(Prequel to "Shelter in Place") Think finding housing is hard? Try adding a wheelchair... Sean Towgood has cerebral palsy and has been on a waiting list for supportive housing for four years. He's desperate to move out of his mom's house and into the city to start his adult life. Now, Sean is on a mission to find out where he is on that list, and whether he'll ever get off it. He also wants to meet someone who actually lives in supportive housing, to find out if it's everything he's dreamed of. (Originally Broadcast September 2019)

The Highvale coal mine, operating since 1970, was the largest strip coal mine in Canada. There is still plenty of coal underground at the mine, but that is where it will stay. Coal is the single biggest global contributor to climate change and Canada has committed to putting an end to coal-fired electricity by 2030, with talk of a “just transition” away from coal. As part of the efforts to meet this target, the Canadian Government has paid out coal mines to leave coal in the ground. TransAlta, the company that owns the Highvale coal mine and adjacent power plants the coal has fueled, committed to being coal-free by 2022. It closed the Highvale mine December 31st, New Years Eve 2021, laying off 78 workers. Previous rounds of layoffs had already eliminated hundreds of unionized jobs that were once stable, paid well and offered benefits. Doc Project producer Kristin Nelson was in Wabamun for the days leading up to mine’s closure, asking the people living through it, what it takes to achieve a “just transition” away from fossil fuels… and what’s at stake if we don’t get it right?

Jordan Verner has spent his entire adult life obsessed with a song he hasn’t heard since he was a kid. He doesn’t know what it’s called, what the lyrics are or even who wrote it. What he does know is that it was from Dimoitou -- a series of cassettes used to teach French in some Canadian elementary schools in the 80’s and 90’s. Jordan’s been searching unsuccessfully for years. When Doc Project producer Althea Manasan learns of it, she decides to join Jordan on his quest.

Leonard Wilson is an unlikely social media star. For one, nobody is really sure how old Leonard is. He’s a senior, that much is clear. He lives on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario. His Facebook dispatches detail his chicken-caring duties, walks around the homestead, and wild animal encounters. Hundreds of fans from as far away as China and Mexico send e-mails if they don't see a new "Leonard Time" update every few weeks. The other thing about Leonard? He's a dog. A 148-pound dog. (Originally broadcast May 2021)

The Marefat School in Kabul, Afghanistan earned an international reputation for being a place where democracy, freedom, and education could flourish. The co-ed facility mentored young men and women aged 14-20. But when the Taliban took over the country in August 2021, many of the female teachers and students had to flee for their lives. This documentary tells the story of a music teacher who – with the assistance of a small group of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists around the world – helped bring more than 200 students and their families out of Afghanistan to safety in Saskatoon.

Two guys head out for a canoe paddle one evening after work, near downtown Edmonton. On the bank of the river, something peeks out… and they can’t believe what they are seeing. It’s a tree stump, but it’s also a rock. They have just discovered an ancient, petrified piece of Edmonton's history. An artifact that is 70-million years old. They begin the journey to get the stump out, so the world can see and enjoy this ancient piece of natural history, and as roadblocks arise, their determination only grows. (This episode was originally broadcast January, 2021)

In February 2018, Danny Filippidis, a Toronto firefighter, was on a ski trip with some friends. He left his buddies to go get his phone at the bottom of the slope. That's the last anyone saw of him for six days. The only journalist who was ever granted access to Danny sits down to talk - about what we know, and what remains unknowable. (Originally broadcast February 2019)

Julie Arounlasy's parents were born and raised in Laos.They came to Canada in 1987. Julie doesn't know much about her family's origins because they never really discussed it. There's a lot they've never really discussed... especially the death of Julie's mom, Vane. Now, Julie is talking to her brothers and her father about it for the first time and trying to understand why they haven't talked about it before.

In 1979 Andrew Nguyen’s family escaped Vietnam on board a cargo ship named the Skyluck. Andrew was only 4 and can barely remember the trip that changed his life. So when he discovered that his mom, Tina Nguyen, had kept detailed journals of their escape tucked away in a shoebox in their hall closet, Andrew begged her to read them to him. This year... she agreed. The Skyluck Journals document a harrowing story aboard a ship that was never intended for human passengers, and one young woman’s determination to save her family when nobody wanted to offer them safe harbour.

One evening in 2015, Montrealer Kenrick McRae was pulled over by police. The officer told him his licence plate lights weren’t bright enough. So after having the dealership verify his lights were in fact working fine, Kenrick got another light and mounted it himself to make sure he would never be given the same reason again. But he still was. In fact, no matter how scrupulous he is, Kenrick, who is Black, says he has been stopped by Montreal police multiple times. After Kenrick's girlfriend filmed him being handcuffed and detained during a traffic stop one night in 2017, he lodged a formal complaint with Quebec's police ethics committee, determined to prove that what's happening to him is because of the colour of his skin. This is the story of one person's ongoing experience of racial profiling by police, and how it has undermined every facet of his life.

Camilla Gibb has always known that her mother, Sheila, worked for MI5, the UK's counter-intelligence agency. (FYI, James Bond worked for MI6.) Camilla knows that her mom was a "secretary" and that she was posted to Trinidad in the 60's. But beyond that, Sheila's lips are sealed. She signed the Official Secrets Act and, as far as Camilla knows, her mother has never shared her secrets. But now, Camilla is determined to crack the code of her mom's past. And she's bringing in backup, including an intelligence historian, her mom's civilian friend from her MI5 days, and Camilla's own eight-year-old daughter.

Since Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was legalized in Canada in 2016, the process has relied not only on the doctors and practitioners who help carry out people's right to die, but a group of people you may not have heard of: volunteer witnesses. Two independent witnesses — who are not involved in the care of the applicant, nor stand to benefit from their death — must sign and date every application for MAiD. Three volunteer witnesses reflect on the process, as a bill that would amend their role winds its way through legislature.

Miyawata Dion Stout and Sunny Enkin Lewis are youth climate activists from Winnipeg. Both say they get their drive for justice from their grandmothers: one survived residential school and the other found ways to resist the Nazis. Now, as COVID-19 threatens to derail the climate movement, the young activists are taking cues from their grandmothers and getting creative.

Calgary’s Sudanese community is struggling. After fleeing civil war in Sudan, refugees are struggling with poverty, gangs, drugs and violence in their new home. Some in the community feel like they are cursed. Akeir Mel Kuol and Stephen Deng both arrived in Canada as refugees, but are now working to change their community’s narrative. They are refugees helping refugees.

As a kid, Nabeel Pervaiz had no patience for his father’s favourite family activity: “mushairas,” or poetry symposiums. Nabeel’s father, Munir, would fill the family’s living room with people, food, music and poets performing Urdu poetry, while little Nabeel rolled his eyes. Nabeel, meanwhile, loved music: the louder and more obscure, the better. Then last year, a mystery began to unfold in the form of a long-forgotten ‘80s synth-pop album, Disco Se Aagay. This new wave-infused, disco-pop record was sung in Urdu! This is the story of a nearly forgotten album getting its overdue recognition, and a father and son finding common ground in its grooves. PLUS: Tej Swatch has always admired his father. His intelligence, his kindness, his work ethic... and his beard. When you're a Sikh man, your beard is seen as a sign of your faith. But while Tej's dad would leave for work every day with a beautifully coiffed beard, Tej just could not get his own beard to evolve beyond its "steel wool puffball" state. A story of coming to terms with the struggle of your beard, and the expectations that grow with it.

When Ash Abraham was a little girl, something changed with her mother. "Ma" started behaving oddly. She'd drag a suitcase around with her everywhere. She stopped paying her bills. Started sleeping a lot and having volatile emotional reactions. As a teenager, Ash had to move out as Ma lost her job, her car, and her home, and ended up being supported by a relative. Now, Ash wants to find out what's really behind her mother's increasingly troubling behaviour, to see if she can help her... or at least understand her. PLUS, When Graham Isador was 21, his dad suffered a heart attack. But it wasn’t Graham’s dad who needed his help — it was his mom. In a moment of simple, kind clarity, Graham did the only thing he could think of to help her.

Two stories about COVID and companionship: Dusty Springfield is the luckiest cat on earth. When COVID-19 hit, Dusty’s owner, Jennifer Yoon, was suddenly home all the time. What a luxury for a rescue cat with abandonment issues! PLUS, Jean Grevstad is an active 91-year-old in a seniors’ residence in Nelson, B.C. Bob Keating meets and spends time with her, taking down her life story for posterity. But when COVID-19 hits, Jean is left facing a second pandemic of loneliness.

Jirard Saddleback and Kwaku Frimpong are both proud fathers and they’re both trying to parent from behind bars. It’s estimated that around 450,000 children in Canada have a parent in prison, and that more than half of the men in prison are fathers. Yet until recently very little has been done to support these dads. Now a program for incarcerated fathers, called Dad Hero, is helping prisoners parent from behind bars, a win for their families and maybe for society in general. Jirard and Kwaku both signed up, and decided to share their stories.

A good canoe trip takes good planning. Don Starkell knew that better than anyone. He spent a whole decade planning for the one he promised his two boys. Then again, he was planning to take them further than anyone had ever paddled before. On June 1, 1980, Don and his teenage sons set off from Winnipeg's Red River, planning to cover a distance of nearly 20,000 kilometres, through 13 countries, heading for the Amazon. Forty years later, Don's two sons look back on this inconceivable, world-record-setting journey, and the sometimes misplaced, sometimes heroic effort their father made to teach them the meaning of life.

