The Sunday Editionwith Michael Enright
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The Sunday Edition for October 13, 2019
Listen to this week's episode of The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright.
A papal injunction against adjectives and adverbs - Michael's essay
To crime novelist Elmore Leonard, their use is ‘a mortal sin.’ Graham Greene said they were ‘beastly.’ They have been called ‘the lazy tool of a weak mind.’ Drugs? Pornography? Vodka shots? None of the above. These and other illustrious writers were talking about adverbs and adjectives. Horror-meister Stephen King warned, ‘the adverb is not your friend. I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.’ The critics have been joined by no less than Pope Francis.
Religion and Canadian elections
The church and state officially are quarantined from each other in this country. But God, and what He or She would think of the issues, keeps creeping into our elections in debates about abortion, immigration and religious symbols among other things. Michael Enright discusses whether we can — and whether we should — keep religion out of our politics, with Trinity Western University professor Janet Epp Buckingham and author Michael Coren.
Point of View
'I'm convinced now that waiting is full of untapped potential. It's a source of unclaimed time'
Cooling one’s heels, holding one’s horses or biding one’s time is something of a lost art in the 21st century. In a world of instant information and gratification, we're just not accustomed to lining up and waiting for much of anything anymore. Renée Bondy thinks we may be saving time, but we’re losing something more important in our hurry. Her essay is called “On Waiting.”
How a Canadian woman's imaginary feasts helped starving WW II prisoners
At the height of the Second World War, trapped inside a Singapore prison, Ethel Rogers Mulvany gathered fellow starving women to dream up imaginary feasts. The CBC's Alisa Siegel speaks with Ottawa historian Suzanne Evans about how the women's make-believe dishes became their tool for survival.
Political rhetoric about border control part of a 'moral panic', says law prof
It’s not the biggest issue in this election, but the rhetoric around asylum-seekers and immigrants has often been heated and divisive. University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, one of Canada’s foremost experts on migration law, will dissect the myths and misperceptions of immigration in Canada.
Syrian-Canadians and border town residents on immigration and the federal election
In the 2015 election, the Syrian refugee crisis was the focal point of debates about immigration. In 2019, irregular border crossings have become the focus. The Sunday Edition spoke to two Syrian-Canadians who will be voting in 2019 for the first time, and to two border town residents about what's happening in their communities.
Revisiting the Black Sox Scandal of 1919
A hundred years ago this past week, the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds met in an infamous World Series. Eight White Sox players conspired with gamblers to fix the Series and were later banished from the game for life. Jacob Pomrenke of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Black Sox Committee details how the villains, victims and tragic heroes (think Shoeless Joe Jackson) may not be who we think.
Everything you could possibly want to know about Cornish pasties
Michael found himself in a spot of bother seven years ago when he betrayed his ignorance of Cornish pasties — what they are, what’s inside them and how to pronounce them (they rhyme with “nasty,” not “tasty”). Indignant letters from expatriate Brits swiftly ensued. Dr. Andrew Pocock — then the British High Commissioner to Ottawa — set Michael straight in this rollicking interview from January 2012.
The Sunday Edition for October 6, 2019
Listen to this week's episode of The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright.
The press isn't entirely free in Canada - Michael's essay
In light of the sentencing of James Sears, editor and publisher of a hateful publication, Michael Enright reflects upon freedom of the press in Canada and the roles of journalists globally.
Speaker John Bercow reflects on 10 years of keeping British parliamentarians in line
John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons during one of the most volatile periods in British parliamentary history, is stepping down this month.
Point of View
Mike Finnerty: 'I feel like a hero in my cheesemonger apron'
CBC Radio host Mike Finnerty has taken a much-needed sabbatical from radio to work as a cheesemonger in London, U.K.
What are we really talking about when we talk about reconciliation?
Politicians say they're committed to it, indigenous leaders and activists demand it, and Canadians hope for it. But what exactly do we all mean by reconciliation? And how will we know when — and if — we've achieved it? Michael’s guests are: Cindy Blackstock, the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society; Cheryl Ward, Executive Director of Indigenous Cultural Safety and Strategy with BC' Provincial Health Authority; and Cowboy Smithx, a filmmaker and founder of the Elk Shadows Performing Arts Clan and the Noirfoot School For Cinematic Art.
What Watergate can teach us about the Trump impeachment inquiry
What can history tell us about a president who is utterly unprecedented? As Donald Trump flails and blusters his way toward possible impeachment, Beverly Gage — a professor of 20th Century American politics at Yale University — compares the ignoble end of Richard Nixon's presidency to Trump’s conduct and discusses whether history can help predict the fate of the Trump presidency.
Confessions of a dishwasher and gambling addict who became a bestselling novelist
Stéphane Larue had the least glamourous job at a restaurant: a dishwasher. But it gave him an inside look at the hard-living characters working in frenetic, stress-filled kitchens. He turned those experiences into a novel, The Dishwasher, that takes the reader into the demi-monde of restaurant kitchens. It became a sensation and a big award-winner in Quebec and has just been translated into English.
Analysis
Fake news is less of a threat to democracy than we imagine
We've been put on notice that bad actors seeking to rig our election are targeting Canadian voters with reams of fake news to disrupt or distort the vote. Ira Basen has questions about all the attention being paid to the threat of fake news, and what we might be missing out on as a result. His documentary is called “Fake Sale.”
The Sunday Edition for September 29, 2019
Listen to this week's episode of The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright.
The poor are invisible in Canadian election campaigns — Michael's essay
“I have heard the word “poverty” used once in the last two and a half weeks. That was on Sept. 11, when the prime minister called the election. It is not unusual. Poor people were blanked out in the 2015 election, and the silence was deafening. Which is odd since there are nearly four million poor people in this country.”
'Incrementalism is the new denialism': The climate politics of Canadian youth
Young people are typically the least likely to vote in Canadian elections, but that may be changing with the emergence of climate change as the defining political issue for a generation.
When the environment was not a partisan issue
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative governments were arguably the most environmentally progressive in Canadian history. Tom McMillan, who served as environment minister under Mulroney, discusses how the political environment was different 30 years ago.
Point of View
'By telling our own stories we displace the self-assumed heroes and their supporters'
It’s never easy to point out the insensitivity of people who think of themselves as your ally. But Sabreena Delhon finds it even harder to just nod and smile politely when she’s being patronized. Her essay is called “Mustn’t Grumble.”
Adam Gopnik on the fate of liberal democracy in the Trump era
Adam Gopnik admits that almost everyone in the politically polarized democracies of the United States and Europe seems to have a bone to pick with liberalism. But at a time when the US is lurching into an ever-deepening political crisis, the best-selling Canadian-American author and New Yorker writer discusses what has become of democracy in the Republic of Trump and why he’s still holding a torch for liberalism.
Meet the scientists exploring the frontiers of physics in Nelson, B.C.
Nelson, B.C. is known for is organic food co-ops, yoga studios, microbreweries and beautiful natural setting. Some brainiac scientists have also made the small mountain city their headquarters for exploring the frontiers of physics. Bob Keating’s documentary is called “Physics in the Forest.”
The evolution of swearing, from 'bloody hell' to the f-bomb
The f-bomb seems ubiquitous these days — so much so that it may be losing some of its power to shock. But for some, taking the Lord’s name in vain is still a grave offence. Sali Tagliamonte, Chair of the Linguistics Department at the University of Toronto, talks about how the sacred becomes the profane, how the profane becomes mundane, and what our cuss words say about our culture.
