As It Happens

At the NATO summit, the Prime Minister promises to spend a lot more on defence; Cesar Jaramillo, the chair of a Canadian disarmament group says that if the aim is to make the world safer, the move is way off target. Chandra Pasma, a provincial parliamentarian, tells us about her efforts to get the Ontario government to do more to address extreme heat in schools and other workplaces across the province. An activist in Kenya tells us she thought things would be peaceful today, when protestors commemorated a deadly protest one year ago. Instead, history repeated itself. People have started to return to Denare Beach, Saskatchewan, after wildfires ripped through their village. One resident tells us going home isn't easy -- but it's therapeutic all the same. We remember ground-breaking Quebecois musician Serge Fiori, whose band Harmonium changed the music scene in the province by paving the way for homegrown talent. A poorly-timed wardrobe malfunction leads to an unfortunate photo finish -- in which an American hurdler wins the race while trying -- and failing -- to keep his shorts in place. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that always double-checks its equipment.

An Ottawa mom had to take her son to the ER when he came home from class with heat exhaustion; she says school administrators need to do a better job of keeping students safe. Before the shaky ceasefire with Iran, Israel attacked a prison in Tehran that houses political prisoners -- and today, friends and family are still waiting on news about their loved ones. The Democratic primary for mayor falls on New York City's hottest day in years -- and a strategist says the close race between an establishment moderate and outsider progressive could point to where the party heads next. Two Nigerian communities are taking oil giant Shell to court over longstanding pollution caused by spills -- which they say has infiltrated their drinking water. We hear from an artist in the UK about her project that could take decades: drawing every pub in London. A British nightclub becomes the site of a sinister mystery -- when someone leaves behind a surprisingly large, and just surprising, sausage. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that loves a club banger.

A non-proliferation expert says that no matter what Donald Trump says, there's no way to know if U.S. bombs destroyed Iran's nuclear program. But they did make it more likely that Iran will pursue the bomb in secret. An advocate for Arab residents of Israel tells us too many of their communities have too few of the reliable protections that are commonplace in Jewish-majority cities across the country. After five years, an opposition leader is freed from prison in Belarus. His wife -- who took up the leadership in his absence -- tells us about their family reunion, and her husband's drive to get back to work. Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is released after over a hundred days in ICE detention. We'll hear some of what he told the crowd that gathered to celebrate his return to New York. A triathlete is doing okay after a giant black bear ran in front of his bike during a race this weekend -- at which point he ran into the bear. One of the scientists who discovered little sea spiders that eat methane says the tiny creatures are playing an outsized role in the deep sea ecosystem. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that warns: they may be compact, but they're gas-guzzlers.

British journalist Dom Phillips’s mission was to expose the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. In this episode, Nil's feature conversation with two of the people responsible for finishing a groundbreaking, posthumous book by Phillips, who was killed three years ago in Brazil. Phillips got his start as a music writer -- whose main claim to fame was coining the term "progressive house", and writing a celebrated history of the rise and fall of superstar DJs. Then, in 2007, his work on electronic music took him to Brazil, where he fell in love. First with the place. And then with a person: Alessandra Sampaio. But it would be another ten years before Dom began covering the story that would become his sole focus: the brutal destruction of the Amazon rainforest. In 2018, he traveled to the remote Javari Valley with Bruno Pereira -- an advocate for Indigenous peoples' rights in Brazil. And in 2022, the pair went back...and then, they went missing. In the years since, Brazilian police have charged five people in relation to their murders. And now, a collective of their friends and loved ones has published the manuscript Dom Phillips was working on at the time. It's called "How to Save the Amazon: A Journalist’s Fatal Quest for Answers".

A resident tells us she's determined to disrupt billionaire Jeff Bezos's lavish Venice wedding -- even if it involves jumping into a canal to block the floating wedding party. A hiker at the scene of a deadly rock slide in Banff National Park describes how she and fellow hikers sprang into action to help survivors, after a part of the mountain gave way. An Iranian-Canadian tells about her tense eleven-hour bus ride from Tehran to the Turkish border -- watching the skies for Israeli missiles the whole time. The daughter of celebrated language keeper Sophie McDougall says a new stamp in her mother’s honour is a reminder to protect the critically endangered Metis language. Michigan wildlife experts free a black bear that had a plastic lid stuck around its neck -- ending a very uncomfortable two-year ordeal. Chinese researchers discover a way to embed coded messages in frozen bubbles -- opening a new frontier in penguin espionage. As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that reminds you: someone else's bubble code is none of your fizziness.

