Podcast
As It Happens
Hosted by CBC · EN
News that’s not afraid of fun. Meet people at the centre of the day’s most hard-hitting, hilarious and heartbreaking stories — powerful leaders, proud eccentrics and ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. And plenty of puns too. Hosted by Nil Köksal and Chris Howden, find out why As It Happens is one of Canada’s longest-running and most beloved shows. (Ahem, we literally helped make the beaver a national symbol.)
New episodes Monday to Friday by 7:30 pm E.T.
97episodes
Episodes
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Was a Canadian intern at NATO actually a spy?
3d ago00:50:01Tap to summarizeA CBC investigative reporter identifies the Canadian accused of using an internship at NATO headquarters to get some hands-on experience in the field of espionage. Wildfires on the island of Crete have killed two firefighters, and reduced homes to ashes. I'll talk to a hotelier who helped evacuate his community over the course of a very tense night. Health Canada drops certain questions for sperm donors that critics have long found invasive and discriminatory — not to mention unscientific. Archaeologists celebrate the discovery of the last missing piece of a cannon that exploded during the American Revolution — which took careful planning and plenty of patience.A Toronto live music institution survived a brush with a wrecking ball. Now, our guest is part of a group that wants to make sure Sneaky Dee's is permanently protected. Just...don't call it a dive bar. Over the course of his recent stay in an Australian town, a colossal, destructive elephant seal named Neil was an agent of pure chaos — and now we know how much that chaos cost. As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that warns every outdoor object in that town: your fate is seal.
Transcribe →The Conservative case against Carney’s bridge deal
4d ago00:49:13Tap to summarizeWhen it comes to the Gordie Howe Bridge, a Conservative MP says Prime Minister Mark Carney has gone too far — and conceded too much to Donald Trump. The manager of a Florida restaurant is forced to suspend some of his Haitian employees, after their work permits aren't extended. He says that's left them, and him, in a troubled state of limbo. A fisherman finds a message in a bottle in a New Jersey wetland — and then finds the woman who wrote it more than 50 years ago, and learns the story behind it. For 28 years, the late Michael Coyle spent his spare time working on a search-and-rescue team in BC; a fellow volunteer says he was exactly who you'd want with you in the mountains. We'll pay tribute to the late Irish musician and actor Glen Hansard — who starred in the movie "The Commitments," and approached his music with a singular commitment. A one-star online review said a Massachusetts whaling museum had the, quote, "worst aquarium ever." Now, the museum has gone viral — for putting that insult on its merchandise. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that has seen lousy aquariums — and tanks, but no thanks.
Transcribe →This stink is finally coming off this Newfoundland town
5d ago00:54:12Tap to summarizeFor decades, St. Mary's, Newfoundland and Labrador has been plagued by the terrible odour of fermenting fish sauce in a defunct factory. Now, cleanup has begun at last.A lot of people are still unaccounted-for after a major earthquake rocks Japan. Our guest is there — and he says that, for many of his neighbours, this is terrifying déjà vu.Musician Barney Bentall tells us about the emotional moment when he pulled out his guitar to play for the firefighters trying to save his BC ranch from an approaching wildfire. The FIFA World Cup is over, but the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is in full swing. A Kenyan sports reporter tells us now is a great time for the world to pay attention to African women’s soccer. A large collection of KFC memorabilia is now up for auction, including Colonel Sanders’ own day planner where he kept a conspicuous list of eleven herbs and spices. One of which our guest...will reveal.The good news is Chinese scientists make a "living" dress that can repair itself; the bad news is it's made from a fungal parasite that could one day bring about the end of the world. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that reflects: we'll always have Paris...itic fungus.
Transcribe →From celebration to sorrow in Berlin
6d ago00:51:58Tap to summarizeOne person is dead after a van attack at a Pride event in Berlin. A gay off-duty police officer who was there tells us that hate is growing in Germany — and he hopes fear will not win. An Ontario emergency room doctor tells us she and her colleagues are totally drained; in fact, her new study finds the burnout rate for Canadian ER physicians is as high as it was during the worst of the pandemic. A "fire cloud’ threatens to destroy several communities in southwest France; a resident tells us that the day he was forced to evacuate, the sky looked like Pompeii. Chefs love a gas stove — but a scientist tells us that, if you have asthma, you're better off switching to electric. A new study suggests bird songs share certain recognizable motifs, even across species and around the world. One of the researchers tells us he listened to thousands of hours of birdsong to reach this conclusion — and he's still not sick of it. A Polish man spends a record length of time covered head-to-toe in snow — and now his competition is shaking. Although to be fair, so is he.As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that's not sure why he did it — but I'm sure he had a perfectly good freezin'.
Transcribe →Winner of ‘Nobel Prize for math’ on the threat posed by AI
1w ago00:50:31Tap to summarizeWe hear from the first Canadian-based winner of the prestigious Fields Medal about why he's leaving academia to work for the safety department of OpenAI. With their new blockade, Houthi rebels add the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the list of conflict-clogged waterways in the Middle East — and our guest warns that's increasing pressure on the region. Cuts to USAID left millions of people around the world without vital support — and an advocate in Nepal says that's forced many of her colleagues to turn to sex work just to survive. Five years after it was shut down, a beloved Los Angeles landmark will welcome moviegoers once again — thanks in part to our guest's campaign to save L.A.'s Cinerama Dome. Two of Spain's World Cup heroes make a triumphant return to their hometown to receive the traditional reward: their own weight in local tomatoes. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that has words of praise for any champ with a lot of tomatoes: arrabi-attaboy!
