All summer long, we're sharing some of our favourite Now or Never stories!

After years of online dating and wading through bad pick up lines, unwelcome messages and horrible photos, Alicia Bunyan-Sampson decided to try something new. If you match with her, be prepared to answer around 30 questions.

"There is this unspoken but loud expectation for women to make ourselves small. To lower our standards. To never be ‘too much’. I’m giving myself permission to take up space in the world, to dare to know what I want and to tell everyone."

All summer long, we're sharing some of our favourite Now or Never stories!

After being partially paralyzed in a car accident in 2020, Brianna Seewald was determined to walk down the aisle on her wedding day.

Wearing a glittering white dress, leg braces and a pair of white sneakers, Seewald made her way to the altar to join her now-husband Ryan Borkowsky. It was a moment built on years of determination and persistence.

Strap yourself in for some heart-pounding, stomach-churning stories on this episode, to hear what it's like when you face your fears head on.

You would think that being strapped to a horse running 65 km/h would be the biggest adrenaline rush, but for Ciera Pruitt — who is dreaming of becoming a jockey just like her dad — there is no bigger thrill than sitting in the gate…waiting for it to open. And then…it's off to the races. 

Ever since Amanda Fata white-knuckled her way through a bumpy flight five years ago, she's been terrified to get on a plane again. She brings us along for the exposure therapy that's been helping her get through it.

Twelve weeks ago, ultra-endurance athlete Savannah Holmes was hit by a truck while on her morning training ride and fractured her skull and spine. As she begins her long recovery, she’s found strength in the lessons she’s learned from years of pushing herself to the limit. 

When you have social anxiety, meeting up with people at a coffee shop could be just as nerve-wracking as leaping from impossible heights. Meet some of the members of the Social Anxiety and Shyness Support Group in Toronto, as they do the thing that scares them most: talk to strangers.

When your kid takes up a death-defying sport like diving, how the heck do you not freak out? Kat Trivers and her daughter Molly Carlson offer some hard-earned wisdom on trusting your kid, living with fear, and how to get your kid to “the edge of the cliff.” 

In communities across the country, people are gathering to mark Pride. To celebrate, to march, and - in the face of an increase in anti-2SLGBTQIA+ sentiment - to fight for the right to safety, acceptance and belonging.

Last week, 36-year-old Esmail experienced their first Pride parade ever. Having fled Yemen - where homosexuality is punishable by death - they recently arrived in Winnipeg and are finally experiencing moments of being accepted for who they truly are.

In a narrow vote, citizens of Westlock, Alberta recently banned rainbow crosswalks and Pride flags from all municipal properties. Shaylin Lussier, the teenager who pushed for the crosswalk in the first place, tells us why she isn’t backing down - and what Pride looks like for her today.

On a plot of wild prairie in central Manitoba, Charlotte Nolin and Barbara Bruce are hard at work preparing for the Two-Spirit Sundance - the only one of its kind in North America. Because life has shown them that safe ceremonial spaces for Two-Spirit people are worth fighting for.

Samantha Jones was seven when she told her mom Catie that she was a girl born in the wrong body. Now 10, she hopes to start puberty blockers when it's time, but proposed policies in Alberta restricting access to gender-affirming medication might force Samantha’s voice to deepen and facial hair to grow. Find out how Catie is fighting back.

Toronto’s Dre Govender, aka N9ne Godmother Dior, gave all of herself to her beloved kiki ballroom community - until she burnt out serving it. Now, as she prepares to come back to the community she loves after a two year absence, she gives Ify a lesson in serving face.

For years, Lish Francoeur tried attending Pride events but found a lot of them were expensive, not accommodating of different mobility and sensory needs, and were far from sober-friendly. Tired of not finding the kind of queer community they needed, Lish decided to create it for themselves - and Queer Sober Social was born.

From secret hideaways to rooms-with-a-view, sacred spaces to hidden gems, we're taking you on a cross-Canada tour of the secret spots you go to feel more like yourself.

When Ryan Grobety, Robin Frend, Dave McGowan and Trevor Dineen parted ways in 1989, they closed the door on their “Killer Bees” kid clubhouse as well. But now, 35 years later, they are reuniting to see if the cubbyhole under the stairs still exists…but first they have to convince a complete stranger to let them inside. 

Now or Never listeners share their favourite secret — and not-so-secret — spots they go when they need to escape.

Melissa Hafting goes birding nearly every single day, but as a biracial woman she hasn’t always felt welcome in those spaces. She shares how birding has helped her through difficult moments, and how she’s fighting to make it safe and accessible for all. 