Eunice Kim was born in South Korea and she speaks the language fluently, but recently, she stumbled upon an unfamiliar word: han. Han has no English translation. It's used to describe a combination of rage, grief and regret - a feeling so powerful, some believe you can die from it. To many Koreans, han is part of the cultural DNA. Once you know what it is, you see it everywhere, from Korean movies to the unofficial national anthem. So, how exactly did it escape Eunice? Why did her family never mention it? Eunice turns to her grandmother, her mother, and her father to ask them about han. Have they had it all this time? And is it possible that she's inherited something she never even knew existed? (Originally aired May 2019)

Every year, enormous amounts of wealth in Canada pass between hands through inheritances. At the top of the scale are what are called “ultra-high net worth” families – families with so much intergenerational wealth, that inheritances are in the tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. For our original episode, Doc Project host Acey Rowe and regular contributor Craig Desson, take a deep dive into financial planning, from the perspective of the very, very rich – asking, how does their world work? And what does it mean for everyone else?

When two librarians in Kelowna B.C. decide to hold Drag Queen Story Hour for kids, they plan everything… from the books about inclusion and diversity that educational assistant Tyson Cook will read while in character as “Miss Freida Whales,” to the rainbow wand-making craft they’ll lead with the kids and the music breaks they’ll take so the kids can get up and move around between books. But what Ashley and Chris don’t plan for… is the ideological tempest that is unleashed on the city of Kelowna — engulfing librarians, activists, parents and politicians. Drag Queen Story Hour turned into a pitched battle to define what is the role of a library, who is it for, and who gets to decide?

Richard Kelly Kemick is the benevolent overlord of a miniature Christmas village. Bustling with 18 buildings, more than 60 people, and countless accessories. But this village of his own making... is beginning to unmake him. PLUS, sourdough starter, the ingredient that gives bread that special taste, is alive, and it picks up spores wherever it goes. The sourdough starter at the heart of this story is over 120 years old. It's been over the Chilkoot Pass with the gold rush, and to Ottawa with the senate, following generations of Ione Christensen's family. 

"I wouldn't wish this upon anyone. The pain is so bad." - Anna. "I would compare it to an invading army coming in and occupying my head." - Sean. "If someone was punching you continuously in the head for a full day, that's probably the equivalent of what a migraine is." - Christina... A migraine is more than just a headache — it's an often debilitating headache disorder experienced by approximately 3 million Canadians. Yet, migraine sufferers are often dismissed. Producer Shari Okeke and host Acey Rowe compare their own stories about coping with migraines and Shari speaks to other sufferers about how migraines disrupt their lives, and what they're trying to do about it. She also gets some insight from Dr. Elizabeth Leroux, one of the country's foremost specialists, about why it has taken so long for the medical community — and society at large — to take migraines seriously and her work to change that.

In 1968 a group of students at Sir George Williams University in Montreal (what is now Concordia) called out a professor for racism. The university's mishandling of that complaint led to one of the biggest anti-racism protests in Canadian history. Philippe Fils-Aimé was one of the protesters. Meanwhile, 3000 kilometres away in Texas, the daughter he didn't know he had, was adopted into a white family. Now, 50 years later, Rhonda Lux is discovering the truth about her racial heritage and finding Philippe — and a sense of belonging.

Last Spring, Amiththan Sebarajah hiked the 1000+ kilometre Arizona Trail. The trail starts at the US-Mexico Border in Southern Arizona. These borderlands are contentious, uneasy places for brown-skinned people to negotiate, where border patrol agents are vigilant. As he hiked, Amiththan, hoped to promote diversity on the trails. But as he walked, he also carried the trauma of his memories from the Sri Lankan Civil War.

"My name is Radwan Altaleb. I'm a musician. My instrument is oud. I'm from Syria. Music is my life, and my life is music." To Radwan Altaleb, now living in Canada, the oud is more than a musical instrument. It's a means of remembering his life in Syria. Radwan's passion for the oud has led him to amass more than 60 instruments - from dozens of the finest makers across the Middle East. It's one of the largest individual oud collections in the world. But he still can't stop thinking about the two ouds he left behind when his neighbourhood in Damascus was destroyed. (Originally broadcast January 2019)

For decades, Robert Keating had been searching for his birth mother with no success... Until an unlikely encounter with a customer at his pet store, and a 19th century painting, provided the clues he needed to find her. PLUS, writer Ivan Coyote on the moment their grandmother, even in the midst of her late stage dementia, made Ivan feel fully seen.

When Sharon and Ken Greenock took in their first foster child, they were oblivious to the grief, chaos and love it would bring to their home. Now, with 7 children, this family is trying to keep together -- and keep it together. This episode comes to us from the Australian Broadcating Corporation where it originally aired on the show Earshot.

Shimshon Obadia has had many bags over the years, each endeavouring to be the "perfect" one, each promising to be the last bag they'll ever need, and each inevitably being merely the last one they bought... But that might be because Shimshon was still in the closet and afraid that purchasing a bag that looked too fun, flamboyant, or queer might accidentally out them. Now, as a transgender nonbinary person, Shimshon goes on a quest to find the perfect purse -- and ends up finding so much more: a sense of belonging with their beloved grandma and her eclectic purse collection.

When Craig Desson bought his condo in Montreal, he was finally achieving a big life goal of home ownership. But there was a question echoing in his mind. Montreal is on unceded territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka (often referred to as Mohawk). And if Montreal is on unceded territory, can he really own it? Craig and Doc Project host Acey Rowe trace the claim to the land his condo is on back through history, through property booms and busts, from a group of monks who gambled it all away to some dubious cross-planting by one Jacques Cartier -- all the way back to the original inhabitants, for a conversation with Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon to hear what he thinks, and what he hopes for the future.

Michel Groulx lives in a tent, in an encampment just east of downtown Montreal. Michel, armed with his own recorder, takes us into his world, introduces us to his neighbours. And explains why, even with winter coming, he has no intention of relocating to a shelter. PLUS, In March, at the beginning of the pandemic, Stephen Smith lost his sense of smell. But he set aside his concerns while his wife, an asthmatic, struggled with more serious COVID-19 symptoms. As time went on and his wife got better, Stephen noticed that his sense of smell still hadn't returned. He couldn't smell spring in bloom. In fact, his sense of smell (and taste) became strangely warped, turning favourite scents foul. Now, eight months on, Stephen's worried that some smells, and the memories they evoke, may never return.

Sean Towgood knows a thing or two about sheltering in place. Sean uses a wheelchair to get around and snowy sidewalks during Canadian winters can mean staying at home for days, or even weeks. As someone who's experienced his fair share of isolation, COVID-19 is the first time the world has come to him, on his turf. Now concerts, comedy, classes, and community are all happening online, and Sean is welcoming the rest of the world "to the party," as he says. PLUS, for writer Richard Kemick, the upheaval of the past few months has made him nostalgic for a time in his life when things were so normal, it never occurred to him to appreciate them: when growing up in Calgary in his childhood home. Now that his parents are selling the house, Richard is, to put it simply, freaking out. He's saying goodbye to a place that seemed barely worth noticing, until he realized he was going to lose it.

Pooja Joshi is an independent woman in her thirties – she has her own place, can assemble IKEA furniture, and change a flat tire if she needs to. While she doesn’t actually need a husband, she would like a romantic partner to share her life with. Pooja’s parents have been urging her to marry for years. So when she tells them she’s willing to let them get involved in finding the right match, they don’t hesitate. We follow along as Pooja signs up to an Indian matchmaking website, where her parents do the swiping.

COVID-19 hasn't quashed Trevor Campbell's search for love. It’s just raised new questions: like, do they make hand sanitizer that smells like French cologne? How do you make a move from 2 meters away? Trevor shares his lessons on finding love in lockdown. PLUS, ever since she can remember, Samantha Lui has been a fangirl. These days, she's obsessing over the K-pop group BTS. Her love of the South Korean boy band sensation began at the beginning of 2020, just before the pandemic. And while she has found it has brought her connection during this time of isolation, she also has a feeling of shame for her fangirling — and she wants to understand why. 

This past fall, New Brunswick-based trumpeter and composer Nicole Rampersaud took part in a whalesong workshop given by renowned acoustic biologist Katy Payne. In 1967, Katy and her husband Roger Payne were some of the first people to hear recordings of humpback whale song — and the album they released three years later, Songs of the Humpback Whale, became the best-selling environmental album in history. Now Katy is sharing what she’s learned from 50 years of whalesong observation with a group of Canadian musicians, inviting them to learn from and collaborate with whales. PLUS, In Banff, Alberta, people and wolves have a complicated relationship. Wolves been wiped out from the area around the town numerous times over the past 100 years. After a deadly year in 2016, the local wolf pack nearly disappeared. By 2020, the pack was back to eight wolves, but down to six by 2021. What is at the heart of this difficult relationship?

An update from Acey Rowe about exciting new things coming to a podcast feed near you...

Elaine Hofer lives in Green Acres, a Hutterite colony nestled in the southwestern corner of Manitoba. Elaine spends her days working with her community and teaching at the local school. And although she is 38 years old, as an unmarried woman Elaine lives at home with her parents and two adult siblings. But for all the tradition and responsibility, there is one thing Elaine does just for herself... Elaine is a trail runner, running across the fields with her long skirt flapping in the breeze. Her love of running is sparking something bigger, and Elaine is bumping up against the edges of tradition. (Originally broadcast Sepember 2019)

It was a surreal delight for Kent Hoffman to produce an interview with the American mentalist 'The Amazing Kreskin' on CBC Radio in 2009. But what really surprised Kent was when, a few months later, he received a Christmas card from Kreskin... and every single Christmas since. It turns out that Kreskin sends out thousands of holiday cards, every year, and it means as much to him as it does to his legions of grateful Kreskin card recipients. PLUS, Ever get a present that made you wonder, “Does this person know me at all!?” Comedian Bob Kerr has wondered this repeatedly, every time his mother insisted on giving him jewelry. Even a jewelry box to keep it all in. The only problem? Bob doesn't... wear jewelry.