A Canadian man whose partner was visiting family in Iran when the bombs began to fall tells us about his struggle to reach her -- and about why she won't leave until she knows her loved ones will be safe. The sky's the limit...for foreign-owned airlines. But Canada's competition bureau wants more of them to be allowed to take flight -- to bring down the price of air travel in this country. Researchers investigate the impact of expensive beauty products on their preteen users -- and find that the potential harms are more than just skin deep. As the flood waters recede in South Africa, the extent of the damage is becoming clear. Our guest says she'll never forget watching her own house disappear in the deluge. A new study finds that -- when they stick around -- baboons are surprisingly involved fathers. And baboon daughters who maintain strong bonds with their dads appear to live longer. Patients in the Czech Republic will be down in the mouth to learn that the young dentist who worked on their teeth over the past few months has been arrested for not being a dentist at all. As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that guesses it was just a case of enamel magnetism.

A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers pushes to prevent Donald Trump from unilaterally going to war with Iran. But a congresswoman admits there's no guarantee he'll heed their resolution, even if it passes. A university professor in Tehran says the attacks on his country were unprovoked -- and that if the U.S. joins in, it should expect severe retaliation. Canada's cancer screening guidelines are set for an overhaul. An oncologist tells us the changes are long overdue. Celebrity chef Robert Irvine remembers his late friend Anne Burrell -- who started out cooking in restaurants, and wound up on the Food Network. An Alberta kindergarten teacher shows how well she knows her students, by identifying everyone of them just by the sound of their voices. Turns out Asteroid 2024 YR4 may still affect us Earthlings -- because if it does collide with the moon, the resulting moon fragments could really mess with our satellites. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that proves the moon isn't made of the green cheese -- it's made of debris.

Amid deadly Russia attacks in Kyiv, and the absence of a disappearing Donald Trump, Prime Minister Mark Carney announces billions in new support for Ukraine at the G7 summit. The federal government says its recently tabled "Strong Borders Act" is meant to keep Canadians safe. But a lawyer says it's a thinly veiled excuse to give police access to personal data. Today, the IDF killed dozens of Palestinians who were waiting for flour; the UN's special rapporteur says that proves armed peacekeepers should be deployed to protect aid convoys. A mother and daughter describe the surreal – and memorable – moment that they were both called to the bar at the same ceremony yesterday. As the G7 summit in Alberta wraps up today, minus one key player, a reporter says Donald Trump's sudden departure was a snub, but not exactly a surprise. A once-in-a-lifetime screening of a long-lost original print of "Star Wars" stuns an audience because it looks a lot more amateurish than they'd expected. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that hears even Chewbacca looked sloppy – and that's just a Wookiee mistake.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's team says he made great progress on tariffs during his meeting with Donald Trump at today's G7. But our guest warns that the president could still blow everything up – because he has before. A Minnesota state politician remembers his longtime friend and colleague, Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated along with her husband this weekend by a shooter targeting politicians. A non-proliferation expert says Israel's explanation for bombing Iran doesn't hold water. He believes it's not about nukes – it's about regime change. A Holocaust researcher gets the rare chance to see footage from Jerry Lewis's unfinished, long-buried Holocaust film "The Day the Clown Cried" – and says it's full of surprises. We'll hear about the late Betsy Jochum, who made history as a pioneering player in the first professional women's baseball league. A secret report reveals that Edinburgh, Scotland fears an influx of middle-aged, drunk, rowdy people when Oasis plays there. And one of the Gallaghers is not a fan of that description of his fans. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that tells Edinburgh: where there's a will, there's Oasis.

This morning, Iranians were awoken by massive explosions from Israeli airstrikes -- and this evening, Israelis huddled in shelters as missiles hurtled their way. We'll hear from people in Tel-Aviv and Tehran. As Washington prepares for a massive military parade tomorrow, we hear from a U.S. Army veteran who says he and his fellow vets are not impressed. After her husband admits that he's cheering for the Edmonton Oilers, a Calgary woman -- and devoted Calgary Flames fan -- posts him for sale...at a low, low price. A Yukon teen creates a new algorithm to help skiers choose the best wax. He waxes eloquent about his hopes that it will help Team Canada. A friend and biographer remembers Gary England, a trailblazing Oklahoma meteorologist who guided the state through more tornadoes than he could count. We wish we could eradicate bed bugs -- but a new study shows their numbers exploded during the beginning of civilization, and have a talent for out-matching whatever we throw at them. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that knows, for bed bugs, box spring's eternal.

