Starting next week we’re sharing some of the best of CBC’s audio documentary history. Shocking, funny, beautiful stories that we’re so excited to bring into your podcast feed. 

Here at the doc unit we LOVE long form audio, and we know how powerful these stories can be. And at CBC, we have a long, award winning history of audio documentaries. But many of those stories aren't available on the internet. They are carefully stored away in our CBC archives , which isn’t accessible to the public. So, we thought it would be neat to dig out some of our all time favourite documentaries from CBC radio for a special summer podcast series. 

So, hit subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode of this special series from Storylines !

Alan is an entrepreneur of sorts. Ten years into a public health emergency in British Columbia, most deaths from toxic drugs are happening behind closed doors. Men at home alone. This is where Alan comes in. For a fee, he injects users with their drugs and watches them for signs of an overdose. To those who employ him, he’s known as “The Doctor,” but he’s not a physician and his work is illegal.

Sharlene Rochard was 16 when she left Ontario for the bright lights of New York City and Los Angeles to pursue a modelling career. She was booking multiple jobs a week and starting to make a go of it when she met Jeffrey Epstein. For decades she stayed quiet about what happened to her — but now she’s speaking up. She’s testifying at committees and knocking on politicians’ doors, demanding justice for her and the women she calls her survivor sisters. She’s the only Canadian to come forward but has joined dozens of other women on the campaign to hold the powerful accountable for what happened to them.

The milkman model is simple. Bottles are filled, dropped off, emptied and picked up over and over again. That system got a Canadian entrepreneur thinking. In this day and age of mountains of plastic waste — why not re-use containers? His system, called Loop, was launched in 2019 at Davos Switzerland — to great fanfare. Environmentalists welcomed it and big corporations signed on to be part of the re-use movement. This documentary explores what happened to that grand plan and why North American consumers and companies aren’t ready for a 21st century milkman model.

When Loretta Zaluski found the skeleton of a dead horse near her home she was a little scared, and worried. But she wasn’t as confused as some might be. She knows some people in the Yukon aren't pleased with her, so Loretta believes someone deposited these horse remains to make a point

Loretta is part of a group called The Yukon Wild Horse Society, which is deeply concerned about the wellbeing of what they call “wild horses” that roam the wild spaces of the Yukon.

But some in the Yukon haven't been enjoying their tactics to protect the feral animals, and wonder if this group of horse enthusiasts wandering the Yukon wilderness are more in need of management than the horses. 

Andrew Hynes tries to get to the bottom of just who, or what, might be responsible for this horse death, and how it came to be that the Yukon Wild Horse Society feels they MUST look out for Yukon's wild horses, because they believe no one else will. 

Backcountry skier Hannah Hughes realized she couldn’t fight the wall of snow when it hit her. She survived but the experience has her rethinking her relationship with risk, and she isn’t alone. The 2025-2026 ski season has been a brutal year for avalanche-related deaths in many parts of the world. Some scientists say climate change is now one more factor to consider when heading out into the backcountry. Molly Segal explores how climate is colliding with the increasingly popular sport of backcountry skiing.

Online sports betting and casino games in Canada generated $12.5 billion in revenue last year. But more than half that money ends up offshore, where there are no Canadian taxes, and little to no consumer protections. That's why the province of Ontario opened up its online gambling market to private operators four years ago, and why Alberta is following suit later this year. But for a small but growing number of people, all this gambling has led to financial hardship... or worse.  A recent study suggests the rate of young men contacting Ontario's mental health helpline for gambling-related problems has increased by more than 300 per cent. In this documentary, John Chipman explores the true cost of the rise in online gambling.

Sarah Essiambre was determined to give birth to her third baby at home. But, she said doctors told her she’d never have a vaginal birth after her first C-section. She decided to ignore their advice and instead went online to get information. 

She’s not alone. Doctors and midwives are reporting an increased interest in giving birth with little to no medical help at all. Some even choose freebirth which means there are no prenatal tests or licensed practitioners at the birth. But doctors say giving birth alone is like flying a plane after reading a manual and warn it’s a terrible idea.

For five months, people pushing for Alberta separatism have been travelling the province gathering signatures. Now it’s up to the province and the courts to decide if there will be a referendum on separation in the fall. This documentary explores why people want to leave, what they think they’ll get out of it, and why many are pushing back.

Some people struggling with opioid addiction are turning to a powerful psychedelic called ibogaine. The drug is derived from the bark of an African rainforest shrub, and its proponents believe it sends people on a transformative journey that can free them from addiction. 

In countries like Mexico, ibogaine use is unregulated, so resort-like clinics are offering what they consider treatment for addiction, by sending people on powerful psychedelic trips. 

Some say the drug has changed their lives but there have also been tragic consequences, like the Canadian man who died on an ibogaine trip in South Africa.