Bob Kerr went from being a chubby kid to a fat teen. He learned to use his weight for jokes, even though he realized that his bullies weren't necessarily laughing with him. In college, Bob developed anorexia, and when it was on the verge of killing him, his parents made an extreme move: they called the police. Because the thing is, they'd already watched a son waste away. In Grade Six, Bob's younger brother John was starving himself and suicidal, and had to be wrenched away from a very dark place. Bob and John have never talked about how, and why, the two of them went down a similar path. Until now.

This holiday season, like thousands of others, Tom Howell will be stressfully zipper-merging onto Highway 401, on his way to visit friends and family. Ah yes, the 401. The busiest highway in North America. A grey, 16-lane hellscape. And the confluence of the two things: hellscape, and the season of goodwill, holiday cheer, etc., is making him think — Can we learn to love our fellow drivers, rather than Grinch up our hearts and Scrooge up our fists as some halfwit flies past us in the right-hand lane? Beside him in the passenger seat (i.e. taking turns, not all at the same time) are a driving instructor, an OPP sergeant, a speed-limit opponent, and Tom's highway-averse wife. Their wildly varying takes on life and appropriate behaviour on the highway raise issues of loyalty, ethics, manners, and neurosis—plus a few tips on better driving—during the most wonderful time of the year.

Super Duty Tough Work is the first ever hip-hop group from Manitoba to be nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. We follow frontman Brendan Kinley, a rapper who draws on the past to make music for the present. Brendan is the youngest in a long family legacy of musicians, including late Juno winner Gerry Atwell and virtuoso pianist Winifred Atwell. Against the backdrop of his deep-rooted family history in music, hip hop as a space for social commentary, and Super Duty teetering on the edge of a national breakout, this is the anatomy of a hip hop album.

Maddison Fraser was 21 when she died in a car crash thousands of kilometres from home. But this story isn’t about Maddison’s death. It’s about the life her mother, Jennifer Holleman, believes she was trapped in when she died. As Jennifer puts the pieces together, she is certain her daughter was a victim of human trafficking. Now, Jennifer is telling Maddison's story hoping to change how the police investigate human trafficking, to help survivors get out, and to alert other parents — who may have no idea what's happening to their children.

Kent Hoffman thinks about walking all the time. For him, it requires focus: where to place his feet, how to keep his balance, how to avoid falling. Kent lives with Becker muscular dystrophy, a progressive condition that weakens the muscles used for moving. For as long as he could, Kent hid his difficulty with walking, running, and climbing stairs. He'd sometimes refuse invitations and often tried to avoid situations where he might have trouble getting around rather than ask for help or a change in venue. But now, he's "coming out of the disability closet", sharing his story -- and for the first time, talking to someone else with Becker muscular dystrophy.

As a teenage girl, Tanya Marie Lee felt like a second class citizen. So, as an adult she decided to create the kind of space she wished she’d had growing up. Now, Tanya’s “A Room Of Your Own” book club is joined by hundreds of girls across Canada every month.

Allie Jaynes has a successful career as a journalist. She’s travelled the world and speaks five languages. But ask one of Allie’s friends to describe her, and you get the half of the picture: scatterbrained, absent-minded. Flustered. Forgetting her keys, forgetting where her bike’s locked up, taking days agonizing over work assignments that should have taken hours. This is all “very Allie.” Only recently has Allie started to understand what’s causing her struggles. And suddenly, her whole life is starting to make sense.

Jason Herterich lives with fibromyalgia. It’s a chronic condition that affects the nervous system, and causes pain throughout his entire body. Coping with constant pain has forced Jason to overhaul his life. He had to leave a job he loved. He was a rower and a triathlete, but is now sometimes too sick to get outside for a walk. But beyond the physical pain, there is something else that has hurt Jason too: disbelief. Fibromyalgia is commonly referred to as an “invisible illness”. This is an umbrella term describing conditions that can be hard for others to see and recognize. People with certain kinds of invisible illnesses are often accused of faking it or imagining things. It’s been about a decade since Jason first got sick, and while his family believes him now, that took years. And Jason has decided it’s time to talk to them about it.

Introducing Storylines, a weekly documentary show for people who love narrative podcasts. Stories you can’t stop thinking about. That you’ll tell your friends about. And that will help you understand what’s going on in Canada, and why. Every week a journalist follows one story, meets the people at its centre, and makes it make sense. Sometimes it’s about people living out the headlines in real life. Sometimes it’s about someone you’ve never heard of, living though something you had no idea was happening. Either way, you’ll go somewhere, meet someone, get the context, and learn something new. (Plus it sounds really good. Mixed like a movie.) One story, well told, every week, from the award-winning team at the CBC Audio Doc Unit.

Jane and Patricia are on their way to Canada, from Barbados, in the dead of winter. They're a couple, and in Barbados being gay can be punishable by life imprisonment. After enduring years of fear, harassment, violence, and even an arrest, Jane and Patricia's home was nearly burned down by someone they knew. They need to escape, fast. That's where Devon comes in. Devon works with Rainbow Railroad, a Toronto-based, international organization that gets people out of countries where being LGBT is criminalized. This episode was produced as a special collaboration with "The Documentary," from the BBC World Service.

In 2019, while living on the streets of Hamilton Ontario, Penny O’Radical started filming his experiences with homelessness and addiction. Using nothing but a broken Samsung, he began posting videos on his own YouTube channel, and turning the lens on the people he had gotten to know in shelters and on the streets. PLUS, When Wesley Altuna was growing up in the Philippines, food was always connected to his sense of home. But when he came to Canada as a kid, wrenched from his mother's arms at the airport, that picture of safety and joy was also left behind. Wes struggled to find his way as a teen but when things were at their worst, Wes would cook to ground himself. Now that the pandemic ransacked his career, he’s realized that returning to his love of Filipino food and sharing it with others is his way forward — and his way home.

When Kate McKenna started worrying about her drinking, she wanted to talk to the only person in her family who she knew had struggled with alcohol and gotten sober: her grandfather, Jack. But Jack passed away a few years ago. Now, Kate is travelling home to PEI to ask her grandfather’s AA buddies what advice he would have given her, if he were still alive.

Prairie Harm Reduction is a non-profit organization in Saskatoon, a sort of community centre offering services to vulnerable people. By the time Jason Mercredi became executive director in 2016, he had seen 120 clients die. There have been more deaths since then, and Jason predicts more to come, now that the opioid overdose crisis has settled into Saskatchewan. That's why Jason and his team worked so hard to open the province's first supervised consumption site last fall — and fought like hell when their funding fell though.

Regan Burden grew up in Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, surrounded by husky puppies. Regan has Inuit ancestry on her father’s side. Her dad, like his dad before him, and family members going back at least four generations, all had dog sled teams. Dog sled teams were an important means of transportation right up until the 1950s, but as snowmobiles have increasingly replaced sled dogs, the tradition has been displaced. Now, Regan is trying to figure out if she wants to keep it alive, and run her own dog team. But she still has a lot to learn if she wants to follow in her family’s—and 10 dog’s—footsteps.

In 2018, as part of a special pilot program, Georgian College in southern Ontario recruited students almost exclusively from northern India, to help fill a desperate need for labour in hotels and resorts. Specifically, in the nearby ski town of Collingwood. The students have invested everything in the dream of permanent residency in Canada. For Harpreet Kaur Insan and Gurleen Singh, it's also about the dream of living their lives to their full potential, something neither of them feel they could have done had they stayed in India. But will they really find this opportunity here, in a snowy ski town a world away from everything they know?

After Pat Maloney passed away, it was a year before his widow, Joanne Pickett, was ready to venture into the attic where Pat stored his stuff. And that’s when she found the tapes. Dozens and dozens of tapes, all part of the life Pat had hidden away for nearly 30 years. PLUS, In 1970, the first two Tibetan refugees arrived in Canada. Tsering Wangkhang was one of them. His son, Rignam Wangkhang, was 10 when Tsering died in 2000, and doesn't have many memories of his dad. But he does have his father's unfinished memoir, documenting Tsering's harrowing escape from Tibet, fleeing on foot through the Himalayan mountains to freedom. Now, Rignam shares his father's story.

To celebrate his 30th birthday, Ottawa-based artist Aquil Virani decided to send 30 letters to 30 people, saying thank you. His mailing list runs the gamut from a childhood martial arts instructor to a friend’s mother, to a famous hockey player, a broadcaster, contemporary artists, and political activists. Aquil's inspiration for the project runs much deeper than a milestone birthday, though. It all comes from the one letter, years back, that he didn't send on time. It’s the story of a life thus far, in 30 letters of gratitude. PLUS, advice from Doc Project listeners to their 30-year-old selves.

"T" was being held in Toronto East Detention Centre when a Sargent came down the range, trying to warn the prisoners about COVID 19. She told them if they could get bail, to go for it. To try to get out before Coronavirus got in. T called his lawyer, Hilary Dudding, and asked her to do whatever she could to get him out on bail. T's story raises questions about what is "justice" in the face of COVID 19, and what does the pandemic tell us about Canada's prison system?

Psychiatrist Rachel Kronick will never forget her first interviewees at the Laval Immigration Holding Centre. Two parents with their daughters, aged three and 10. Rachel and a team of researchers had rare access to the detention centre, to try to better understand how immigration detention affects children's mental health. Rachel kept a close eye on this family over their first three weeks in the centre, and was deeply concerned about the 10-year-old girl. "She went from hopeful and talkative and engaged, to hopeless, listless, withdrawn." So Rachel decided to risk her own research to help.

Julian Uzielli has suffered from clinical depression for as long as he can remember. Over the years, Julian's taken several different antidepressants and seen as many different therapists. Nothing’s worked. Then this past year, pandemic stress set off one of his worst bouts yet. Suicidal thoughts were creeping in with alarming force. Desperate, Julian decided to try something new: medically supervised, legal, guided ketamine therapy. [If you’re in crisis and need help, you can call the Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566, or you can send a text to 45-645. They’re there to help.]