Transcribe →This four-foot-six woman is Matt Damon’s Odyssey stunt double
1w ago00:49:28Tap to summarizeNorthwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson tells us how he and his colleagues are reacting to the Prime Minister's plan to deal with Donald Trump's 50% tariff threat.Despite her diminutive size, Canadian Devyn Dalton was the perfect stunt double for Matt Damon in The Odyssey. She shares her perspective on the epic — and on the now-viral clip of him praising her muscular arms. For the first time in almost a decade, Indigenous Arctic leaders are gathering in person for the Inuit Circumpolar Council's General Assembly, and the Council’s outgoing chair tells us how they're handling new challenges from the south.We hear from a Newfoundland singer who rolled with it when the pop star Kesha jumped on stage at her pub gig. A primatologist says we could learn a thing or two about keeping the peace from chimps and bonobos — who reduce conflict before stressful events by kissing and cuddling.As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that believes it ain't bonobody's business if they do.
Transcribe →Is Windsor-Detroit bridge deal compromise or capitulation?
2w ago00:50:08Tap to summarizeThe deal to open the Gordie Howe Bridge at last may not be as good for Canada as the Prime Minister has suggested — and tensions are rising on both sides. A new study finds construction and trade workers make up a disproportionate amount of opioid deaths in Ontario. A former labourer and opioid user tells us what led him and his colleagues to use drugs on and off the job. Donald Trump's new tariff threats target a puzzling range of products from hockey sticks to honey; the founder of an Indigenous-owned cosmetics brand says she was shocked to find lipstick on the list. An archaeologist tells us about rediscovering the remains of five Egyptian princesses — and says she now believes they were talented fighters who wielded the weapons they were buried with. When Luverne, Minnesota needed a tourism boost, a local nonagenarian’s nutcracker collection helped inspire them to build what they believe to be the world’s largest nutcracker. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that takes you back to where it all pecan.
Transcribe →Was Ontario ready for this year’s wildfires?
2w ago00:50:46Tap to summarizeAfter more than a week of catastrophic wildfires across Northwestern Ontario, the province’s minister of emergency preparedness responds to criticism that her government was not prepared for this emergency. A former Alberta representative to Washington says Canada shouldn't meekly give in to Donald Trump's tariffs, or angrily retaliate — but do a third thing, which she'll explain. It took 48 hours before Alberta issued an amber alert in the disappearance of an autistic boy; our guest says that's clear evidence that it's time for new rules about emergency alerts. A political opponent who was once jailed by Daniel Ortega responds to the Nicaraguan President's pledge to end elections in his country, once and for all. Anita LeBrun was shocked to learned her nursing home couldn't serve her alcohol. So she campaigned to get a state law changed — and now the drinks are on her.You can buy a piece of the New Jersey field where the FIFA World Cup final was played — but a local lawmaker thinks the whole deal is a sod state of affairs. "As It Happens," the Tuesday edition. Radio that's a turf act to follow.
Transcribe →Her unique connection with the UK’s new leader
2w ago00:51:32Tap to summarizeAndy Burnham is sworn in as the latest British Prime Minister, and our guest says the way he helped bring her abducted daughter home — is proof that he's the right person to lead her country.A group representing Iranians in the US has filed a new lawsuit alleging the American government worked with the Iranian regime to fast-track the deportation of asylum seekers.Two First Nations in Ontario have been destroyed by wildfires in less than a week. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler describes the scale of the loss.Ontario Premier Doug Ford responds to new tariff threats by US President Donald Trump over lousy air quality south of the border, because of Canadian wildfires. A nurse in Michigan describes the experience of contracting cyclospora — the parasite that has caused thousands of nasty cases of diarrhea in the US. She tells us it’s unlike anything she’s ever treated — or lived through herself. Researchers ask birdwatchers to stop using technology to "enhance" pictures of their avian discoveries —because it's messing with science. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that has no time for cheep tricks.
Transcribe →The White House doles out “financial death penalty”
2w ago00:50:14Tap to summarizeThe Trump administration takes aim at the International Criminal Court, and a Canadian judge who works there. One of her friends says she's paying a professional and personal price for doing her job. A wildfire forced them to evacuate this week -- and now, members of Whitesand First Nation are anxiously waiting to hear what's become of their community.After his son died fighting for Ukraine, a New Brunswick is launching an organization to help other families of foreign fighters who've been captured, killed -- or gone missing. In the UK, Labour eagerly turns the page on the disastrous Keir Starmer era by confirming Andy Burnham as the new leader of the party -- and soon, the country. A technology reporter embarks on an investigation of the author who published a biography of her that was written by AI -- a book that's nothing more than a slop in the face. Our guest was overwhelmed to finally see -- and smell -- an elusive monkey that lurks in Congolese rainforests, pursing its bright-orange lips and emitting a unique and unavoidable odour. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that does the funky monkey.
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