kalahari - December 12, 2012
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Pranks, Hoaxes and Jokes: How far is too far? - December 11, 2012
From Candid Camera in the 50s ... to MTV's Punk'd, entertainers have pranked their way through the decades. Until last week when it all appeared to go horribly wrong when two Australian DJs played a hoax on a nurse at the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton was staying. But where is the Line In the Sand between funny and mean? Today we speak to Mary - Marg Delahunty - Walsh and Gilbert Rozon of Just for Laughs to ask how far is too far?
Download Pranks, Hoaxes and Jokes: How far is too far? - December 11, 2012
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Regulating health care in private clinics - December 11, 2012
Sometimes the more you ask, the less you learn. Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons has inspected private clinics failing 9 and passing 64 - with conditions. But it can't tell us who they are and nor can the provincial health ministry. Across the country, a patchwork of private clinics operates with little public transparency. Today, we are asking why.
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Turkey's stray dog legislation has animal lovers enraged - December 11, 2012
They have taken to the streets by the thousands in Istanbul over the last few weeks. But the city that straddles Europe and Asia is upset not about its economy or its national politics, Turks are enraged over plans to round up stray dogs. The government is learning that messing with the city's legendary canines puts you in the dog-house.
Download Turkey's stray dog legislation has animal lovers enraged - December 11, 2012
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Egypt Divided - December 10, 2012
We start the show in Cairo, where the euphoria of Egypt's revolutionary ouster of a tyrant has been replaced by an uncomfortable and even deadly reality. This ancient land, with a democracy in its infancy, may have chosen a government leader whose own idea of democracy leaves them with fears of theocracy.
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Exclusion of women in ground combat roles - December 10, 2012
Canada assigns women to combat roles, but the U.S. Pentagon still upholds a policy that makes more than 200-thousand combat-related jobs unavailable to female military personnel. Those in support of the Pentagon site everything from pregnancy to strength to putting a damper on teamwork in the argument to uphold its gender exclusion policy. Now, the legal fight against the Pentagon is going to court.
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Frank Stronach, Magna Man - December 10, 2012
Canadians know Frank Stronach as the founder and longtime chair of Magna International. It began as a small tool and die company and became a giant auto parts corporation. He's stepped down from the board of Magna, but he's still creating. This time he's trying to build a political party in his home country of Austria. Frank Stronach on his humble beginnings in Canada and the economic system he calls Fair Enterprise.
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Alberta's health care queue jumping inquiry - December 7, 2012
This week a public inquiry began into 'queue jumping' in Alberta's health care system. Premier Alison Redford ordered the inquiry after concerns were raised about the quality of care in Alberta hospitals. That includes allegations that some Albertans used their political connections to leap frog to the front of the line for medical procedures.
Download Alberta's health care queue jumping inquiry - December 7, 2012
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Chimpanzees, the midlife crisis and us - December 7, 2012
Feeling melancholic? Unfulfilled? Wondering where the years went and what it all means? Good chance you're a middle-aged primate. Chimps may not seek out sports cars or date mates half their age, but apparently they get the same sort of middle age blues that seem to affect many people. We'll hear why a midlife crisis may really be a big hairy deal.
Download Chimpanzees, the midlife crisis and us - December 7, 2012
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Laurence Kotlikoff: Is the United States Broke? - December 7, 2012
Bracing for the U.S. to fall off the fiscal cliff is nothing compared to the financial free fall predicted by Laurence Kotlikoff. The Boston University economist and failed U.S. presidential candidate joins us with his thoughts on the economic end of times. So, never mind the melting ice caps, the perfect storms or even the zombie apocalypse. Kotlikoff believes Washington has been running a Ponzi scheme for six decades and higher taxes and belt tightening won't be enough to stop the coming Greek tragedy.
Download Laurence Kotlikoff: Is the United States Broke? - December 7, 2012
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Urge to Kill: The story of a potential serial killer - December 6, 2012
Our lead story today raises disturbing questions about everything from public safety ... to individual rights ... to the scope and the limitations of our criminal justice system. It is the story of a young woman whose actions - though upsetting and even criminal ... pale in comparison to her words. * We warn you four discussion will get graphic. This story is not for young children *
Download Urge to Kill: The story of a potential serial killer - December 6, 2012
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Checking-In: Listener Response - December 6, 2012
We are looking at many aspects of crime and punishment ... justice and corruption today. We hear from journalist Alain Gravel on the Radio-Canada investigation that triggered the inquiry into corruption in Quebec with its tentacles reaching from organized crime ... to business ... to politics. We also hear from a high school teacher in Mumbai on the students who think Gandhi is to be reviled and Hitler admired. And as always, we've got your tweets, emails and postings on stories of the past week.
