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50 Years of As It Happens

50 Years of As It Happens

By Sheena Goodyear, with files from Mitchell Thompson, Chris Howden and CBC Archives

As It Happens hosts throughout the decades. Back row, from left to right: Elizabeth Gray, Barbara Frum, Mary Lou Finlay, Barbara Budd and Phillip Forsyth. Middle Row: Jeff Douglas and Carol Off. Front row: Michael Enright and Alan Maitland. (Illustration by Ben Shannon/CBC Radio)

As it Happens


September 4, 2018

Since 1968, CBC's flagship evening radio show has brought you voices from around the world

As It Happens began with a simple premise in 1968: so many other radio shows relied on a call-in format, but what if we called out?

It enabled the program to interview people across the country and around the world, just by dialing a number: Canadian and world leaders, regular people in extraordinary circumstances, and proud eccentrics of all kinds.

Over the last five decades, As It Happens has been there, bringing you the voices at the heart of the stories that have shaped history — and having a few laughs along the way.