The Marefat School in Kabul, Afghanistan earned an international reputation for being a place where democracy, freedom, and education could flourish. But when the Taliban took over the country in August 2021, many of the female teachers and students had to flee for their lives. On this week's Storylines, Leisha Grebinski follows the harrowing story of Maryam Masoomi a music teacher who—with the assistance of a small human rights group called 30 Birds—fought to get her students to safety.

Green burials are a growing trend in after death planning. On this week's Storylines, Caroline Hiller visits graveyards across the country, exploring how some people are reducing their carbon footprint from beyond the grave.

In 2016, Adrian Ma received a truly thoughtful gift from his uncle. A gift he proceeded to put in his closet where it remained for the next seven years.

It was a bottle of The Glenlivet Special Jubilee Reserve—a rare scotch whisky that sells for upwards of $3000. Adrian is a whisky guy… but this is, by an almost absurd degree, the most expensive bottle of booze in his collection. That’s exactly why he’s so frozen on what to do with it.

Should he sell it? Or keep it in his closet indefinitely? How exactly does one bring themselves to drink three thousand dollars?

With the help of his friends and a cast of whisky-devoted Scots, Adrian Sets out on a whirlwind tour of Scotland to learn everything he can about this special bottle, and finally decide its fate. He discovers that scotch is way less intimidating than it needs to be (complete with handy tips for the burgeoning whisky connoisseur in us all!) and that every bottle tells a story.

For Kent Hoffman it was a surreal delight to produce an interview with the famed American mentalist 'The Amazing Kreskin'. But what really surprised Kent was when a few months later he received a Christmas card from Kreskin. And another Christmas card the next year... and the year after that…. and every Christmas since.

It turns out that Kreskin sends out thousands of holiday cards, every year, to people he hasn’t spoken to in decades.

On this week’s Storylines, Kent seeks out other Kreskin card recipients—and tracks down the mind-reader himself—to discover why the sending and receiving of a simple Christmas card is such a miracle of goodwill.

A two-part episode following Canadians desperate to get their families out of Gaza.

PART 1.

A decade ago in Gaza, Mohammed Fayad worked for the UN in the education and IT departments. He fled Gaza as a refugee bound for Indonesia, but had to leave his family behind. Years ticked by and he watched his kids grow up through videos. His ex-wife, the kids’ mother, eventually had to flee too. So the kids came under the care of Mohammed’s brother. Then finally, just over a year and a half ago, Canada accepted Mohammed as a refugee. That changed everything as he could finally apply for his kids to join him in Burnaby BC. It's an effort that became increasingly urgent when fighting started. Now, after a decade apart from his kids, he's put everything else on hold to get them out.

PART 2.

The Canadian government says it's working to get Canadians and their immediate family out of Gaza, but some family members don't meet the criteria. According to Global Affairs Canada, the only people eligible for emergency evacuation are spouses, common-law partners or children under 22 of Canadian citizens or permanent residents. For Israa Alsaafin, a Canadian who lives in Ottawa, this leaves her helpless to bring her parents, siblings, in-laws and 10-month-old nephew to safety. Her sister is sending her increasingly panicked voice memos as they struggle to survive.

It’s fairly well known that some Canadians fought with the American armed forces in Vietnam, but fewer know about Canada’s official peacekeeping role there.

But between 1954 and 1973, close to 2000 Canadians went to Vietnam to observe and safeguard peace accords. Erin Moore’s grandfather, Doug, was one of them. He wrote dozens of letters home documenting the realities of the war. Erin still has his letters. They reveal a demanding and at times impossible mission, being carried out by young men whose efforts have largely been forgotten.

As a family physician, Dr. Melissa Lem knew she couldn't stay silent on the health dangers of climate change. But when she spoke out against the use of fossil fuels, the backlash was more vitriolic and personal than she ever expected.

She's not alone.

From death threats to sexual intimidation and sinister phone calls, Dr. Melissa Lem, Tzeporah Berman, and Judy Wilson have paid a high cost for their climate advocacy work. It’s a trend that has alarmed human rights organizations like Amnesty International, who say that women—especially racialized and sexually diverse women—are disproportionately targeted.

On this week’s Storylines, producer Molly Segal meets three climate advocates who set out to speak up for the planet, and are now needing to speak up for themselves.

Over more than half a century, Canada welcomed close to 3,000 South Korean children, orphans, to be adopted by Canadian families. But new information is emerging that those adoptions aren’t all that the Canadian government – or adoptive families – thought they were. Journalist Priscilla Ki-Sun Hwang investigates the stories of adoptees Kelly Foston and Kim McKay.

Andrew Anderson never told his family the whole story of what happened during the years he spent as a spy in the Norwegian resistance during WWII. Nor did he share all the details about what happened next, as he fought to survive for nine months – held prisoner by the Nazis. But growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 1970’s, Andrew’s son Gary could always feel the echoes of his father’s past.

On this week's Storylines, 77 years after the end of the war, reporter Eric Anderson is heading to Norway with his dad to learn everything they can about their family lore. But following in Andrew's tracks, uncovers some uncomfortable secrets...

About a hundred years ago you could take passenger trains all over Canada. Rail was king… until the automobile and planes came on the scene, making the train look antiquated. Alongside a shift in federal spending and political attitudes, trains were pushed into the past.

But if we’re serious about fighting climate change, then getting people out of cars and planes, and onto a fast, affordable and plentiful electric train service could really help.

On this week's Storylines, Craig Desson takes us on a journey to uncover what happened to Canada’s once-glorious passenger rail service, and explore whether getting it back could be a climate solution.