Download Checking-In: Listener Response - December 6, 2012
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Shane Bauer says solitary confinement is worse in the U.S. than Iran - December 6, 2012
Shane Bauer spent four months in solitary confinement, an experience he says was the most traumatic part of two years in captivity in Iran's most notorious prison. But then he walked into a California prison and saw its solitary confinement cells where prisoners can spend years in isolation. His research on the treatment of prisoners who end up in the state's Security Housing Units has convinced him conditions are worse in the U.S. than Iran.
Download Shane Bauer says solitary confinement is worse in the U.S. than Iran - December 6, 2012
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Child Custody for Rapists - December 5, 2012
Rape and pregnancy became explosive issues during the last U.S. election. And the statistics that emerged were startling. It's estimated that about 32,000 women become pregnant as a result of rape in the United States each year. About a third of those women choose to keep the babies. Whatever the emotional cost of that decision, many women face a further blow. Rapists in the U-S may use the constitutionally protected right of a biological father to demand access to their child. And that begs the question ... how vulnerable are women in Canada?
Download Child Custody for Rapists - December 5, 2012
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Centrist Israelis Search for A Way Forward - December 5, 2012
We're back on the fallout over the U.N. vote that gave Non-Member Observer State Status to the Palestinian Authority. We speak to a member of the Israeli Knesset, Einat Wilf about Israel's response to the Palestinian Authority's new status at the U.N. and the way forward.
Download Centrist Israelis Search for A Way Forward - December 5, 2012
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Covering Suicide in the Media - December 5, 2012
The Vancouver School Board wants Media reporting on teen suicide to follow guidelines created by the Canadian Psychiatric Association. There's concern about copycat suicides, repetition, use of language. But there was a time not so long ago when Journalists didn't even cover teen suicide. So where's the line? What's the role of the journalist? What's the fallout around incessant coverage in a 24 hour news cycle? And with so much information, discussion and comment swirling on Social Media who will take Guidance from Guidelines?
Download Covering Suicide in the Media - December 5, 2012
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Independent Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti - December 4, 2012
Seven years ago he ran against Yasser Arafat for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority and got 20-percent of the vote. He's a medical doctor seeking a non-violent way toward Palestinian statehood and peace, vocal at home and abroad. Mustafa Barghouti weighs in after the UN vote.
Download Independent Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti - December 4, 2012
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Deepak Obhrai on opposing the Palestinian Authority's bid - December 4, 2012
Canada was one of nine countries to vote against upgrading the Palestinian authority's status at the UN. Neither did it condemn Israeli plans for new settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians. We hear from Ottawa about what it believes lies ahead.
Download Deepak Obhrai on opposing the Palestinian Authority's bid - December 4, 2012
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The NFL and Domestic Violence - December 4, 2012
Today, we are looking at acts of domestic violence among professional football players. You can't have missed the news this weekend ... a Kansas City linebacker killing his partner then taking his own life at the stadium where his team would still play the next day. Of the 32 teams in the NFL this year, 21 have had at least one player facing charges of sexual assault or domestic violence. We hear from the man tracking those numbers as well as Chris Cvetkovic of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as we ask about the connection to domestic violence and sport.
Download The NFL and Domestic Violence - December 4, 2012
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Free to Be You and Me Movement - December 4, 2012
The animated infants who opened a prime time television special in the U.S. 40 years ago were borne of one women's desperation to find something other than the usual princess stuff to read to her young niece. Free to Be You and Me began as the first record in children's entertainment to contain no sex or race stereotypes. It had children across North America singing the praises of the women's movement, diversity and respect. Forty Years on ... Free To Be is considered a turning point and we are tracking it's influence today.
Download Free to Be You and Me Movement - December 4, 2012
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The Current celebrates 10 years on air. Listen to some of our best feature interviews, learn how we got them and find out what happened behind the scenes. Vote for your favourites.
Weekdays at 8:37 a.m. and 11:37 a.m. (ET)
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