St. Patrick’s High School in Ottawa has always had a strong basketball team, but in 1999-2000, the “Fighting Irish” were riding high. They won game after game, made it to the Ontario play-offs, and were invited to represent Ontario in a national tournament. But for a high school all-star, what happens in the years after the “Big Game”? And how do high school sports echo (like sneakers on a gym floor) for the rest of a player’s life? Meet some of the former members of that standout team and discover how basketball shaped who they are today.

We're back! The new season of The Doc Project kicks off with two stories of longshots, and of keeping the flame alive when the odds aren't on your side. First up: They're sometimes called "paper candidates" or even "sacrificial lambs" - federal election candidates who enter so-called "unwinnable" races. As election day approaches, four former candidates from elections past describe what it’s like to be the horse no one’s betting on. Next: Zeppelin the cat lived a good life, and when his pet parent, Desiree Hobbins, discovered he died in September 2020 she mourned him and spread his ashes in a favourite spot. After eight months of mourning, Hobbins got a call from the Regina humane society saying they found Zeppelin and he was ready to come home. But her cat died… right? She spread his ashes... right?

The first time Nate Sanders was called the N-word, he was in Grade 2. By high school he’d heard it so much, he became convinced that being Black was bad. But as that word, the embodiment of racism, set out to break him, something else stepped in to build him up: the power of books. PLUS, Dawson Ovenden-Beaudry has played ringette his whole life. But when he transitioned at the age of 16, embracing his identity as a young man meant losing access to the other core aspect of his identity: being the best ringette goalie in Quebec.

When Craig Desson bought his condo in Montreal, he was finally achieving a big life goal of home ownership. But there was a question echoing in his mind. Montreal is on unceded territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka (often referred to as Mohawk). And if Montreal is on unceded territory, can he really own it? Craig and Doc Project host Acey Rowe trace the claim to the land his condo is on back through history, through property booms and busts, from a group of monks who gambled it all away to some dubious cross-planting by one Jacques Cartier -- all the way back to the original inhabitants, for a conversation with Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon to hear what he thinks, and what he hopes for the future. (Originally broadcast May, 2021)

For some, the images of children trying to flee the devastation in Ukraine have stirred painful memories. More than 100 days since the conflict began, Joan Webber speaks to a Canadian woman who knows what it means to be a child in war. Having lived through the Siege of Sarajevo, she says, the war has never left her.

Back in 1987, Janice Hoy was 17, and pregnant. She and her high-school boyfriend, Earl, placed their son for adoption. Years passed, Janice and Earl stayed together and had three more boys. But they never told them about their older brother. Decades later when Earl died suddenly in a snowmobile accident, Janice decided to face the trauma of losing both her husband and her firstborn son… by searching for Kevin.

Grade 10 was going to be Richard Kelly Kemick’s year. He’d transferred to a new high school and this, Richard thought, was the perfect opportunity to catapult himself into popularity by hosting a Halloween party in his parents’ suburban Calgary basement. Twenty years later and still lightly traumatized, Richard checks in with three former classmates to get their read on how the party went so completely off the rails. PLUS, For nearly 40 years, staff at the old CKUA radio station in downtown Edmonton have been describing ghostly encounters. The legend goes that the spirit of a former caretaker named “Sam” haunts the halls, and some employees swear it felt like he watched them as they worked. But can the Alberta Paranormal Investigators Society find a trace of ghostly Sam, and can a deep dive into the City of Edmonton Archives prove that a living Sam ever even existed?

It was 1980, and 21-year-old Ilie Irinici was lying in a marsh, hiding from police dogs, meters from the Yugoslavian border, trying to escape communist Romania. Thousands had tried before, but many were caught and imprisoned or murdered and buried in graves on the shores of the Danube River. But Ilie was desperate. His daring choice would lead to a life full of incredible coincidences, and the kind of uniquely Canadian love story that's written with plot points from all over the world.

Ngurimuje "Laka" Mujoro lives in constant fear of a knock at her door. She came to Canada from Namibia in 2011 as an asylum seeker, but when her refugee claim was denied, she stayed. She has two Canadian children, and married their father, a permanent resident. Despite having her refugee claim denied in 2012, until last year Laka had been able to remain in Canada without difficulty. That all changed when the Canada Border Services Agency started doing sweeps in Fort McMurray where Laka lives. So, she went into hiding.

Michelle DuBarry is a Canadian drag icon. She holds the record for the world's Oldest Performing Drag Queen. But at 89 years old and after a year away from the stage during COVID, Russell Alldread, the man behind the makeup, has mixed feelings about his glamourous alter ego. That’s why his chosen family hopes they can help him reconnect with his passion by getting him back into drag. PLUS, In 1938, Gar Yin was just 19 years old when she boarded a boat from Hong Kong to Vancouver. It was during the exclusion years, when Chinese immigrants were barred from Canada. But Gar Yin had something special: Cantonese opera.

Anna Marie MacLean was born in British Columbia. A year later, on the other side of Canada, Anna Marie MacLean was born in Nova Scotia. Fourteen years later, they’d also end up in the same place: Halifax. Two Annas. Same name, same place, no relation. A coincidence, right? But as the two Annas grew up, their lives became increasingly entwined. Both Annas swear that the other fundamentally altered the path of her life. This is a story about names, coincidences, and life’s wonderful whimsies.

In the mid-2000’s, childhood friends Paul Nguyen and Mark Simms started a website about their Toronto neighborhood: Jane-Finch.com. The website had news, community boards, and videos that the guys would make, usually with local rappers. The website got a lot of love -- until suddenly that changed. A Toronto talk radio station broadcast a series of interviews that largely condemned the rap videos, saying they encouraged gang violence. Paul and Mark only found out this had been happening months after the interviews started. Their website took a hit, and the guys were scared, angry… and largely silent. Now, 15 years later, they’re talking about what went down.

When Faraj Mohyeddin was admitted to the hospital with terminal cancer, his daughter Samira wouldn't settle for the regular visiting hours and care regime. She moved in, and turned the last days of his life into a non-stop party. (Originally broadcast February 2018)

Dawn Murphy always had big dreams. Growing up in “The Cache”, a small community in Prince George, B.C., she fell in love with wrestling. After getting scouted at 15, Dawn became a crowd favourite in the Canadian pro-wrestling circuit under the name Princess Delta Dawn, before going on to wrestle in Japan in front of thousands of fans. Dawn retired from wrestling in 1994 — but now, three years after being inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, she's telling her story, from her take-no-prisoners wrestling moves to embracing her Carrier First Nations culture both in and out of the ring.

CBC News producer Steve McNally recently took a trip back to the Ottawa neighbourhood where he grew up to meet up with some old school friends. But this isn't just any school reunion - or even a particularly happy one. An alarming number of Steve's old schoolmates had become very ill with the same debilitating condition. The question they've been trying to answer for decades now is, could this really just be coincidence? NEXT: Sitting at her desk at the Saskatoon Tribal Council, Dawn Deguire hit an emotional wall. Dawn desperately wanted to be brought back to the last time she felt well: when she was practicing yoga nearly a decade before. Just a few days later, Dawn got an unexpected phone call from a visionary who wanted her help creating a scholarship program for Indigenous yoga teachers. This is a story about the surprising intercultural connection between the Eastern practice of yoga and Indigenous culture, and one woman’s journey to discover wellness within herself.

Two stories about making connections, in a world that has changed because of the pandemic. First up, when the pandemic struck in the spring, artist Aiden McMahon set up an audio pen pal network, pairing strangers from across the country to connect through voice memos. We follow two of these pen pals, Sophie Maguire and Angela Stukator, who live across Canada from each other, and are navigating very different stages of life. THEN, as she awaits the birth of her first child, Lisa Xing gives her parents what she thinks is the ultimate honour: she tells them she wants them to choose their granddaughter-to-be's Chinese name. But Lisa's parents, who immigrated to Canada when Lisa was a child, tell her she should have a Western name. Of course, Lisa's parents have seen how Lisa struggled with her own Chinese name, Yaxi, and want to ease the way for their granddaughter. Now that COVID-19 has sparked a resurgence in anti-Chinese racism, Lisa struggles to convince her parents that she's making the right choice... and chose a name for her daughter.

Close your eyes and imagine a horse. What do you see? Statistically, you can probably picture the horse in your mind. The colour, the flowing tail. Tom Ebeyer can't do that. Tom doesn't have a mind's eye, and for the first 20 years of his life he didn't even know what a mind's eye was. But now, Tom is finding other people like him, and they are finding belonging in their difference. Plus, they finally have a name for it: aphantasia. (Originally broadcast September 2019)

As a kid, Jonathan Ore was a Warhammer 40k fanatic. He spent hours painting the thumb-sized miniatures used in the tabletop game, and met up with his friends to play in his uncle's comic book shop. As an adult, Jonathan abandoned the hobby. But when the pandemic hit, he started painting again, and re-engaging with the Warhammer community, this time online… only to discover that divisive debates had found their way to the fandom. Suddenly, Jonathan was faced with questions: How did this happen, and did he really want back in after all? Jonathan unpacks the surprising history of this incredibly popular but underreported game, and speaks to people about engaging in a fandom that’s increasingly torn apart, all while trying to find his own place within it.

An episode of two FUN stories from the Doc Project vaults, incase you're needing a dose of joy. First up: When Tom Howell wandered into a shop called "Holy Cow" on Toronto's Queen Street, little did he know his whole paradigm would shift when it came to... towelling. Soon, Tom's love of Turkish towels would have him bursting into song in this documentary-musical. THEN: Upon receiving the gift of a "spurtle" — a traditional porridge-stirring implement — Johnny Spence travels to Carrbridge, Scotland, the home of the World Porridge Making Championships. The prize: the coveted Golden Spurtle.

