This is Edmonton

With change (hopefully) comes opportunity. COVID-19 is exposing the cracks in our systems— but how this pandemic is affecting vulnerable communities might just change the way we take care of them in the long run. This week investigative reporter Jennie Russell takes us through Alberta’s long term care system and the overhaul experts are asking for. Closer to home, reporter Paige Parsons takes us to Chinatown where the community and its businesses have faced an uphill battle against the economic effect of coronavirus. Plus we learn about how one Indigenous artist is spreading language across the province, and an election thats dividing man’s best friend in Mill Creek.

Things are different — duh. The new normal is hard to adjust to, but what are people doing to make it work? How are we making things possible, in an impossibly hard situation? This week, reporter Trevor Howlett joins us to talk about Alberta opening up. Plus we learn about how a community event turned tradition went digital and how romantics in Fort McMurray are keeping their love afloat.

When the going gets tough — Albertans come together. Just four years after a devastating wildfire, Fort McMurray is facing a flood AND a global pandemic. Reporter Jamie Malbeuf joins us to share what she’s seeing on the ground as the community reacts to another disaster. Plus we talk about shame, blame and stress in the middle of a pandemic with Professor Lynne Honey, and learn how you can take care of yourself and avoid snapping at your neighbours.

Things right now are tough — no matter what your situation, it feels far from ordinary. This week, CBC’s Ariel Fournier helps us navigate maintenance work and what it means to visit other people’s homes right now. From the CBC Business Unit, Kyle Bakx walks us through a historic week for oil prices, and we hear about a summer staple that is officially cancelled due to COVID-19. And we reflect on the shooting in Nova Scotia, and how the tragedy is playing out closer to home.

This week on The Loop- the people stayed home. What that means for healthcare, and for a doctor’s practice. We hear about an Edmonton LGBTQ advocate who filed a human rights complaint against the EPS, after an upsetting call to 9-1-1 — plus we go international to connect with the writer behind a viral ‘pandemic poem’.

This weeks show ends on a song by Edmonton’s Brock Tyler, who goes by Anonymotif. Check him out on twitter @anonymotif, or listen to ‘Speaking Moistly’ on Apple Music, Spotify, TikTok, or Google Play.

Happy long weekend! We’re dropping some bonus content- our full interview with U of A PhD student and instructor Emily Hoven, the mastermind behind the twitter thread ‘How To Make Sourdough at the End of the World’. Hopefully we can inspire you to flex your baking skills this weekend, or even just get cozy as you stay home.

The reach of COVID-19 is expansive, and we’re feeling it in almost every part of life in Edmonton. This week reporter Stephanie Dubois guides us through the challenges facing small and medium sized businesses in the province. Meanwhile reporter Josee St-Onge takes us north to the start of wildfire season in Alberta, to look at how a pandemic influences our ability to fight fires. Plus, we’re making masks, baking bread and… howling to pass the time?

All's fair in love, war and a pandemic. Reporter Paige Parsons takes us through some of the Legislature’s latest moves in the time of COVID-19 — and Digital Associate Producer Wallis Snowdown talks about the love lives of Edmontonians, and how some of us are coping in close quarters. Plus, how families are using themes to stay creative, some quarantine haircut advice, and finding meaning in loss.

We’re all adapting to ‘the new normal’ — even if we’re still figuring out what that is. This week, Tara talks to reporter Andrea Huncar about what Edmonton nurses are facing on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how some are arguing for better protection against the virus. Plus we speak with a local Indigenous healing society about how traditional medicine is helping people in isolation, and how Indigenous communities are strengthening local connections in the midst of a global pandemic.

In the last 7 days, life across the province has changed dramatically thanks to COVID-19. School class cancellations, a hit to the economy, social distancing practices and changes to bars and restaurants. We take a look into how and what ‘the new normal’ looks like, with help from Reporter Janet French and TV Anchor Nancy Carlson.