More than 260 people are dead after an Air India flight bound for London crashes into a residential neighborhood. Karishma Mehrotra of the Washington Post is in Delhi. She tells us what she’s learned about how the disaster happened. A potentially game-changing vaccine against Lyme disease is currently in clinical trials. A scientist in Nova Scotia – where ticks are rampant and ravenous – says it can’t come fast enough. Dozens of states join forces to try to prevent the bankrupt biotech company from selling millions of people's DNA, and other deeply sensitive data. A Montreal business owner says last year's Formula One race was a fiasco, but the city seems to have gotten its act together for this weekend's big event. A Cambridge University professor became so spellbound by the many murders in medieval England that he began to map out where they all took place, and he's thrilled to death that his project has just been published. The asteroid we once feared would hit the Earth has switched targets, and may now be on course to smack right into the poor innocent moon. As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that supposes it's for the crater good.

His district in Los Angeles has been targeted by ICE raids, and Democratic California Assembly member Isaac G. Bryan says Donald Trump's deployment of U.S. troops has made the city a testing ground for democracy itself. Philomena Lee’s name has become synonymous with the scores of unmarried mothers whose children were sold to American families by Irish nuns. Now her daughter is fighting to make sure every survivor gets the compensation they're owed. Steven Page reflects on the musical genius of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, and tells about the surreal moment Brian Wilson sang him his song, which is called "Brian Wilson". The mayor of St. Mary's, Newfoundland hopes a shuttered fish sauce plant that's been stinking up the joint for two decades will be cleaned up at last. A satirical article claiming Cape Breton has its own new time zone that's 12 minutes ahead of the rest of Nova Scotia has been causing some confusion for AI, which doesn't seem to be in on the joke. A Canadian author's cookbook titled "Every Salad Ever" is not sold on Amazon. But to Greta Podleski’s chagrin, Amazon was selling something that looked awfully similar -- a fake, AI-generated version of the book. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio warns against taking the slaw into your own hands.

As the high profile sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team wraps up, an advocate calls on Ontario to drop its ban on restorative justice, to give complainants a better option than court. The auditor general exposes the ballooning cost of the F-35 program, but Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada needs to revive its military with new spending regardless. An Israeli human rights lawyer says Canadian sanctions against two far-right government ministers for inciting violence with their rhetoric are long overdue, but very welcome. California lawmakers decry Donald Trump's deployment of U.S. troops to the streets of Los Angeles, and one spars with the Defence Secretary over whether it's even legal. A museum manager in Taber, Alberta tells us about the moment she found a grenade while going through boxes, and the moment she started seriously panicking. The owner of a giant pencil in Minneapolis tells us about this year's grand sharpening, which happens with great pomp and ceremony on his front lawn. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that warns you: one of the following stories includes graphite content.

The Prime Minister announces a huge boost to military spending, to the relief of a former Canadian Army commander who says that, in an unstable world, that investment is long overdue. An Australian woman is accused of killing her inlaws by serving them Beef Wellington with poisonous mushrooms, and her trial has become a national obsession. While our guest was photographing protests in Los Angeles, he was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet. He tells us the President's decision to send in the National Guard has only made Angelenos less safe. In an annual tradition, staff at a Winnipeg high school all become guidance counsellors, and what they're guiding is a family of ducks. A Canadian classic rock banger has become a staple of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs; we'll get Rik Emmett from Triumph on the line to lay his feelings about "Lay It On The Line" on the line. When a group of young Black men posted a video in which they tried matcha for the first time, it got a lot of love, and a lot of noisy haters. But their videos, and their joy, are proving infectious. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that celebrates a matcha made in heaven.

Canada's industry minister Mélanie Joly tells us she'll do everything in her power to protect steel and aluminum jobs, in the face of punishing U.S. tariffs. A volunteer firefighter from Saskatchewan tells us about battling a blaze that would eventually engulf his community, and his home. After years of diplomatic tension, Canada appears to be mending fences with India. But some members of the Sikh diaspora won't give Narendra Modi a warm welcome. The case of a woman accused of killing her inlaws by serving them poisonous mushrooms has Australia glued to coverage. We hear from a reporter covering her trial. The piping hot rivalry between two Ontario cities over who makes the best pizza pits shredded pepperoni and canned mushrooms against extreme cheese and a dough ball. It's traditional in Spain for seniors to sit outdoors and chat with friends, so when one town implied they should take it inside, some angry people wanted to take it outside. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that thinks: from where we sit, there's nothing wrong with where they sit.

