Within only a couple of years of the “birth” of American rap music Toronto became the centre for the early Canadian rap and hip hop scene. This episode explores some of the early trends in Canadian rap music as artists struggled to gain mainstream acceptance in a music industry hesitant to accept this new and powerful musical genre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Africville was a community that for decades stood on the physical, social and racial margins of the city of Halifax. It represented Nova Scotia's legacy of Black migration into Canada but also spoke to the very real challenges people faced settling in a land that saw itself as a white province within a white nation. The story of Africville is one of struggle and resistance but also one of community and connection and despite its ending it now stands as a celebrated marker for one of the many groups that have contributed to a broader understanding of what it means to be Canadian.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For years, many Canadian immigrants arrived via ocean liner after a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean. While the first stop for some was Quebec or Montreal or St. John's. for nearly one million people that first stop was the shoreline of Halifax, specifically the immigration facility known as Pier 21. Pier 21 stands as a testament to a dynamic period of immigration to this country and has its own unique history during an incredible period of the nation's growth and change.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To kick off Season 7 we are going to explore the history of Canada's mission in Afghanistan from a broad perspective highlighting the four phases of Canada's war and looking at some of the challenges to Canadian efforts in the tumultuous country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode David sits down for a fascinating and important conversation with Dr. Crystal Fraser, an historian at the University of Alberta and an expert in the history of residential schools in Canada. Dr. Fraser's 150 Acts of Reconciliation can be read at 150acts.weebly.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our Season 6 finale we look at one of the biggest blockbuster films of the early 20th century, which presented a twisted racial reimagining of a traumatic period in American history. Even though the film was controversial, almost everywhere it was shown it drew large audiences, and this was true even in Canada, where the film ran in most major cities to widespread public acclaim.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1964 a top secret diplomatic mission was carried out by Canadian J. Blair Seaborn on behalf of the United States to find some sort of settlement with the North Vietnamese government in Hanoi.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the height of the Cold War, Canadian anxiety over Soviet espionage reached reached such a fervour that a top secret Security Panel was formed to remove security threats from within the civil service. A part of this security campaign was the targeting of gay men working in government, who were thought to be particularly vulnerable security threats. Funding was thus directed towards a series of tests and studies to discover a scientific method of detecting ones sexual orientation. The culmination of all of this was the infamous Fruit Machine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Georgian Bay Canal was a proposed canal project connecting Georgian Bay to Ottawa to Montreal and then to the Atlantic Ocean and the world. While there were many merits for its construction it was never built. This episode explores the interesting story of the dream of this canal during an unbridled period of infrastructure in a young Canada. Today's episode was written by author Ray Love.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1966 the people of Windsor, Ontario and then the country were shocked when a young man recently released from the Kingston Penitentiary went on what became Canada's first shooting spree. A horrific crime that was a key part of an unusual and head-scratching story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.