As It Happens

We hear from a lawyer whose client lived through a botched lethal injection in Tennessee just a few months before the state made another failed attempt to execute an inmate this week.

Days before Quebeckers go to the polls, a political reporter in the province explains how its next premier could win with less than a third of the vote. 

After witnessing a plane crash, a group of skydivers in Wisconsin made the spontaneous decision to jump to the aid of the survivors below.

A Canadian banker who was detained in Dubai for months, fearing for his life, reflects on his sudden, unexpected freedom after being dumped at the side of a desert road. 

After a CBC investigation reveals salespeople giving dangerous advice about e-bikes and e-scooters, we speak with a doctor who says she sees the effects of that advice in her ER. 

Diesel prices keep fluctuating and a South Dakota truck driver says he doesn't have much hope that things will ever return to the way they were before the war on Iran.  

Julia Donaldson's latest tale of the monster known as "The Gruffalo" and the new character in it are breaking records; she tells us what she sets out to achieve with her beloved children's books. 

Thieves believe they've made a smooth getaway with trailers full of expensive computer chips, but the truth is much, much grittier.

As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that's not afraid to get granular.

A reporter describes the agonizing, failed attempts to execute Tennessee inmate Christa Pike — and tells us how the state's Republican governor is responding.

On social media, a Milwaukee comedian said Norm Macdonald wasn't funny; that resulted in a targeted campaign of "swatting," during which police have shown up to his house 55 times.

A blind man is taking the British Museum to court because it doesn’t offer live audio-described tours of the Bayeux Tapestry — a work of art he's waited years to experience.

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk blasts off to the International Space Station, and a researcher studying life in orbit says she's excited to monitor whether he's feeling down-to-earth or over-the-moon.

As Brazilians head to the polls this Sunday, femicide is at the top of the ballot. A women's rights organizer tells us what the candidates say they'll do to stop it. 

A new art installation in a Toronto park retraces the steps of Indigenous ancestors that were uncovered on the floor of Lake Ontario over a hundred years ago.

It turns out, insects are more than just a tasty snack for animals; they also play crucial roles in removing parasites, treating wounds and in some cases, consuming waste.  

As It Happens, the Thursday Edition, Radio that knows insects are just in it for the larva the game.

American forces have now pulled out of their last posts in Iraq and for many in the country, it's a belated moment of celebration after what felt like an endless war. 

Peru's Humboldt penguins face a worsening food shortage, as a potential "super" El Nino rapidly warms the waters where they feed.  

We remember Canadian radio pioneer Dave Marsden, the legendary former musical director of Toronto's groundbreaking station CFNY.

We speak with a historian from the Peoria Nation who can finally spread the word that she's one of the recipients of this year’s MacArthur Fellowships, which come with a hefty cash prize and the even heftier title of "genius."

Four never-before-heard recordings from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 classic "Songs In The Key of Life" have just been released — and mixing the new tunes was a labour of love for one of the record’s original engineers. 

As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that marvels, "will Wonder never cease." 

Nil Köksal speaks with director Malaya Qaunirq Chapman about her new documentary "Nirilaurta: Let Us Eat." She takes us to kitchen tables in Taloyoak, Nunavut, where food is as much about culture as it is about sustenance. On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we'll hear how generations of community members are striving to preserve their way of life in the face of sky-high food and gas prices -- and why access to food straight from the land is so crucial.

Two years after an alleged gang rape on Cornell University campus, prosecutors are reopening the investigation — and the new attention is largely thanks to reporting by student journalists. 

Former Canadian spies and security officials want Parliamentarians to get to the bottom of what really happened to diplomats plagued with "Havana Syndrome" and whether Ottawa did enough to help them. 

An American ban on some Canadian imports is now in effect — and the CEO of Moosehead beer says being at loggerheads with the U.S. is bad for lager heads. 

At the start of the pandemic, the Cargill meat packing plant had one of Canada's worst COVID outbreaks. A new report finds the company and the Alberta government could, and should, have done more to protect workers. 

A man linked to a notorious gang is suspected of shooting up a local radio station in Surrey. One of its hosts tells us he should be deported.  

When the NHL season starts up tonight, not a single game will be available on a free Canadian TV network; our guest says that's really dropping the puck. 

On a rare sunny day on a remote Scottish archipelago, one photographer took a phenomenal photo by waiting underwater for a northern gannet to execute a swan dive. 

At an international tournament in Japan, Uzbekistan's volleyball team had a uniform emergency, which was solved by a whole bunch of convenience-store socks. 

As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that knows even elite athletes have to do a little sole-searching sometimes.