At the Edmonton Indian Residential School in 1961, a teenaged student named Helen Campbell Johnson was starving. And she was angry. On top of enduring relentless, daily abuse, the 147 kids at the school that year were hungry all the time. Helen worked in the cafeteria. And she knew that while she and the other kids ate meagre rations of inedible canned pork and lumpy oatmeal, the teachers and staff enjoyed a full spread. One Saturday, standing in that cafeteria, something in her snapped, and Helen took action. This is the true story of a group of kids who -- at enormous risk to themselves -- tasted freedom one unforgettable day 60 years ago.

In 2013, Torontonian Simon Smith sent away his DNA for analysis. Simon wanted to see if he had inherited his late grandfather's heart troubles. When Simon got the results, he was pleased to learn he hadn't... but he was soon to learn he had something else: a first cousin, that no-one in their family knew existed. That message started the Smith family on a trail of discovery that led them to London England, and a little known part of history.

After 7 incredible years The Doc Project is saying goodbye. A message from host, Acey Rowe, to our wonderful listeners and Doc Project family. Keep subscribed for our summer season, updates, and our final new episode, which is still to come!

In June 2020, in the wake of George Floyd's killing, the chairperson of Montreal's West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA) received an e-mail that she couldn't believe. "I'm like, is this a setup?" Kemba Mitchell remembers thinking. A white woman named Rachael Seatvet was reaching out to WIBCA. "This has never happened before, a white individual contacting us... enquiring about a book club for them to identify their own privilege. Wow. Ok," recalls Kemba. Doc Project producer Shari Okeke follows the story of how, for the first time in its 39-year history, WIBCA has a program just for white people: The Confronting Racism Discussion Group.

In China, farming is often seen as lowly work. It's a life people hope to escape. Yet when university-educated environmentalists Sun Shan and Li Bo immigrated to Canada from China, farming is exactly what they chose to do. Along the way, they've made a place for themselves in Ottawa's farming community. But their career path didn't meet with instant approval from their parents... PLUS, gardening and mental health. Three Edmontonian gardeners who are battling depressive disorder, social anxiety and grief, open up about how their gardens feed their souls and support their mental health.

Over the past century, hundreds — maybe even thousands — of people have looked for Slumach's gold, a fabled gold mine in B.C. said to be worth billions. To date, no one has ever conclusively located it. But Adam Palmer thinks he's getting close so regular Doc Project contributor Brad Badelt is going treasure hunting with him! (Originally broadcast October 2019)

Denial, anger, depression and shame - Type 2 diabetes can lay the ultimate guilt trip. That’s what CBC journalist and musician Emily Brass discovered when she was diagnosed. She also discovered that even though a whopping 1 in 3 Canadians has diabetes or pre-diabetes, nobody seems to talk about it! Forced to make big changes, Emily opens up about her personal struggles in a series of intimate diaries, seeking out other diabetics who help her get answers and smash the hurtful stereotypes about Type 2. Whether you’re living with diabetes, or have ever tried to make changes to get healthier, Emily’s journey will make you think differently about Type 2 and the people who live with it. This episode of The Doc Project is made in collaboration with CBC Manitoba’s original podcast series Type Taboo: Diary of a New Diabetic by Emily Brass and Bridget Forbes. Listen to the full series on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

For the past 50 years Doug Swinn has started his day by opening Swinn's Service, the auto repair shop he founded near Tillsonburg, Ontario. He makes some coffee, turns on the radio, and checks the corn prices. Slowly customers roll in, and Doug greets each one by name. For years the business boomed. Doug kept it running through a recession and the downturn in tobacco industry. But today, the challenges might be too much for the rural garage. And what people stand to lose is a lot more than just a place to get their car fixed.

In two large apartment buildings in the upper east end of Toronto, the ripple effect of COVID has been playing out for nearly a year now. Precarious employment leads to a job loss. Support systems evaporate. Then, as the money dries up, tenants reach a desperate final frontier: They default on rent. In the hallways, residents of these two corporate-owned apartment buildings started talking. The property managers were offering rent repayment plans... but when would people even be able to start paying rent again? How long would COVID go on? Faced with losing the last thing they have — their homes — tenants are organizing around systemic change. Doc Project producer Julia Pagel follows three people who've decided that to stay put, they have to take action.

When Jodee Mundy was a kid she had to explain the fall of the Berlin Wall to her parents. Her family watched the TV as Jodee translated the words coming from the news report. It was normal for Jodee to translate for her parents, from doctors appointments to phone calls with the bank. That's because Jodee grew up as the only hearing person in an all deaf family. Jodee has spent her life moving between the mainstream and the Deaf community – negotiating, interpreting, and fighting off stigma – all the while feeling like a bit of an outsider in both worlds. As part of a doc trade with ABC's Earshot, we hear Jodee's story.

Trevor Campbell has unfinished business. After abandoning ship, he never reconnected with Paul and Nans. It’s been five years. Now he wants to find them, to finally talk about the day he fled.

The Doc Project and Replay Storytelling have teamed up for our first ever LIVE Zoom show! Recorded in front of a live-at-home audience, five performers from across Canada share stories about the kinds of relationships we have with those who raised us. From crashing your own dad's funeral, to helping your divorced mom navigate online dating, to the grandmother who drove you crazy, to that cherished last photo you took with your mom, enjoy the season with five festive family stories. Featuring Nisha Coleman, Veronica Antipolo, Yaw Attuah, Colette Micks, and Chris Graham. Hosted by Acey Rowe and Paul Aflalo.

Early in Karina Levin's grade 12 data management course, she knew she wasn't going to pass, so she dropped the course. She'd heard a lot of her friends were signing up at private schools to get better grades. Not the big, prestigious private schools with ivy and uniforms... but these small academies where you could do one or two courses for a fee. And the rumour was, you didn't have to do well to get an A⁠—you just had to buy it. In the wake of the admissions scandal in the U.S., Doc Project producer Julia Pagel, along with 19-year-old Ryerson journalism student Naama Weingarten, investigate what's really going on at the so-called "Credit Mills" in Ontario.

As a student, Beryl Dickinson-Dash was crowned the Carnival Queen at McGill University. She wasn't at all interested in competing (in fact, she hadn't even entered herself) but her mother, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's roommate had other ideas. Beryl was shocked when she won, and she wasn't alone in her reaction. It was 1949, and Beryl is Black. Her win was heralded as "democracy in action". Now, more than 70 years later, Beryl reflects on being a Black beauty queen, and why she hopes her win will no longer matter.

As a journalist, Kim Wheeler has been covering Indigenous stories for nearly thirty years. But there's one story that has taken her decades to tell: her own. When she was 13 days old, Canadian authorities separated Kim from her family and First Nation and placed her in a white household. In 2017, a class action lawsuit against the Federal government resulted in a settlement. Now, Kim tells her story as she joins thousands of other Sixties Scoop survivors as they apply for compensation for the loss of their families and cultures. (Originally broadcast May 2018)

In 2002, Bob Kerr made a grand romantic gesture that was so downright embarrassing, it still makes him cringe. Now, nearly 20 years later, Bob is reaching back out to his ex-girlfriend Zoey, to find out what she really thought of his bid to win her heart… and learns the script is never what you think it is. PLUS, In 1999, Pasha Malla and Mark Trenwith made a strange trade: they traded personal stories. Each agreed to only tell the other guy's story as if it was his own. 19 years later we got them on the phone to re-tell the stories they traded... and see how they held up. (Spoiler alert: they didn't; hilarity ensued.)

In her Peabody-nominated CBC podcast Mic Drop!, Shari Okeke gives teenagers the floor. But over the past year, an epic teenage story was unfolding in her own home. And it all started with laundry. When Shari’s teenage daughters suddenly found themselves in confinement together at the beginning of the pandemic, they couldn’t stand it. Both siblings were struggling with school stress and the fighting between them became constant. The laundry room, accessed through one of her daughter’s bedrooms, became ground zero. Shari feared her daughters were on a collision course for irreparable relationship damage. Then came a diagnosis that changed everything — and cast those laundry emergencies in a new light. PLUS, when Jennifer Warren was a tween-ager in the late 80s, she got a haircut so horrendous, it was nicknamed "The Wedge". Jen interviews her mom and sister about the lasting lore of this not-so-stylish 'do.

Laura Bain is trapped in her apartment in Rome, Italy, as the country enters another week of COVID 19 lockdown. But this isn't Laura's first lockdown. The Canadian is a former journalist posted to South Sudan, where lockdowns were a constant occurrence. She left South Sudan in January, after two years of curfews, restrictions, and threats of violence. She was looking for a new, freer life in Italy. Now, as this strange new lockdown happens around her, Laura revisits her memories of war zones, joins her Roman neighbours as they play music from their balconies, and tries to figure out how people stay standing when the world shifts beneath their feet.

This year, Alan Gotlib threw a 40th anniversary party. It was held COVID-style — a YouTube livestream, complete with guests, music and an epic speech. But it wasn’t a birthday, or a wedding anniversary. Alan was celebrating 40 years since he first came out as gay, in 1981. Alan didn’t know any other gay people and it was the early days of the AIDS epidemic, with gay panic about to peak. Also, Alan had no idea how to tell his parents, both religious Jewish Holocaust survivors, without being disowned. But he made it through. And that’s cause for celebration. This is Alan’s story: looking forward, by looking back on a life well lived as an out gay man.

