It’s fairly well known that some Canadians fought with the American armed forces in Vietnam, but fewer know about Canada’s official peacekeeping role there. But between 1954 and 1973, close to 2000 Canadians went to Vietnam to observe and safeguard peace accords. Erin Moore’s grandfather, Doug, was one of them. He wrote dozens of letters home documenting the realities of the war. Erin still has his letters. They reveal a demanding and at times impossible mission, being carried out by young...

As a family physician, Dr. Melissa Lem knew she couldn't stay silent on the health dangers of climate change. But when she spoke out against the use of fossil fuels, the backlash was more vitriolic and personal than she ever expected. She's not alone. From death threats to sexual intimidation and sinister phone calls, Dr. Melissa Lem, Tzeporah Berman, and Judy Wilson have paid a high cost for their climate advocacy work. It’s a trend that has alarmed human rights organizations like...

Over more than half a century, Canada welcomed close to 3,000 South Korean children, orphans, to be adopted by Canadian families. But new information is emerging that those adoptions aren’t all that the Canadian government – or adoptive families – thought they were. Journalist Priscilla Ki-Sun Hwang investigates the stories of adoptees Kelly Foston and Kim McKay.

Andrew Anderson never told his family the whole story of what happened during the years he spent as a spy in the Norwegian resistance during WWII. Nor did he share all the details about what happened next, as he fought to survive for nine months – held prisoner by the Nazis. But growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 1970’s, Andrew’s son Gary could always feel the echoes of his father’s past. On this week's Storylines, 77 years after the end of the war, reporter Eric Anderson is heading to...

About a hundred years ago you could take passenger trains all over Canada. Rail was king… until the automobile and planes came on the scene, making the train look antiquated. Alongside a shift in federal spending and political attitudes, trains were pushed into the past. But if we’re serious about fighting climate change, then getting people out of cars and planes, and onto a fast, affordable and plentiful electric train service could really help. On this week's Storylines, Craig Desson...

In 1987, the remains of a sailor were discovered on the coast of Labrador. A skeleton, wrapped in a shroud, buried with an overcoat, a loose key, and a knife with the initials “W.H.” He is believed to have been buried in the 1800s. There are many questions about the man now known as W.H. Who was he? Where was he from? And what brought him to the coast of Labrador 200 years ago? Because W.H.’s remains may be more than a surprising archaeological find. They may point to an untold chapter...

In small hamlets, First Nations and Inuit communities across Canada’s north, many pregnant women have little choice but to travel south, far away from home, to give birth. Local care for mothers and babies simply isn’t available. For decades, Inuit women in the vast area of northern Quebec known as Nunavik faced similar pressures. That was until one pregnant woman refused to get on a plane and go south to deliver her baby. Her act of resistance ignited a sea-change, and in 1986 the community...

In 1961, Canada and the U.S. signed a treaty to co-manage the Columbia — a cross-border river that flows from B.C. through to the Oregon coast. Entire valleys were flooded and more than 2,000 people relocated to accommodate the fourteen new dams along the river’s main course. The Columbia River Treaty has generated billions of dollars for the governments of both countries and the hydroelectric industry. It has also meant lost farmland, lost homes, and lost ways of life… And critics argue...

When the Scotty Creek Research Station in N.W.T. burnt down in an unusually late-season wildfire -- Thanksgiving weekend, exactly one year ago -- internationally recognized climate research was put on hold. Now, reporter Liny Lamberink is heading north as the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation and a group of scientists from across Canada are racing to rebuild it, and get the very research that might slow climate change, and stop future fires, back in action

All Sonali Sharma wanted was to go to school in Canada and become a nurse. It was everybody’s dream for her. So much so, that when she was accepted to a private college in Vancouver, Sonali’s entire village turned out to celebrate. Her dad took out a loan against their small farm in India to make it happen. But when Sonali arrived in Canada, everything she imagined her education would be evaporated... Every year, thousands of international students come to Canada from over 185 countries,...

There’s a battle going on about how to teach kids to read. It’s been fought over decades. In Canada, it mostly shakes down as follows: on one side, phonics, which focuses on letters—how they sound, how they blend together, and sounding words out. On the other side, three-cueing—which uses context clues like what the story’s about, what letter a word starts with, and looking at the pictures in order to guess a word in its entirety. Mom and teacher Brittney Thompson found herself in the...

In tiny towns and massive cities across Canada, it can be typical—and legal—to have a vegetable patch or a few chickens. But Newfoundland and Labrador has what many see as strict and outdated rules when it comes to growing your own food. Ironically, or perhaps relatedly, the province also has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada. It's all part of why Frank Brown, a small town farmer, was appalled when he was told that his farm is a bylaw infraction, and that his animals...

