The Secret Life of Canada (Archive)

Have you heard? We joined CBC Podcasts! All new episodes will be published in our new feed. Subscribe here: http://hyperurl.co/secretlifeofcanada and check out the first episode of season two, all about the iconic Hudson's Bay point blanket. This feed will not be updated in the future, but we'll keep it up so you can still listen to your favourite season one episodes!

Bonus! Meet Beryl Potter, an early activist and advocate for rights of persons with disabilities who didn't take no for an answer.

Bonus! Meet Kenojuak Ashevak, the world-renowned and multi-award winning artist and first lady of Inuit Art.

How would we get anything done if not for New Brunswickers? Visit the country's only bilingual province and meet the Acadians, the Maliseet, and generations of migrant workers. Hear local French dialects, and learn for yourself why NB's "drive-through" reputation is a lie. *Note: This version contains translated interviews. For the bilingual version, check our feed.

How would we get anything done if not for New Brunswickers? Visit the country's only bilingual province and meet the Acadians, the Maliseet, and generations of migrant workers. Hear local French dialects, and learn for yourself why NB's "drive-through" reputation is a lie. *Note: This episode features interviews conducted in French.

Meet Elsa Gidlow and Roswell George Mills, creators of North America's first LGBTQ publication, Les Mouches Fantastiques.

This episode might be the strangest piece of Canadiana we've found yet: and warning, it's not suitable for children. First, we go deep down a rabbit hole to investigate Bear by Marian Engel, a novella that won the Governor-General's Literary Award decades before it became an internet meme—because it's all about lady/bear sex. Next, we explore first- and second-wave feminism and the lives of women in Canada during Bear's time.

Bonus! Meet Abby Hoffman former Olympian and trailblazer.

What we do really know about the history of black people in Canada? Sure, there's the Underground Railroad and the jazz prowess of Oscar Peterson—but what else? How about 200 years of slavery in Canada; the first race riot in North America; the false promise of "freedom and a farm"; or Birchtown, Nova Scotia, home to one of this country's first settlements of black people.