The Secret Life of Canada by CBC

04.25.2024

S6: Crash Course on The Persian

It’s another baking episode! This time Leah and Falen look at why Thunder Bay, Ontario has their own sweet roll that you can't find anywhere else. We find out how these sweet buns with pink frosting came to be and...

04.11.2024

S6: General Idea

When three young queer men formed an art collective in the late 60s in Toronto named "General Idea", no one expected that they would end up becoming one of the most iconic art collectives of the 20th century. For 25...

03.28.2024

S6: Crash Course on Icelandic Canada

Gimli is more than a dwarf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series Lord of the Rings, in fact the community in Manitoba is home to the world’s largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland. So how did Canada become home to all...

03.21.2024

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Canadian Time Machine | ‘Humiliation Day’, A Look Back at the Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Explore an important part of the rich history of Chinese-Canadians in this episode of Canadian Time Machine from The Walrus Lab. In the 1880s, Chinese men played a pivotal role in building the Canadian Pacific Railway, enduring challenges for a...

03.14.2024

S6: The Secret Life of the Canadian Teen Drama

From PSAs to Euphoria, the identity of the teen on TV has shifted a lot over the years. Leah and Falen take a look back at the invention of the teen and teens on TV. They make the case that...

02.29.2024

S6 Crash Course: How Black students led Canada's largest student protest

It would become one of the key moments in Black history in Canada. In 1968, six Black students from Sir George Williams University in Montreal filed a complaint of racism against their biology professor. By 1969, the university denied their...

02.22.2024

S6: Sorry not Sorry

Canadians are always apologizing, or are they? We are back for a sixth season and in this episode [1:29] Leah and Falen discuss how they use the word “sorry” and why [4:20] and take a deep dive into the theory...

02.01.2024

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Hollywood Exiles

From the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts comes Hollywood Exiles. Host Oona Chaplin tells the story of the decades-long campaign to root out communism in Hollywood. It’s a campaign that eventually drove her grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, and many others...

01.23.2024

The Secret Life of Canada returns with Season 6!

Leah-Simone Bowen and Falen Johnson are back with a brand new season of conversations about the country you thought you knew. Catch our premiere episode on February 22, 2024 with new episodes biweekly.

07.04.2023

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Stuff The British Stole | Season 3

Throughout its reign, the British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today the Empire's loot sits in museums, galleries, private collections and burial sites with polite plaques. But its history is often messier than the plaques suggest. In each episode...

06.13.2023

BONUS | The story Falen never thought she’d tell: On stage at Hot Docs

Falen Johnson took to the stage at the Hot Docs festival to speak candidly about her experience of growing up on Six Nations, a place that was both idyllic and complicated — especially when it came to water and the...

06.08.2023

S5: Crash course on losing the Shanghai Restaurant

In this episode we talk about lost buildings across Canada. Falen and Leah look into the history of the now torn-down Shanghai Restaurant, owned by the Lee family for over 70 years and a long-time staple of downtown Winnipeg and...

06.01.2023

S5: The Potlatch Ban

In 1921, Chief Dan Cranmer held a secret Potlatch — a ceremony celebrated by many First Nations along the Pacific Northwest. But because the ceremony had been banned by the Canadian government, authorities arrested people and confiscated many ceremonial items....

05.25.2023

S5: Crash Course on Bread and Cheese

Bread and Cheese. More than just two of Falen and Leah’s favourite foods. Did you know it’s also a day? In Falen’s community of Six Nations, every Victoria Day weekend people from the community get in line and walk through...

05.18.2023

S5: Eugenics in Canada: Leilani Muir's fight for justice

In 1992, Leilani Muir decided to sue the government. Along with thousands of other people Muir was forcibly sterilized as part of a robust government plan for members of the population it deemed “unfit.” In this episode we learn why...

05.11.2023

S5: Crash Course on homeless memorials

In the 1990s artist and activist Bonnie Briggs asked herself, “Why isn't there a memorial for homeless people?” In this crash course we look at the work of Bonnie and tie it to the housing crisis we are seeing...

05.04.2023

S5: The Forgotten War

Not all Canadian history happens in Canada. Over 70 years ago, nearly 30,000 Canadians volunteered to fight in the Korean War. It was the third-deadliest overseas conflict in our nation’s military history — so why is it often referred to...

04.27.2023

S5: Crash Course on a patty by any other name isn't a patty

In every part of the world a patty is just a patty, but in Toronto they are often called a "Jamaican Patty" and the why is connected to one of the weirdest stories ever. We talk to Patty Vs. Patty director Chris...

04.20.2023

S5: Crash Course on the Moose Jaw Tunnels

Deep below the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan lies a network of tunnels from the past. The stories connected to them have turned the passageways into a major tourist attraction. But which ones are true? Were they really used...

04.13.2023

S5: Jewish Montreal: A culinary history

How much history is contained in a meal, a restaurant or even a sandwich? Falen and Leah journey into the culinary history of Montreal’s Jewish community. We learn the backstory behind some of Montreal’s most iconic restaurants and why...

04.06.2023

S5: Newfoundland, the one who almost got away

Confederation took place in 1867 but Newfoundland only joined Canada in 1949. We find out why the province held out for so long, what it all meant for the Indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador and what the colour of...

