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.

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.

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?

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.]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?