Canada's first music copyright trial took place in Ontario's highest court just over forty years ago. It saw a little-known lounge musician named Ivan Gondos face off against established hitmaker Hagood Hardy. The ruling helped define today’s copyright law, but the song in question and the (downright bizarre) story behind it, have largely been forgotten. But not in Pete Mitton’s family! Pete’s mom worked at the restaurant where Ivan Gondos used to play piano, and she’s spent the past four...

Introducing Storylines, a weekly documentary show for people who love narrative podcasts. Stories you can’t stop thinking about. That you’ll tell your friends about. And that will help you understand what’s going on in Canada, and why. Every week a journalist follows one story, meets the people at its centre, and makes it make sense. Sometimes it’s about people living out the headlines in real life. Sometimes it’s about someone you’ve never heard of, living though something you had no idea...

An update from Acey Rowe about exciting new things coming to a podcast feed near you...

After learning of an annual neighbourhood New Year's Eve Party to which he had never been invited, Tom Howell became more curious about his neighbours. He’d lived on the same street for 15 years, yet could only name five neighbours. Tom goes on a quest to figure out how many of our neighbours we should know, and what the sweet spot is for him. (Originally broadcast March 2018)

In February 2018, Danny Filippidis, a Toronto firefighter, was on a ski trip with some friends. He left his buddies to go get his phone at the bottom of the slope. That's the last anyone saw of him for six days. The only journalist who was ever granted access to Danny sits down to talk - about what we know, and what remains unknowable. (Originally broadcast February 2019)

As a journalist, Kim Wheeler has been covering Indigenous stories for nearly thirty years. But there's one story that has taken her decades to tell: her own. When she was 13 days old, Canadian authorities separated Kim from her family and First Nation and placed her in a white household. In 2017, a class action lawsuit against the Federal government resulted in a settlement. Now, Kim tells her story as she joins thousands of other Sixties Scoop survivors as they apply for compensation for the...

Elaine Hofer lives in Green Acres, a Hutterite colony nestled in the southwestern corner of Manitoba. Elaine spends her days working with her community and teaching at the local school. And although she is 38 years old, as an unmarried woman Elaine lives at home with her parents and two adult siblings. But for all the tradition and responsibility, there is one thing Elaine does just for herself... Elaine is a trail runner, running across the fields with her long skirt flapping in the breeze....

Close your eyes and imagine a horse. What do you see? Statistically, you can probably picture the horse in your mind. The colour, the flowing tail. Tom Ebeyer can't do that. Tom doesn't have a mind's eye, and for the first 20 years of his life he didn't even know what a mind's eye was. But now, Tom is finding other people like him, and they are finding belonging in their difference. Plus, they finally have a name for it: aphantasia. (Originally broadcast September 2019)

"My name is Radwan Altaleb. I'm a musician. My instrument is oud. I'm from Syria. Music is my life, and my life is music." To Radwan Altaleb, now living in Canada, the oud is more than a musical instrument. It's a means of remembering his life in Syria. Radwan's passion for the oud has led him to amass more than 60 instruments - from dozens of the finest makers across the Middle East. It's one of the largest individual oud collections in the world. But he still can't stop thinking about the...

Leonard Wilson is an unlikely social media star. For one, nobody is really sure how old Leonard is. He’s a senior, that much is clear. He lives on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario. His Facebook dispatches detail his chicken-caring duties, walks around the homestead, and wild animal encounters. Hundreds of fans from as far away as China and Mexico send e-mails if they don't see a new "Leonard Time" update every few weeks. The other thing about Leonard? He's a dog. A 148-pound dog. (Originally...

Eunice Kim was born in South Korea and she speaks the language fluently, but recently, she stumbled upon an unfamiliar word: han. Han has no English translation. It's used to describe a combination of rage, grief and regret - a feeling so powerful, some believe you can die from it. To many Koreans, han is part of the cultural DNA. Once you know what it is, you see it everywhere, from Korean movies to the unofficial national anthem. So, how exactly did it escape Eunice? Why did her family...

Beulah Chandler was on her favourite Cape Breton beach one August day in 2017 when she witnessed the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was Duncan Gillis, a stranger, helping his ailing wife walk on the beach. Beulah posted a video of the couple online. Over 37,000 views later, their story is only beginning. (First broadcast May 2018)

When Faraj Mohyeddin was admitted to the hospital with terminal cancer, his daughter Samira wouldn't settle for the regular visiting hours and care regime. She moved in, and turned the last days of his life into a non-stop party. (Originally broadcast February 2018)