Julia Lipscombe and her husband's first-wife, Shannon Tyler, have a relationship neither anticipated: they are straight up friends. They spend most major holidays together, and even vacation together, along with their combined three kids and partners (including Shannon’s ex/ Julia’s husband). It’s the kind of harmonious relationship most blended families dream of… or raise a skeptical eyebrow at. Julia and Shannon know they’re lucky, but this friendship also took hard work. Last Spring, the two moms sat down to have a frank conversation about their unique relationship for the first time. This Mother’s Day, we hear their story.

When Natasha Greenblatt landed in London, England to see the opening night of a play she produced, she got two texts: "The play is cancelled" and "Welcome to the apocalypse". Amidst the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe and the UK, Natasha did the only thing she could think of -- head to her cousin's house and make art. She and her British cousins holed up, turning a bad situation into a space for creativity and closeness, sharing their fears but also inspiration.Now, as borders close, Natasha is struggling to get home to Canada, leaving the companionship of her cousins behind. 

Two stories for Father’s Day. Emily Gan’s father, Howard, has embarked on a new project in his retirement: building an edible bird’s nest farm back in his homeland of Malaysia. Swiftlets are tiny swallows whose nests are delicacies in Chinese cuisine. Howard dreams of reconnecting with his roots and providing a prosperous future for his three (now grown) daughters. But the swiftlets are not so easily convinced... As a kid, Adriel Smiley was close to his dad, Allister, a pastor originally from Jamaica. But during Adriel's teens, they often butted heads. That didn’t change much... until George Floyd. In the weeks after Floyd’s killing, Adriel was struck by how deeply it affected his father. As the world reeled, father and son came together to talk about police, race, and life -- finding a new closeness.

Beulah Chandler was on her favourite Cape Breton beach one August day in 2017 when she witnessed the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was Duncan Gillis, a stranger, helping his ailing wife walk on the beach. Beulah posted a video of the couple online. Over 37,000 views later, their story is only beginning. (First broadcast May 2018)

Leonard Wilson is an unlikely social media star. For one thing, nobody is really sure how old Leonard is. He’s a senior, that much is clear. He lives on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario. His Facebook dispatches detail his chicken-caring duties, walks around the homestead, and wild animal encounters. Hundreds of fans from as far away as China and Mexico send emails if they don't see a new "Leonard Time" update every few weeks. The other thing about Leonard? He's dog. A 148-pound dog. PLUS, The small town of Bow Island, AB is home to the world's biggest pinto bean. Named Pinto MacBean, the 18-foot high fibreglass legume is just one of SIX statues of big things in the town of less than 2,000 people, including a giant sunflower and the world's biggest putter outside the local golf course. Pan out to the province of Alberta and, according to Doc Project producer Tanara McLean's unofficial count, you're looking at over 100 big things. But why are there so many big things in Alberta, and whose story are they telling?

Eunice Kim immigrated to Canada from Korea when she was five years old. She speaks fluent Korean, but recently, Eunice stumbled upon an unfamiliar word: han. Han is a word that has no English translation. It's used to describe a combination of fiery rage, grief and regret — a feeling so powerful, some believe you can die from it. To many Koreans, han is part of the cultural DNA. So, how exactly did it escape Eunice? Is it possible that she's inherited something she never even knew existed? What Eunice finds cracks open a side of her family, and herself, she never knew before. (originally aired May 21 & 24, 2019)

When Lindsay Wong wrote her tell-all memoir, The Woo-Woo, she never considered the consequences of spilling her family’s secrets. But when her book became a Canadian bestseller, her family’s problems with undiagnosed mental illness, and other unflattering stories, were out in the open. In a personal essay, Lindsay Wong explores the aftermath of writing a successful memoir, and how her family is ensuring they don’t give her material for a sequel!

It was a surreal delight for Kent Hoffman to produce an interview with the American mentalist 'The Amazing Kreskin' on CBC Radio in 2009. But what really surprised Kent was when, a few months later, he received a Christmas card from Kreskin... and every single Christmas since. It turns out that Kreskin sends out thousands of holiday cards, every year, and it means as much to him as it does to his legions of grateful Kreskin card recipients. PLUS, Ever get a present that made you wonder, “Does this person know me at all!?” Comedian Bob Kerr has wondered this repeatedly, every time his mother insisted on giving him jewelry. Even a jewelry box to keep it all in. The only problem? Bob doesn't… wear... jewelry. (Originally broadcast December, 2020)

Rachel lives with dissociative identity disorder. She shares a body with nine other distinct identities. In addition to Rachel there's Liam, Noell, Lexi, Jaime, Aleksa, Our Little, Jaejin, Minnie, and Graham. Each with their own personalities, interests, and roles in the system. That means 10 identities sharing one body... and trying to get along. And there may be more.

In the midst of the pandemic lockdown, Kent Hoffman faced one of the most difficult years of his life. One of his oldest friends, Bob Rogers, died. Kent’s wife was diagnosed with cancer, and embarked on a long treatment and recovery. Other family members got sick and died. The personal losses seemed relentless. And many of the rituals and ceremonies that Kent would usually rely on for solace were cancelled or upended: memorial services and birthdays, Christmas and his kids' graduation ceremonies, even the simple greeting ritual of a handshake was gone. So, in the face of mounting grief — Kent set out on a quest to find rituals again, and to squeeze meaning out of the year that was. Once lost, can rituals ever be recovered?

Mykella Van Cooten was raised to be a “strong Black woman”. That meant she was a high achiever in sports, academics, anything she touched—and she was proud. But one night she spotted a massive ad on the side of a bus that included those exact words. Mykella began to question the societal pressure to be strong... and nothing else. She set out to document the history of the “Strong Black Woman” archetype and to take a close look at how trying to live up to it has affected her life. PLUS, we go inside the Montreal ballroom scene, a community where queer and trans young people of colour vogue, walk, and dance their way through contests with people who feel more like family than competitors. A community that is helping one young Montrealer finally celebrate her body, and talk more openly with her mom about "queer stuff" and who she really is.

When Sara DuBreuil found out she was expecting a baby girl, she and her husband Matt chose the name Cecilia -- Ceci for short. Sara thought Ceci’s arrival would be the best day of her life. She kept picturing the moment when Ceci, tiny and pink, would be born and placed on her chest. But that's not how it played out. Instead, it was a day of crisis that Sara felt totally unprepared for. She’s spent the first year of Cecilia's life coming to terms with what happened. Sara had never heard of “birth trauma” before, but as she grapples with her experience, she's learning many women have lived it, most of them in silence.

Two stories about the rituals that help us through. First, Eva Voinigescu's Romanian grandparents are obsessed with their own burials — from who their "neighbours" will be to the shoes they plan to wear. They even own more than one potential grave plot, complete with headstones ready to go. But as the coronavirus sets in, Eva reflects on whether their tradition of obsessive burial planning can withstand this new reality. Next, in 1995, Christy Thompson's brother, Kelly, was trekking in Nepal when a catastrophic landslide tore through the area. His body was never found. Christy has struggled with this loss her whole life, but recently, when her dad told her he was finally ready to let go of Kelly's old clothes, she found a new outlet for her grief.

TJ Watt is a bit of a modern Lorax. He uses his camera to protect old-growth trees in British Columbia, capturing the ancient giants before -- and after -- they’ve been cut down. It’s all in the hopes of raising enough public pressure that the B.C. Government will end old growth logging. But why are these ancient trees being logged in the first place? And what’s going to happen next? Follow producer Brad Badelt as he speaks to people from all sides of this complicated issue, from logging supporters to ecological activists; forestry experts to policy makers, and joins TJ and his camera on their bushwhacking hunt for the next Big Tree.

Amber Sheasgreen is a search and rescue veteran, based in the coastal waters of B.C. But last winter she took her skills to the Mediterranean Sea, where the refugee crisis has driven thousands of people to brave the dangerous central Mediterranean crossing, trying to get to Europe. Volunteering with a non-profit organization, Amber and her team head out in search of asylum seekers on the water, hoping to help them on their perilous journey. With dispatches recorded on her phone, Amber takes us with her.

Shelly Boyd is Sinixt. She's from the Colville Reservation in Washington, just across the British Columbia border. Shelly is proud of her heritage and who she is... But her sense of home, of where her community belongs, is less solid. Over the last century and a half, the Sinixt were pushed off their land in B.C. and into the southern corner of their traditional territory in the U.S. In 1956, the Canadian government declared the Sinixt extinct. But ... they weren't. Now, they're fighting to reverse the extinction, and come home.

In 1938, Gar Yin was just 19 years old when she boarded a boat from Hong Kong to Vancouver. It was during the years of The Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese immigrants from entering Canada. But Gar Yin had something special: Cantonese Opera. Her troupe was allowed into the country, and Gar Yin set out on a national tour. When the tour was over... Gar Yin decided to stay, setting off a chain of events that have since become family legend. Gar Yin's granddaughter Julia Hune-Brown tells her story.

Christopher has always had difficulty with reading. He struggled through most of high school but by 17-years-old, remained functionally illiterate. But after gaining access to a little-known resource in the Ontario school system, things may be changing for Christopher. PLUS, Kent Hoffman thinks about walking all the time. If he doesn't pay attention, he could end up falling. He lives with Becker muscular dystrophy. Now, after years of trying to hide his condition, he finally comes out of the disability closet.

Doc Project senior producer, Julia Pagel, is one of the many people now working from home in this pandemic. But working from home while parenting a toddler at the same time is a challenge. Her little guy has no idea why Mamma is hiding all day in a makeshift office, and his protests mount from a 'wailing war' to refusing to put his diaper back on. PLUS, Sam Mullins and his wife thought they had found the perfect Toronto rental home to raise their new baby in. That is, until Sam realized they had rats as roommates. How does a dad rally when the family home turns into 'Rathattan'?

Trevor Campbell joins the anarchist stage company “Caravan" and has his first taste of life with this ragtag family of theatre pirates. It's all terribly romantic, as Trevor travels with them in Europe, and later joins them in Louisiana. But it’s also terrifying, when U.S. government agents pay the ship a surprise visit in New York.

