The Currentwith Laura Lynch

Abby Stein lived as an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jew for most of her life, but says she always questioned the conventions of the faith. She left the community in 2012, and came out as transgender a few years later.

Today on The Current: We discuss the challenges facing NATO, both from rivals like Russia and China, and from within its own ranks. Plus, should Canada consider a prisoner swap, offering Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the Canadians detained in China? And Abby Stein tells us about her journey from being an ultra-Orthodox rabbi to a transgender rights advocate.

Eric Roberts lived a double life in England as an unassuming bank clerk and an MI5 agent in charge of rooting out Nazi sympathizers, before retiring to live out his later years on Salt Spring Island.

Today on The Current: Our national affairs panel looks at the demands being made by the provincial premiers, and asks whether they’re starting to sound like the official opposition. Plus, we look at the potential and concerns around small modular reactors — or mini nuclear plants; we take a trip around the world of audio, with a streaming website called Radio Garden; and we look at the secret life of Eric Roberts, also known as Agent Jack, a Nazi hunter in wartime London.

McGill University psychiatric researchers have found a treatment they say can help reduce the intensity of emotions associated with a traumatic memory. But according to some ethicists, painful memories can also be useful.

Today on The Current: Vaping was billed as a way to help smokers cut back, but has it brought us to the verge of a public health crisis instead? Plus, lawyer Robert Bilott tells us about his decades-long battle with Dupont, over the alleged effects of a toxic chemical used in the production of Teflon. Then, we speak to a Sudanese activist about the country’s repeal of laws restricting women’s freedom — and why she says the fight’s not over. And we talk to a scientist working on how to make painful memories hurt less.

Is it time to ban Black Friday? Some lawmakers in France are trying to, on the grounds it’s a waste of resources and causes over-consumption. We discuss whether all those cheap deals have a high cost for the environment.

A new Canadian documentary is taking a different approach to talking about the lives of women behind bars, by giving them their own cameras and allowing them to help tell their own stories.

Today on The Current: Black Friday may mean cheap stuff, but what’s the cost to the environment? Plus, a new documentary about women in prison puts the cameras in the hands of the inmates themselves; and we speak to Corinne Vella, sister of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Finally, we look at the classic holiday films we watch every year — the ones we love, and the ones we love to hate.

Calgary Flames coach Bill Peters faces allegations he used racial slurs against a player. As players speak out, we talk to three people close to hockey in Canada, who take us inside the locker room.

Today on The Current: We talk about the scandal rocking the NHL, with hockey players speaking out about racial slurs and abuse in the locker room. Plus, many of us say our smart devices are an addictive distraction, but author Nir Eyal has some tips to help you find your focus; and a new documentary follows kids as they turn 19, and age out of the B.C. foster care system — leaving them on their own, and often out on the streets.

The registry of dot-org web addresses is being sold off to a private equity firm — but there are concerns that could have implications for the non-profits that use the addresses.

Today on The Current: Our national affairs panel discusses Conservative Andrew Scheer’s leadership; we look at a row over plans to sell off the .org registry; Danya Spiring tells us what it’s like to be the first woman on the Grey Cup; and Ruth Awori discusses her work fighting the stigma of HIV in Uganda.

A tentative deal looks set to end a week-long strike of CN Rail workers. Teamsters Canada President François Laporte says the deal ensures safer working conditions, but there is still discussion to be had about improving conditions further.

The federal government has said that rather than complying with a Human Rights Tribunal ruling that would compensate First Nations children affected by the on-reserve child welfare system, it wants to settle a class-action lawsuit which it says would compensate more people.

A dozen bottles of red wine were recently launched into space by a private company, for a year-long stint on the International Space Station. We discuss what the experiment hopes to achieve, and ask what are the wider implications as more businesses take an interest in space exploration.

Today on The Current: We ask why the government is challenging a human rights tribunal order to compensate Indigenous children, who were failed by the child welfare system. Plus, we find out what science stands to gain from blasting a dozen bottles of red wine into space; then, we speak to union president François Laporte about the tentative deal to bring CN Rail staff back to work; and finally we look at the fight over who owns singer Taylor Swift’s back catalogue — a rights battle making waves in the court of public opinion.

Former U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice said witnesses testifying at U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry did so at the risk of intimidation and public humiliation, and recalled how the politics of personal destruction took a toll on her own family in the wake of the 2012 Benghazi attacks.

In light of a new international investigation which provides the clearest evidence to date of the detention of Uighur Muslims in China and surveillance of Uighurs around the world, Uighur Canadian activist Mehmet Tohti is calling on the Canadian government to take a stronger stance against China on the issue.

The lawyer who chaired a committee that reviewed historical cases of sex abuse by clergy in the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver told The Current that Catholic entities across Canada should follow their lead, and publish names of convicted abusers.

Today on The Current: We discuss what the “China Cables” reveal about the mass surveillance and internment of the country’s Muslim Uighur population. Plus, we talk to Gail Atkinson, captain of what's believed to be Nova Scotia’s first all-women lobster fishing crew. Then, we look at the findings from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver’s review of files related to clerical sexual abuse, dating back to the 1950s. And Ambassador Susan Rice discusses China, Trump, and the politics of personal destruction.

Many questions have been raised about what precisely the minister of middle class prosperity, Mona Fortier, will be responsible for in this newly-created role. The Current's Laura Lynch spoke to Fortier about the new job.