If it hadn’t been for his mother’s daily correspondence while he spent 8 years in prison, Marcus Bullock may not have become the man he is today. Bullock created an app that connects families with loved ones in prison in a similar way.

Erica Lenti’s grandmother didn't know she was gay. For years, Lenti chose not to tell her out of fear of rejection. She hoped to keep this information from her grandmother for as long as possible, but getting engaged made it so much harder.

When U.S. President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19, Merriam-Webster reported searches for the definition of “schadenfreude" shot up more than 30,000 per cent. Schadenfreude is defined as “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.” John Portmann, author of When Bad Things Happen to Other People, says it’s a common feeling, but not always a morally clear one.

Writer Ian Leslie believes our lives under lockdown have us missing out on another morally murky human tendency – gossip. He says the side conversations we’d normally share in person – often with juicy details about others – are the most fun and informative. Without those conversations, we risk living in a world that’s “a lot less human.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer is an acclaimed botanist who blends her scientific studies with her Indigenous upbringing. She says there is much to be learned about how to interact respectfully with the earth, from the behaviour of plants.

Inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, a book of stories written about the Black Death of the 14th century, anthropologist Iza Kavedžija curated a collection of stories during the 2020 pandemic called: Decameron Relived. 

Author Richard Van Camp knew he wanted to dedicate his life to telling stories after an Elder shared her experience with the afterlife. "I think that storytelling is medicine. I think it reminds us of what it means to be human."

Philosopher Brandon Warkme says there is a very fine line between showing up and showing off. He’s studied the ethics of grandstanding and says, if your number-one goal is showing that your heart is in the right place — then your heart isn’t in the right place!

Writer Christine Estima felt her blood boil when Coach's Corner co-host Don Cherry complained that he thought immigrants don't wear poppies on Remembrance Day. Her grandfather fought for Canada in the Second World War. She looks into how the lives of Arab immigrants seem to vanish from the pages of Canadian history.

Architect Alfred Waugh is designing Indigenous spaces on campuses, to help establish a sense of identity for Indigenous people on Canada’s universities.

As a hospital chaplain, Jeff Braff, used his knowledge as a former infectious disease epidemiologist and a Buddhist monk, with which to comfort patients.

Can sex and religion co-exist peacefully? Elyse Ambrose thinks so. She’s working to bring healing to those who have been alienated by their faith’s views on LGBTQ issues.

While some might respond to the vastness of the universe with a sense of existential dread, physicist and cosmologist Marcelo Gleiser takes a different approach, offering up something he calls “human centrism.”

Toronto Raptor personality Akil Augustine weighs in on players’ unprecedented social justice action in the NBA. And a couple in Singapore created WindowSwap, a website that allows users to open a virtual window into the homes and lives of other people around the world.

The documentary “No Going Back” tells the story of three LGBT refugees who fled persecution in their home countries and found support and acceptance at the Metropolitan Community Church in downtown Toronto. And lawyer Shermeen Khan describes how her experience of the pandemic has been helped and hindered by her blindness.