Two guys head out for a canoe paddle one evening after work, near downtown Edmonton. On the bank of the river, something peeks out… and they can’t believe what they are seeing. It’s a stump, but, it’s also a rock? More than a metre across. They become obsessed with the artifact and learn that they have found a 70-million-year-old petrified tree stump. They begin the journey to get the stump out, so the world can see and enjoy this ancient piece of natural history, and as roadblocks arise, their determination only grows. PLUS, Sam Mullins was trying to make it as a comic, so when a guy at a bar approached him to star in an upcoming film, Sam gave an enthusiastic “'kay.” The film in question? Was a zombie-themed driver safety video shot deep in the B.C. forest, paid for by the municipal government of metro Vancouver… for internal use only. But Sam was going to be a star! He even wrangled a role for his friend Peter. It was all going so well until Peter ended up behind the wheel of the government truck... Hijinks ensue. [EXPLICIT LANGUAGE]

In 2012, Trevor Campbell ran away with the sea circus. He joined a floating experiment: “Caravan,” a renegade theatre troupe who sail around in a tall ship, putting on provocative theatre from its deck and riggings. Paul and Nans created the theatre company in the 1970s and captain the ship. In Part 1 of this three part podcast series, we discover the history of this anarchist troupe and follow Trevor as he auditions to join them.

At the start of the pandemic, the entire Hamadi family found themselves living together under the same roof for the first time... in a long time. The three adult siblings - Adonis, Rima and Rami - hunkered down with their parents, keeping themselves entertained watching movies and pulling pranks. One day, after watching a cooking competition on TV, they decided to try their own cook-off. But what was intended as just another way to pass the time ended up helping the Hamadis, and hundreds of others, make a difference in ways they never could have imagined.

Mark Drysdale loves his lions and wishes his neighbours did too. Instead, his presence in various southern Ontario communities over the past decade has caused quite the uproar. Battles have been waged across Wainfleet, Grand Bend, and most recently Maynooth, Ontario over his roadside zoos for exotic animals. It has led some residents to demand bylaws to prohibit big cats, meanwhile Drysdale insists it is his right to keep them. Doc Project producer Joan Webber tells the tale of these towns and speaks directly to the man who plays fetch with lions and does not appreciate being called "Canada’s Tiger King".

For the past eight years, author Christy Ann Conlin has been living a life that used to, in part, belong to someone else: her husband Andy’s first wife, Meg, who died of cancer at age 43. Now, Christy Ann is married to Meg’s husband, lives in Meg’s house in rural Nova Scotia, and has formed a blended family with Meg’s children. But it was the surprising relationship with Meg’s three sisters, and her unexpected relationship with Meg herself, that has Christy Ann asking, what does it really mean to be a family? And how to, if not fill someone else’s shoes, walk beside them?

Halfway through her 12th grade year at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, PEI, Lydia MacDonald started feeling sick. Fatigue, nausea, severe headaches. Lydia's mom, Toby, started hearing from other parents whose kids were complaining of similar symptoms. Toby began to wonder about renovations going on at the school. Then it came out — there was a breach in protocol during renovations at Three Oaks. Asbestos had been mishandled, and Toby sprung into action. But the discovery of the breach in protocol raised more questions than it answered.

In 1969, the lives of two young sisters in Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan, were changed forever. Six members of their family, including both of their parents, were murdered in their home while the sisters spent the night at their grandmother's. From that night on, Connie and Cynthia were left to make sense of life on their own. They say they received little to no support from the government or their community in the years that followed. Now, their children and grandchildren are asking why their mothers were left to suffer alone, and if anything can be done to help them heal?

After learning of an annual neighbourhood New Year's Eve Party to which he had never been invited, Tom Howell became more curious about his neighbours. He’d lived on the same street for 15 years, yet could only name five neighbours. Tom goes on a quest to figure out how many of our neighbours we should know, and what the sweet spot is for him. (Originally broadcast March 2018)

Our voices say so much about us ...whether we like it or not. This week, we have two stories which investigate the power of how we sound. Gretel Kahn was born and raised in Panama, but moved to Montreal five years ago. She grew up speaking Spanish but now speaks English fluently, though with a slight accent. And this accent bugs her. We follow Gretel as searches for the source of frustration, and grapples with coming to terms with her own voice. Also, an update from the CBC classic radio show Outfront. Over 10 years ago we heard the story of one woman's struggle to save her voice, and the life it afforded her. We hear how she's doing today.

Catherine Cole is a self proclaimed bookaholic, with a particular affection for libraries. But returning library books has never been high on her list of priorities. Which was OK, until the day she incurred a 180 dollar fine, and was shamed in front of other library patrons. Now, with a chorus of other Library Shamed people (from late-returners to book-nibblers) Catherine Cole is looking for redemption, and once and for all, attempting to clear her record of all library shame.

The mbira is a traditional Zimbabwean instrument that looks like a box with metal tongs spread out like eyelashes. It makes music that sounds like wind chimes and waterfalls. Growing up in Zimbabwe, Chaka Zinyemba was taught the mbira was 'bad.' A century of European colonialism had forced the instrument underground, with colonizers branding it as "evil" and "devil music." Chaka never anticipated that he would be a driving force behind the instrument's revival -- a revival that found a groundswell in Western Canada.

As reports of flooding, evacuations and mudslides in British Columbia emerged this week, two people in Saskatchewan were watching with keen interest... and empathy. That's because they survived a mudslide when they were driving along a B.C. highway in 2018. Sheri Nimegeers and Gabe Rosescu share the harrowing story and explain how the experience of surviving a mudslide changed them.

As a journalist, Kim Wheeler has been covering Indigenous stories for nearly thirty years. But there's one story that has taken her decades to tell: her own. When she was 13 days old, Canadian authorities separated Kim from her family and First Nation and placed her in a white household. In 2017, a class action lawsuit against the Federal government resulted in a settlement. Now, Kim tells her story as she joins thousands of other Sixties Scoop survivors as they apply for compensation for the loss of their families and cultures.

Bette-Joan Rac was a quiet piano teacher known as Madame Rac to her students. After she died, thousands of dollars worth of incredible clothes were found in her Edmonton home. Through the stories of the student who knew her best, and clues offered by the stylish clothing and treasures she left behind, CBC Reporter Alex Zabjek gets to know this magical, mysterious woman. PLUS, Why are Edmontonians so obsessed with magpies? It may have something to do with the fact that Edmonton is the black-billed magpie capital of the entire world. Or perhaps it has something to do with how similar magpies and humans are in their quest for survival. Either way, in Edmonton magpies are like religion and politics: if you bring it up, there’s going to be a debate.

Gina Laing and Dennis Bob are survivors of the Alberni Indian Residential School on Vancouver Island. Both experienced abuse at the school, and still navigate the effects of that trauma. But Gina and Dennis are finding ways to heal and to regain agency in their lives. That includes returning to the grounds of the former school. PLUS, 15-year-old Skyla Hart chooses to remain seated every Monday when O Canada plays on the intercom at her high school. For Skyla, it’s a sign of respect to her Ojibwe and Cree ancestors. Skyla, her mom Raven Hart, and researcher Rob Houle share their thoughts on re-imagining O Canada for today -- a conversation that is starting with Indigenous youth, and inviting everyone.

Canada's first music copyright trial took place in Ontario's highest court just over forty years ago. It saw a little-known lounge musician named Ivan Gondos face off against established hitmaker Hagood Hardy. The ruling helped define today’s copyright law, but the song in question and the (downright bizarre) story behind it, have largely been forgotten. But not in Pete Mitton’s family! Pete’s mom worked at the restaurant where Ivan Gondos used to play piano, and she’s spent the past four decades convinced the song was stolen. Pete went looking for the truth and unearthed a story that takes us through the claws-out lounge music scene of 1970’s Toronto. It’s a story involving swanky piano lounges, the plaintiff testifying from his deathbed, a big courtroom reveal, and tea commercial that nobody could get enough of.

In tiny towns and massive cities across Canada, it can be typical—and legal—to have a vegetable patch or a few chickens. But Newfoundland and Labrador has what many see as strict and outdated rules when it comes to growing your own food. Ironically, or perhaps relatedly, the province also has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada. It's all part of why Frank Brown, a small town farmer, was appalled when he was told that his farm is a bylaw infraction, and that his animals have got to go. And he's not alone—some of Frank's neighbours were given the same notice. Caroline Hillier heads out to Summerford, Newfoundland to meet people who think producing their own food is plain common sense. And to find out what impact rules like these have on communities, beyond what we eat?

There’s a battle going on about how to teach kids to read. It’s been fought over decades. In Canada, it mostly shakes down as follows: on one side, phonics, which focuses on letters—how they sound, how they blend together, and sounding words out. On the other side, three-cueing—which uses context clues like what the story’s about, what letter a word starts with, and looking at the pictures in order to guess a word in its entirety. Mom and teacher Brittney Thompson found herself in the middle of the reading wars during the COVID lockdowns. That’s when she discovered just how much her daughter was struggling to read with the three-cueing method. The same method Brittney was using in her own classroom… On this week's Storylines, producer Mykella Van Cooten digs into the reading wars, asking when it comes to teaching kids to read, who's got it right?

All Sonali Sharma wanted was to go to school in Canada and become a nurse. It was everybody’s dream for her. So much so, that when she was accepted to a private college in Vancouver, Sonali’s entire village turned out to celebrate. Her dad took out a loan against their small farm in India to make it happen. But when Sonali arrived in Canada, everything she imagined her education would be evaporated...Every year, thousands of international students come to Canada from over 185 countries, adding upwards of 21 billion dollars to the economy, and contributing about forty percent of tuition fees earned by Canadian colleges and universities. And every year, countless international students are preyed upon by schools and systems set up to take advantage of them. On this week's Storylines, Kiran Singh follows two international students on a mission to get the education they paid for.