If you thought "Hockey Night in Canada" had hung up its skates forever, not so! It will be back on the CBC, and the Professional Women's Hockey League is getting top billing, which three-time Olympian Sami Jo Small says it’s a long time coming. 

Hamilton, Ontario mayor Andrea Horwath reacts to the news that hundreds of the city’s steel-workers will be laid off — and the plant owners are blaming the ongoing trade war. 

Since they were convicted of murder three decades ago, two Saskatchewan sisters have maintained their innocence. Now, the federal government has finally agreed to grant Odelia and Neressa Quewezance an appeal.

Over the last half-century, The Mighty Sparrow established himself as the greatest calypso performer ever. We speak with a Toronto reggae star who played alongside that rare bird. 

A Saskatchewan bison-jerky producer is over the moon after receiving news that Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk plans to eat her product on the International Space Station. 

What's up, dock? We’ll salute the winner of a Maryland contest that tests boat-captains’ ability to park and secure their vessels under intense time constraints.

As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that’s afraid it would succumb to pier pressure.

A Quebec writer’s work divides the literary community, after it's alleged that he wrote his acclaimed novel with the help of AI. One writer says his peers are frustrated -- and grieving.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrap up their Washington summit without major policy developments -- but former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig says that doesn't mean the Chinese leader didn't score a big win.

A former student at one of India’s top women’s colleges was among hundreds protesting after a young student was sexually assaulted. She says all they're demanding is for women to feel safe in public.

We hear from the Canadian trainer of a dog named Uber –- who’s finally gotten his big break, starring alongside Brad Pitt in the new movie “Heart of the Beast.”

A new study finds elephants use plants for medicinal purposes — and they don’t use them just to treat themselves, but their offspring, too.

As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that applauds their problem-salving ability.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada reducing its dependence on the US includes finding alternatives for Elon Musk's StarLink — and our guest applauds his spatial awareness.

Amnesty International accuses the Parti Quebecois of breaking international law because of how some of its members treated a psychiatrist who criticized the party's leadership. 

Award-winning hip hop artist Haviah Mighty tells us about getting life-saving heart surgery in her early thirties — and why she’s now partnering with the professionals who cared for her.

A museum owner in Brooklyn, New York understands why most people think hair art — as in, art made from human hair — is creepy. But she chooses to see the beauty in it.

The mayor of Richmond, B.C. says a snap election in his province is colliding with previously scheduled municipal elections and threatens to distract voters from crucial local issues.

An Edmonton historian makes the case for preserving the site of some of the city’s most legendary gay bars and shares his own fond memories of the time he spent there. 

A contender at this year’s World Town Crier Tournament tells us what it takes to compete against the best belters around — and says victory takes more than volume.

As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that's covering this story just for the yell of it.

Eritrean-Swedish journalist Dawit Isaak was imprisoned in 2001 for calling for calling democratic reforms in Eritrea. We'll talk to his daughter — who hasn't seen him since she was seven years old. 

British Columbia's Conservatives have gone through months of infighting, but their new interim leader says yesterday's snap election call has united the party. 

He was paralyzed after heart surgery — and the late activist and wheelchair user Gerry Post spent the rest of his life fighting fiercely for disability rights in Nova Scotia.

The world's most-seasoned Celtic band has played at an Irish pub in New York City for a record-breaking 1,500 weeks and counting. 

An anonymous donor gives 100-million dollars to a Toronto cancer research centre. Our guest says that gift is nothing short of transformational. 

An MIT prof explains how — and why — his team created tiny batteries you can swallow. 

Scientists discover the prima donnas of the primate world — a rare species of lemur that happens to use the same vocal tricks as human opera singers. 

As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that invites you to listen under falsetto pretenses.

David Eby calls an election in B.C. two years ahead of schedule, and a provincial affairs reporter says he'll have to convince British Columbians he's not just taking advantage of the chaos in the ranks of his Conservative opponents. 

Thousands are still unaccounted for after the flash floods in Nepal — and forensic teams are racing to sort through DNA samples, to try to get answers for families of the missing. 

A violent attack on a Sikh truck driver in Wyoming strikes fear in South Asians across the United States. And our guest says the White House is to blame. 

The discovery of a single, 9-million-year-old tooth from an ancient capybara suggests that a very dry Chilean desert was once a very wet Chilean wetland. 

A former head of the White House Correspondents Association tells us how the U.S. President's eviction of several media outlets has united the press corps. 

Once again, Fat Bear Week asks us to bear in mind the bears at a park in Alaska — and bear witness as those bears build as much bulk as they can bear. 

New York City's new public bathrooms are timely in the sense that they're overdue — and also in the sense that you have ten minutes to use them before the doors open on their own.

As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that's a little nervous about these newfangled can openers.