03.30.2023

S5: Crash Course on Rat-berta

Is it true that Alberta is a rat-free province? Is there really a Rat Patrol? We find out the truth behind the province’s rat hating reputation. For more about this episode visit us at: www.cbc.ca/1.6789203

03.23.2023

S5: Dead Malls

Where have all the malls gone? And what happens to a mall when it “dies?” In this episode we look into how the mall started, what it looked like in its heyday and what happened when it began to...

03.20.2023

We're back! It's Season 5 of The Secret Life of Canada

Hosts Leah-Simone Bowen and Falen Johnson are back with an all new season of conversations about the country you know and the stories you don't. Catch our premiere episode on March 23 with new episodes weekly every Thursday.

02.10.2023

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: The Africas VS. America

In 1985, at the height of the Black Power era, police dropped a bomb in a Philadelphia neighborhood. Their target? A family of Black radicals known as ‘MOVE,’ who found themselves ensnared in a city — and nation’s — domestic...

06.30.2022

S4: Shanawdithit

Throughout the years, the Beothuk people have been written about as an “extinct” nation, whose numbers were few at the time of European contact to Newfoundland. By 1828, they were all gone except one woman named Shanawdithit. She is now...

06.23.2022

S4: Crash Course on Kanata

How did this place end up being called Canada? We look into the lore behind the naming of the country and the push to reclaim Indigenous place names across this land. Links: Reclaiming Indigenous Place Names: https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2019/10/08/reclaiming-indigenous-place-names/ The Squamish Language Atlas: squamishatlas.com Visit us...

06.21.2022

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Buffy

Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past century. For 60 years her music has quietly reverberated throughout pop culture, and provided a touchstone for Indigenous resistance. In this five-part series, Mohawk and Tuscarora writer Falen...

06.09.2022

S4: The Halifax Donair

How did the donair become the official food of Halifax? We find out how it travelled to Canada and transformed after getting here. We learn about its inventor and that famous sweet sauce recipe. Then, we discover all the...

05.26.2022

S4: Crash Course on Ukrainian Canadians

Why does Canada have the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world? We talk to historian Dr. Rhonda Hinther from Brandon University to find out why so many people from Ukraine made Canada their home. Books by Dr. Rhonda Hinther include...

05.19.2022

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Kuper Island

Kuper Island is an 8-part series that tells the stories of four students: three who survived and one who didn’t. They attended one of Canada’s most notorious residential schools – where unsolved deaths, abuse, and lies haunt the community and...

05.12.2022

S4: Crash course on Puffed Wheat Squares

When candy maker A.J. Russell created a recipe for puffed wheat bars in 1913, it became a popular dessert. But only in one half of the country. We look at why the west loves them and many in the east...

05.05.2022

S4: Pro Wrestling

Why are there so many Canadians in pro wrestling? We take a deep dive into carnival and sideshow history to find out why Canada became one of the centers of early pro wrestling. We look into the fun and...

04.18.2022

Porter Primers: Building a multicultural Canada

Canada’s much-touted multiculturalism was hard-fought-for and started to materialize in the aftermath of immigration policy changes in the 1950s and 60s. A lot of that change is thanks to Black sleeping car porters and their ability to politic with influential...

04.14.2022

S4: Crash course on Mary Ann Shadd

Abolitionist, activist, teacher and trailblazer Mary Ann Shadd wore many hats in her extraordinary life. We take a look at the story of the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper and one of the first...

04.11.2022

Porter Primers: A historic fight to unionize

When the CBRE, Canada’s railway union, was created in 1908, it intentionally shut out Black porters. What ensued was a historic and decades-long struggle for Black railways employees to be heard at the negotiating table.

04.04.2022

Porter Primers: Side hustles

Sleeping car porters were notoriously underpaid and had to fight for tips, condemning most to poverty. Historian Dr. Dorothy Williams describes how porters turned to side hustles and other entrepreneurial pursuits to survive, and to regain the agency they lost...

03.31.2022

S4: The Fruit Machine

For decades, Canada attempted to purge queer people out of the public service and the military. We look into why it all started during the Cold War, what the fear of the Soviet Union had to do with it and...

03.28.2022

Porter Primers: The rise of jazz

In the early 20th century, musicians and audiences flocked to Montreal for its jazz scene, earning the city the nickname “Harlem of the North.” Historian Dr. Dorothy Williams explains how porters were instrumental in introducing jazz to Canada and how...

03.21.2022

Porter Primers: How porters created Black neighbourhoods

Where porters went, Black neighbourhoods often followed. Historian Dr. Dorothy Williams breaks down how porters — and the location of railways — catalyzed the creation of historically Black communities and institutions across Canada.

03.17.2022

S4: Crash course on beavers

Beavers are everywhere, on our money, crests, and keychains. So, why do some people see them as a nuisance? We take a look back at the story of the animal who was almost wiped out to build the early Canadian...

03.14.2022

Porter Primers: Why were all porters called ‘George’?

Introducing ‘Porter Primers’ — 6 short episodes that shed a little light on Black porter history with the help of historian Dr. Dorothy Williams. For this first episode, Dr. Williams explains why porters were referred to as “George” and how...

03.03.2022

S4: The Punjabi Market

How did Vancouver end up with the oldest Little India in North America? We take a look back at the history of South Asian people in British Columbia to learn how the Punjabi market formed and why the next generation...

02.24.2022

The Secret Life of Canada Introduces: Podcast Playlist

Podcast Playlist with host Leah-Simone Bowen offers a weekly sampling of new and interesting podcasts from around the world. In this special crossover episode, guest Falen joins Leah to celebrate launching the fourth season of The Secret Life of Canada....

02.17.2022

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