When the Scotty Creek Research Station in N.W.T. burnt down in an unusually late-season wildfire -- Thanksgiving weekend, exactly one year ago -- internationally recognized climate research was put on hold. Now, reporter Liny Lamberink is heading north as the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation and a group of scientists from across Canada are racing to rebuild it, and get the very research that might slow climate change, and stop future fires, back in action

In 1961, Canada and the U.S. signed a treaty to co-manage the Columbia — a cross-border river that flows from B.C. through to the Oregon coast. Entire valleys were flooded and more than 2,000 people relocated to accommodate the fourteen new dams along the river’s main course. The Columbia River Treaty has generated billions of dollars for the governments of both countries and the hydroelectric industry. It has also meant lost farmland, lost homes, and lost ways of life… And critics argue it's given Americans unfair control over Canadian waters. Now, for the first time in more than half a century, the treaty is being renegotiated. Veteran journalist and Okanagan local Bob Keating is there.

In small hamlets, First Nations and Inuit communities across Canada’s north, many pregnant women have little choice but to travel south, far away from home, to give birth. Local care for mothers and babies simply isn’t available. For decades, Inuit women in the vast area of northern Quebec known as Nunavik faced similar pressures. That was until one pregnant woman refused to get on a plane and go south to deliver her baby. Her act of resistance ignited a sea-change, and in 1986 the community of Puvirnituq opened the first midwifery clinic in the North. On this week's Storylines, Duncan McCue takes us to Puvirnituq, to bring us the story behind that clinic, and meet the midwives who serve their own community.

In 1987, the remains of a sailor were discovered on the coast of Labrador. A skeleton, wrapped in a shroud, buried with an overcoat, a loose key, and a knife with the initials “W.H.” He is believed to have been buried in the 1800s. There are many questions about the man now known as W.H. Who was he? Where was he from? And what brought him to the coast of Labrador 200 years ago? Because W.H.’s remains may be more than a surprising archaeological find. They may point to an untold chapter in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Black history. On this week's Storylines, documentary producer Alisa Siegel weaves together the voices of scientists, historians, and an artist who are trying to unravel the mystery of W.H. To uncover what they can and — in the case of Bushra Junaid, author of “The Possible Lives of W.H., Sailor” — imagine what she can’t.

About a hundred years ago you could take passenger trains all over Canada. Rail was king… until the automobile and planes came on the scene, making the train look antiquated. Alongside a shift in federal spending and political attitudes, trains were pushed into the past. But if we’re serious about fighting climate change, then getting people out of cars and planes, and onto a fast, affordable and plentiful electric train service could really help. On this week's Storylines, Craig Desson takes us on a journey to uncover what happened to Canada’s once-glorious passenger rail service, and explore whether getting it back could be a climate solution.

Andrew Anderson never told his family the whole story of what happened during the years he spent as a spy in the Norwegian resistance during WWII. Nor did he share all the details about what happened next, as he fought to survive for nine months – held prisoner by the Nazis. But growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 1970’s, Andrew’s son Gary could always feel the echoes of his father’s past. On this week's Storylines, 77 years after the end of the war, reporter Eric Anderson is heading to Norway with his dad to learn everything they can about their family lore. But following in Andrew's tracks, uncovers some uncomfortable secrets...

Over more than half a century, Canada welcomed close to 3,000 South Korean children, orphans, to be adopted by Canadian families. But new information is emerging that those adoptions aren’t all that the Canadian government – or adoptive families – thought they were. Journalist Priscilla Ki-Sun Hwang investigates the stories of adoptees Kelly Foston and Kim McKay.

As a family physician, Dr. Melissa Lem knew she couldn't stay silent on the health dangers of climate change. But when she spoke out against the use of fossil fuels, the backlash was more vitriolic and personal than she ever expected. She's not alone. From death threats to sexual intimidation and sinister phone calls, Dr. Melissa Lem, Tzeporah Berman, and Judy Wilson have paid a high cost for their climate advocacy work. It’s a trend that has alarmed human rights organizations like Amnesty International, who say that women—especially racialized and sexually diverse women—are disproportionately targeted. On this week’s Storylines, producer Molly Segal meets three climate advocates who set out to speak up for the planet, and are now needing to speak up for themselves.

It’s fairly well known that some Canadians fought with the American armed forces in Vietnam, but fewer know about Canada’s official peacekeeping role there. But between 1954 and 1973, close to 2000 Canadians went to Vietnam to observe and safeguard peace accords. Erin Moore’s grandfather, Doug, was one of them. He wrote dozens of letters home documenting the realities of the war. Erin still has his letters. They reveal a demanding and at times impossible mission, being carried out by young men whose efforts have largely been forgotten.

A two-part episode following Canadians desperate to get their families out of Gaza. PART 1. A decade ago in Gaza, Mohammed Fayad worked for the UN in the education and IT departments. He fled Gaza as a refugee bound for Indonesia, but had to leave his family behind. Years ticked by and he watched his kids grow up through videos. His ex-wife, the kids’ mother, eventually had to flee too. So the kids came under the care of Mohammed’s brother. Then finally, just over a year and a half ago, Canada accepted Mohammed as a refugee. That changed everything as he could finally apply for his kids to join him in Burnaby BC. It's an effort that became increasingly urgent when fighting started. Now, after a decade apart from his kids, he's put everything else on hold to get them out. PART 2. The Canadian government says it's working to get Canadians and their immediate family out of Gaza, but some family members don't meet the criteria. According to Global Affairs Canada, the only people eligible for emergency evacuation are spouses, common-law partners or children under 22 of Canadian citizens or permanent residents. For Israa Alsaafin, a Canadian who lives in Ottawa, this leaves her helpless to bring her parents, siblings, in-laws and 10-month-old nephew to safety. Her sister is sending her increasingly panicked voice memos as they struggle to survive.

For Kent Hoffman it was a surreal delight to produce an interview with the famed American mentalist 'The Amazing Kreskin'. But what really surprised Kent was when a few months later he received a Christmas card from Kreskin. And another Christmas card the next year... and the year after that…. and every Christmas since. It turns out that Kreskin sends out thousands of holiday cards, every year, to people he hasn’t spoken to in decades. On this week’s Storylines, Kent seeks out other Kreskin card recipients—and tracks down the mind-reader himself—to discover why the sending and receiving of a simple Christmas card is such a miracle of goodwill.

In 2016, Adrian Ma received a truly thoughtful gift from his uncle. A gift he proceeded to put in his closet where it remained for the next seven years. It was a bottle of The Glenlivet Special Jubilee Reserve—a rare scotch whisky that sells for upwards of $3000. Adrian is a whisky guy… but this is, by an almost absurd degree, the most expensive bottle of booze in his collection. That’s exactly why he’s so frozen on what to do with it. Should he sell it? Or keep it in his closet indefinitely? How exactly does one bring themselves to drink three thousand dollars? With the help of his friends and a cast of whisky-devoted Scots, Adrian Sets out on a whirlwind tour of Scotland to learn everything he can about this special bottle, and finally decide its fate. He discovers that scotch is way less intimidating than it needs to be (complete with handy tips for the burgeoning whisky connoisseur in us all!) and that every bottle tells a story.

Green burials are a growing trend in after death planning. On this week's Storylines, Caroline Hiller visits graveyards across the country, exploring how some people are reducing their carbon footprint from beyond the grave.

The Marefat School in Kabul, Afghanistan earned an international reputation for being a place where democracy, freedom, and education could flourish. But when the Taliban took over the country in August 2021, many of the female teachers and students had to flee for their lives. On this week's Storylines, Leisha Grebinski follows the harrowing story of Maryam Masoomi a music teacher who—with the assistance of a small human rights group called 30 Birds—fought to get her students to safety.

Is Newfoundland and Labrador English dying? No b’y, but it is changing! From dropping an 'h' to adding an 's', Newfoundland and Labrador accents are among the most recognizable regional accents in Canada. But while some features of those accents may be in decline, linguist Paul De Decker says younger generations are finding creative ways to keep them alive. On this week's Storylines, Caroline Hillier sets out on a talking tour of Newfoundland and Labrador to find out how the accent is changing linguistically, how it's kept alive in humour (with CBC’s Mark Critch!), and how it's making a comeback with newcomers.

The federal government estimates that on average 27 people a day in this country are diagnosed with brain tumours. Among the most aggressive is Glioblastoma (GBM). According to Brain Cancer Canada, people with GBM have a life expectancy of 15-18 months. So when David Cormican was told that his father’s tumor was the “size of a baseball” the family started looking for something—anything—that would extend Michael’s life. That’s how they joined the thousands of Canadian families who go abroad, paying enormous sums out of pocket, for treatments they can’t get at home. On this week's Storylines, Mykella Van Cooten follows Michael Cormican’s fight to become the first Canadian to get a life-extending brain cancer treatment administered in Canada, even though it’s not yet approved here.

For years, thousands of kids with roots in Canada, the U.K., the U.S. and beyond lived under the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate. Some were taken there by their parents. Others were born there. But after the war against the Islamic State was won, many of these children still remain in limbo. They wait in detention camps, run by the group which helped defeat ISIS – the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. On this week's Storylines, four years after the fall of the Islamic State, Poonam Taneja visits one of the camps in northeast Syria where some of the hundreds of children the world doesn't know how to deal with, dream of going home. This is episode 6 of the podcast Bloodlines by CBC Podcasts and BBC Sounds. Bloodlines follows Poonam Taneja’s search for a two-year-old British-Canadian boy who disappeared in the final days of the war against the Islamic State. You can find the series wherever you’re listening to this podcast.