For the past seven years, an underground street artist known only as "Winnipeg Waldo" has been putting up images of the iconic character all over his city. The challenge: hanging them in secret spots that everyone can see, but no one can steal — without getting caught.

Melissa Fundira gets a taste of her past self – by going to a secret party to relive the days when she was free and spontaneous – before adulting came along.

And if you're looking for Jaydin Nungaq, you'll likely find him in the corner of his tiny Iqaluit bedroom making music. Hear how he's using music to express himself and tell the world about the challenges he and his peers are facing. 

Basketball is having a moment in Canada right now. So we're lacing up our hightops and hitting the courts with people chasing their hoop dreams, one basket at a time. 

Debbie Ward hasn't worn a bathing suit in public since she was nine years old. When she stepped in the water at her local pool as a child, people ridiculed her and moved away, until she left crying. Two years earlier, a terrible accident left Debbie with scars on 70 percent of her body. Now, at the age of 69, she's finally ready to try again.

For full episode: How to love the skin you're in click here: https://link.chtbl.com/hAnQjuRN

It's easy to worry about the future. Aging. Finances. Climate change. Out-of-control AI. 

But on this episode, we'll introduce you to people bravely facing the years ahead - and helping shape the future they want. 

From a woman confronting her eco-anxiety, to a musician determined to revitalize a language on the brink.

Step into the Now or Never 'Mom Confession Booth,' as moms sound off about the parts of motherhood no one warns you about.

Ocean Maye is ecstatic about recently becoming a mom - but less excited her partner is about to head to Papua New Guinea in a few days to work on an oil rig. She tells us what it's like to be part of a community of moms unique to Newfoundland, where 40% of moms parent alone, as their partners work away for extended periods of time.

When Dylan Earis announced to his mom that he was ready to move out on his own, a lot of thoughts went through his mom Edie's head: What if he falls over in his wheelchair? Will he be lonely? And who will make his dinner every night? Edie and her son Dylan get real about the realities of living independently with cerebral palsy, what keeps her up at night, and how she’s learning to let go. 

Trevor Dineen heads to a grade 3 class to ask kids what they think their moms do all day.

Single mom and entrepreneur Miriam Delos Santos loves being nine-year-old Mara’s mom, but struggles every Mother’s Day. Find out what brings the tears, and the surprise we have in store for her that could change all that.

When Debora Barkun and her family walk into their local hockey arena, they're usually the only Black people there. Debora shares the fears and anxieties that led her to learning everything she can about the game, and the message she wants to be sending her kids.

Shohana Sharmin lost her mother Hasina Sultana to cancer in 2017, and it changed everything - including her comedy. Today Shohana is on a mission to bring the complexity of grieving onto the stage.

We're always with people as they take a leap or try something new, but life continues after we turn our microphones off. So this week, we're revisiting some of our listener's favourite stories to find out what happened next?

When we first met Clary Ager, she was living in Victoria dreaming of becoming a farmer, but had no land and little experience. Two years and a cross Canada move later, we meet her and her wife Percy on their Cape Breton flower farm.

Michael Kulakowsky's grade 4 class was so moved when they heard the Now or Never story of 9-year-old Michelle Luis' superhero courage in the face of bullying, they rallied together to help make a difference. Find out what they did and what Michelle, now 11, thinks of it all.

Winnipeg's Josephine Harper faced a lot of challenges in her life - addiction, homelessness, and years in and out of prison. Through it all, her friend Fedja Redzepovic stood by her side. He tells us how he’ll remember his fierce and funny friend, and how her spirit shows up in the work he does today: “She fought better, harder, and braver than most people I’ve met in my life.” 

Former New Brunswick elementary school teacher Hugh Brittain’s decades-long quest to return handwritten diaries to his students, captured the attention of our audience, who helped track down the author of the very last diary. The final chapter in the case of the long lost diary, and the power of radio.

When we last spoke to Richard Raycraft, he was just starting to dip his toe into the world of mascoting - never in his wildest dreams did he consider that it'd become his full-time career. But this former journalist has four jobs as a team mascot and has traveled the world exploring his new passion of entertaining the masses with his mascotry. 

Seven years ago, BC's Shawn Thorn was recovering from multiple failed adoptions attempts and unsuccessful embryo transfers, and finding the strength and support to try one more time to become a father. Today he introduces us to his family and shares how his dreams of fatherhood have matched up to reality.