A Saskatchewan woman describes the devastation of watching her family home go up in flames on a neighbour's doorbell camera -- and the moment her little brother reminded her what really matters. For the first time, Mexico has chosen its judges through public elections. But our guest says the most telling thing about the results is how few people actually showed up to vote. Their fellow graduates are celebrating, but for the US Air Force Academy's transgender cadets, the present and future are full of anxiety – because their government is barring them from the military. Tributes are pouring in for Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space. Fellow astronaut Dave Williams remembers him as a remarkable -- and humble -- friend. A 3-hundred pound sea turtle gets some much-needed medical attention after colliding with a boat off the coast of Florida. But first her vets had to solve the significant challenge of finding a C-T scanner big enough for her. Moment of drought. Scientists in Germany find that trees can remember living without enough water – and can learn from that experience to prepare for the future. Case of the blues. American researchers recreate a 5-thousand year-old pigment called "Egyptian Blue" -- which reminds us of the time a Pasadena man extracted dormant yeast from an ancient Egyptian pot, and used it to bake a loaf of bread. And…out of fin air. A group of disc golfers in South Carolina are exactly as surprised as you would be when a small hammerhead shark falls out of the sky and lands right in front of them. As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that's a real shark to the system.

A union president heeds the call of Ontario's premier to hit back against US President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. Montrealers were upset when a beloved music venue shut down last because of a noise complaint. So the city passed a new bylaw, but one owner says it won't protect venues like his from a similar fate. We'll hear from a State Senator in California who is pushing to establish new rules governing AI – if the Trump Administration doesn't ban him from doing it first. After almost 70 years, Medicine Hat, Alberta's CHAT-TV has faded to black, and the channel's news anchor tells us he's heartbroken. We'll check in with Oilers Superfan Magoo, who says there's magic in the air and on the ice, and the team is ready to bring the cup back to Canada. Knock wood. Don't skip that part. Scientists delve into the question of whether we'd like robots more if they swore, and discover a fascinating cuss and effect. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that warns you: the results are not cut and droid.

One of the Canadian godfathers of AI launches a non-profit, with some 40-million dollars in funding, to protect people from the technology he pioneered. A Manitoba chief is urging anyone who hasn't left his community yet to flee the out-of-control blaze that's approaching -- before it's too late. On the eve of a potential doubling of tariffs, an Ontario mayor braces everyone who works at the local steel plant -- and everyone in the city who doesn't -- for extreme economic pain. A Montreal tour guide shares the story behind a new Canada Post stamp depicting a 1977 police raid on one of the city's most historic gay bars -- and the fight for equal rights that followed. He's an Albertan, and he works at a big hockey bar -- but despite his Canadian pride, a Calgary Flames fan tells us he just can't bring himself to cheer for the Edmonton Oilers. Residents of a UK community resort to some very colourful -- and disproportionately dramatic -- language, when a section of local road is painted red for safety. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that figures the problem is just a pigment of their imagination.

The prime minister and the premiers meet to try to reshape the Canadian economy, and our guest says there's no time to waste. Nine of her ten children, and her husband, are dead after an Israeli airstrike. Now, a Gaza doctor's last surviving child is in hospital with serious injuries; I'll talk to the surgeon who's treating him. Researchers find that colon cancer patients who are given an exercise routine, and the support of a coach were significantly more likely to survive. Thanks in part to their late lead singer, James Lowe, the Electric Prunes were psychedelic savants whose motto was "so far out, so good". A former member of British Parliament tells us about the renewed battle to allow Stilton, England to produce Stilton cheese, which is, after all, named for Stilton, England. A perfumer-turned-astrobiologist answers the question we've all always asked: what does space smell like? And if you assumed cat urine and "poisonous marzipan clouds", good news. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that senses she's a real odor-achiever.

As the prairie fires force Manitobans from their home, the head of the province's nurses union tells us how her members are caring for others, when their own homes and loved ones are at risk. A Swiss village manages to evacuate, but not to save their historic community, as a massive glacier collapses and buries their homes under millions of tons of rock and ice. We hear from with an Alaskan man who got trapped under an enormous boulder while out hiking, and his wife, who helped rescue him – just in the nick of time. A new study suggests horses use a wide range of facial expressions to communicate, not just with their human keepers, but with one another. Taylor Swift announces that after all of the drama, and all of the Taylor's Versions, she is now the proud owner of her entire catalogue of music. The Hollywood hit "Sinners" is a Jim-Crow-era horror set in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where locals were excited to see it but couldn't because the city doesn't have a movie theatre. We hear from one of the people who pulled off a special showing, with some special guests. As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that always screens with excitement.